Gem Bell - draa me in

Like the festivals my work aims to show an element of the creative process: from initial (rough sketch, raw) perceived ideas, through design inspiration and constant adaptation, through to realisation. In true festival form I completed the work within the 6 weeks leading up to the festival. I have enjoyed combining a variety of methods to produce this body of work, from tradition drawing and painting techniques to shooting digitally through old medium format camera bodies and blending my layers through the use of modern applications.

I did not have time to spend weeks producing realistic oil portraits of every artist and so had to adapt to suit the reality of the sitiuation. My idea was to produce a sketch of ideas for each year and print them digitally to suit the surroundings. I have created every element that makes up each image.

Within all my work I like the processes I use be determined by my original idea and concept. I love to combine traditional techniques with modern applications to express ideas in a new innovative visual manor. My hope is to create an emotional response, inspire imaginations and focus my efforts on artistic projects that promote togetherness and record our changing times.

I have to give special thanks to Brian Hinton for his visually inspiring text written on the history of the Isle of Wight Festivals, to Chris Weston for the use of his beautiful 1970s site photograph, to my aunty Angie for her amazing sewing machine and to Dave and Moragh at EXP Digital for all their time and efforts in the production of the prints.


	‘draa me in’
	is a body of work completed by local artist gem bell. "I was asked by Solo (organisers of The Isle of Wight Festival) to provide something to decorate their massive 15m x 25m V.I.P backstage tent 2009. My aim was to produce a pictorial history of The Isle of Wight Festival from 1968- 2009. I wanted to produce a set of images that would add colour and texture to the space and provide a visual depiction of each year a major festival has happened here on our little island. I started by researching all the artists who ever played. Absorbed myself in their music and culture, photographed the original sites, spoke to numerous local people about their experiences and then started to draw draw draw. Each triptych represents a visual sketch of the year.
	Like the festivals my work aims to show an element of the creative process: from initial (rough sketch, raw) perceived ideas, through design inspiration and constant adaptation, through to realisation. In true festival form I completed the work within the 6 weeks leading up to the festival. I have enjoyed combining a variety of methods to produce this body of work, from tradition drawing and painting techniques to shooting digitally through old medium format camera bodies and blending my layers through the use of modern applications. I did not have time to spend weeks producing realistic oil portraits of every artist and so had to adapt to suit the reality of the sitiuation. My idea was to produce a sketch of ideas for each year and print them digitally to suit the surroundings. I have created every element that makes up each image. Within all my work I like the processes I use be determined by my original idea and concept. I love to combine traditional techniques with modern applications to express ideas in a new innovative visual manor. My hope is to create an emotional response, inspire imaginations and focus my efforts on artistic projects that promote togetherness and record our changing times. I have to give special thanks to Brian Hinton for his visually inspiring text written on the history of the Isle of Wight Festivals, to Chris Weston for the use of his beautiful 1970s site photograph, to my aunty Angie for her amazing sewing machine and to Dave and Moragh at EXP Digital for all their time and efforts in the production of the prints.