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Showing posts from 2017

Artist Talks: Alison Soye

A couple of weeks ago I went up to Edinburgh and when I was there I met up with Alison Soye, who is an illustrator I discovered through Instagram. We met up in Lovecrumbs (the best cake n coffee shop) and chatted for a bit before heading to Princes Street Gardens to draw the buildings and surrounding scenery. We spoke about how we present ourselves online as artists this is something that we have to use more and more to get our work out there. Alison is currently working on an exciting project illustrating a children's book. We drew some of the buildings when we met and spoke about how amazing it is that people can both be drawing something in front of them at the same time but interpret it so differently. Alison's sense of line is more structured than my chaotic approach but we both have a similar continuous way of capturing what is in front of us, Alison's way of drawing is very instinctive. I've put together a small interview with Alison for you to lea

Pressing Matters, Printing Magazine Review

Something exciting landed through my letter box a couple of weeks ago. A new exciting magazine has entered the art world. Pressing Matters, a new magazine focussing on process and passion behind printmaking. While printmaking has been a major component of my practice for the last 2 and a half years, there has been a limited community with how I can share my work and meet other printmakers. While the studios at University have been a great place to meet people and share ideas with work and learning new skills, the internet//Instagram has been where I've found a lot of other printmaker folk. I thought I would share my thoughts on the magazine and some of my favourites. Stick around for all things etching, screen printing and more. The magazine is buzzing with the notion of what printmaking is all about, I think the creator have been very thoughtful in the terms of who this magazine is targeted at. While the likes of me (someone who gets a little bit excited by the smell of whit

Tremenheere Sculpture Park, Penzance, Cornwall

The weather in Cornwall this week has been somewhat glorious (until writing this, where it's raining and the wind is hitting against the window...). Myself and Lorna headed to Penzance to visit somewhere we had both never been before. I first heard about Tremenherre Sculpture park through my friend Sarah who has work in the gallery and artisan shop. Before we went I did a little bit of research to see whose work was on display. Richard Long RA, who is best known for his way of documenting the land through walking displays a work which echoes the shape of the land and view. His work is at the highest point of the garden which invites the viewer to look beyond the line of his work and out to the horizon of the sea.  Before Lorna and I went to the garden I bound us both a sketchbook to document the day. Lorna's first practice is Photography, where she studied Marine and Natural History Photography at Falmouth University, and she's always getting me to encourage her to w

Artist Talks: Lily Irwin

I first came across the work of Lily Irwin on Instagram (obviously) and was struck at how she uses mark making to create beautiful, intricate narratives within her work. The marks dance around the pages of the compositions and create something magical and full of life. There is a real sense of experimentation within her process and ability to convey this into something resolved is inspiring. I adore her chaotic marks which contrast with the more considered repetitive marks. I caught up with Lily to learn more about her thoughts and influences. How long have you been drawing and how important is this to your work? It is difficult to gauge how old I was when I first began to draw. What is certain in my mind is that by the age of three, I had already developed a great love and natural inclination to draw onto walls much to the despair of various family members. Another early memory that jumps out are of lessons with Lesley Fennell, a great friend of mine who lives down the road from u

Christiane Lohr at the Turner Contemporary

Over the weekend I headed to Margate, Kent to the Turner contemporary to see the new building and current exhibition 'Entangled' which is showing the work from many artists who work in weave, thread, trace and stitch. I resonated a lot with parts of the exhibition because of the tactile nature and use of process and material. A lot of the work had been created by building upon something which already exists, piecing fragments together. One artists work Christiane Lohr's work stood out to me the most because of how it had been presented within the gallery space and the delicate nature of how the work is composed.  The white space of the gallery exposes moving shadows of the work, how things are left raw and bare, the environment in which the work sits adds to this tension within her work. The floating forms echo a sense of fragility and balance. They are small and intricate in scale and the work was shown low to the ground. I think this makes the viewer interact with the

The shadow of a doubt

It might be January blues, It might be because I'm burnt out but at the start of a new term this is the last thing you need. (it probably is the latter because I don't know how to stop...) Whenever I get like this I have different things I do to try and keep myself occupied. I was talking to some people on Instagram and they suggested actually forcing myself to have a lazy day. I am bad at this because like other creatives I put a lot of pressure on myself to be making all the time. I thought I would put together some books, music and videos I go to when the shadow of a doubt/artist block is creeping in. One of the best documentaries that always leaves me inspired is 'What do Artists do all Day - Norman Ackroyd'. Ackroyd is one of my favourite Printmakers and I've been fortunate to see his work in the flesh and each time I see it, it inspires me. I think it is great when other artists share an insight into their way of working and thought process behind the work.

Conversations in Letters and Lines: Edinburgh Fruitmarket Gallery

I've been working, walking and roaming my birthplace for the last couple of days. I always feel like I'm coming home whenever I am fortunate to get the chance to return to Edinburgh. I've been up north exploring the Highlands, Borders and working with a Silversmith Artist in her studio. I always try and get to some of the galleries when I'm up here, my favourite being the Edinburgh Fruit Market gallery. The Current Exhibition 'Conversations in Letters and Lines, William Kentridge and Vivienne Koorland is on display on until Mid Feb. I met up with my friend Izzy to do some drawing round Edinburgh and go to the exhibition. The curation of the exhibition brings the work together of these visual artists who are both from South Africa. They first met in the mid-1970s as students at University and have had a continued dialogue about their work ever since. This exhibition documents that relationship between the two artists and shows how they have informed each others pra