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

Day 16 - A Roof, Half a Door and Some Waves

When l look at the now familiar world of a Willow Pattern plate, my eye
continually skirts round it's design searching for what I have not yet
drawn - the challenges to come.

Day 15 - More Trunks & Branches

Double click on picture to see whole drawing so far


Great day ... drawing and talking about drawing.

Double click detailed view of plate

Day 14 - Tree trunks & branches

Inspirational visit to V&A yesterday. Saw original 1818 Willow Pattern plate with the name 'Thomasine Willey' made by Spode. Grey wet and windy ... Artist, Susan Hillier ill so not speaking at the dlwp tonight.

Day 13 - Round Fat Leaves

So excited about starting to draw the actual body of the plate and deconstructing the images that make up this iconic motif.
Am going to visit the V&A this afternoon to look at their Willow Pattern collection. Also NOW KNOW this is it - the new project
I have been searching for. It produces the three vital ingredients I need to arrive at the studio feeling motivated: intellectual interest, an aesthetic and infinite drawing possibilities. It is also something that can be undone .... and redone, and undone all over again.
The dog-like shadow in the picture is me - when I take pictures before 2pm the window casts a shadow across the drawing !

Day 12 - Last Diamonds

Today I have drawn the last 600 diamonds and finished the inner and outer
rim. Next I will start the inner sanctum of the plate - the narrative,
the actual Willow Pattern story.
Mild but wet. Off to the hospice.

Double click image to see whole drawing so far

Day 11 - More Bloody Diamonds

I have drawn 108 circles with diamonds. Aren't they beautiful ?
I love every minute of it. What a real pleasure drawing is.

Day 10 - A Different Set of Diamonds

Today I have drawn the last 200 diamonds on the outside edge of the plate and begun to draw the first 108 of 216 more detailed diamonds that form much of the interior edge. I have also drawn 4 geometric shapes, eight fat lines and 112 squares with circles.

Double click this image to see whole picture so far

Day 9 - No Drawing Today

No drawing today as went to Brighton. Really missed it, can't wait to be drawing again in the studio tomorrow. Found this lovely message from Roz Cran, she said: 'Diamonds are forever. The preciousness of drawing the motifs from this plate links with the value of diamonds. The clarity of purpose sparkles with determination. There is poetry in the system.'
Visited The Permanent Gallery and saw lots of artists books.

Day 8 - Even More Diamonds

Not much time today - just an hour to draw another 400 diamonds. Wet and windy.

Double click on image to see whole picture, so far

Day 7 - More Diamonds

Drawn over 1000 diamonds today.
Susan Millard said: 'there is something that reminds me of mah jong - all the beautifully pointless detail and ritual'.

Day 6 - Squares with Circles

Today I have drawn more than 200 diamonds and over 400 squares with circles and quite sick of the sight of them !
I have been concentrating on the outer rim of the plate, see photo. Although, I have now completed all the different motifs, where there are usually between 4 & 6 examples of a particular pattern, there still remain 6 sections of 200 diamonds to complete before I move into the flat body of the plate. These are hard to count. My fingers are cold and stiff. Torrential rain this morning, clouds and sun shine this afternoon.

Double click on image to see whole picture so far

Day 5 - Leaves & Twirls

View of whole sheet of paper [4ft x 5ft]
- drawing 48 x 6inches



Cold, grey and wintry. I have drawn 179 leaves, 143 squares with circles, 4 feathery twirls and 14 fat-line geometric square shapes, all belonging to the inner outside edge. My upper right arm is aching, as is my hand.

Day 4 - Feathers & Twirls - To pair or not pair ?

Again, facing the same dilemma as yesterday in terms of the representation and placing of a particular motif. i.e in this case should the four pairs of feathered twirls appear drawn in their pair or as 8 separate individuals ?
I begin to realise to remain true to my original idea I must be guided by my decision to make a purely visual list. This is not about the relationship of one piece of pattern to another, as it is in the overall original design of the plate, but is about taking an iconic design and breaking it down into its component parts, so that these parts do, indeed, become larger than the whole. And, thus, something highly recognisable will become unrecognisable in its new form.
A working title might be: A visual list of the marks, motifs and patterns that combine to form a Willow Pattern plate [ a bit dry !] My aim: Deconstucting its iconic order; the ordered pattern of trees, houses, people, bridges into a
ordered series of abstract patterns. Here is a picture of the studio with the beginnings of my drawing:

Had a very exciting thought - I love maps, I love their initial mystery, their potential for answers.
a. This drawing is a type of map
b. Maps have keys. i.e a word or description that describes, in this case, a particular motif, mark or pattern. Here is mine:

Very excited.
3.30pm Sunny but cold, walking up to St. Michael's Hospice to visit Dorothy.

Day 3 - Decisions and Circles

Many dilemmas today about where and how to place things; whether I should just use one coloured pen and try to represent the different tones through dots and lines and cross-hatching etc. I drew 12 circles and four pairs of fat lines and finished the first area of diamonds. You can see my shadow reflected by the sun behind me in one of the photos. Lost in a love of drawing. Worked from 11.30-3.30pm. Beautiful cold, sunny winter's day. Now for a walk by the sea.

Day 2 - Counting Diamonds

Today I have only been able to draw for an hour. I have started to draw the inside edge of the plate which consists of hundreds, probably thousands of diamonds in ordered lines. Counting them hurts my eyes. I have drawn four lines, about 160 diamonds, I notice there are eight sections of about 400 diamonds. I will not draw all the diamond sections at once but intersperse them throughout the drawing or I will become thoroughly demoralised ! I will finish this section and then begin on some leaves from the trees. I have decided everything will be deconstructed so as not to look like the actual objects, houses, boats, paths, trees, birds etc that the sum of the Willow Pattern represents.

Day 1 - Tools of the Trade & First Marks

Monday 6th February 2007

Today I stuck a large piece of Fabriano paper on the studio wall and began to transcribe an oval Willow Pattern plate.
I first counted the outermost edge marks which consist of a square with a circle in it. There were 366. I drew these on the paper.
The drawing was fine but I kept losing count. I feel a little daunted by the task I have began and wonder how I will proceed ... by counting every single mark, I suppose.