Sketchbook and Galleries course

In the summer term I did an extra course with Lucinda Oestreicher in which she took us around a series of galleries in the East End. She was also encouraging us to use our sketchbooks both as record of what we had seen and as a way of getting us to look closely. As ever my American trips meant I only did three out of five, but those I did do were very simulating. She is a genuinely good teacher: opening your eyes and pushing you a bit.

I was really pleased to have this intro into the art world: there are literally hundreds of small galleries featuring the work of one or two artists. As well as being aesthetically challenging it also started me thinking about the business of art.  About artists developing their work and their intellectual positioning in a coherent fashion so that it holds together in an exhibition and attracts the interest of collectors.

I also started to use my sketch book in a more creative way, even though my poor drawing and recording skills made for some pretty uninspiring pages. The point however, is that I do have some sort of a record of works that interested me. I have started to take a sketchbook to galleries now and try always to represent at least a few bits of work and even the ideas that they generate. Obvious, I know, but all part of the slow evolution of a personal practice. Painful and slow, but progress nevertheless.

 Some of the galleries we visited include

Herald St                                      The Approach

Carter Presents                             Wilkinson

Vilma Gold                                     Arch 402