Newest addition to the Shoe Portrait series

Shoe Portrait of an Earthy Woman
Pencil and soil on layered and sewn paper
490 x 635 mm


This is the latest drawing in the Shoe Portrait series of equal size.  They are on display in the library room at Shine Harehills Business Centre in Leeds for the next few months, to be companions to conferences, lectures and meetings.

Shine
Harehills Road
Leeds LS8 5HS
 
0113 388 0000
info@shinebusinesscentre.co.uk

Sculptress and exotic

These are the last two shoe portraits drawn for the  World At Our Feet Exhibition at the Back O' the Shop Art Cafe  in Terrington, North Yorkshire.

 

Portrait of a Sculptress

Pencil and watercolour on layered and sewn paper.

490 x 635 mm

Detail of Portrait of a sculptress, citing some of the artist whose work inspires her. These shoes belong to my artist friend  Yannick Watanabe Perichon. Currently she is displaying  sculptures at Free Range, London. 

Portrait of an exotic woman

Pencil and watercolour on layered and sewn paper.

490 x 635 mm

First Layer of the Portrait of a Sculptress

Shoe Portraits

These drawings capture the shoes we wear on our feet and how they can become portraits of an aspect of our personality and daily endeavours.

Portrait of a Proud Grandma, 

Pencil and watercolour on layered and sewn paper.

490 x 635 mm 

SOLD

Memories Fading Gently,

Portrait of a thoughtful friend

Pencil and watercolour  on layered and sewn paper.

490 x 635 mm 

AVAILABLE £195

Elegance - Portrait of a young 'danseuse' (detail)

one of the three danseuse series

Pencil on layered and sewn paper, music score.

490 x 635 mm 

SOLD

Rhythm - Portrait of a young 'danseuse' (detail)

one of the three danseuse series

Pencil on layered and sewn paper, music score.

490 x 635 mm 

SOLD

Passion - Portrait of a young 'danseuse' (detail)

one of the three danseuse series

Pencil on layered and sewn paper, music score.

490 x 635 mm.

SOLD

Shoe Portrait of an Exotic woman

Pencil Thread, watercolour and print

490 x 635 mm

SOLD

Shoe Portrait of an Earthy Woman

Pencil, thread and Mud on layered paper

490 x 635 mm

SOLD

Shoe Portrait of a tall dancer,

2011,

Pencil on layered and sewn paper, music score,

430 x 980 mm

SOLD

Shoe Portrait of a Sculptress

Pencil and Watercolour on layered sewn paper.

490 x 635 mm

SOLD

Concarneau

Private Commission,

Two weeks by the atlantic sea.

pencil on velum layered paper, 300 x 420 mm

Pride of place

Helen Berry from Create did such a wonderful curating job for the Hint of East Coast Promise Exhibition at Woodend Creative Workspace in the Crescent in Scarborough. It was a well received exhibition and a friendly group of people.

'Woman thinking' having pride of place. She sat there, the surrounding so befitting her.
Charcoal, Walnut Ink,  1000 x 730 mm, framed. £175

Make Do and Mend Exhibition

I have just spent a lovely morning setting up for the Make Do and Mend Exhibition. http://www.artlink.uk.net/



Opening storage boxes, unrolling work and setting up is one of the great pleasures of being an artist. When there is a lovely space available for work to be displayed and putting the finishing touches on an installation is very rewarding. It makes all the soul searching, questions and difficult choices arising in the production of the work worth it.



Winding Thread Triptych as set up in ARTLINK Gallery, Hull. Please follow link for images of works by the other artists: http://www.artlink.uk.net/index.php?idsection=3&subid=1

Detail of the central panel with the shadows from lighting and sunshine.

AvAnT GaRdE Exhibition

Winding Thread 2 Triptych at the Avant Garde Intervention no2 Exhibition, in York Cemetery. Nov 2008 .

Pencil and graphite on translucent paper, sewing pattern paper, lace, thread and pins. Hung from clothes racks.




Middle panel with back lighting.







Backlit detail of middle panel.







Play of sunlight on display and right hand panel.



Moving light and shadows.

Drawing for opportunity

Framed drawing: Potential (red silk twist), 800 x 600 mm, Pencil and oilpaint on translucent paper.

Detail of drawing of a red silk bobbin.

When asked for a drawing/work for a raffle for a charity which provides education for children with disabilities -children who otherwise would not have a chance of education, school days, learning and developing their potential - I thought of this drawing. It was part of the Thread of life series. This little bobbin of beautiful red silk twist thread could be used to produce some beautiful dress, embroidery, shirt, piece of clothing. It would hold the material together or adorn it. It has the potential to produce something useful, valuable and beautiful. We ourselves all have potential, valuable silk thread, and it would be good if each of us was given the opportunity to develop that potential. It would be to the benefit of all.

links the the charity: http://www.school4all.org.uk/index.aspx?id=1
http://www.lcdisability.org/?lid=32

Life drawings

 There is something very compelling about drawing the human figure. Your drawing tool can follow the contours, make a volume, dance on the paper and create a mood.

Man with head on arms, 

conte and walnut ink on paper, 

SOLD

Man leaning over table, 

conte on coloured paper, 

SOLD

Climbing, 

charcoal, conte and walnut ink. 

1000 x 590 mm framed,

£195

Woman Sitting 

Charcoal, walnut ink

1000 x 730 mm, framed

£195

Shoulder twist,

conte and pastel on paper

520 x 770 mm unframed

£95

Hang on

conte and pastel on paper

520 x 770 mm

£95

Last Pose

Pencil and walnut ink on paper

575 x 770 mm framed

SOLD

Fairy Tales Series

These drawings are part of the Fairy Tales series, from work produces when working with artist Charley Peters ( http://www.charleypeters.com/index.html)%20and ) and exhibited at Leeds Met Gallery in 2006.

Red,
the colour of love and passion,
the colour of rage and violence,
the colour of royalty,
the colour of blood, life giving or bleeding ...



This Drawing in informed by the role of the beautiful princess in fairy tales. She is usually a pure virgin dressed in white, symbol of innocence and kindness.

Red Dress (Beautiful Princess),
2006
850 x 1120 mm,
Watercolour pencil on translucent paper,
Sold through Edgar Art & Framing.




Are contemporary little Red Riding hoods, our hoodies, young people who have strayed from the path and been devoured by the wolf? This work also questions the way we judge and are judge by our clothing.

Red Hoodie, (Little Red Riding Hood) ,
2006
850 x 1120 mm,
Watercolour pencil on translucent paper,
Sold through Edgar Art & Framing




Based on the fairy tale of the red shoes, the symbol of independence, creativity and the feral woman. If we surpress our creative self, it will come beckoning with revenge and take us into an eternal and deathly dance. There is an insightful chapter on Self-preservation in Clarissa Pinkola Estes's Book: Women who run with the wolves, Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype.

Red Shoes
2006
850 x 1120 mm,
Watercolour pencil on translucent paper,

Sold

Drawings from Hungate Dig

Drawing: process in layers of time:


The drawings are a response to the activity in the entrance hall, which I have been allocated for displaying my work. This is a changing, working environment where trays of finds are stacked to dry and safety clothing is available for use by those going on site. The objects in the drawings belong to different ‘layers of time’, from the Roman era to the present, the time span of the site itself. My drawing highlights the significance that these humble objects hold within a particular context. The act itself references the drawing process of mapping.

Object Map 1: Past,
Pencil, soil, tape on layered paper, mounted on board.
100 cm x 81 cm.
Catherine Scriven, 2007 - 08.

This drawing is based on a piece of a Roman mortarium, a large bowl with embedded grit to grind and mix foods. It is related to our present pestle and mortar. It would have been used in the daily routine of food preparation.
This object was found by Will and I, in the infill of a drain cut.

Here is a detail of the drawing, layers and mounting:

Object Map 2: Past and Present,
Pencil, soil, tape on layered paper, mounted on board.
100 cm x 81 cm.
Catherine Scriven, 2007 - 08.

This drawing is based shoes: the archaeologist’s steel toe capped boots worn for safety and an early 20th century female leather shoe probably worn for a smart occasion found in context 39000.
Shoes: humble everyday objects
Shoes: metaphors for activities, circumstances and
personality.

Here is a detail of the drawing of the laces:

Object Map 3: Present,
Pencil, soil, tape on layered paper, mounted on board.
100 cm x 81 cm.
Catherine Scriven, 2007 - 08.

Uniform gear for protection.
Unifying but protecting the individual.
Emphasis on the individual.
The individual as part of team.
Emphasis on the team.
Any of us, all of us.
Absent but present.

For photos of the drawings withing the dig context go to the installation view. Click on link: http://catherine-scriven.blogspot.com/2008/01/installation-at-hungate-dig.html

New Drawing from Hungate Dig

spout of a roman mortarium, 75x75cm, watercolour pencil on paper. first draft.

During the summer I have been escaping and volunteering one day a week at an archaeological dig in York. The area is called Hungate and being developed over the next few years. You can find information on http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/hungate/abouthungate/about1.htm I have found it fascinating, taking a glimpse at how archaeology works, how to read the soil, about finds, about context and about the people who work and volunteer in a very interesting community.
Last week we found a piece of a mortarium, an roman food processor bowl, like a pestle and mortar, and it was so interesting that I had a strong urge to draw it, follow the curves of the spout and rim we found, the colours and markings of age, but the incredible strenght and its cool pottery feel that survived 2 millenia. It is broken, so it was rubbish to the romans because unusable and found in an infill trench, but it is a treasure to me. So this is the first draft after the first day drawing and it feels absolutely wonderful to be drawing again. Slept the best in ages.

Prints and Drawing for Ryedale Open, 2007

Potential, Print, from Thread of life series

Three small works have been selected to be in the Ryedale Open Exhibition, grandly named RA, which is held at the Milton Rooms in Malton from 21st July to 28th July (not sundays) from 10 to 4 pm. This will allow me to meet artists who live and work in my area of Yorkshire, Ryedale looking beyond York.

Thread of life, print, from thread of life series

Tools of life, Print, from Thread of life series.

My study of green smoke, SOLD

Drawings from Summer Exhibition: Thread of Life

Individual drawings from Thread of Life. Constraint or potential... before the thread unravels - watercolour pencil on translucent paper, 75 x 120 cm
Tools of life, necessary to sew with thread, but sharp and possible painful , 35 x 120 cm watercolour pencil on translucent paper
Hooks or hang on, joins together, 35 x 120 cm, watercolour on translucent paper

Sewing hands, we have an active part to play in our destiny... watercolour pencil on translucent paper, 200 x 75 cm

Thread of Life, continuously unravelling, knotted and looped ... watercolour pencil on translucent paper, 200 x 75 cm