Dai Vernon and the double-dip recession

A quick update to let you know we've taken a last-minute stand at the Square Meal "Venues & Events" exhibition at Old Billingsgate this week.  It seems a good replacement for our previous annual stand at the RSVP show, which sadly seems to have allowed itself to fall victim to the recession this year.  "Venues and Events" is open this Wednesday and Thursday from 9.30am - 5.30pm; for more information please visit the show website at:
www.venuesandevents.co.uk

Michael and I will both be on the stand, so it will be good opportunity to meet up and discuss how silhouette cutting might work at whatever event you may be planning this year.

All this talk of Double-dip Recession we are hearing in the media reminds me of the famous American magician / silhouettist Dai Vernon.  Dai was an artist who invented many of today's best-known magic tricks, but who actually supported himself and his family throughout the 1920's and 30's as a street silhouettist.  During the long years of the Great Depression he would set up a stall - in whatever city he happened to be working at the time - under a banner saying "No Depression Here".  Legend has it that he invariably had a long queue of customers!

Dai Vernon working in Chicago during the 1930's

So, if you are able to visit Venues and Events this week, do make to time to come and get your silhouette cut out under the "NO RECESSION HERE" sign!

New websites and Skype silhouettes

I'm not sure how it all went for you, but for me the Olympics seems to have been a quiet time. Aside from the usual August weddings I was booked for just one post-Olympic drinks reception, by Coca-Cola.  The Olympic machine seems otherwise not to have noticed the possibilities of silhouette cutting!  On the bright side, it gave me the opportunity to watch a little of the action myself (my work usually keeps me well away from the TV) and also to embark on the long-planned but never-quite-time-to-actually-do rewrite of my website.

After more hours work than can possibly be healthy that rewrite is now done, so if you have a moment do take a look in the usual place:

www.roving-artist.com

I've liberally sprinkled it with references to my new book 'Mastering Silhouettes' as well as adding a lot of new silhouettes and photographs to reflect the style of cuttings I'm making these days. I would appreciate any comments and feedback you may have, and am keeping fingers X-ed that you won't find too many typos...

The photograph is one of the illustrations in the book which shows what Michael calls my "full stop". This is the moment - after a period of furious cutting - when I suddenly hold up a finished silhouette for all to see.  I've always liked this photo, so have added it to the front page of the website.

You will also find on the website references to 'Skype silhouettes'.  Over the years there has always been a steady trickle of clients who send me photographs to work from.  While this generally works OK, as testified by the kind of feedback I receive, I've always felt a bit insecure about working from photographs. Like many portrait artists I prefer working from life, as I find it easier to see what people really look like and to judge if I'm creating a good likeness.  Quite recently I discovered that a sitting over Skype - while not exactly live - does give me a much better sense of 'person' than working from a photograph, so I can be much more confident in my cutting.  Also the client gets to see my "full stop" at the end, leading to some very instant feedback!  At the end of the session, when everybody is happy, I simply pop the silhouettes in an envelope and send by post.

If you know anybody who may have seen me in action at an event, and perhaps left wishing their family could have been there to get a silhouette, then this might be something that would interest them.  A Skype session is far cheaper than booking me for an event or home visit!  

Mays Barn Open Studio weekend

The month of May, as well as being busy season for silhouette cutting at weddings and other events, is also "open studios" season here in Reading. As usual Mays Barn is open for two weekends in May, giving me an opportunity to show a set of the new hollow-cut life studies which I've been working on over the last year or so, as well as an excuse to friends and artists over for a drink this Friday.  Do get in touch if you need an invitation!

The Orange Cushion - pencil and watercolour on scissor-cut paper

The inspiration for these half-drawings - half-silhouettes - came out of the research I did for my recently-published book 'Mastering Silhouettes'.  They are based on a technique of 'hollow-cutting' with scissors, last used in early nineteenth-century America.  My idea was to take this technique into the life room and experiment with a much more contemporary style of work.  The work is still quite experimental, but I've taken a selection of them and mounted them in a set of double-glazed frames, allowing whatever wall they are hung on to show through the 'hole'.   

There are a number of guest artists and craftspeople from the Caversham Art Trail joining me in the barn this year: Lousie Spiers , Sophie Waite, Peter Quarmby and Brenda Graham (see www.cavershamartstrail.co.uk ). We opened last weekend to bright sunshine and a record number of visitors, and are hoping this weekend will be the same.

One of the spreads from my new book 'Mastering Silhouettes'

As well as the range of art, copies of my book also be on sale, with me there to sign them.  If you don't already have a copy, this will be a good opportunity to remedy the situation.

If you can't make it this Friday do pop in over the weekend.  I'm working at a couple of events on Saturday - one at least of which sounds rather alarmingly grand - but I'll be around all day on Sunday to sign books and indulge in conversations about art.  It would be great to see you if you can make it, but if not I'm sure well meet at some future event.

The Book is Launched!

My new book "Mastering Silhouettes" was finally launched last month with a small party at the London Sketch Club.  We were fortunate enough to be sponsored by Hendricks Gin - who supplied the drink - so it was a small but very tasty party.  Thank you Hendricks!

The London Sketch Club provided the ideal venue, with its frieze of life-size silhouettes of past members stretching back to Victorian days. It was a real treat for those who attended.  My publishers says enough of the 'right kind' of people attended to make it a success.  It looks like the book will be available in the souvenir shop at the National Portrait Gallery, and there are vague rumours of a French translation.

If you would like you own copy you can order a signed copy direct from me at the cover price of £16.95 + p&p.  I've attached an order form below.  Otherwise those of you with an eye for economy might prefer to pick one up on Amazon at their usual discount rate.

Breakfast Marmalade - iPhone drawing, 2012

Now that the book is well and truly christened and out of my hands I finally have some time to return to the studio and do some painting.  In this regard my biggest inspiration do far this year has been the (very crowded) David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy.  Did you see it yet?  Isn't it amazing?  Inspired by his example I set about teaching myself to draw on my iPhone (I haven't yet managed to graduate to an iPad) starting with fairly simple subjects such as the pot of marmalade shown.  Drawing on an iPhone naturally leads to sharing the work with others, so before long I found myself 'tweeting' the resulting images on a daily basis.  This has become a kind of project for me: to supply a 'picture-a-day' to my followers on Twitter.  So far most are iPhone drawings, but there are also a number of life studies and (of course) cut-out silhouettes.  If you would like to be one of them you can see the work so far and add your name to the list @roving_artist.

Bernadatte from the Back - pencil on scissor-cut paper, 2011

Apart from iPhone drawings I've been experimenting with hollow-cut life studies.  I call these my "chameleon" drawings, since they change completely depending on the kind of wall one hangs them on.  I use the facility with scissors I have built up (after so many years cutting silhouettes) to cut away the figure from inside the paper.  I then draw-in extra details of hair and drapery with a fine pencil.  The drawings are framed between two sheets of glass so that the wall is visible through the 'hole' and becomes part of the image.  The rounded effect on the girl's shoulders is created by the shadow of the paper on the wall.  For me this is an exciting new direction so I have assembled a collection of these images and plan to start exhibiting them this year.

The first opportunity to see these will be at the Reading Contemporary Art Fair, during the last weekend of April, at which I have taken a stand. There is a private view on the evening of Friday 27th April - for which I have a number of tickets - so if you feel you might like to come to this just send an e-mail and I'll pop one in the post for you.