2013 -> 2024

Recently little figures have been emerging in my artwork. I wasn't sure where they came from, but a dig in the archives revealed they had been here in a slightly different form ten years ago.

2013

2024

They did not show themselves in the intervening years and I wonder why they have come back. They have moved from blocks to now being more based on line and from colour to black and white. The movement and/or gesture feel important. My current figures are very much grounded in recalling ice skating moves. I vaguely recall the 2013 figures responding to the nursery rhyme Ring a Ring o' Roses - but I cannot recall why.

As my work develops this visual language grows to incorporate marks other than those created by text and language. 

Found text

While prepping some old work to turn it into new work I got slightly distracted. The initial intention was to cover over the text (four pots of thick ready mixed paint that smelt like chalk chemicals) to make room for new text.

I often reuse or rework outcomes as I feel like they are done once I have shown them. This was part of a larger collection of painted text on canvas boards shown a couple of years ago now.

As I was about to cover the text I wondered if there was anything else in the text that could be said. I used thick black acrylic paint straight out of the tube to start blocking out words, parts of words of letters.

The readability is a bit jumbled. but that is to be expected as the new words are broken up amongst the old words. The meaning is also limited as these are found words that I felt vaguely went together to make a sentence.

u ok read mixed pain that talks

This process is just the start for this board, but it keeps me engaged and thinking much more than just coating the canvas board in paint.

Studio play

I wanted to get into the studio and do something with cardboard. I had a collection of large sheets of cardboard lining the walls that had been there for a few years. 

After the last blog posts and a moment of thinking about what to say, I decided to just write anything that came into my mind. 

I've also started this fascination with a little line-drawn figure that keeps making an appearance. I decided to expand on this with other line drawings. 

I started with paint pens but quickly decided to throw other mediums at the outcome too. There is no plan, I just wanted to play with just see what came out. I guess in a way a bit of the automatic came into the process. 

say something

say something. say anything. make it profound. or not. 

I am currently quite interested in the idea of having or not having anything to say. I am used to having a lot to say but there is a pressure to say things that are more and more profound. The question is does that, or should that, will that, stop me from saying something. 

In terms of materials, I am currently, still(?) interested in cardboard. When playing around with some ideas for an installation I decided to photograph the cardboard and play with layering and hiding text within it. This felt like an interesting concept to explore, as if I'm going to say something profound and then hide it, what are the implications?  

I'm not sure that I want to stay digital, I will probably take the playing back into the studio at some point. I think this text is too readable to be hidden. But maybe a physical outcome would be even more so. Maybe cardboard isn't the right material. White-on-white or black-on-black might work better. 

Text on letters

I may have gone a little meta with this one. Text within text. What would the big text say? Who knows at the moment. What would the little text say? Well, at the moment I am very much stuck on continuous lines but that might all change. 

With the Rowhedge Art Trailing coming up later this year I want to think about large-scale text for an outside exhibition context. These text-on-letter tests might be the start of something. Though I am not sure the cardboard would cut it - they certainly wouldn't survive rain. 

I am also weighing up the natural colourings of the materials v's painted. The white on brown is growing on me and I am thinking that I'd achieve a similar aesthetic with MDF or similar - something that might survive the British summertime a little better than cardboard. However, I have played with white-on-black letters. A nod to the usual black-on-white text we are so accustomed to. 

The contrast is clearly more striking here, but I am not sure striking is what I am going for. I prefer understated. I also feel the white on black becomes a little too decorative, and the text is lost. I struggle to read the words here, despite being the one who wrote them. 

There is also something to say here about the amount of text each letter might hold. At the moment I am drawn to the less is more. I think I am persuading myself to go for something more readable, and less busy. I'm just not too sure what I want to say yet. 

Something about cardboard

Wandering around my studio with a white paint pen. I was looking for something, anything, to write something, anything, on. After playing with paper I moved onto cardboard. Cardboard often finds its way into my artwork due to its DIY properties. With the cardboard, I wanted to explore larger-scale works and text that could creep around the edges.

The continuous lines talked about in this blog post remain. The writing ended when I felt that continuous thought had come to a natural end. The text on the box intends to be the focal point of the piece. The writing is legible and simply rendered by hand, there are no special effects or embellishments. The outcomes are clean and uncluttered and are intended to be shown as a collection. 

Continuous lines continue

This post begins with my linguistic epiphany that lines could mean lines of text, not just line drawings. I enjoy bending language and this helps me situate the technique in my art practice more fully. 

I've moved this practice to the digital as I wanted to reengage with my drawing tablet, it has been neglected since I stopped drawing road signs some time ago. Working digitally felt more restricted and working became more careful. It also became much more evident when the pen was lifted from the tablet, making adhering to the rules of a continuous line even more important. 

Spacing became more difficult to judge as the size of the tablet was not reflective of the screen, resulting in 'page' almost falling off the page. I've started basic and avoided writing around corners, but that is the aim. I like the performative nature of the text that becomes on the side and then upside down.