John Emmanuel has been a resident of Porthmeor Studios for
30 years, and is one of the longest still there. Self taught, he produces
textured abstract surfaces which marry elements of the human form with the
Penwith landscape.
Naomi Frears is one of the most recent to have moved into
Porthmeor Studios, having been there since 2005. Her work is partially abstract
and part realist, and ghostly forms often hover in the image as a result of her
process of making and scraping back. Originally trained in printmaking, it is
sometimes possible to determine a specific area which has been influenced by a
printer’s rather than painter’s technique.
In many ways John has been Naomi’s mentor, and it was clear
from the outset that they have a close bond while developing their individual
visions separately. Indeed John stressed the importance of having one really
good artist friend-one who you can talk with about anything. When he first
arrived at Porthmeor, his was John Wells.
The talk ranged across all sorts of areas, with side
excursions thrown in by questions asked from the attendees, so I am attempting
to record what I can clearly remember.
Materials
Both John and Naomi use oils, with acrylic media and
sometimes paint in the underpainting levels. They paint on canvas or prepared
board, sometimes collaging elements onto the picture plane and sequentially
scraping back or building up many layers of glazes. Naomi admits to being a
colour addict and says she probably has far too many tubes of paint, whereas
John is keen to point out that you don’t really need that many colours, or
indeed brushes, to make work, and tends to work from a fairly limited palette.
Studio practice
Naomi joked that this was the key secret which all of us
were dying to know the answer to, that, once mastered, would magically
transform us into “real” artists, and added that actually it was really more
like a day in the office, with the usual coffee breaks when they would stick
their heads out of the door and catch up with the other residents on news and
gossip. John added that the real advantage was having a dedicated space,
everything was around you and there was no interruption caused by the need to
put away or get out work upon arrival. Pictures of both artists’ studios are on
their respective websites.
Voice and vision
John spoke at length about the need to have a clear focus of
intent during the process of making work. He also suggested that if a dead end
was reached, not to be shy about going away and doing something completely
different. In reference to Naomi, he remembered her becoming stuck at one point
and had asked the question “What is it you feel like doing? You should do that
then.”
Naomi described how her working methods often meant that a
piece evolved into intent at some point through their creation, or changed into
something else. She tried to explain how to stay open to what is happening on
the canvas and realise where it may be going.
Self confidence and
motivation
Both admitted that there is nothing worse than a poor
reception to their work, and Naomi in particular said how she practically lived
in fear of a negative response and that it could really bring her down. John,
more pragmatically, suggested that a knock occasionally was a good opportunity
to review work with a critical eye.
As both artists work full time from a dedicated studio, they
felt that motivation was easier to maintain, in that they travel to their
studio, shut the door and work uninterrupted in their own space. Both have
previously worked from a room at home or part-time, and had experienced the
lack of continuity that working in this way can entail.
Sketchbooks
We were able to see sketchbooks from both John and Naomi.
John is a meticulous sketchbook user, and a whole book can be used just chasing
down an idea. Of the two he brought, one was filled with collage of figures cut
from newspapers, where he was seeking the exploration and abstraction of the
human form. The margins were crowded with notes. The other was full of
colourful oil pastel studies which he had done when on a week’s “holiday”, he
had taken himself off to nearby Clodgy Point and recorded the colours and
landscapes of an area he loves. Having commented that the sketches didn’t
really tie in with his other work, he went on to say “I suppose I have made
rather an icon of Clodgy Head- it has such a distinctive shape, and you see it
in my work, in the skylines, I use it a lot.”
Naomi, while carrying a small sketchbook all the time,
laughed depreciatingly and commented we would all see how bad she was at
drawing. Her pages are surprisingly uncrowded, with brief notations of shapes
and people, often in biro or felt pen and (in this book) mostly simple line
with no tonal notations. Even a tiny head or statue will eventually make it
into a painting, not necessarily as the main feature but to round out the
story, and she showed us a couple of specific examples with the help of some
exhibition catalogues she had also brought. Later, reading an essay on her
website which mentioned her specific and meticulous drawing, I was surprised
because there was little evidence of that in what Naomi showed us, and in fact
she said she preferred to work up her outlines directly on the canvas.
Self taught v. art school
John is wholly
self-taught, having trained as a signwriter. He stressed the importance of
having a focussed vision but felt that he had been able to develop his own work
without undue pressure from tutelage.
Naomi was of the
opinion that she had not learnt anything from art college and only began her
learning process when she began her practice.
However, both
recognised the value in group participation and networking and acceded that in
some areas of the country, as well as abroad, there was a tendency toward
snobbery against those artists who had not attended an art school.
Exhibitions, galleries and dealers
A normal period for an exhibition would be two years, and in
that time the artist would normally produce about 20-25 pieces to comprise the
body of work. Naomi usually only looks to produce around 10 pieces as her
method of working is slow, and she says that being under pressure to produce
more would not enable her to make the paintings come right. She stressed the
importance of having a strong relationship with a gallery so that each understands
where the other is coming from.
John has had a varied approach to selling, and although he
dealt with galleries originally he spent time selling through dealers, which he
now regrets. One of the biggest cautionary notes he raised was that dealers
want too much, and can put far too much of your work out there, either flooding
the market and devaluing or losing the presentation of the theme by including
work which is more experimental. He also said his name disappeared for years as
he was not being promoted, he was still making work but very much behind the
scenes.
In all it was a very interesting evening, both in seeing Naomi
and John’s passion for their work, and learning that they too suffer the same
doubts and crises of confidence as we do.
Examples of their work and biographies can be seen on their
websites:
Really enjoyed reading about these artists, neither of whom is known to me. It is always interesting to see how some artists abstract or pare down the human form to produce stunning images.
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