Gallery of past work

Thursday, 15 October 2015

Grey a current favourite

Today's search for Roy (the colours of the rainbow and beyond) was especially appealing. As regular readers of this blog will know, grey is a favourite choice right now for me (together with its close relations, black and white). I like the simplicity and contrast it can give and the ease of production with pencil and pastel.

Several of the photos shown here (I'm afraid I've exceeded the stipulated 5 photos as I seemed completely unable to cull satisfactorily) were taken from my own work, either in stitch, in mark-making or in photographs. Two of the shades of grey include hints of blue and others hints of olive green and purple. Grey (with black and white) seems to lend itself particularly to geometric and abstract shapes and there are photos I've taken of geometric and constructional forms, often seen during visits to galleries over the summer.  One especially shows a page of optical illusions - how small specks of black along with white appear grey to the naked eye.

Mark making in acrylic paint using a strip of cut up credit card

A steam locomotive wheel seen at STEAM  in Swindon

Hand and machine stitch sample on organza over random printed letter shapes

Underside of a footbridge over the River Dee in Aberdeenshire (other photos shown here

Grey fading to black - Leyah Titford 8 Ink Slides - seen at the Graduate show at Bath Spa University this summer. More of Leyah's lovely work can be seen here.

Muskets on the front stairs of Cawdor Castle, northern Scotland

From Carol Belanger Grafton 1976 Optical Designs in Motion 

William Gear Study in Grey 1953
Seen in The Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney

This includes but a small sample of my grey / black / white images. I collect them and have a large box of postcards and many sketchbooks /journals containing examples of my own work or of images that have taken my fancy. 


12 comments:

  1. Your vast selection of grays beautifully illustrates the many, many possibilities...you are really in your element here! Lovely...

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    1. Thank you, Lisa. Photos in grey (and black and white) Have great power for me. It seems to enable me to focus on shape and outline in a way that I find I can't achieve when I use colour.

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  2. I can tell you are a fan of the grey, black and white...these are wonderful! I especially like your stitching...so much movement!

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    1. Very many thanks for your comments. I'm gradually working my way towards more stitching after quite a while experimenting with marks in paint, pencil and pastel.

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    1. I'm most intrigued by your Scandinavian comment. It was not in my mind, though after recent trips to Scotland and the Isles of Orkney, things northern have been very much in my mind ... especially that very special quality of light.

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  4. Wonderful selection of grays! Or greys, as you likely prefer. Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs.

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  5. Margaret, you have such a great variety of grays here I can't pick a favorite. The way one image relates to the next is quite nice - you are a wonderful curator!

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    1. Thank you, Sharrmon. I had great trouble choosing the images to include and could have shown many, many more. I decided in the end to go for contrast between one image and the next so I'm glad you enjoyed my final choice.

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  6. Your collection definitely has flow, I so enjoyed looking at them. Elizabeth

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    1. Very many thanks, Elizabeth. It was fun to do and, as always when I make my selection for Roy, putting one photo after another seems to make me look anew at each one and to notice the contrasts.

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