Continuous lines

It is the start of the year(ish) and with the start of the year comes the start of new courses! This means that in my teaching I am currently doing lots of drawing basics. One of my favorite drawing techniques to introduce at the start of a course is continuous line drawing - it is a little more relaxed and expectations are lower, all in all, it is usually quite fun. 

What this on my mind I find myself considering continuous lines, now I do not often draw in my practice so I jumped from continuous line drawing to continuous line writing quite quickly. 

I was waiting for the kettle to boil (hence the teapot and cup), and did not really have any words on my mind so decided to work with the words 'a continuous line drawing' as my prompt, the line (as all lines do) went for a walk around the page. I tackled corners and rotated paper all while being careful to not list my pen. I played with automatic writing to an extent with no words planned and returned to the word continuous when stuck.

I enjoy the aesthetics of the text and would not pair them with drawings going forward, as it was, the drawings existed before the text. This was ten minutes of play, that happily ended in an idea and a cup of tea. 

Cutting up art

The notion of cutting and sticking is nothing new and is something that I have previously explored using magazines. See these works here. However, recently I have ventured into new ground and started cutting up and sticking down my own artwork. 

I came to this process as I went through an intense period of creating gelli prints, leaving me with piles of outcomes that were works in progress and nothing more. I wanted to make sure of them and the text they held.

As the works were all my own there was the added benefit that any words were in my own font and that all outcomes were in the same colour pallets. Text is the same size as it is all created with the same stencil, meaning putting the words together was much easier than working with second-hand materials. 

The processes developed as I worked, initially I was cutting off words here and there and sticking them down, but as I moved on I decided to pre-cut all the old art, and create piles of words, singular letters, and areas of block colour. I am not sure if these will emerge as fully formed ideas, but at the moment I am enjoying the playing process. 

Now you see me...

This is a series of work in progress that draws on the fleetingness of language. The text is only visible at certain angles and disappears and reappears as you walk around it. 

The work consisted of framed wire mesh. The wire mesh has been printed on in a gelli printing process and the text has been added with the aid of a hand-cut paper stencil. The text itself is random to a degree and was chosen, or curated, to fit the space of the frame.

The one difficulty with the work is sourcing the same wire mesh as used here. The gaps in the mesh are large enough to help distort the image but not too small to provide a flat writing surface. The mesh is also fairly strong and was easily slotted into the frame. 

I do not usually frame artworks, but these outcomes required something that would hold them in place. The frames are deep and the work can be mirror-plated to a wall, or left free-standing, to be viewed more sculpturally. 

The frames themselves have been left untreated, and their glass frontage and backing removed. 

The readability of the text is dependent on the backdrop they are placed in front of. On a white wall, the words become easier to read, while in front of a busy backdrop, they disappear. 

My Artist-Teacher Manifesto

I last wrote an artist statement back in 2020, you can read it here. It has been almost three years and much has changed. Since then I have completed my PhD and fully embraced my Artist-Teacher identity.

My artwork has gone through several evolutions and thanks to the pandemic my installation work stopped and hasn't come back (yet). So I felt it was time for a new artist statement. However, I am not just an artist anymore. So an artist's statement does not feel right. Instead, I've come up with an artist-teacher manifesto.

To remember that I am an artist and teacher at all times and in all places. To recognise the little moment of practice in each day, in the classroom or studio. To sketch more. To experiment with new ideas, materials, and equipment. To select the right opportunities and moments. To create continuously.