Blog 51

I am helping out at the campsite where we live at the moment repairing all the large 2.5 x 3 meters inner walls / fabric partitions that are in the Shieling tents. There are twenty eight of them to do,  removing all the mould, ingrain dirt, traces of insect marks. It is quite physical work dragging the voluminous heavy material across the floor and pushing it through the sewing machine. I am working on my hands and knees a lot of the time because of their size, and the industrial sewing machine I use is a bit of a beast.

It is a shame I am not making art at the moment but at least I am 'making'. And it is about process. Measuring, cutting out, pinning (piercing), stitching, straight lines etc etc. I have written a twenty one step specification for the person who will continue this role in my absence. An instruction manual of what to do.

As well as this, my partner Shawn and I are in the throws of updating the interior of our van in readiness for our departure next year and I have a growing list of mini projects to complete before we go, mostly involving fabric.

I would like to make my first patchwork throw. Again whilst this is not about making 'art' per se, it is about being creative and the act of 'making'. Patterns, geometry, design, abstraction, measuring, cutting out, pinning (piercing), stitching etc. etc.

I have discovered the work of quilt maker Lindsay Stead who creates geometric, minimalist style quilts, using a very limited palette of colours, shape and design. I like her ideas very much.

I have applied for a couple of shows, unfortunately a rejection by one, and awaiting news from the other. I do have some work being presented in a group show in London next spring, dates to be finalised.

There was a good article in our local magazine this last month titled 'The importance of lying fallow', and I quote the opening paragraph describing the definition of Fallow:

- adj. 1. (of land) left unseeded after being ploughed and harrowed to regain fertility for a crop.
- 2. (of an idea, state of mind, etc) undeveloped or inactive, but potentially useful.

Within the text the author describes how the fields on her farm were left fallow for a year so that the ground could 'heal', nutrients be revived, with no requirements made in the interim.

I think that's how I feel at the moment as an artist, undeveloped but knowingly useful, or is it harassed (rather than harrowed), wanting to be creative within a fine art context but having to work on other projects ha ha!

With the emphasis on these other activities for a while, will these deviations feedback into my artwork? There are similarities. I do hope so.

Sizing up a new patch for one of the inner walls of the Shieling tent.

Blog 50

I am back in the studio exploring my black paper samples, in pursuit of the idea of pierced black paper without the use of very messy black pigment added to it. Would the samples be comparable to my original pierced black pigmented artworks? Could they be better, worse, or just different - a different aesthetic / piece of work?

I have also embossed the black paper samples to see how they compare to my previous white embossed artworks.

The reflection of light on the marks on the paper, it's visual clarity, varies so much depending on where the work is placed in the room and at what time of day, including what lighting is used, natural or artificial. This can have it's own meaning, a subject to play with, but is tricky to manage or control. My work is about process with the end results about that process.

You may recall my white pierced sculptural circle:

which led to larger versions of pierced circles: 

And blackened pierced paper circles:






I have now made some mini black pierced paper circles (without pigment) and put them with some white pierced circles.

There is more work that could be done with this idea based on repetition, scale and installation? It feels like I am painting in 3D. But is my material quite right?

So I have been thinking about piercing paper and embossing paper and particularly finding a replacement for the very messy process of adding black pigment powder to the paper surface.

I have been following the excellent #BBCFourGoesAbstract season on the television. It is very informative, abstract art, a subject I don't know much about. 

I see my pierced holes and dots as individual marks within a mass of marks, yet each without a specific meaning. An abstract. Mass. 

After I had taken the photograph above, when I looked at it, it looks like a collage, an abstract composition. But how could I interpret this into an artwork?

You notice a splash of red - red acrylic paint - brushed onto pierced paper to try and find a powdery pigment replacement. I always work in black and white. I am not a colourist in any way. Anish Kapoor says that red makes a kind of black. I have an understanding with what he is saying. Was this an instinctive choice why I used red? Another artist, Bernard Aubertin, introduced to me in 2013 makes artworks only in red or black, sometimes gold. 

But really I like the colour palette of the black paper samples themselves, best of all.

My line of enquiry is to find a replacement for the very messy process of adding black pigment powder to the paper surface. Following the likes of Yves Klein and Idris Khan I feel I need a finished powdery surface which is lighter and more delicate. 

At this stage after many experiments it looks like a Gum Arabic solution is coming up trumps verses Somerset Black 280gsm Paper. I like the idea of using Gum Arabic because it has a relationship with watercolour painting and I use watercolour paper as my base material. But there are more experiments to be done first.

These new works will never be the same as my original black pigmented paper, but perhaps an alternative, causing a different work of art, with a different aesthetic?

I have also been following the conversations on line about Kazimir Malevich's Black Square 1929, in relation to the Tate Modern Exhibition of his work which is open at the moment (16 July - 26 October 2014). This has led nicely onto the #BBCFourGoesAbstract series that I have been watching on television. 

You see I have been making squares and frames for a quite a while now:

And I don't know why I have been doing it specifically...

And this summer, when I was drawing, I made these two sketches:

And this was before Malevich and #BBCFourGoesAbstract series kicked in...

I end by saying that during the summer I was given a box of unused foam mount board, no longer of use to it's owner. I have decided to make 'white cube' boxes as maquettes for constructing visual ideas for display of my artworks. The 'white cube' gallery is perceived as the optimal space for an artist to exhibit their work in, and is not for everyone. But these spaces can be painted different colours, carved into, fabricated, changed, if so desired. I need to find a way to visualise what I see in front of me when I am making, and how I could display it in an exhibition, for the viewer.  At the least it will give me something to work towards.

And look at all the cut off remnant foam board pieces. Those triangles. This material makes building blocks of it's own. 

I think I need to spend some more time looking at what I have done. Study the different elements. Move things around a bit, physically, in the studio, at the desk, and mentally. 

Blog 49

Okay. I think I can come clean now as to why I think I have been so stuck recently. As they say, "I've had a lot on my mind!"

Between 2009 - 2011 my partner Shawn and I spent just under two glorious years travelling in our American RV motorhome throughout the UK and a little of Europe, in particular Portugal. And, it's come to that time again to hitch up and take another journey.

Our contract here on the Isle of Mull in Scotland comes to an end the beginning of 2015 and after lots of soul searching and many discussions over many weeks we have decided we would like to be on the move again, taking to the road, hopefully this next spring.

We have loved our four years here on Mull and feel very privileged to have experienced the life of an islander and no doubt will miss many aspects of this beautiful and challenging place. But it is time for pastures new.

Whilst I haven't been making much, I have been working hard thinking about the future of my practice. Over the last few months I have taken part in some local business courses looking at marketing, social media, website design and basic bookkeeping. All valuable tools that make up an artist's portfolio.

In 2012 I had my first solo show at An Tobar Arts Centre here on Mull which I thoroughly enjoyed. Resulting from a residency the year before, this year long project culminated in a pierced paper installation 10 meters long which I completed in the gallery space at the end of the show. I would seriously love to do this type of project again.

Shawn and I will need to create an income from our mobile motorhome. But what to do? We both have lots of skills to offer. I definitely want to keep exhibiting but how can I earn an income from this? Realistically? Pursue a more commercial route, sell directly online or at fairs, via residencies...? Or alternate work that dovetails into my creativity? Lots to think about...

We definitely feel there is a change in our approach to small space living and this time we would like to lead a more sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle, stay in places for longer amounts of time and explore places at a slower pace. At the moment we are redesigning the motorhome to include a mechanically moveable studio 'desk' for me and create more open space. Update it really, making it lighter and brighter.

I will have to think about scale and size of artwork that I make, perhaps working in series, or creating pieces that can be joined up together? This is when a temporary studio space or residency opportunities could be very useful!

So what has been happening on the making front since I last wrote a blog? Not much. Ha ha ha! My paper and wire threads are waiting patiently their turn and I have a collection of different black papers just arrived today. I am still pursuing the idea of pierced black paper without the very messy pigment.

As was commented to me a while ago, which is the most important part of my artwork - the process of the making, the pierced holes themselves, or the black pigment? When I submit artworks for exhibitions, the jpg imagery doesn't always do justice to the work in real, so why are curators selecting my work? Interestingly, how do they react once they see the work in real?

This is a discussion about the aesthetics of my work as well as the practicalities of the making process.

We want to make the most of our remaining time here at Mull. We do not have a confirmed destination yet once we leave and we are open as to how this develops. I certainly feel a lot happier now that I can talk about this more freely. It's hard keeping a secret!

Blog 48

I am stuck. Big time. What to do? I circle round and round.

I am distracted - the domestics of life. Commitments. Obligations. Time. £.

I have revisited some of the books I have read in the recent past - subjects that interest, inspire, reflect and engage me.

One afternoon I wrote nine pages of notes. Oh, the beauty of pen scrawling across paper.

I then matched up these words to art making, ideas that I COULD make, thinking about drawing, sculpture, paper, craft and paint.

Artist Liz West wrote a good blog 28th May 2014 called 'A word on creative blocks'. You can view it here: liz-west.blogspot.co.uk

Back in 2009 when I had another big creative block I was studying Richard Serra's Verb List (1967 - 68) at the time. It is a list of words to describe artistic actions and possible instructions for activities using different materials. It resulted in me piercing hundreds of holes into paper using a needle, which I have been doing ever since!

Perhaps I should draw some of the words and / or themes that keep popping out in the literature that I read? Perhaps these themes are already in my work. I think so.

In a website article January 2014 from the arts organisation Artquest, Performance Artist Paul Hurley recommends that you should cultivate a life practice, with one's art practice a part of it. These are wise words. Where does my art practice fit into my life? How and in what way can it fit into my life? Productively, successfully, proportionately, wholly.  (http://www.artquest.org.uk/articles/view/how_to_be_a_performance_artist)

The thing to do is to start something. Not anything, but something. Take an A4 piece of paper. Take a pen. Open the wire threads and paper yarn that have arrived. Start stitching.

Be positive. Stay positive. Don't give up. Be patient.

Big sigh.

 'Untitled', Plasticine Figure, Circa 2006.

!

Blog 47

I feel a bit stumped at the moment. After a flurry of practical activity I'm feeling a bit flat. Perhaps I'm in a consolidating phase, processing mentally what I've been doing practically. Creativity tends to come in fits and starts, bursts and trickles, making and thinking, then thinking and making.

My last blog talked a lot about sewing and I am in the throws of organising some samples to be delivered of paper yarn, wire thread and retroreflective (glow-in-the-dark) thread. I'm questioning the materials I am using, are they the right ones? Materials vs. process.

So I've been 'pottering' about, an awful word to use. Sorting out the studio, again, de-cluttering, again, putting things away, streamlining what is in front of me. Streamlining a number of things.

Publicly I have had work in exhibitions every month this year so far. From Nottingham to Edinburgh, Leeds and now Glasgow, and soon to be, Bath, which is excellent news. Applying for more things, submitting smaller pieces, I am taking a different approach and curators like my work. But I would like to make bigger, more substantial artworks and have more concrete projects ahead of me.

Where I live is a rewarding yet challenging environment. It is costly to get anywhere so unfortunately I have been unable to get to some of these exhibitions. It feels alienating. I feel like I'm experiencing some kind of strange phenomena. I wrap my work up, it disappears, then comes back to me, but I'm not involved with it in the interim. I've always been hands-on, participating with the setting up and taking down of shows,  joining in with curatorial decisions.

These next few months I have other work to do. My partner is head warden for a campsite and I'm going to be housekeeper for our two self catering cottages. They say cleaning is good for exercise and maybe the distraction will focus my artwork! I hope so.

Two of my artworks that are in 'International Glasgow: The Melting Pot' at Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow 10th April - 1st May 2014

Work ready for 'A Given Structure' being held at Fringe Arts Bath Festival (FaB) 23rd May - 8th June 2014

My latest drawings from 'pottering' in the studio. I felt compelled to draw them over a couple of days. I cannot explain what they mean. They remind me of the works of Louise Bourgeoise and Eva Hesse. I see associations with stitching, space and abstraction. 

Did anyone see the letter from Sol LeWitt to Eva Hesse that was circulating recently on Twitter? 

Here it is again Letter from Sol LeWitt to Eva Hesse 

And one of my artworks being re-stretched by hanging it in the window. It had got a little squashed in transportation. It seems to have taken on a different slant in it's new position. 

Here it is in it's original state as presented in 'Overtime: Art and the Office' at SEIZE Leeds, Leeds 

26th March - 29th March 2014

Finally, my favourite artwork 'in progress' at the moment: 

Machine - holed, hand - stitched, crumpled - up, tissue paper.