Railings; doors; banisters; fittings; hooks – they’re everyday things we meet in passing. But even the most modest details have stories to tell. So on day 9 of my artist residency at Tower Gallery, I’ve investigated, in the sketchbook I’ve bound from utility papers and painted with clay grounds.
Glimpsed, the railing details are floating flourishes. It’s in spending time with them that I’ve noticed their sturdy bolts, speaking perhaps of the company that made them, a specialist in footbridges that could be assembled on site. The doors have leaded windows punctuated with joins. The twisty banisters have seams I had overlooked. And hidden in plain sight, not-so-plain door hooks: a curve here, a moulding there.
I’ve explored what a new material can do, Portland stone dust passed to me from sculpture.
And on a pair of reused veneer samples, I’ve drawn the gallery seats stained dark to even out the varied colours of their donated timber.
Day 10 has been altogether more maximalist, wondering at the decorative plasterwork that had called to me as I drew the seating. Even first impressions are – well – impressive… but drawing has revealed dizzyingly-complicated angles, a two-layered pattern of dome detail and alternating lace-like bands and beading. The company that made it was known for its theatre work, including the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. The building has, in places, a nod to Glasgow style so while perched, I’ve drawn the light fittings that remind me of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The bigger wallpaper samples have provided a useful ground for a corner detail from the day’s sketches and an architectural ceramic capital drawn from an earlier sketch.
And I’ve ended this week’s work with a starting point, seeing how the materials from my experiments behave on the paper I’ve been passed for the big drawings I’ll be starting next week.
