“You Didn’t Try To Call Me” Photographs, cardboard and acrylic on canvas 50cm x 50cm
The sixth offering in 50 Collages Before Christmas features more of my photographs of grids: some more from Bruce Nauman’s installation at the Hamberger Bahnhof, Berlin and some from boarded-up shopfronts in Bristol. Sometimes it is difficult to stick down collage elements in the precise positions so everything aligns exactly as I want but everything got measured, cut and positioned perfectly almost effortlessly. The photo has a little shine on the left which makes it difficult to see the small dotted marks on the photo which mimic the perforations in the cardboard – my favourite bit, except perhaps for the section centre left which delights my eye with its ever-so-slightly trompe l’oeil misleading.
“Solid IV” Mixed media drawing on handmade Indian ecopaper 30cm x30cm approx
In my next show, at the Sugar Cube Gallery, Hambridge, I continue my explorations on the notion that nothing is ever completely eradicated: barely perceptible traces of every action remain like DNA signatures, capable of being read by those with the knowledge, sensitivity and technology. These traces affect what follows, whether we know it or not. Referencing crop marks, stone circles and mapmaking, a new suite of minimalist drawings using erasure and redaction will be on show along with selected work from two strands of my Black Squares series – asemic writing and “colourful black squares” plus anything else I can fit in to “the smallest gallery in Somerset”. All the pieces are small to medium in size and as such are affordably priced and would make great Christmas gifts for friends, family or a treat for yourself!
The show runs 7 November – 21 December at Sugar Cube Gallery, The Courtyard, Bowdens Farm, Hambridge, Somerset TA10 0BP Monday – Friday 9am – 4pm. There’s a preview evening on Friday 4th November 5pm – 7pm and it would be great to see everyone for a glass of fizz and a chat.
“From Under Your Nose” Paper, acrylic and discarded photograph on gessoed canvas 50cm x 50cm
I’ve gone and done it again! A few years back I did a collage a day for a year – #Collage365. Then I did another every-day-for-a-year project – #Letter365. Only this time I have been a bit less demanding of myself. I think there are 63 days left till Christmas and I started the project 4 or 5 days ago. I know I am going to be away and busy for some of the time so I didn’t want to give myself any pressure. I also wanted to be able to do larger, more considered work rather than the very focussed work that the previous projects demanded. The idea came from my frustration of not being able to get the studio time I have been wanting. Necessary work on my studio roof and other calls on my time have meant I have not been able to engage in the concentrated work I need to be doing. I have sort of promised myself a “residency-at-home” for six months, following the idea of a “staycation”, where I can have an immersive experience in my studio and home landscape (mostly) and this project is how I have decided to kick it off.
Collage has started to creep into my work again – in the “Rings” series and the “Abstract Drawings for Dummies”, the first two of which are also the first two of #Collage50. When I was starting to put my studio back together after the work, I got out one of my large boxes of collage materials and just started working on things. I’ll have to find a way to get my studio organised round the things I am doing! Currently the floor and some work surfaces are covered with newly painted and marked paper I am preparing for use in collages!
The piece above, From Under Your Nose is Number 4 in the series. The photographs are discarded prints by Bridport photographer Brendon Buesnel that he gifted me as collage materials a couple of years ago. The piece below is Number 3, In The Room With No Soul. It features a photograph I took inside Bruce Bruce Nauman’s Room with My Soul Left Out, Room That Does Not Care which I saw at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. A small piece of one of these photos has already appeared in #Collage50 and I can see it could be a theme that develops. Well, it’s a grid isn’t it!
“In The Room With No Soul” Card and photograph on gessoed canvas 50cm x 50cm
I will set up a separate page for the project in due course and try to get half-decent pictures of them all to make into a gallery slide show.
“The Instruction of Prophesy” Indian Ink on paper 594mm x 841mm
I am very pleased that The Instruction of Prophesy has be selected for the Black Swan Open, which runs from Friday 21 October to Saturday 19 November. From the work I saw when I delivered my piece it looks like being a very interesting and provoking exhibition. Hope to see you at the PV 6-8pm on Thursday 20 November 2016
“The Instruction of Prophesy” (detail) Indian Ink on paper 594mm x 841mm
“Double Erasure: Winter Field” Multiply erased graphite on Canaletto paper 495mm x 695mm
I am delighted that “Double Erasure: Winter Field” has been shortlisted for the Wells Art Contemporary Awards 2016 and will be on show at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells 8 – 22 October and is already featured on the WAC website
Installation shot of my show with Björk Haraldsdóttir at Portmanteau Gallery, Bridport
The exhibition at the Portmanteau Gallery in Bridport opens today and i am delighted to say it looks beautiful. Björk’s work and mine work together really well and I am really inspired by how, together, we have created a cool, calm and classy atmosphere.
The Portmanteau Gallery will be open between 10am and 4pm only on the following dates: 20, 21, 24 to 29 August 2016. I won’t be at the gallery every day so if you want to catch up with me your best bet will be to visit on Wednesday 24 or Friday 26 through Sunday 28 or call me to arrange a time, or come to the Private View tonight between 5.30 and 7pm
Another installation shot of my show with Björk Haraldsdóttir at Portmanteau Gallery, Bridport
The Portmanteau Gallery is at 10 North Street, Bridport DT6 3JQ on the corner with Rax Lane where there is limited on-road parking as well as the car park. Look out for the yellow ART signs marked “21”, our Bridport Open Studios venue number.
Some people reading this may be surprised to learn I am taking part in Bridport Open Studios. I have had conversations with many people about my decision not to participate in open studio events again! Then Björk Haraldsdóttir invited me to share the Portmanteau Gallery with her for BOS – an offer I could not refuse. Björk’s work is stunning and we share a similar aesthetic so I’m delighted to be exhibiting with her in what some people have already kindly predicted will be one of the highlights of Bridport Open Studios 2016
Björk creates wonderfully tactile, seductively patterned, stoneware forms that are haunted by her Icelandic heritage and architectural training. If you have not seen her work before I can thoroughly recommend you come and experience it. I believe our work complements each other’s superbly and would look great together in any home. I will be showing a selection of recent field drawings and erasures with a nod to my black squares work. I hope you will find it an exciting mix.
To celebrate me going back on my word I hope you will join Björk and me at the gallery on SATURDAY 20th AUGUST 2016 from 17.30-19.00 for a drink and private view. If you have spent the day at West Bay or touring BOS coming to see our work would make a fine end to the day and it’s still early enough set you up for an evening in Bridport.
The Portmanteau Gallery will be open between 10am and 4pm only on the following dates: 20, 21, 24 to 29 August 2016. I won’t be at the gallery every day so if you want to catch up with me and can’t make it to the PV your best bet will be to visit on Wednesday 24 or Friday 26 through Sunday 28 or call me to arrange a time.
For those who don’t know it, the Portmanteau Gallery is at 10 North Street, Bridport DT6 3JQ on the corner with Rax Lane where there is limited on-road parking as well as the car park. Look out for the yellow ART signs marked “21”, our Bridport Open Studios venue number.
I am opening up my studio as part of Dorset Art Weeks. Everything is set up and looking good ready for the public opening at 11am on Saturday 28th May. I am delighted to be showing a good number of brand new pieces: work that I have produced this year! I am also showing some of the “Black Squares” work I exhibited at Black Swan Arts, Frome, last November which hasn’t been seen in Bridport before.
A mix of Black Squares and new erased field drawings ready for DAW 2016
The new work picks up where I left off last year before committing to the Black Squares theme for the Frome show, but clearly it has been developed with the experience of that focused process at play. There are new field drawings in colourful Inktense pencil, double and triple erasures and redactions, expressive ink drawings, new asemic text works and some sparse new pieces inspired by the coast which I have been wanting to do for almost a year!
There’s work to suit a range of space: from small to large
Because there is so much new work – mostly imperial size or larger – I have had to hang more like an art fair than a gallery, which is fine if you remember this is just an open studios event!
I am not open every day during Dorset Art Weeks so check the opening times before you come. I will be open between 11am and 6pm only on the following dates: 28, 29, 30 May, 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 June 2016. Other times strictly by appointment only.
309 – palindromic perspective Paper, photographic elements and fabric 227mm x 145mm
I am pleased to say that “#Collage365 – a year of scissors & glue” is going to be seen by a new audience. For Every Cloud in Langport will be showing a selection from the year’s work from 16th March to 16th April 2016 with a Private View 12noon to 2.30pm Saturday 12 March.
For those who don’t know the project started back in March 2013, on a day when I had visited the Kurt Schwitters show at Tate Britain for the second time, I got caught by the tweets of Canadian artist Patti Agapi. Patti had decided to do a collage a day for a year and already she was producing some great little pieces.
Why would I take this on? In all my years I rarely used collage or even assemblage (I trained as a sculptor). Most likely I had done less than 20 bits of collage in my life! Well that sounded like a pretty good reason I suppose. It wouldn’t do me any harm to try something new. In any case, my work had begun to include found items and manipulated paper forms.
Another thing is I hate committing myself to anything much really – even things I really want to do! So it was quite a big thing for me to make a public commitment (posted on Twitter & a blog) to produce a small work each day for a year: 365 images one after another on a daily basis. I was clearly a little deranged to tackle such a project!
Patti’s criteria were “a small collage a day, every day for a year…abstract, mixed media, bits of paper & scribbles.” At first I did not confine myself to a particular size and I wasn’t so sure about only abstract or just bits of paper! My definition of collage was pretty loose: paper, scissors and glue was normally involved and daubing and scribbling were definitely allowed. The aim at first was small and quick. But immediately I took each piece very seriously and although I did soon settle on a small size, 6″ x 9″, I wasn’t successful with the quick!
362 – I see Printed and photographic elements 145mm x 227mm
Before long there were 9 of us round the world using the hashtag #Collage365, posting a collage a day and encouraging each other. Not everyone finished the task, though I am pleased to say that some did including me. A representative selection of these works is being shown at For Every Cloud here and the full 365 can be seen in the gallery.
Scissors and Glue comes from a light-hearted ditty I wrote covering the art history of collage. I had been working with a mental health peer support group, incorporating creative writing and art, and on one occasion someone suggested our “homework” should be “something like Francesca did”. Francesca had brought in a complex, highly textured collage she had created. I didn’t do a collage but I wrote the poem, “Something Like Francesca Did”, which you can read on the Scissors & Glue blog
For Every Cloud, Bow Street. Langport. Somerset TA10 9PR
Tel: 01458 251475
16th March – 16th April
Wednesday – Friday 9-4pm, Saturday 9-2pm
Private view Saturday 12th March 12-2.30pm.
