The Art of Dora Carrington by Jane Hill

I picked up this book for the illustrations; particularly the old photos, illustrated letters and woodcuts. My favourite thing about the art of Dora Carrington (1893-1932) is her great variety; from wonderful letter sketches, to bookplates for friends made from woodcuts (you know, those illustrated labels - "this book belongs to...."). She designed and painted signboards for inns and pubs, a british traditional art form which she held in high esteem. Her decorations on doorpanels, tiles and furniture provided rest and variation from her diet of "serious" painting. I must say, I was drawn the least to her paintings, but that's not really the point. What is cool is the way she integrated her artistic vision into every aspect of her life - no special emphasis or concern for the stuff that would win her credibility among other fine artists and critics.

I was especially intrigued by Jane Hill's descriptions of the colours and patterns in the rooms that Carrington decorated, for her own home and as commissions. For example:

Sponges and brushes (both ends) were used for applying paint, on top of which she intagliated an erratic spiral pattern in the wet paint. The walls were painted pale green. The door jambs were burnt orange flanked on the outside with charcoal blue and dove grey and on the inside with dove grey and willow green. The intersections of the doors were painted stone; the panels were bordered with charcoal and dull red and the designs were punched through the stencils in charcoal and orange. As well as the four doors, Carrington painted the wooden fireplace surround, and the existing tiles with drapes and bows, Dadie's [the client] initials, a compass and rule, feather and open book, trumpets and horns."

In the photographs, her rooms look amazing. I kept wishing they had colour photography in those days.

In this book you get to read about Carrington's modification to her junk shop discoveries, and the old frames she used to surround her glittering jewel-like works in candyfoil, oil paint and glass. It's all so decorative and girly. Don't get me wrong, She wasn't a social model of femininity any more than were her contemporaries Virginia Woolf or Vanessa Bell. The author's depiction of Carrington's life proves the artist to be a non-conformist spirit who forged an unusual life for herself. She lived with two men, travelled alone and with friends, wore odd clothing and dropped the use of her first name completely. But for me, her extreme reticence with her paintings - her most personal works - and her stringent brand artistic integrity, which delighted in the aesthetic potential of modest utilitarian objects of everyday life, make her very much a girl artist. Bravo.

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