Megan's Art Space

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...

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

I first came across the work of Verity on Instagram. Her work struck me straight away because of how strong her use of colour is. The stark contrast between darks and lights and placement of ink on paper is enticing. It's sometimes very hard for me to place words to describe work but when I look how Verity is able to manipulate ink there is something very raw and organic. There is real flux to her work, though the work sits proud on the page, there is a narrative beyond this which has been created through the fluidity of line. I spoke to Verity about her work, her influences and progress ahead of her show at Toro, Falmouth opening this evening. How was your time studying at Falmouth University? Did you find you changed a lot? My practice is the refuge in which I process my experience of the world and so my work and I tend to evolve together. I think for me Falmouth was the beginning of my growth into a more accurate version of myself. The process has been slow and is ongoing; I...

This phrase has ben something which I've used within my work for some time now. Mark making and repetition plays a key role in defining my ideas. In our current variations project I am trying to explore this further to gain more of an understanding as to why and what this might mean. I am currently exploring the relationship between space and mark making. This is being developed through investigation of 'head space' and 'organic space'. The two are very much interconnected to me with how I see the world. This is a blog post to get my ideas down in one place in the form to put something more coherent together. It's been over a month since I've written on here! Coming back, slowly but surely!! Organic etchings, foundation 2015 Organic etchings with found imagery on display at Bricklane, summer 2016  I am very interested in process and I explore this idea of the natural world through my organic etchings which I characterise as a true de...