Day 11 MASTERCLASS IN BERLIN

It is 10pm and I am sitting in a Tibetan restaurant off Bergmanstrausse in Kruezberg, sharpening my already sophisticated eavesdropping skills. The nerdy expat students are hanging out eating goat milk dumplings and talking about where the cool kids hang out (warehouse parties on the outskirts of Leipzig) – boring – Oh wait – conspiracy theories… Apparently high doses of fluoride in water causes docility – this is why Hitler was adamant about dental health for the people. It was really to do with mind control.*

Prior to coming to Berlin, I organized a masterclass with a locally based teacher and painter, Eoin Llewellyn. We met this morning at the National Gallerie and looked at many paintings, deconstructing the technique. A great deal of the artists we looked at are German and I had little knowledge of most of them but so glad to have discovered some gutsy painters.

Menzel and Blechen stood out for me but there was a lesson to be learned from Casper David Friedrich and it was about quiet and ‘breath’ in the handling rather than concepts of the sublime.  In Menzel, though his handling is energetic and loose, there are always areas that are barely touched beyond the imprimatura. This gives the painting air and space and serves to bring attention to the areas of great energy without overwhelming the viewer.

We also discussed processes for home made mediums (which are pure and do not have any of the additives that factories add). Eoin was also advocating the reduction of solvent use in my practice. I don’t use much as it is but he made me realize that I really don’t need to use any.

The side of the National Gallerie is undergoing a refurbishment and Eoin explained that a great deal of historic buildings are still being repaired from WWII. He then pointed out the bullet holes in the walls that we were passing. I was shocked to see this. Had I been looking at the wall without this explanation - it probably would not have occurred to me that that the texture was this - I'm so unused to seeing such a thing. I have attached a picture below - many of the walls in Berlin look like this.

For lunch we had crepes in a food market in Kreuzberg, which were completely and utterly divine and went to Eoin’s studio to put into practice some of the things that I had observed in the gallery.

At this stage in my development as a painter, it is very insightful to have someone watch me paint and point out habits that I have that I barely notice. After discussing with Eoin the things that I wanted to achieve in my work, he was able to observe my technique and highlight why these things are eluding me. At times this was frustrating because, as with all change, our tendency is to resist. We worked right through into the evening. It was an exhausting and exhilarating day and I have learned many valuable lessons. I am excited to get back to my own studio to put them into practice.

*I googled this when I got home and there are actually plenty of websites that suggest that fluoride consumption can lead to lowered IQ together with a list of other health side effects such as bone cancer - interesting. 

Day 10: VINCENT AND ARRIVING IN BERLIN

Starry Starry Night,

Paint your palette blue and gray

Look out on a summer's day

With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills

Sketch the trees and the daffodils

Catch the breeze and the winter chills

In colors on the snowy linen land.

Its 10.50am and I am on a bus to the airport and I feel a bit proud of this morning’s achievements. I got up early and went for my run (walk) around Vondelpark and the canals, came back to the hotel and ate breakfast, showered, packed up my bags and checked out. I was waiting at the Van Gogh Museum when they opened at 9am – spent one hour in there (wish I’d had more), ran across town to the apple shop to buy a replacement charger as I left mine in London. Made it back to the hotel to pick my suitcases up and haul them to the bus stop to catch a 10.30 bus. I managed to make three sketches on the bus as I have been asked to bring some to show my tutor tomorrow. Awesome if I may say so myself.

The Van Gogh Museum was wonderful. I didn’t realize that VanGogh only painted for 10 years, and further to that; all of the highly saturated impasto work we know him for he created in the last 3 years of his life. There seemed to be a distinct shift in his work once he moved to Paris in 1888 and then he died in 1890. What a beautiful, fragile, insightful soul.

This is a little bit random but there is a Dr Who episode where the Tardis lands in Arles in 1890 and the Doctor and Amy befriend Vincent just before his death. I love it and I will forever more think of his character like the one in that episode. 

Artists are always looking for ways to make the optical experience of a painting more sophisticated. I was amazed to see that Vincent crushed glass into a fine dust and sprinkled it over the surface of his painting. This is not visible to the naked eye but the gallery will allow you to observe it through a microscope. I can only imagine that the way the light refracts as it hits the pieces of glass would intensify the luminosity of the painting. I have not known any other artist to do this although I know marble dust is sometimes mixed in with the paint.

Later…

Arriving in Berlin is exciting. Eva is my host and she met me at the apartment to run through the quirks. It’s gorgeous but I am exhausted. A quick trip to the supermarket to grab some dinner – fresh roggenbrot, liverwurst, blueberries and beer – that’ll do. In a state of delirium I devour my purchases and fall asleep as I hit the pillow.

Photos: The door way to the apartment block and the view from my window.

 Lyrics Credit: Don McLean, Vincent, 1971

Day 9 REMBRANDT AT THE RIJKSMUSEUM

Sitting as I am now, at the close of this warm spring day, in a café in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, I can hardly believe I woke up in London this morning. 

My father wanted me to add the Louvre to my itinerary. I argued that going to Paris was a separate trip as I couldn’t squeeze Paris into a few days. Loving a good debate, as my family does, he quipped that if time was an issue I could at least spend 24hrs in Amsterdam and see ‘The Night Watch’ – so a deal was struck and here I am… and so glad to be – thanks Papa.

I have ordered a Dutch beer – sorry no detail as the menu is gone and I can’t remember which one it was – but it is GOOD. I also ordered a snack plate and it has arrived too… I bite into one of the items and it appears to be a deep fried spring roll filled with a fondue type cheese OMG – this is so good – salads for the rest of the trip – promise to self.

I spent this afternoon in the Rijksmuseum in loving awe of Rembrandt. Viewing Rembrandt alongside his 17C Dutch contemporaries is really interesting and serves to highlight his genius further. This is because his contemporaries are all confident and highly skilled masters in various areas of portraiture, still life and landscape; Hals, Vermeer, Van Ruisdael, Van Goyen, Kalf. But still Rembrandt stands out. He can do it all. I want to say that is the intense light sources and contrasting shadows that sets him apart and yes this is part of it - but it is also his inventive handling of the paint, the variety of brushstrokes, the dynamic compositions and diagonal devices, detail in the garments … and his humanity. The certain something is not very tangible – though it is intensely felt. One gets the impression that Rembrandt experienced life to the edge and back several times.

Now having said that, Vermeer’s paintings nearly bring me to tears with their quiet beauty. Much is being said in his works but it is like a covert love letter, a secret that he wants us to know but is not telling all just yet.

My parents have a small reproduction of ‘The Milkmaid’ hanging in the dining room of our family home – the image has been with me from childhood and it is like seeing an old friend to see the original in front of me.

Day 8 MAYFAIR & SOHO

While I was enjoying my breakfast in Brick Lane my phone rang and I heard a voice that I have not heard in many, many, years. It was an old friend, Miles, who I met when I lived in Brighton in 1994 (pre email – its amazing to think). We planned to meet again today, at Leicester Square. 

Miles is a photographer, web developer, writer and thinker with whom I have had many philosophical discussions about art and life over the web, over the years. It was wonderful to talk as we walked in and out of small commercial galleries in Soho and Mayfair sharing the sights and hashing it out.

In the middle of our wanderings we came across Liberty of London. At the entrance was an abundance of fresh flowers – mostly roses in every hue.  We soaked up the scents and all the new Liberty patterns and textile compositions such as modal (made from beech trees) that I have been interested in in my line of work (as a textiles designer – my other life). The attendants were really informative and didn’t seem to mind me taking a million photographs. The scarf I wanted was £525 – that will have to be another life again!

We were definitely in the money end of town and we had met some delicious characters. One handsome, beautifully dressed gallery attendant was advising us where to go for lunch – he indicated The Ritz (at the end of the street) we giggled and suggested something a little less expensive. He smiled broadly and gestured broadly and said, “Darling, you’re in Mayfair – EVERYTHING is expensive here”.

In the late afternoon we were galleried out – we found a little spot in the sun in Soho Square and got some takeaway drinks from a local pub. The park is a buzz with groups of people enjoying the stunning weather. There is no evidence of dreary London drizzle – only clear blue skies and rays of sunshine. No need for the winter coat I packed.

Another old friend, Clara, who is in London completing a PhD in Sustainable Textiles, joined us. It was great to see her in her element in her neighbourhood. Clara and I went to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant near Soho Square– oh the food! Yum! Then before I knew it, it was time for me to come home and pack and wash sweet chilli sauce out of my hair (don’t ask).

I leave London for Amsterdam tomorrow. I have loved my time in this city… maybe I should stay a while… besides, my children will be very disappointed to learn that I haven’t seen the Queen.

A little credit note: Antiques at Liberty London and Artwork by Ernesto Canovas, Halcyon Gallery, Bond St.