In 2016 I began work on a commission for a private residence in Hove, East Sussex. The project included two curtain designs featuring the architectural highlights of Montpelier (the client’s local neighbourhood) and Falmer Campus at Sussex University (the site of the client’s former studies). Measuring 15 square meters each, this large scale project involved photography and sculptural elements to create a bespoke textile digital print onto linen fabric. The curtains would provide a dominant decorative feature for two rooms; the bedroom and living room, each curtain to cover the floor to ceiling sized windows. Continue reading here.
Journey of a Few Found Objects
It starts with my own journey, not my usual photo walk, but a hunt for discarded objects that I’ll claim as found objects . Objects found by chance and ‘considered from an aesthetic viewpoint’. I swap my camera for a carrier bag and proceed to scan the ground with an unexpected self consciousness. I walk from Buchanan Street bus station to University Way, which is more or less a straight line, heading west through the city for about thirty minutes. It’s a clear start and end point, helpful for my concentration and limiting any extra decision making – because to blink would be to miss the low lying treasure. Continue reading here.
Creating Original Colour Palettes
I’ve been writing regularly about my own approaches to art and design for over a year now and I’ve only just realised I rarely talk about creating colour. I’ve mentioned the idea of ‘finding’ colour, through photography, printmaking, photo walks and maybe using Adobe Photoshop, but never about how I instigate colour. I’ve kept it quiet, mysterious somehow, even to myself. Continue reading here.
Finding the Value in Mark Making
How I describe what I do... 'I make marks, I collect marks with my camera, I’m obsessed with irregular shape and have ongoing curiosity to rearrange and repeat variations of a mark for ever more.' It can be hard to talk about the abstract if you can’t see it. I think I’m writing this article to make up for my lack of mark making small talk. So I’ll make the big talk here and give some attention to my occupation. Continue reading here…
Photo Walk – Looking for Shape to Mono Print
I wrote about photo walks in a previous post last year and meant to return to the topic. This time, I’m intending to be a little more focused. I’ve set myself a mini challenge – to go in search of shape in my photo walk. Finding regular or irregular shapes in my environment that will go on to inspire a range of original mono prints.
Why mono prints? Because I love any excuse to return to this technique, always a key part of my practice and where I head in spite of any lost motivation. Through mono printing, my spark returns. Continue reading here.
Materials as Textiles: Creating Imagery From Foil, Concrete and Paper
From my scarf collections I’m choosing to explore three designs for this article and share some of the original imagery. Each design has a different material as their starting point – foil, concrete and paper. Read the full article here.
Walking With My Camera Phone: 10,000 Steps Towards a Colour Palette
Walking 10,000 steps towards a new colour palette. Using my camera phone to look and record my surroundings. A late summer afternoon in Scotland, a walk through a local town centre, housing estate and countryside, up onto the hill beyond.
I’m sharing my discoveries to illustrate how walking can boost inspiration and motivation to get started on a new creative project. My own focus was my usual abstract and formal themes – colour, texture, shape and material. I am always on the look out for these elements to pop up and surprise me. Continue reading here.
Vietnam Colour - In Search of Themes
21 days in Vietnam, travelling from South to North, I share my photo edit and explore whether a country can project its own distinctive colour. Here are 20 images that emit a certain something, a colour story, unfolding over five themes. Continue reading here.
Sensing Space - Interiors of Cambodia
I'm writing about some key memories from my visit to Cambodia last year and exploring what unites them. They all involve a particular use of interior space. I share six themes emerging from my experiences in these spaces and consider how to link them to contemporary artworks – a good workout for my inner library of sculpture, photography and film. Continue reading here.
Mono Print Round Laos
“After 45 minutes the city starts to be revealed. I sit on a wall and rest, the weight of my rucksack released for a moment. I gulp water and watch the anonymous, robed monks walk by, captured here in the photo. Their orange fabric lit by the sun, in perfect contrast to the sky. Complimentary colours in action. Laos cast its spell and lingers still.
I share this beginning because its how I remember Laos, this high pitch of colour. Amid the quiet, spacious surrounding, it’s easy to absorb details here. Some of which I’ve been trying to translate through mono printing. I’m going to share three prints inspired by Laos imagery. It’s a challenge for me to resist pure abstraction and pattern which is my more comfortable place when printmaking.” Continue reading here.
Travelling and Staying Creative: Finding Focus in Bali
I talk about my response to being creative on the road and share some highlights in Bali, drawn to the natural materials of bamboo, palm, coconut and fields of rice. Continue reading here.