Blog 37

I am piercing paper again in force developing a series of small drawings testing out blocks of pierced paper verses flat spaces, looking at how the edge of the paper curls when it is pierced, liking the rough and smooth textures of the flat and the raised surfaces, looking at relationships between each drawing.

Working small, postcard size, is a good template to test out ideas. I would like to create a series of large scale works for exhibition.

I have kept my weekly newspapers and magazines and used this wastepaper for pierced paper ideas, looking at patterns and shapes, formats.

And I have been folding sheets of paper together and stitching them together, a sort of book, but still a sheet of paper.

Larger Scale Work in Progress

I have purchased a mini starter pack of 20 watercolour paper sheets from Ken Bromley Art Supplies to see how the piercing process performs on different specifications of paper. It might be the case of simply changing the specification of paper that I use that could make all the difference. I actually like the exercise of piercing 20 sheets of paper, all in the same way, all to the same process, and I am getting different results.

In July I will be exhibiting in a show with the group Plastic Propaganda. We will be in Amsterdam, my premier showing outside the UK. I have been looking at ways to present my pierced drawings and getting costings for different framing solutions. In the ideal world I would like to present my works as they are, without any constraints at all, a piece of paper, as is, but that is not always possible, so I need to find hanging solutions that are as minimal as possible.

Plus it is so costly to have work framed and prepared externally for showing. Along with courier services, transporting artworks abroad, getting to the venue myself, accommodation. The £££ keep rising for this show.

Artist Karla Black suspends coloured paper in a space using thread or ribbon. I have tested out clear plastic fishing wire. In certain light you cannot see it. The paper looks like it is suspended, there, in the space, on it's own. Fishing wire as a material in itself is interesting. If it has a kink in it, you cannot straighten it out, the curl remains there. I have been thinking, how about crocheting with the fishing wire and then unpicking it, capturing all the kinks and curls. That would go well with my dress making paper yarn that I am making.

Next week I head to Edinburgh and Dundee. I am on course to learn more about making applications and writing proposals. I have also made enquiries to view a collection of artists' books at the Visual Research Centre in Dundee.

Reading, research and theory all play an important part in my practice. Is there a way to disseminate this thinking to my audience that can be stimulating, thought provoking and interesting? Where do books as an object and subject fit into my practice?

I have just been interviewed to discuss my solo show and project that I completed at An Tobar Art Centre this last year and I have caught up with an artist whom I haven't spoken with for the last 4 years. They were asking some important questions. The books that I read and talk about in my blog, the place where I now live, and the physical and the intangible costs to my work and practice, what influences are they having, if any, on my work?

I am busy.