From embroidery designer to innovative, highly recognized artist, Carne Griffiths is no stranger to blazing his own path in the world of art. Join me as I get a small glimpse into Carne's life as an artist.
See below: his work "Fall" and following that, the interview
Leah: How do you use tea to make art? What inspired you to use tea, coffee and alcohol in addition to ink?
Carne: I incorporated the use of tea and other liquids into my work in 2010/11, it was an accidental occurrence at first but developed into something that I pursued and actually helped with my handling of colour. The addition of tea is normally thrown from a brush onto the page - I work with freshly brewed tea and the energy and direction of application is of primary importance - I tend not to 'paint' with the tea as this disturbs the delicate patterns that the tea makes when mixing with the inks on the page.
Carne: I incorporated the use of tea and other liquids into my work in 2010/11, it was an accidental occurrence at first but developed into something that I pursued and actually helped with my handling of colour. The addition of tea is normally thrown from a brush onto the page - I work with freshly brewed tea and the energy and direction of application is of primary importance - I tend not to 'paint' with the tea as this disturbs the delicate patterns that the tea makes when mixing with the inks on the page.
Carne: My work is inspired mostly by nature. I left a 12 year career as an embroidery designer initially to undertake an exploratory year of painting - this lead to where I am now. So the influence of embroidery design and nature's part in this is quite evident in most of the pieces that I make.
Leah: Is using natural ingredients such as coffee, tea and alcohol related to the chemicals in acrylics and oil paints and not wanting to get ill?
Carne: I actually ingest quite a lot of the materials I work with now, so although it wasn't a reaction to chemicals in paint - it would certainly be a problem if I returned to any chemical materials.. it has become such a habit to remove liquids from the brush by mouth that I'd be in for a nasty shock if I turned to oil painting.
Leah: Do you drink tea as well? If so, what kind do you prefer?
Carne: I do drink tea and coffee while working - coffee for the high energy boost but I like to drink tea when working for long periods on detailed work - it helps keep a level of work and reduces the up and down spikes that result from too much coffee! I enjoy wrapped teas, and specialist teas - I have a beautiful clear glass teapot that was a present from my wife - the whole ceremony of making a cup of tea is important but I also like the fact that it is an everyday occurrence and can be taken in stride with the work.
Leah: What is your favourite work so far that you've done in 2015?
Carne: I think my favourite painting so far this year is the Tempest. It is also one of the most recent works I have completed - it involved a wider spectrum of colours and the use of a number of teas both loose leaf and tea bag!
Carne's work, The Tempest is below:
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To see Carne's website click here
To find Carne on Facebook click here
Here's one of my favourites of Carne's work: Flower of Life
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Leah
This is absolutely AMAZING! I really enjoyed this article. Such stunning artwork!
ReplyDeleteHe's a genius! I can't believe he eats his "paint." It would be a weird texture eating it off a paint brush.
DeleteThat's incredible! I am always so in awe of artists, but this is especially cool! What a neat medium to use
ReplyDelete