Thursday, 14 November 2013

Poetry

A good friend of mine is a talented poet. Introducing Claire Jane Carter, conjurer of images through words.

She wrote this poem in response to some ink and salt experiment I was playing with...


A small house sits,
flicked in beside
the flaring trees
salted and wet
and yet somehow on fire.
Mud flats simmer in the ink thick space
that extends, hiding god knows what
to the end of the page
What swims in the white?
Turns its milk eyes to the sky
to watch as
overhead you wreak detailed chaos.
Something mineral
crackles, bleeds,
spikes the night,
oils in clouds with the residue
of its own burning.
Is this simply a
a salt slight of hand
from whoever would build that house
on the edge of such a catalyst.

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

School workshops

Last week I was invited along to Watercliffe School in Sheffield to help run a workshop as part of their annual Artsweek. Here is the room in a pre-paint/collage/mess state and another photo of a selection of pandas that obviously overrun China according to our map. I think my favourite bit was when one of the children got distracted from what she was supposed to be doing and painted Africa blue instead.



Saturday, 10 August 2013

Friday, 26 July 2013

Residencies




Another artist from my studio sent me a link to this project in Scotland...
http://www.thebothyproject.org/

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Sheffield Showcase




Some drawings on show as part of Sheffield Showcase at the top of the Moor just down the road from the Peace Gardens. 

Collaboration with the ever talented artists Jill Ray (http://jillraylandscapes.co.uk/) and Mandy Payne (http://mandypayneart.co.uk/)

Friday, 21 June 2013

Bloc Projects Open Studios..




photos courtesy of Jordanna at www.artistsinthemaking.co.uk

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Adventures in Mind by Heather Dawe

"Each of us is only here for a brief time. Part of why I find contentment when high in mountains is because I find their age, their relatively infinite nature, reassuring. I am just a flash in the pan compared to the Cumbrian fells or the jagged, snow-capped Alps. I don't find that a depressing thought. While the mountains remind me of my mortality and fallibility, they also put my fears and worries into context. The stark reality that strikes me when surrounded by beautiful towering peaks is that nothing really matters. This serves to remind me to make the best of everything, enjoy the moment, indulge the good and forget the bad. I'm only around for the blink of an eye. Make it count." 
Adventures in Mind by Heather Dawe

http://www.v-publishing.co.uk/books/biography/adventures-in-mind-a-personal-obsession-with-the-mountains.html