Fading glory

When I was in my teens, I was very keen on custom cars and vintage American cars. The chrome and the curves and the outlandish styling captivated me. I subscribed to two different car magazines, had bedroom walls covered in double-page spreads of cars and even had a led sled t-shirt (although it was stolen from the back garden washing line not long after I bought it, so doesn't quite count). It was my obsession in the years before music fully took control of me.

During September, the first month of my stay in Fayetteville, that old obsession returned. For over thirty days I took photos of cars to publish in my daily photo journal online. Every single day I hunted down, and often simply walked into, beautiful cars. I talked to their owners whenever they were in attendance and I took thousands of photos. Eventually after many splendid adventures, I had to stop because it was becoming too much of a hindrance on my day and Megan's, who was often needed to drive me to these cars (ah yes, the irony here being I have never learned to drive!).

Last week when I stopped taking the car photos, I knew that I was not yet over the obsession. I wanted to make it continue in some way and I had the idea to make art from the images I had amassed. As it happened, artist Linda Sheets (who for weeks had been whetting my appetite by feeding me a fine line of car adverts from vintage magazines) had cut down some MDF strips into square blocks for me. I realised these would be the ideal place for my car art. There was something about their chunky appearance that just seemed right. However I did not know quite what the art would be, apart from somehow combining the cars with my abstract painting style. I considered several ideas, before settling on drawing the cars directly onto the gessoed blocks and then painting over the drawings.

Representational art is something I have avoided for years and I was hesitant to make any now. It has taken time and perseverance to reach the point that I have, where I am settling into abstract painting and even becoming (ever so slightly) known for it. To make non-abstract art seemed like either a backwards step, or possibly even self-sabotage.

On the other hand, the impetus to make this art was very strong and I have learnt never to ignore the muse when it strikes. Sometimes it is better to move and then find the time later for explanations. With this in mind I began working and, with encouragement from Megan, Linda and Jennifer Libby Fay, I continued. So far I have made seventeen paintings (although only fourteen are shown in the above video).

These paintings fuse my love of line, my training in illustration, my obsession with vintage cars and my new-found confidence in mark making. I have combined the skills I learned in making abstract art with my dormant illustrative skills to simply enjoy myself. These paintings were created for no other reason than to make them, they do not represent a new direction, nor an old one, they simply are.

All of the paintings are on six inch square, 3/4 inch deep MDF blocks. I may make as many as thirty of them, depending on how many blocks are left in the box Linda left me.

I'd love to hear what you think of my mini-project. Any and all opinions are welcome. How are my drawing skills after all this time? Do you think I'm making a mistake mentioning this in public? Do you love them so much you simply must buy one? Please, drop me a line or leave a comment and, once again, thank you for stopping by.

(shown in the above video are: '53 Plymouth, '59 Edsel Ranger, '66 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, '62 Oldsmobile Super 88, '55 Chevrolet Bel Air, '73 Pontiac Catalina, '54 Dodge Wayfarer, '55 Nash Ambassador Super, '65 Ford Falcon Futura, '61 Ford Galaxie Starliner, '67 Pontiac Firebird, '60 Chevrolet Impala, '56 Continental II, '60 Cadillac Coupe de Ville)

Not so hidden now

Who I am
© Stewart Bremner 2011
Mixed media on board, 8x8"

Until last weekend, it did not seem that I had done all that much work since I arrived in Fayetteville. Last weekend, however, with Megan Chapman's help I tidied up the studio I am visiting at the Fayetteville Underground and was able to make it into a temporary exhibition space for First Thursday. Once the walls were painted, the lights sorted and my work hung, I realised just how much work I've done here. It was kind of staggering seeing it all. I've made 20 new paintings as part of my Hidden Messages series and while the largest is only 16x20" that is still a lot of work.

Sitting here in the studio surrounded by that work, as well as the series, A question of chemistry, (with Megan) and six of the Iteration/span photos (with Craig Munro) feels great. Other than the Life is the process paintings (three of which are showing in the Found Gallery in Dunbar right now), this has been my year and it has been quite a year. I feel like I've really achieved something.

Let go
© Stewart Bremner 2011
Mixed media on board, 8x8"

Last night at the First Thursday opening, I had three hours of conversations about the work. It was great fun to engage with people who were genuinely interested in both my work and who I was.

THIS JUST IN
This morning I was invited to be part of a two-man show with artist Kevin Low at Union Gallery in April 2012. I can't even begin to express how excited I am by this. Please do head over to their Union Gallery's Facebook page right now and friend them. They are lovely people!

Above board

All it takes
© 2011 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media, 3x5"

Last week, I worked on three 16x20" canvases. Two of them went well and were more or less completed by the end of the week, however there was one that I simply couldn't find an end to. The piece stayed hanging on my painting spot, as I watched and watched, wondering if I was done with it. I could not work out how to move forward.

Heat© 2011 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media, 3x5"

Reaching such a sticking point is not an uncommon occurrence, however finding a way to break from it can be tricky. It is an event that somehow is easily forgotten after it has passed and so I do not have a plan in place to combat it. As luck would have it, an amiable and at times out-spoken ex-Texan came to my rescue.

Want
© 2011 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media, 3x5"

Linda Sheets is one of the Underground's studio artists and this weekend sees the end of her month-long exhibition there, The Dog and Monkey Show. Linda is known for her scratchboard work and her current show, as the title suggests, was a lot of fun. Sometime around the middle of the week, she gave me a half dozen small scratch boards to work on. It was exactly what I needed to shake me from my inactivity. As soon as I started working on those small boards, all six of which are pictured here, a flow began that lasted the week.

We do it all
© 2011 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media, 3x5"

Making art on such a small scale was an interesting and fun challenge. I also greatly enjoyed the solidity of working on board, after using canvas for the past few weeks. I realised that canvas is not the ideal medium for how I am working at present, that I need a ground that I can work into, one that I can scratch and score and mark. Canvas simply will not provide that ground.

It will all work out
© 2011 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media, 3x5"

It was with this realisation in mind, that I got some larger boards and spent the rest of the week working on them. I'm pleased with the work I produced, which all fits as part of my Hidden Messages series. Next week is First Thursday at the Underground and I plan to show this work in my borrowed studio. If you are in the area, please come along and say hello. I'm in the first studio on the right before the galleries.

Be alone
© 2011 Stewart Bremner
Mixed media, 3x5"