Shabby Chic

Shabby Chic 60x60cm oil on canvas

Poetry and Craft

You may be aware of the discussion currently going on between Damien Hirst and David Hockey. David Hockey recently said that Art is about craft and Poetry. That art school was about teaching the craft, but that it can’t teach poetry.

In the past Hirst has used his assistants or students to do the actual work of his paintings. As in the case of his dot paintings they’re not painted by him at all but bear his name all the same.

So in essence we could argue that Hirst’s dot paintings are his idea, his poetry if you like, but someone else’s craft. Hockney and others are asking the question if you don’t have the craft, ie. if you can’t paint, sculpt, draw etc. Then are you an artist?

Questions for the small hours with a good glass a whiskey me thinks.

Anyway, all this by way of preamble. I visited Oliver Sears gallery on Monday to see Joseph Walsh‘s exhibit. We’ve seen beautifully crafted pieces of furniture that transcend the furniture/art divide. These pieces however were on a different level.

To my mind this is poetry and craft.

Enigmum Chair

Barely 31, The Irish Craftsman Joseph Walsh has become one of the most sought after names in furniture, his distinctive free flowing style and sinuous curvilinear forms makes his work highly coveted by collectors and museums alike.”                                                                                                  Bespoke person, Financial Times 

Enignum Table

His wood pieces move like the wind, bend like paper, mold like clay and have the strength of bone. Yatzer

and my favourite piece

Enignum shelf

Poetry and craft indeed.

Leaving Home from Chris Kunnert on Vimeo.

fish for compliments

This little painting is one of my recent favourites.

fish for compliments 30x30cm oil on canvas

The care and feeding of your sketchbook

My good friend Kevin McSherry has just launched a fantastic little book on keeping a sketchbook. It is beautiful to look at and full of humour. If you have ever harboured a secret wish to take up drawing in a relaxed way look no further than this little book to encourage you and set you on your way. If you haven’t it, would look very impressive sitting on your coffee table, to those who do.  I really can’t recommend it enough.

To look through the preview of the book and for more info click here.

You’re a daisy if you do

I painted this a few weeks before Christmas but forgot to photograph it before sliding it, wet, into my new drying rack. Once in, I don’t like to remove them for a while incase I inadvertently scrape off half the paint on the way out.

you’re a daisy if you do,  80x80cm oil on canvas

My new drying racks

Speaking of which, here’s a photo of my new drying racks. ( I’m very proud!) They hold 10, 80x80cm paintings while drying and by the time they are full the first lot can be removed and are dry enough to be safely stored elsewhere.

Up until now my paintings have had to dry standing up against walls etc. and the frames can warp as they dry due to the uneven quantities of paint. Also, it’s hard to stop the paint getting everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

Spring wellies

Some new wellies I came across over the last few weeks.

60x60cm oil on canvas

Both sides of the brain

I sometimes read a blog written by artist, photograher Daniel Sroka. Apart from being an amazing photographic artist, he’s the kind of guy who had one of the first apple mac’s and writes all the code for his website himself. No wordpress or blogger platforms for him.

Here his is talking about how the seemingly unhappy bedfellows of writing code for websites (which is a mathamatical language) and creating art can coesist for him.

I create my website the old fashioned way, typing the code in by hand. I often get incredulous looks from other artists about this. Why would an artist want to be messing around with something so geeky, so “not artistic”? But I don’t believe that making art and coding websites are so at odds with each other. By tapping into different parts of my brain and using separate sets of skills, these two creative skills help me maintain a creative and productive balance. Frankly, if all I did was make art all day every day, I’d go crazy. It’s just too much of the same thought process! I need to turn my artistic brain off from time to time in order to let it rest and recharge. And doing nothing doesn’t achieve this: even at rest, my artistic brain is still churning, working. I have found that I really need to switch gears, to dip my hands in some code, and force my brain to think and work in a different way. By coding my website, I allow my artistic side to quiet down and regroup. Then when the coding burns me out, I can return to making art at full force.

Alternating between art making and coding allows both processes to be better, stronger. The craft of coding informs my art, helping me logic through a problem, transforming a flash of inspiration into a workable idea. And the spontaneous expression of art making informs my website design, allowing me to see possible solutions before I even know how to make them.

I think to a greater or lesser extent it’s true of us all that we are never just one thing. But a mix of passions and skills. I met someone recently who asked me if I regretted not being a full time artist all along. But the fact that I worked in business for much of my career was not wasted time! It was both fulfilling in itself and a part of the journey to where I am now. Being an artist is being in business too. I’m self employed, something I swore I’d never do again but this time it’s different because the business side is balanced by the creative. It’s like both side of the brain can get a look in.