Geoff's Belize Odyssey

Friday 24 April 2009

Final post

dawn view from my dorm

a moment of contemplation

the final dawn on the reef

Cancun airport

Finally tiding this blog up before linking it to my website. I had an amazing time over the three months and am plotting to go back out at some point to try and sell my more commercial pictures as prints and postcards....who knows. What I'm pretty certain of is that I have accumulated enough material to have at least a couple of different exhibitions back in the UK in the next few months, watch this space.... well this one anyway!

Geoff Allan Collage Artist

Local Colour (2009) photo-collage on canvas

Completely forgot to add this other little picture I put together before the exhibition was organised. Its composed of the bright exterior house paint colours which are in evidence throughout Belize. People are certainly not shy of striking colour combinations as evidenced below....

Thursday 26 March 2009

Finished artwork created at Glovers Reef

Coral Study (2009) photo-collage on canvas

Lovers Reef (2009) photo-collage on foam and duct tape!
(split into two parts here because the complete image would not fit across the blog site)

The brief for this artist in residence was to create a centrepiece for an interpretation centre which is in the process of being built on the atoll. Alex, the station manager, kindly gave me access to his archive of underwater photographs to use as core material for the picture. In the process of scanning through the images, I was also able to pick out interesting close ups of different aspects of the reef which caught my eye, and formulate them into an another composition which turned out as 'Coral Study'.

http://wcsgloversreef.org/Default.aspx

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Glovers Reef

Well I do seem to have rather embarassingly hit yet another sweet spot before I head home at the beginning of April. An artist in residence at a Marine Research Station on the remote atoll of Glovers Reef, way off the coast of Belize....you really couldn't make it up....Don't quite know how I blagged this one, met the station manager Alex while I was at Pooks Hill, and one way or another he's invited me out to create a couple of artworks for an interpretation centre their are building on the island.....so here I am, on a two week jaunt and more cut and paste photoshopping to do....still got a fair bit of work to do mind, though I do have to say being able to take a break from your computer and swim out off the dock instead of making a cup of coffee cannot really be beat....

Middle Caye looking south Photo Credit: Astrum Helicopters

the station itself....

view from the office

the dock

first foot on the island

Donation to The Britsh High Commission

Pretty happy with that...

Thursday 5 March 2009

Re:Exhibition

Unbelieveably I have picked up the pace enough to exhibit in the capital Belmopan, and even better have got people along to view it! It is being held at the George Price Centre in the town which is basically the main culture centre outside Belize City. I'm pretty chuffed I have to say, though because it was in a public building the exhibition was set up as a presentational display only, and therefore the pictures were not for sale. I was very fortunate that the British High Commissioner turned up and was happy to donate my Green Shoots picture to stick in the janitors room at the embassy or something. I was also bizarrely inviewed by local Belizean TV to drum up some publicity. It maybe on youtube somewhere I'll have to hunt it out. Not in great typing form but hopefully the pictures tell the story....