Blog 34

It is the start of a new year for me, a month late perhaps, but we have been on holiday, over in Portugal where we stayed for the winter of 2010/11. It was wonderful to go back and visit the area and meet up with friends. We have certainly got the travel bug again. But hey, back to the grindstone and it's time to get back to work.

I have one more piece of filming to do with Stephen Hurrel for the documentary of my working process and this will complete my year long project at An Tobar Arts Centre on the Isle of Mull.

In March I am going on a three day course to learn more about book art and making with paper. I will be staying on Iona, a small island just off the Isle of Mull. I am really looking forward to this creative experience and the chance to explore paper and books, and with a stay on Iona.

I have joined a group called Plastic Propaganda. Visual artists, painters, sculptors, printmakers and writers, the group have an active programme and have invited me to join them for one of their shows in Amsterdam this summer. If anybody can offer me information on accommodation, places to visit, and things to do, art opportunities, please let me know. I would like to stay out there if possible for the duration of the show, with a residency, or project.

Whilst on holiday I had the luxury of reading time and am just about to finish my forth book, couldn't quite finish it before coming back to the UK. They all involve travelling in one way or another.

The first was by Jose Saramago 'Journey to Portugal'. A famous Portuguese writer, his book is written in the third person, referring constantly to '... the traveller...' (himself). What struck me with this style of writing was his personal account of what a traveller is, or could be, or is not, as compared to a tourist or visitor. The best bit was the last paragraph when he describes "The end of one journey is simply the start of another". How true, this could relate to a lot of things in life.

My next two books were by Scottish author Kathleen Jamie, 'Findings' and 'Sightlines'. An excellent read, simple to understand, relating to the everyday, including snippets of family life, mostly about and surrounding the countryside of Scotland. Kathleen follows her interests with research trips which she then writes about or 'reports back', as a big part of her text. Most of my working life has been in research and development and I like how her research feeds into her love of writing and her writing feeds into her love of research. It can even be something she is curious about outside her backdoor.

My last book, nearly finished, I am attempting to read electronically, on my iPad. If and when we go travelling again, I will not be able to take all my books with me. It is a travel log of a young man's trip around the coast of Britain, something we did back in 2009/10. Happy days, happy memories...

I have done a little making whilst we were away. I have been crocheting, well, trying to. Ever ambitious, I am using the finest embroidery thread and a small crochet hook to try and create a lace effect / string net / spider's web / cluster of holes. I have since come home and purchased some bigger needles. I want to find a process that I can sit and do without the formality of using a table, and still working with my hands, as a process activity.

I also need to create an artwork for Amsterdam.

http://www.plasticpropaganda.co.uk