My blog has moved...

I've finally got round to merging my 2 blogs into one new one - so from now on I shall be posting here Just got to sort networked blogs, link from website etc......

More small stuff...

Today I have been really, really good and have continued scanning and framing smaller works as part of my aim to have all my work logged and documented by the end of the year.

Selections...

Have spent all day sorting out a selection of 'activity' (Year One) and I.D's to print out for applications present and future. Have over a 100 of each and hoping at some point to do installation shots but my studio isn't suitable (and 'activity won't be finished for another 4 months) so decided I needed an interim solution.....

Small stuff

That time of year again...

Jerwood Drawing Prize time again. I've sorted out my drawings (marked and manipulated paper, shadow drawing and residual mark) early this year and kept it small because my sister is submitting and picking up my work in Edinburgh (Thanks Jenny). Normally it is a real chore because the nearest collection point is Liverpool which involves hours travelling to and fro (twice). As I've had an easy time of it this year I may hire a van next year and submit large drawings? Not sure because they return unwrapped and so will also need frames and packing case which makes it very expensive. I might see if other Derby/ Nottingham artists want me to submit their work at the same time (fill the van!) which would cut the cost down... something to think about.

A stitch in time - best laid plans !

On October 15th 2009 I started tracking my daily activity on the computer (using a graphics tablet/ pen and paper and carbon). Every day I tape a new piece of A6 paper/ carbon to the tablet and the just use the computer to do whatever I need to do - the carbon transfers the marks to the paper and I have a 'drawing' of that days activity. Year one of the 'activity' series is now almost half way through and I needed to start thinking about presentation. They have been stored chronologically in cellophane packets a week at a time - and look great just pinned to the wall (maybe Year 2 using transparent/ translucent paper??). However, I really wanted to present them in a way which potentially showed all 365 drawings. The carbon paper reveals the negative mark but is clearer when held up to the light so I considered joining them (one set positive/ 1 set negative) so they could be hung/ folded in a variety of ways depending on the space they were shown in, allowing for a light source.... After much testing I decided to laminate them and join with stitches (24 stitches/ 60cm thread ) so they became like a giant concertina book which could be opened/ closed/ hung etc. in a variety of ways. I did my my tests with blank paper/ carbon and all seemed fine but when I started to laminate I realised the carbon paper doesn't like heat and the marks almost disappeared! So now I shall go ahead as planned with the transfer drawings but have to rethink what I'm going to do with the carbon.....

On my wish list!

Although my own work tends to be low tech (pencil and paper) and I love writing by hand (preferably with a flex fountain pen) I'm also a bit of a gadget girl and have been searching for a long while for some way of keeping a digital sketch book. Since my original psion and through zodiacs, palms and currently smartphone nothing has done everything I want and in particular nothing has come close to replacing my paper notebooks/ sketchbooks. So I currently have lots of things on my computer (weblinks/ photos/ online stuff), a pile of notebooks and no way of effectively combining the two. Thought the i-pad might work but no stylus so no good! (you can get a third party stylus but as the i pad hasn't been designed with it in mind it has limited use) I need to be able to take handwritten notes, do quick sketches and insert anything I want from the web. Microsoft's courier above looks perfect. More info here. Not sure when it will be released (rumours of late 2010) or how much it will cost but it is definitely no. 1 on my wish list. I want one!!

Il Lee - ballpoint drawings

BL-092, 2007, ballpoint pen on paper, 65 x 51.5 inches. Courtesy of artist and Art Projects International, New York

Really interesting item from the Drawing Center here about some fascinating ballpoint drawings by Il Lee. Caught my eye because one of the things I've been thinking about a lot is the universal experience of drawing and the resulting audience understanding of the physical activity inherent in making a drawing (and because I love drawing with ballpoint pens!)