Upcoming exhibition

I've been working on new drawings, and I'm happy to say that I'll be exhibiting some of my new work at Camden Image Gallery next month as part of the gallery's first birthday exhibition. It's really nice that my work was included in the very first exhibition at this gallery, and will now be part of a show exactly one year later.

The theme for this new show is colour, which suits my work perfectly. I'm not really keen to exhibit older work, so I'm starting some similar drawings of body parts in coloured chalk. I plan to build up layers using a variety of colours, to create rich and vibrant pieces. Using a number of colours rather than working exclusively with black charcoal will hopefully create a broad range of effects. I really love smudging and building up layers with charcoal, and I hope that this proves as effective as it has with charcoal. I'm excited to exhibit my new work as it's been a change in direction for me, and one that I find I'm really enjoying working with. 

I've been experimenting with a number of different papers, and I've enjoyed seeing the strengths and weaknesses with each. Currently I'm particularly enjoying working with a thick handmade textured paper. The pieces become textured anyway in the process of weathering, and using a surface that already has some texture adds to this effect. 

The Camden Image Gallery show is open to the public between 7th and 11th December, 12-7pm daily.

Exciting new work

After a bit of a hiatus I'm getting back into really focusing on producing work, and there's been a bit of a change of direction for me too, which is very refreshing. I've been distracted by other things in my life over the past few months, but this work feels really fresh to me, and has really helped to rejuvenate my motivation.

Recently I've become more interested in drawing than in painting, and this is what I want to concentrate on for now - to the point that I left my paint and brushes in storage in Stockholm! A few months ago I worked on some smudged and layered charcoal drawings, really enjoyed this, and felt that this was something I'd like to take further. As I'm currently between England and Sweden as well, it seems logical to make work that can be moved around more easily than large canvasses. Further to this, rather than concentrating on images of faces, I'm experimenting with drawing body parts, just to bring something new into my work.

Weathering is still of interest to me, and using paper rather than canvas allows me to explore this theme in a new way. I've been weathering the drawings using various combinations of screwing up the paper, and getting it wet, building up layers of charcoal. I particular like screwing up the paper before drawing, as the textured surface guides the drawing in some ways. I really enjoy working with charcoal and getting quite messy - I see the smudges and shadows in these drawings as a positive, something to build up texture and layering within the drawing. Fixing the images at different stages also contributes to the effect. 

I'm planning to experiment with different types of paper, and keen to also try scratching or scrubbing the image once I have some stronger paper or thin card. I'd also like to experiment with drawing and sewing whilst the paper is still a bit damp - this isn't really possible with the brown paper I'm currently using because it's very thin and fragile, especially when wet.

Embroidery is still important in the work, and I've been using embroidery as a means of repair, not using it to embellish the imagery in these pieces. To contrast with the smudged, dark charcoal, I'm intentionally using embroidery thread in bright, vibrant colours. I'm full of enthusiasm about this new body of work - it's a departure from my previous work, and feels like it's something a bit new for me. 

Although these pieces can stand up for themselves, they're also preparation for a new work I have in mind, which is very different to anything I've produced before, and which I also feel very excited about. I'm still thinking it through now, but I feel like it could be something quite special. 

I've received a really positive response to these pieces so far, and I'm really in the right frame of mind to keep working on these ideas. I think I needed something new to really grab me and make me throw myself back into my work, and this idea is really working for me now. I think this body of work has relevance to work I've produced previously, but is still bringing in a new angle.

Current work

This week I've been sketching in charcoal, which I haven't done for quite a while. I've really got back into using it, and I'm particularly enjoying smudging lines or areas I'm unhappy with, and then reworking them. I find this really adds to the character of the sketch, and I find the results to be much more interesting and atmospheric than completely clean lines. I like the build-up of layers and intensity in this image, and I'm keen to work a lot more in charcoal now that I've rediscovered the medium.
I'm also planning some new fibre pieces, having unexpectedly discovered a quantity of unrefined wool amongst my materials this morning. I'm planning to felt the wool and use this as a surface for embroidery, and will most likely also weather the work once it's completed. It's been a few months since I worked on a completely embroidered piece, and I'm feeling a desire to do this again.

Finished weathered work

 

The weathered piece is finally finished!
It's been a frustrating process at times, but I'm happy to have finally finished it, and I'm happy with the results. I'm planning a similar piece, and I think it's likely to get done more quickly seeing as it's now autumn and the weather should be more tempestuous than it was in early September when I started this.
In this piece I've also used embroidery to pick out some of the background colour blocks, as I like some of the strong shapes there. I'm also really happy with the intensity coming from the hanging threads being concentrated in a particular area.
This concept is definitely something I want to push further and experiment more with. I'm hoping to exhibit this, and others works made in this way, early next year.

Today I'm planning to get started on a second piece in this style. However, there will be a couple of differences. To push the idea of being weathered and damaged by life experiences a bit further, the next piece will be a portrait of myself as a child. My mother has kindly sent me some photos to work with.
Additionally I'm going to move away from using continuous line drawings. Instead I'm planning to use drawings inspired by Frank Auerbach. I saw his show at Marlborough on Friday, and found it really inspirational. Since then I've been experimenting with some sketches in his style. I'm planning to build layering up in the work with sketches in charcoal and chalk, and I'm interested to see how this will be affected by natural weathering, even after being fixed.