copenhagen III

The area between the airport and the city centre, although only 20 minutes by metro was, on my last trip in 2001, an unknown part of town however, had I thought to venture there I would have found little more than vacant plots and building site, now however the area has been dedicated to the provision of space, space for the people, space for the sky, and space for the buildings, it is the buildings that are spectacle being in themselves massive sculptures that sit quietly in their own space.

Space is so important to the visual, when arranging ornaments or hanging an exhibition each object has its own space, above, beside, below and infront, each space is specified by the very power of the object, of course, where hanging an exhibition to its fullest impact it is only they with an intimate knowledge of each piece of work that can assess its rightful place for maximum impact; this has been achieved most beautifully in 'downtown Orestad (there is a line through the O like the phonetic number zero).

The entire area was designed by a team of architects, each employing their own vision though working closely with others in the team to create an area of sculptured buildings that, in relation to the sky can seem quite small though perfectly formed and in balance both with the backdrop of blue, or grey! sky and its neighbouring building, close up however people are absolutely dominated by the buildings unique feeling of hugeness!

I have not met with this before, arriving from a small town surrounded and dominated by hills and small grey buildings this space was all the more apparent, in most cities around the world I have found, the contemporary squeezed in and around older and more ancient buildings with only the slightest concern to the aesthetics of relationships, in many cases entire areas have been demolished to construct a new business park though on this occasion the space has usually been maximised for profit squeezing the highest number of buildings into the smallest amount of space leaving the occupant workers and residents little more than a shadowed life with only the tiniest glimpse of sky, quite stifling in my opinion, in Orestad this could not be further from this claustrophobic existance in itself quite depressing even.

My first large piece from my Copenhagen influence has to represent this and, for the first time in a while and far from frustratingly, came to me at 4 am in sufficient magnitude to waken me and prompt the unrolling of canvas and the printing out of images, even this Blog was completed at 0448, it is quite exhilerating to have this energy of work again while being absent since my return in my ponderances.

copenhagen II

I have, what is now a natural and accepted hightened level of vigilance, borne of military training I am able to scan an entire area within seconds and capture pretty much everything, at one time this was a serious problem that controlled my life to a point where it dissallowed any level of enjoyment, now, where observation is part and parcel of my work and pleasure it is an advantage.

One part of any town or city that is generally ignored by the average Joe in the street are the rooves, the sole purpose for being out in the street being either as a route between point A and B and back again, anything above the level of the window displays, unseen and deemed generally as unimportant, for me this is not the case, as modernism, renovation, advertising and corporate logos tend to alter and change even our oldest streets and houses the upper levels and rooves retain the buildings history, most notably in its tiles gutters and chimneys.

Although I was seeking new directions and inspirations in Copenhagen I was still drawn to the skyline and was immediately captured not only by the care and cleanliness of the old but also a seemingly passionate need to replace like with like where rennovation and replacement were concerned.

also there seemed to be an array of tile colours that matched the buildings, which in themselves now demand a new palette to depict the colour of Copenhagen, what a bright and colourful city it is. In stark contrast to the ultra modern architecture the old is quite striking and unique, each blending in with each other quite beautifully.

coming back down to the level of the road the pavements, pretty much everywhere the most memorable part of the city is the number of bicycles, as far as my aged memory would allow, notwithstanding there seemed to be even more bicycles than in Amsterdam a perfect excuse to prompt a return to this Dutch City if only to allow comparison.

with a population of around one and half million (http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/tourist/about_copenhagen/practical_information/population/) many people living working studying and traveling within a relatively small island I have little doubt that but for this form of transport being the norm it would be a far dirtier, more congested and traffic damaged city, functionality and care of the city aside I was absolutely amazed at the range of designs colours and uses for the humble bike with additions to the bog standard design allowing for many uses even as mini taxis ( prompting a quick memory jolt back to my days in India).

The remainder of my second day was dominated by the Copenhagen Fashion Show, my first ever, a hive of artistic activity as stage changes took rapid effect between shows, as rapid as any stage set, changed a quite realistic woodland into contemporary cat walk then into a display that was as much about the laser lights production as it was about the clothes, throughout music pumped out at a volume that even dominated my ever present tinitus and, rather than being annoyingly nauseating brought a welcome break.

Well, there is much more I could write but I will stick to painting, until the next post thanks for following with hopes I can bring more, any requests on a postage stamp please, have a nice day

lifes a glaze.

I enjoy this part of the process totally, except where two canvases become stuck together!! it is the final piece where the light becomes balanced across the entire image and ties it all together. I use an acrylic gloss medium, not only in the final glaze but as a mixing medium throughout to make for deeper and richer colour

Copenhagen the start

After the spontaneous decision to go to Copenhagen, the early days were a frantic race to ensure that all went smoothly, within the hour to go, flight, hotel, train, all booked up without either having, or knowing if I could get a passport in time, while waiting and praying I was able to ponder over my itinary knowing that such a short period in the city could only be useful if all was planned prior to departure; my fears passed as the passport arrived well in time which was more than can be said for the trains as I spent half the night in dark and deserted rail stations waiting for a 4am connection.

The night before departure was one of little sleep such was my excitement of the journey, with my bags my overnight journey to Manchester Airport was therefore extremely tiring having got little or no sleep prior to the 11 pm departure. a four hour wait at Preston and a four hour wait at the airport therefore guarenteed a sleep filled flight, not a chance

I arrived in Copenhagen around 1pm local time, the hotel fortunately was only minutes away, however by the time I had checked out of the airport and into the hotel the clock was ticking and my schedule awaited, however, by the time I got to my room the only thing that had any significance was the bed, do not disturb on the door and the trip to Christiania cancelled, sadly this was the only part of the trip that was scheduled for me time and not work; later in the trip I managed to find the time to visit, this is another story and will come in a later BLOG.

for now, 14 hours sleep was muchly needed so that I could work without tiredness interferring with my plans, breakfast starts at 0530 and I intended to be there on time and out of the hotel by 7.

More in the next blog

copenhagen calls,

These last few days before my Copenhagen trip, yes, my first trip outside of this country for around 9 years though my first busmans holiday, this is a whole new experience.

In the past a trip abroad had meant another step in my lifes goal, to find myself, now however it is an entirely new ball game, my trip has specific goals without purpose, a field trip of exploration, at the most I would hope to come home with a renewed vigour though secretly I would love to find an inner button that once switched will signify a furtherance of knowledge, a benchmark and new beginnings.

The decision to go was as spontaneous as a trip could be, unusually for me I dived straight in at the deep end, with full knowledge that I had no passport and ignorant of whether or not I could even get a passport in time for my intended departure date and time, flight booked, hotel booked, train seat reserved, taxi booked and a list of 15 or so Copenhagen Galleries to choose from, all within an hour and a half, the passport application process by the way was a seemingly easy to execute arriving only 4 days from the initial enquiry, snowy my cat, even amidst the hype of excitement and activity has been found a reliable cat sitter for those that have interest.

Now all is ready, with a full list of jobs, sketches, visits and fotografs, a list that by far exceeds the time available, I expect to have a damn fine time and will bring a full account of the visit in later BLOGS, till then, thanks for reading and have a good week yourselves.

andrew charles

one small step..........

The advent of the website (http://www.charlesart-studio8live.co.uk/ ) heralds the end of the beginning as it were.

From an internet perspective the past two years or so has been, not so much dedicated to establishing a web presence but the laying down of the proverbial foundations, it was not until the website was launched and the streaming video and exterior links became active and centralised, it was only at that moment when the physical and functional reality of my design came to light, Mike, the man who translated my creative thoughts into a technological mastery (for me a mystery!!) did an absolutely wonderful job and deserves full credit for without someone to marry the two disciplines together it would never have seen the light of day.

With my trip to Copenhagen now only days away I depart a happy man now knowing that I have something tangible by way of a website address to leave with the gallery curators that I hope to meet on my travels around the city.

In addition to the boards for the September show being glazed today the minatures also came back to the studio from Malcolm the framer, not unlike Mike he is another skilled man to whom I am grateful to both for his attention to detail and for completion on schedule making my days towards the show a lot less stressful than my life would be without such a conciensious team.

The finished minatures, they are not so clear so will post on my Facebook site, follow the link on the Right margin of this post.

Well, ramble done, 2012, another long day done and time to relax and chill a bit with the cat, if he can be bothered to awake, you can always have a look on the studio website live feed.

take care and thanks.

sneak preview of september pieces

now down to a matter of weeks before the September Show virtually all jobs have been completed, other than the dreaded admin and marketing of course, all works for the show are finalised, some with Malcolm at the framers, some framed and hanging at home and some all packed up and ready to go.

The small boards that have caused me much concern, in particular with the dimensions of each piece, are now finished and ready to go, not quite the originally intended 10 will be going as the number that will fit comfortably into the venue is only seven.

A Sneak preview of the seven finalists;

The finalised pieces are 10 x 23 cm on a raw canvas primed with gesso on a board support, Painted in acrylic paint I have mixed an acrylic gloss medium to enhance the depth of colour and overall feel of the image.