Sunderland University Art Projects

We have to say which artists influence us the most

the first one for me has to be Van Gogh. Having been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam and seen his works, everything was so vibrant, and his use of colour was amazing .but for me it was the skull with the cigarette that stands out, it just seems so ahead of his time.

Another artist I like is Henry Moore.

Henry Moore simplifies the objects he sculpts and breaks the down to the basic shapes almost liquefying them. This leaves them looking very fluid and smooth.

Antony Gormly use of size is impressive, he's obviously not intimidated by his works' size.

But to be Honest the primary influence on me is from my son and his wife Who are both artists down the south and it was with their encouragement that I came to the University in the first place. The two pieces of work below are from  Natalie Andrews, an upcoming artist who really impresses with her style, which seems to be influenced by Violence in life also rebirth to some extent.

Natalie Andrews – Architecture of a problem (2)

Michael Eden is my oldest son at the moment he lives in St Albans and works as Lecturer at University of Arts London, 

This is an installation with overtones of the wicker man.

These are some of his works that I find really interesting one is of Lady Bertilak the next is a severed deer head with shorn antlers and the third is a metal sculpture of sir Gawain sleeping in Armour

Images of Ai Weiwei Artworks Trees

bing.com/images

These images I find very interesting,these tree installations were inspired by the street vendors of Jingdezhen,Southern China who bring them down from the mountains to sell in the markets. Ai Weiwei has apparently been buying these for years and storing them at his home until he comes up with a way of using them.I think I would like to see these in the flesh so to speak,as seeing the different types of trees joined to make one tree is fascinating.

The other artists that influence me tend to be musicians from the sixties and seventies such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell , Buffy sainte Marie, and Melanie Safka.I was born into the hippy generation,and grew up listening to that type of music,from the protest singers,the anti Vietnam war movement and the civil rights movements, through to the psychedelic music of the likes of Jefferson airplane's, Surrealistic Pillow.The saying every picture is worth a thousand words is very true but also music can conjure images in the listeners brain and listening to the likes of Melanie and Buffy Sainte Marie and others from that generation of songwriters fill my head with strong images. There are so many different musicians that influence me I find it hard to pick the best out of them.From the trippy sounds of the Moody Blues to the quintessential Britishness of The Kinks,the poetry of Dylan and Leonard Cohen and the sultry sound of Billie Holiday all evoke pictures when they are listened to.