Archive for January, 2012
Shooting the OX
OX from Unsustainable Creatures by Cynthia Minet © Martin Cox
I have been shooting Cynthia’s sculptures for many years, today I got to photograph her newest piece, the OX from her series Unsustainable Creatures series.
I love the skill in drawing with repurposed plastic forms, and the performance aspect, I have to find just the right lighting conditions for these the creatures.
Of this series Cynthia says: “In the “unsustainable creatures” a sense of humor pervades the representation of domestic animals made from recycled and re-purposed plastic containers and objects. Part of the fun in making the work is looking for shapes that will represent a head or a hoof, and then retaining identifiable aspects of those objects, whether laundry detergent bottles or take-home containers for pie. Friends and neighbors contribute their recyclables for use in this ongoing project, and much material is culled from dumpsters and thrift-stores.”
More of her work can be found at: www.cynthiaminet.com
Mary’s Cottage
Farmhouse at Allbrook, Hampshire © Martin Cox 2011
Down the street, from where I stayed while shooting the canal project, an abandoned cottage loomed behind trees not far from the river
I was curious and asked around. It was said that the painter Mary Beale (1633–1699) has stayed there. Described as the “most important portrait painter of 17th century England, and the first professional female English painter”.
Seeking more information on her, I recently consulted Ellen C. Clayton’s book ENGLISH FEMALE PAINTERS (Vol 1: 1876), of Mary Beale she writes; “One of the most industrious of women, as all female artists have ever been, she assiduously copied every good Italian picture she could obtain.” The time spent at Allbook was likely due to her husbands financial troubles, and it was during this time she grew in skill and prominence, returning the family to a Pall Mall studio with her £200 annual income from commissions (about US$600,000 in today’s money).
Clayton called her, “The leader of the little sisterhood of artists patronized by King Charles the Second…”
The cottage is a Grade II Listed building, however developers are rumoured to be seeking the removal of this 1659-built farmhouse for a court of new houses, and may wait for it to become unsound.
