Foundation Year Project, 2007

In 2007 I made three paintings for the final major project (FMP) at Abingdon & Witney college. The paintings were inspired by London. I felt the atmosphere on the underground had changed following the 2005 terrorist attacks. An environment that was already pretty dingey had become darker. I had this image in my head of this train hurtling towards me. You could see the front of the train, and a diminishing platform. The lights of the train were bright but it was enshrouded by darkness. To 'exorcise' this vision, I made 100 paintings. Some quite small and some minimal, all externalising the motif. In order to evoke the properties of a tube tunnel, I used organic substances - sticky honey and dusty charcoal. This meant that once the paintings went into storage, they went mouldy! However, the mould is quite beautiful, and quite fitting, reminiscent of rust and damp.

Some of the preparatory paintings/drawings:

The final paintings:

Here are some close up shots of the surface taken in bright sunlight.

Dispatches from Art School

Work from the first term at Somerset College of Art and Technology.

This was some work about frogs. I can't really explain it. I found a dead frog under the recycling bin in my mum's garden. I thought maybe it said something about human intervention in the natural world, i.e. the frog had come to rely on the shelter of the bin, and when the bin men moved it, they crushed him. I made lots of frogs out of illuminous play-doh, TM. I stretched them and photographed them in natural surroundings and surreal scenarios. Eventually the bits of frogs dried up and I displayed them on some specially made shelves.  

These are some close ups of work produced in a 2 day drawing workshop run by sculptor and tutor Graham Seaton and painter and tutor, Stewart Geddes. The idea was to loosen us up - get us to over-ride our natural drawing habits. It was a good day. I don't think I quite let go enough, but given the opportunity again I wouldn't be so conventional. There were students stabbing their paper or painting with their feet. I just enjoyed making pretty patterns.

Exeter Phoenix Show, December 2010

This was a solo show I organised in the cafe/bar at Exeter Phoenix. Featuring work from both the Wales Bridge and The Bears series of paintings. The Wales Bridge series of paintings were created in 2010, specifically for the show. They were inspired by a journey on a coach between England and Wales. It was a wet, wintery night and I was ushered onto a rail replacement service. As I moved through the landscape, I was struck by the beauty of the neon lights in the distance, smeared by the speed of the coach and the droplets of rain on the windows. I took some pictures on a camera phone and these paintings stem from those pictures.

The gallery manager said my work was the best they'd had in there for a while. I was thrilled, natch. 

Some pictures of the work in the space:

 

Art for Amnesty

In 2009, I donated two paintings to an art auction in aid of Amnesty International held in Bristol. I think they raised something like £100. They weren't paintings I cared for, just experiments really. That is all.

2010 Work

I have been working on some little bears for my Phoenix show in December. They're not really bears, they're actually dogs, leopards and monkeys, but they're part of the bear family! (to me)