A little while ago I posted on the subject of 'cultural appropriation' (Pocahotties, Picasso and the Elgin Marbles). That post referred mostly to musical themes, but I want to come consider the broader topic of appropriation, that is the use of the work of others in some way, in our own art. Of course few, if any, artists can claim to be wholly original. Even the greatest of masters had influences and in Newton's famous phrase, “We are all standing on the shoulders of giants.

So, when a little while ago I found myself in a creative low spot, (In the desert), and inspired in part by the idea of theme and variations from music, I decided in the end to try and dig myself out by explicitly examining and using a work by Howard Hodgkin that I had seen in a book, and which had particularly drawn my attention. The work in question, which I have yet to see in real life, is 'Rain' in the Tate collection.

Using that painting as a model, I first of all made a print version. This wasn't meant to be an accurate copy, but more than something simply 'inspired' by the original.

Subsequent versions went further and further away from the original.

I'm not claiming any great artistic value in these tiny monoprints. They appear to me to be attractive in their own right and in making them I achieved my aim of getting out of a creative slump. I also learnt some things I hadn't been expecting. For example, despite Hodgkin's superficially loose style, the composition of his painting is actually very deliberate. The blocks of colour and their placement have great compositional significance. In part this is perhaps consequent on his stated view that his paintings are not abstract, but always about something very specific. I certainly found, as I moved further and further from his composition, that it was harder and harder to maintain the sense of completeness that I find in his work.

Since making these prints I have moved on a little and used the generic style, rather than a specific painting as inspiration. These prints have yet to be scanned so will be uploaded at a later date.

In the wider context of appropriation, it would be interesting to get your comments on the idea of using another artists work in this way. Obviously I'm not trying to 'pass off' these works as anything other than what they are and personally I found the process both useful and fun. Using the musical analogy again, I see the idea of 'theme and variations' as a positive thing, but what do you think? Have you ever used the work of another artist in this way? How would you feel if it was your work being used as the source?

I've been working on some small monotypes over the past few weeks. I started making these as a quick way to try out palettes and different ways of mark-making on the plate, keeping the size down for economy and to save time. I'm increasingly finding however that I like this size - the largest being no more than about 5" by 4" - especially the concentrated focus and the way in which marks have to be kept simple and graphic to show up. Despite that subtlety in shading is still possible.

I haven't put any of these in  my shop here. I'm not sure how much interest there would be in what are in effect studies. They have been uploaded to flickr however so have a look and if you think they have worth in themselves, please let me know. I would love some feedback.

I've included some examples below, but the full set, currently eight in number but with another half dozen or so still to scan, can be found here.

Some of the prints still to scan were made while trying to get out of my creative block that I posted about a few days ago. I'll put them into a separate post that will tie into the series of posts on 'appropriation' that I started here.

When my press arrived, I started by taking some impressions from existing plates. After that I started playing around with papers, pressures and colours to make some very small monotypes. None of these are much bigger than about 4" on a side. They were fun to make and when I get going will make a nice set of small pieces at lower price points in the shop. In the meantime here they are on Flickr.

I have had two prints in a local show, in the nearby town of Corsham. I went to pick them up yesterday and was pleased to find this one, 'Regatta', had sold.

So, if the new owner finds their way here, thank you for buying and I hope you enjoy the picture!