McLean Museum & Art Gallery - Artist in Residence Journal
Archive 6
- 11 March 2008
- To day I started to photograph the objects in the Museum’s notable Ancient Egyptian collection which was not only exciting but also a great privilege.
Up until 1914 the Museum received regular donations from the archaeological activities of the Egypt Exploration Society.
Many of the pieces came from digs conducted by some of the most eminent archaeologists of the day including Sir William Flinders Petrie, the founding father of British Egyptology; and Edouard Naville, one of the most important nineteenth century European Egyptologists.
- I relocated my mobile studio from the workroom into the Museum itself to minimise the disturbance of these fragile works and the curator donned her white gloves to move and position the objects for the camera.
After photographing a selection of items from the display cases I completed the day by capturing two of the larger pieces – The Sphinx and the Bubastis Stone which displays a variety of interesting hieroglyphic scenes and inscriptions.
- A bonus of working in the Museum itself was that I was able to chat to some of the visitors about the residency and its objectives.
- 15 March 2008
- This has been a busy but very productive week. As I discussed above I have been photographing some of the Egyptian objects and now have a large number of images to be processed and added to the image library.
I have made a few “roughs” of ideas for the Egyptian montages and also discussed future stages of the residency with the curator.
- To round off the week I made a return visit to Paisley Photographic Society last night, this time as a member of the audience, to attend an AV tutorial and presentation by Barry and Carol Beckham.
Barry is a well known expert on the creation of digital audio-visuals using the Pictures2Exe software that I am using to create the residency audio-visuals. He is also an expert on the use of Adobe Photoshop therefore this was a presentation not to be missed in my book.
I was not disappointed and learned a few new techniques as well as having an enjoyable chat with members of the club.
- 21 March 2008
- The world of digital image making in all its guises advances at an ever increasing pace and I try to ensure that I have set aside some time to keep abreast of all the new techniques.
- To that end I attended some excellent seminars this week at the Photovision Roadshow that was
held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh - the home of Scottish Rugby – where the Photoshop guru
Guy Gowan was making two presentations. The first concerned the latest techniques he has developed
in his retouching workflow. His methods are advanced and focus on the use of alpha channel
masks to deliver speed and flexibility as well as quality. He has a unique approach that concentrates
on applying digital manipulations that have shape and subtlety and I look forward to incorporating
some of his methodology into my own work.
- His second presentation was an overview of the use of a Wacom Tablet. This is an invaluable tool
when creating a montage as the complex selections, positioning and blending of the individual
elements of the piece would be too difficult to achieve with a mouse. I am also using painting
techniques increasingly in my work and a tablet and pen are essential for that. Over the years
I have gradually progressed to a larger size of tablet but I am not using all its functionality
and the seminar has encouraged me to review my own workflow to incorporate some of Guys words
of wisdom.
- 25 March 2008
- To-day I was at the opening of the “Art Detectives” Exhibition at the Museum. The works on display
have been specifically selected for an innovative project between the McLean Museum and Inverclyde
Council Education Services involving pupils from Inverclyde Schools. The project has been described
as “a virtual quest for real art treasures” and aims to link a virtual learning environment with
real resources. At each of their visits to the exhibition the “detectives” (pupils from the schools)
have to answer a series of questions on the artworks and are encouraged to learn more about
the artists on the internet and elsewhere. An on-line voting facility has been created on the
Museums web pages for the “detectives” including any visitors to the exhibition to vote for their
favourite work.
- “Art Detectives” has been devised by art teacher Julie Tormey in collaboration with the Curator and staff of the Mclean as part of a Masters Level study with University of the West of Scotland.
- My part in the project was to create the montage for the poster and other publicity material for the project thus creating another link between art created on a computer and a “real” artwork.
- It will be a treat for any visitor to this exhibition to see such a large variety of works from
the McLean’s art collections, many of which have been unseen for some time due to the limitations
of the exhibition space. The works on show are both contemporary and traditional and include
some by artists very well known to the public as well as some from the locality. There is something
in the exhibition to appeal to everyone and is surely not to be missed.
- 29 March 2008
- To-day I visited the Glasgow Art Fair in George Square and viewed some wonderful and some not so wonderful pieces of art. There was an added bonus of several “Talking Art” events which took place in a dedicated lecture space within the fair and featured a selection of artists talking about their personal work and other art related topics.
- Todays “Talking Art” lectures were based on the theme of photography. The first presentation was given by Tom Normand who is Senior Lecturer in the History of Art at the University of St. Andrews and is a specialist in British art and photography of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
His talk entitled “Scottish Photography: New Heights, Hidden Depths” highlighted the rich contribution Scotland has made to photography throughout the world by way of innovation and experimentation. His excellent delivery was illustrated by a variety of well chosen and stunning images from the past.
- The next presentation - my main reason for visiting the Fair - was given by Calum Colvin, Professor of Fine Art Photography, at the University of Dundee whose work is collected and exhibited nationally and internationally. He talked about the development of his unique works which combine painting, sculpture and photography. The audience were treated to a wide selection of his iconic pieces and I came away totally inspired. I also gained a great deal of information on how to exhibit large scale photographic prints of artwork which will be very useful to me in preparing for the exhibition at the end of the residency.
