Washing - and dancing!

Writing about cleaning made me think about washing (?) - and has encouraged me to document some of the other ideas I'm currently contemplating.

A while ago a did a number of stencil/ ink on canvas which I washed off to leave an echo of the original drawing. Didn't really get very far and I stored it away for the future. Then, recently when my parents were clearing out they found some old re-touching inks. I was really interested in them because the water had long evaporated leaving the residual pigments. I decided to do a series of drawings which I would document, then wash off and collect the water in a bottle. Today I decided I should get on with them - having limited space at the moment has meant I need to work on smaller stuff. So I have just ordered some clear bottles/ corks and I'm going to make a start...

The other series I want to do is one based on sound/ movement. Ages ago I tried to draw from a recording I made of me drawing - but it didn't work as there was a gap between me hearing the sound and then making the mark. Thinking about this I decided that the only way to draw in reponse to sound without any kind of delay was by dancing. I have done one piece for this series - myself dancing to a song, capturing the marks made by my feet in response to the sound with wax and then drawing over the marks with pencil to reveal them. I have a number of people lined up to do a dance for me (you know who you are!) but can't actually do this until I have my studio back. May try to find an alternative space for this if my studio situation isn't resolved soon?

Two Previews

The first preview is a proper one. Last night I went to the opening of Skimming the Surface - Natalie has been living in Derby for the last year as the Vickers artist and her show was fantastic. If you get the chance make sure you go and see it.

The second preview is a glimps of some of the ideas I'm currently mulling over. Until recently I've been concentrating on marks made by the direct touch of hands/ feet through touch and movement - but lately have been thinking about other marks - specifically those made by repetitive actions. Above are some examples of marks made when cleaning (scrub, scrape, scour) - this is still at the 'thinking through' stage. As cleaning is one of those things I seem to think about a lot (but avoid doing if at all possible) this may be an incentive to participate as well as contemplate?

New packing case!

At last I've sorted out a case for the Jerwood drawing. Because the surface is quite delicate and the corners vunerable I don't want to transport it in just card/ bubblewrap - so a friend made me a mdf/ wood case (thanks Rob). I could have reused the New York one but it is pretty substantial (and therefore heavier!) so I am much happier with this new streamlined version. As it is travelling within the UK, I don't need worry about any import regulations so it has been relatively straightforward and quite a bit cheaper. My hallway is now officially designated as 'packing case storage area' (until I can find somewhere else to keep them).

Wordle and moocards

I have just been playing around with wordle - you type/ paste in text and it generates a word cloud. I used my last statement (the one I wrote for the Drawing Center exhibition). The more you use a particular word the larger it appears - 'drawing' I can understand but I didn't realise I used 'rather' quite so much! I was going to turn the above into cards myself but as I need to buy about 4 new printer inks, and would need to design/ print/ cut and laminate I decided to order some moocards instead. I like the idea of little business cards and I've also ordered a moocard holder which comes with a ring to attach to my keyring so I'll have no excuse not to carry some around with me at all times!

Jerwood Drawing and dry rot!

I've just spent the last two months doing a drawing for submission to the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2008. I've been using ballpoint pen on a fantastic aliminium panel from John Jones. I've been working night and day to get it finished and I'm very nearly there. Bad news has been that my studio is suffering from an outbreak of dry rot which has meant I've been drawing wherever I can lay my panel/ pen - currently my daughters bedroom. Not ideal but hopefully it won't be for too long.....