Museum of Childhood

This was a day spent in the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh with the Leith School of Art.
The brief was, to sketch as much as possible with a view to spending the next two Fridays working on a painting ( or two ) depicting the atmosphere of the museum rather than focusing on the objects themselves.

This was a surprisingly difficult day, starting with complete overwhelm at the sheer amount of wonderful images. Everything was stimulating, visually wonderful and far too many ideas were coming into my head. First was to go round and look at everything, see what appealed most and do many sketches. The afternoon was spent in focusing more on what was going to be in the painting the following week.

I chose the carousel horse with it's many reflections as it summed up the idea of reality and unreality. The mirrors also gave the feeling of the horse moving in a circle. It was really difficult to keep it simple as the reflections got more and more interesting and my mind got more and more involved.

The other idea was the collections of dolls which were very erie, reminding me of horror films. As they were displayed in a pyramid, looking one way on the left and then to the right, they seemed to be like an army, stationary but about to move and attack any minute.
Their faces were grotesque and so I left them blank with the idea of the imagination being more powerful sometimes than reality.

Photographs were allowed and so I made use of the opportunity.

First very quick sketch of dolls. Biro on a background of pink oil pastel.










Second sketch of dolls focusing on the shapes between them, angle of the hats to show the direction they were facing. Pencil on A4.
















The object I was most fascinated with. A carousel horse reminding me of the days I wanted to run away and join the fairground. Also, a safe way of riding without fear of falling!
The reflections were awesome.

Sketch showing the distortion of the angles of the poles. Slightly distorted add to the mystery. Also the spiral was in reverse in the reflection.

Detail of the most complex reflections and angles of the horse.

This proved to be the most difficult as there was so much distortion and shapes that I could not make out.




















Detail of poles and horse.

















Indication of colour. Not very successful as the oil pastels were difficult to use and the floor was immensely complex because of the lighting which was overhead.

View of the horse on collaged paper, A4, drawn with pencil and oil pastel.

Detail of piano...
The reflections in the piano were fascinating because the doll was very dominant, with the bicycle behind her, which was reflected from the opposite showcase. The inside of the piano was filled with
small instruments and the front made of stained glass.
Possible for another painting?

This was a grotesque statue of two boys by the stairs. Horrific faces but the image was very nostalgic. The sign could come into something?














The Next Brief

The task was to take A1 cartridge paper, cover it with emulsion and start the painting with thin coats of acrylic paint but NO white, using big brushes.

The brief was to use collage and thin acrylic paint, not to have an idea of what the finished work would look like and to explore the feelings and memories of the museum of childhood.

I had real problems right from the start. First I put the collage on, lots of newspaper, coloured sugar paper and some news headlines. e.g.. "Prepare to be disorientated" which I thought was apt!
First problem was that thin paint did not work over collage. The paper became very dark and no colour appeared. I then started to peel off the paper and start again. Disaster.. bits of paper, torn and flaky. A mess!
I found that my original intention of carousel horses and reflections was not working. My mind seemed to be split in several parts and I had no idea what I was doing. How to do  painting without knowing what I was doing seemed impossible. The tutors were so patient but the more they tried to explain the concept, the more confused I got. Jane said do thumbnails of the composition, Jemma said, let the surface dictate what happened next.
Some of the other students knew exactly what they were doing and went straight for the composition and got on with it.
Some were sticking photos and drawings on the paper. Some had collage but had a plan to begin with.

By the end of the day, I had two unsuccessful pieces of paper, covered with thin paint, remains of collage and no idea of where to go next.
My original sense of the reflections of carousel horses and movement seemed too far from what I was trying to do.
What I realised, after hours of thought, was that the feeling of being overwhelmed in the museum was still there in the studio and that I had no idea what I was doing right from the start. Everything I saw in the museum I saw in terms of paint and the usual way I would tackle it. Having limitations on the materials meant having to think completely differently.

Perhaps I need to go back to the museum and start with a better handle on the concept to begin with?

Leith School of Art motto " PERSEVERE"