Michelle Williams Gamaker

Art Journal: July 2026

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02/07/26

A bumper Late Night Art Belfast after missing out on the last few sessions.

05/07/26

‘A Brush with Pio Abad’. Seduction through experience. Spent the first half of the studio day working on little commission. Plenty of textures to keep it interesting.

Second half was building up layers, colour swapping and facial details added on the now titled ‘First Encounter’- and yes, it might be the first meeting between a woman and a child OR that i recently watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind recently.

Bit of both perhaps.

Evening time and stumbled on an interesting video that explored haptic vs optic visuality. Yes, it might have been looking at it in terms of film, but it’s struck a chord with where my head is creatively at present.

Got me thinking (dangerous, I know) some of the best work lands in a space of psychological tactility and there’s a unique indexicality (new words). Brushstrokes aren’t just visual marks, but a physical imprint and ‘trace’ of a moment/touch/memory.

Will try and lean more into this new notion of sensual/tactile weight.

07/07/26

Lest.

Lunchtime dandering through the Golden Thread to see ‘The Ignorant Art School: Outside the Circle x Belfast’ curated by Sophia Y Hao from Cooper Gallery. Wonderful use of the space and kept finding little gems/artefacts/text that meant you could keep coming back and pick up something new.

08/07/26

Sketchbook studies tonight

“The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul.”

Andrei Tarkovsky

12/07/26

Boiling Hot! Commission finished I think.

A good go at ‘First Encounter’ too. Actually, a couple of minor tweaks and it could be there.

Submitted to RUA - it’s an even year so worth a go given track record since 2020.

16/07/26

18/07/26

The first overcast day in over a week and I get sunburned.

19/07/26

‘First Encounter’ finished in the studio today.

Less is More

21/07/26

No RUA this year. There goes my ‘lucky’ even year streak.

26/07/26

Studio and new beginnings on a couple of small canvases and then the palette was in dire need of a clean.

30/07/26

Two MAC openings this evening. ‘Reconstruction: A Room for Mike Kelley’ by Mary McIntyre and Robert Anderson. Performance, documentation and memory - recreating Kelley’s studio environment minus the human. Liked how the room was shaped; almost like following the camera’s viewpoint from the initial source photos.

‘A Feeling in the Blood’ by Susan Hughes. Lively fun - made my glasses glow in the UV light!

Art Journal: April 2026

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01/04/26

Dublin Gallery Visits

02/04/26

Belfast Late Night Art. A busy night. Highlights were Aoife Ní Dhuinn in Platform and Mia Stewart in Belfast Print Workshop.

04/04/26

Studio - so much moving back and forth. At least there’s a bit of form and structure now.

10/04/26

A surprise late night studio session - unusual for a Friday. ‘The Week in Art’ Duchamp, Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington.

Some progress on the medium canvas. It’s good to know there is a late night option - kind of surprised with the level of productivity. Thought Gathering

19/04/26

A crisp, bright morning start in the studio. Sadly, (or happily), that sharp spring light laid bare the failings of the recent work on the medium canvas a little too clearly. Maybe there’s something to be said about sticking to working in natural light.

‘A Brush With… Danh Vo / Lorna Simpson /. Hurvin Anderson’ - triple whammy of catching up.

There’s a weird type of frustration when struggling to submerge or push back what’s clearly a focal point - the 1890’s female portrait that is front and centre of the canvas. It’s too loud and overbearing for the composition.

Last time, I tried semi-natural skin tones with no joy and pared it back to just a neutral mess / shell. I want the image to be the atmospheric anchor but it was just a flat meh - making the whole piece disjointed.

Had to make a decision - either chicken out and scrap it - the temptation was there - but ultimately opted for something a little different and something I haven’t tried in a while. Commiting to a monotone shift - making the female portrait out of ultramarine, titanium white and ivory, the memory finally started to sink in.

Lightening the harsh charcoal blacks to the cooler grey makes her presence felt without having her scream. All of a sudden, the orange/brown frame wasn’t just bowing to the lady. Now, I’ve started incorporating some architecture to the cell of the inmate in green.

Is it a memory or a timeline?

Stopped while there’s still energy in the marks.

23/04/26

25/04/26

A short but sharp stint in the studio this morning. Feels like I’ve taken a big swing on this large canvas - adding texture, tone and light/shade into the foreground. Also, included a little notion I had a while back - Reflection of light from the lamp, hitting a pair of eyes in the darkness to the right of the composition. I had thought about incorporating more animal like features (legs, eyes, tail) but was reminded of a quote from Ridley Scott

“ The most important thing in a film of this type [Alien] is not what you see, but the effect of what you think you saw.”

In other words, the eyes could be anything and it leaves interpretation wide open.

26/04/26

Second day in a row - short stay again but relatively productive. Light wash on sky to add depth,