Day 15 - The Doves

Day 14 - Cloud of Dots

Day 13 - Doves, finished and unfinished

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Day 12 - Big Tree with Leaves like Marbles

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Day 11 - Rocks

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Day 10 - More Trees

Double click image to see whole drawing so far

Day 9 - First Willow Tree

Day 8 - Trees & Bushes

Day 7 - Waves & Circles

Day 6 - Bushes or Wheatsheafs

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Day 5 - Waves and Bridge People

Day 4 - Boat

Day 3 Fence

Day 2 - House & Bridge

Day 1 - Drawing Houses & Exciting Organisational Development plans for Claremont Studios

Day 1- I have chosen to start by drawing four of the five house structures.
Great to be drawing again after too many days of admin. Caroline Le Breton & I have been writing an ACE funding application which heralds the beginnings of a tough and detailed organisational development plan for Claremont Studios.
Very exciting though - Through our hard work, over the next decade, Claremont Studios will become recognised as the vibrant centre of experimental art in the Southern Region. That is my vision.

Phase 2 - Catergoristaion - June 2007

Phase 1 - An initial 31 Day drawing covering the Experimental Phase - Completed- 5 February - 24 March, 2007

Phase 2 - Categorisation - Starts 22 June
- Systematic step-by-step drawn record of each [whole] image, pattern and motif.
- Regimented rows of trees, flowers, houses, bridges, birds, people, boats as well as the entire outer and inner patterned rim of the oval plate

Day 31 - Phase 1 Experimentation - Complete!

The drawing is finished - the two doves [the lovers] now deconstructed into wings, beaks
and feathers. I feel quite euphoric. I really enjoyed making this drawing which I can see, now is the
beginning of a whole new piece of work.After this experimental stage I intend to deconstruct the images, patterns and motifs in a more systematic and organised fashioned, thinking more about how to draw the items, how to separate them and their positioning.The project will take this iconic, traditional image through five different stages from a recognisable set of motifs to just a mass of marks.

Double Click to see Whole Completed Image - Size: 140x80cms

Day 30 - Nearly finished

I've got quite a collection now.


Was hoping to finish today, only some rocks and the doves to draw now.

Day 29

Day 28 - London Trip

Yesterday's drawing published today. Great trip to London - A curators talk about the work of V&A artist-in-residence Sian Bowen. And the American artist, Karen Kilimnik at The Serpentine. Contemporary pastiche paintings/drawings of stately homes & celebrity culture asking questions about authenicity and history. All quite witty. Liked 'The fob' series, featuring a buffoon-like Louis XIV type character with a monocle.

Day 27

I have been unable to upload any images today.
The blogger system fails every time.
I'm not sure what to do.

Day 26 - Three figures, a bridge and some fencing

I have loved drawing the various pieces of the crooked fence. It is good to be drawing actual things again. The 18 small bits represent the disembodied figures of the three crossing the bridge, see cropped plate picture below.



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Day 25 - A Great Day

Great News ! I have a place on the Meet Your Mentor scheme and artist, Heather Deedman, whose work I admired in the 2002 Jerwood Drawing Prize, has agreed to be my mentor. The title of that work was: '18th Century German Porcelain'.
Spot my shadow in the top photograph.

Double Click To See Whole Willow Pattern Image So Far

Day 24 - More Dots And Pieces of A Small House

Day 23 - Acres of Dots

Dots are quite an exciting way to draw. Perhaps a new discovery ... I like the way you just keep repeating the same action again and again and, yet unbelieveably, after a while something starts to appear.

Day 22 - Is it a Cactus ?

Day 21 - Categorisation Try-Out

Following crit with Tracey Johnson spent Sunday afternoon beginning to draw
each individual whole Willow Pattern motif onto an A3 sheet as a try-out.
The scanned picture here represents the outside and part of the inner-edge.
What order, so different from my current unsystematic approach.

Day 20 - Part Two: After The Crit - Some Drawing

Deconstructed house on cliff, far right of plate. What I thought was water, waves and splashes, Tracey Johnson thinks is a cliff-edge !

Double Click To See Whole Image So Far

Day 20 - Part 1 - The Crit and Complete Rethink Afterwards

Had a crit with artist, Tracey Johnson. Very helpful. Now thinking about the following criticisms and suggestions.

Criticisms of decision-making-process and resulting Willow Pattern drawing:
- Placing of motifs and patterns too random
- Muddled decision-making
- inconsistent and unmethodical process

Suggestions:
- Think about the process of deconstruction
- Show the different stages of deconstruction
1.) Break WP image down in its component parts - series of whole objects, motifs and clumps of pattern. i.e a tree, house, flower. 2.) Then break these down into their component parts and details of the whole i.e tree becomes leaves and branches, flower becomes petals and stem, house becomes roof, windows, door etc 3.) Consider if can you break them down even further ? i.e Roof becomes lines and tiles - a specific counted and recorded number.
- Think about how this applies to the drawing and the placing of the motifs
- Think about what needs to be kept whole and what needs to be broken up.
- Invent a set of rules and try to stick to them
- Consider introducing a grid-system
- Keep in mind the known object but allow for new directions
- Known Object - to create a systematic, deconstructed visual list of marks, motifs and patterns
- Think about whether it would be appropriate to include an element of language as well i.e a record of the amount of each object like 1 roof, 534 tiles or 6 flowers, 134 petals etc

It was only through making this first 'muddled', 'inconsistent' drawing that the process of thought and action has been able to be analysed. Will complete this drawing next week and then start the next.
Feel very inspired and excited by this discussion and the resulting process that, I hope, will now materialise. Tracey and I work well together, bouncing thoughts and ideas back and forth. I hope we can, one day consider working together on a collaborative project.

Day 19 - Authenticity and questions of .......

I am inspired to draw from my posted blog drawings because they look so different.
Also posting drawings on-line gives them a sort of strange authentification.
Authenticity is a big word these days and is always used in conjunction with the words 'questions of' authenticty.
Why are we so suspicious in todays world that we must question the very idea of authenticity.

I am interested in myths of authenticity .... like the Willow Pattern itself and the story that comes from the design on the plate; mention it to anyone and they think it is a pattern that was developed in the Far East but no, it was developed in Britain in the late eighteenth century by manufacturers trying to sell more pottery

This inspires a series of small drawings ....

Day 18 - Is it a Bush, a Wave or maybe a Splash ?

I think it is a splash coming out of a wave. Not enough time drawing today. Busy applying to the University College for the Creative Arts 'Meet Your Mentor' scheme.
Potentially exciting, if I am accepted.

Day 17 - Boats & the Power of Drawing

Disembodied the boat and boatman and turned the sea into a lovely blue scribble. Oh, the power of drawing !

Double click to see whole image so far