Out Of The Box

I'm delighted to announce the publication of a new art book called 'Out Of The Box', that features box-related artworks by a wide range of artists, including myself. I'd like to say a massive thank you to the artist, Tom Buchanan, for all the time and hard work he's put into getting this project off the ground. 

Not only is the book beautiful but I'm pleased to see that the cover features work by amazing artist, Nancy Fouts, a friend of mine who sadly passed away very recently. I remember Nancy as hard drinking, chain smoking, and very funny, but that might be because I first met her as part of a group of artists, out partying during the opening week of one of the Venice Biennales, so we were all living a little excessively that week. 

As well as Nancy's inclusion in the book there are works by numerous other very talented artists, including Sir Peter Blake, D*Face, Jimmy Cauty (formerly of the band, The KLF), Lisa Woollett, Wolfgang Stiller, Kim Keever, Daniel Agdag, Michael Johansson, Kurt Tong, Mohamed Hafez, Hari & Deepti, Julie Liger-Belair, Frank Jennings, David Buckingham, Micah Lexier, Frank Kunert, Peter Quinnell, and many many more.

As you can see in this little video that I made the morning that the book arrived through my letterbox, it features four of my sculptures, Crutch and Tumour Box, Tattooed Tumour Box, Horned Orifice God Box, and two photos of my Nail Box sculpture. 

For anyone who would like to order a copy of the book you might like to know that I ordered my copy from hive.co.uk. Not only are they cheaper than the next cheapest, Amazon and Blackwells, but for every purchase from them they make a donation to an independent book shop close to you. As a massive bibliophile myself, I'm all for anything that helps independent book shops stay afloat, especially in these difficult times.

Small Paintings Series (Another Update)

Back in mid-January of 2020 I came up with the idea of setting myself the ridiculously ambitious challenge of trying to paint 1000 small oil paintings in a year. My initial thoughts behind the project were that I'd knock out a load of quick oil sketches as a way or generating a few new ideas and trying out different painting techniques. Although the some of the paintings didn't turn out to be quite as quick or sketchy as I'd initially intended (yet some are little more than scribbles), I was, for the first few weeks, still on schedule for my target. However, I soon realised that sticking to this schedule would not only be somewhat demanding, it wouldn't leave me any time for other projects (or the long bouts of aimlessly staring into space that I so enjoy). So I downgraded the target to 100 oil paintings/sketches in one 12 month period. This, with the pressure now off, I managed quite easily.

'Hooded Hollow Dog Warrior', 2020, oil on board by artist, Wayne Chisnall

In my last 'Small Paintings Series Update' blog post we got up to 'Sullen Ted', oil sketch number 55. So here are a few more, from painting number 56 onwards.

'Treemoore', 2020, oil on board by artist, Wayne Chisnall

Apart from two or three, all of the paintings in this 2020 series are painted directly to the painting's surface with brush and oil paint, rather than being pencilled in beforehand. I really like the immediacy of this approach. You can often end up with a piece that has a vibrancy that you might not have got if you were being more considered and calculated.

'Two Forms On Red', 2020, oil on board by artist, Wayne Chisnall

The mini oil paintings/oil sketches that I've produced so far are mostly painted on small, wall mountable, plywood or chipboard plaques (recycled form pieces of  Victoria and Albert Museum packing crates), or on old book covers and recycled pieces of primed mount board (recycled from the V&A museum's Paper Conservation Department and from their Picture Framing Dept.).

'Robat', 2020, oil on board by artist, Wayne Chisnall