im craving paint.

poverty BLESSED artists

I live above a very posh very council funded multi million pound "arts centre" and independent cinema. I've never seen art there. Well, they do project digital media art every now and again. As far as i can tell its a neatly clipped nice idea which has been so neatly clipped its a brutal little stub.

Around the corner is a back to basics, volunteer ran, scruffy little arts centre called Fabrika. Its easy to ignore or underestimate but if you go in i guarantee you will see what shiny stub wanted to be. It is full of not just paid exhibitions but sweet little drawings and paintings made by the volunteers who've drank too much coffee and will happily accommodate any creative idea you may already have or want to discuss. I will illustrate the inspiring glow of Fabrika by describing my first ever visit.

I was walking home from a particularly brutal morning shift thinking about sleep and a weight watchers ready meal when stretched from the door and across the whole width of humberstone gate was a roll of paper and a plethora of wax crayons and permanent markers. The lady responsible told me the reasons behind this were and i quote "i think drawings kinda cool", refreshed by the simplicity and straight forwardness i made a series of pleased noises and supplied her with a tiny scribble drawing. Before i had the chance to walk home i saw my old student rep behind the bar inside, Charlotte is possibly the most organised person you could ever meet who has particular talents in arts management and could quite easily argue down the stiffest of folk without making them feel attacked or defensive. In popping in to say hi to a sleepy looking Charlotte, who is so dedicated is working a 70 hour week for free, i met a couple of eccentric older men. One chap in particular will probably stick in my mind forever, he had spent 20 years in new york and was subsequently VERY British, had a plasticine face akin to Wallace from Wallace and gromit, and used the most extraordinary vocabulary ive ever heard. The man was there to do a screen test for an independent film but i must say i distracted him from this so the arranged screen test was rushed down to a minute of half hearted performance. After a considerable delightful conversation about art and instant, quick, stubborn production we sat down and wrote a poem together. i laughed more than id laughed in weeks and felt fully immersed in a creative environment for the first time since i left uni. I will from now on and as long as i am in Leicester, fiercely support Fabrika and suggest that you also do so.

Fabrika is not the only artist ran back to basics group/centre that has popped up in Leicester. I am proud to say more and more artists are rejecting the idea that arts and culture doesnt have a place in the recession. One by one we are all finding ways to carry on through the harder times, may i suggest Art and Company's temporary exhibition in Malcom Arcade? Here you will find my work, yes im shameless, along with quite a broad mix of artists. My highlight is the large mixed media portrait of an old lady and her dog which is visible from the window, i wish i had taken a photo but you will just have to go and have a look. This group is making use of the empty shops left behind by the recession raped small businesses that have closed down, the earthworms of the art world.

Anyway , enough words, here is a drawing of my friend as a dinosaur.

NEW drawings

Its been a while since i perused the internet due to a relocation and new job and blah blah blah, all the things which need to stay excluded from my art life. SO here's the low down on the scant happenings in the creative side of life.

I've been experimenting with computers, so far i have just reworked some old images to see how and if they may be beneficial. I am admittedly a change-a-phobe and i do like my lovely hand drawn little images but in the cause of maybe making some more dynamic images i thought i should really give it a go. Although i think i must state that i will never abandon the hand drawn.

OK, so a reworking of a poster I drew ages ago for a friend, I changed up some layers and to be honest photo shop is good for experimenting and mixing things up without a whole new drawing. This side is OK. I am a fan of the scanner and i think this version of the poster is all together an improvement. HOWEVER, below is my attempt at using my graphics pad, poor, at best i think. I like the colour, i always like colour, but it looks awful. Next stop vector images to see if this will benefit my little in-expandable brain.

So to conclude my adventure into computers i think that I will use them in the final stages of editing a hand drawn piece in terms of illustration but they will stay away from the "fine" side (and i do hate to separate the two in such a filthy way) and until i find a better way they will not replace the lines I can make with a plain old pencil.

some of the images from 2000 trees festival, which make my heart beat

Natasa Kokic

It has been on my mind that I have a preoccupation with people, in their physical form, when there are so many more representations of human beings littered around the place.

Artist, Natasa Kokic paints similar things, i like them. I feel like they deserve some wordy beautiful description but i dont think i can actually do that, she seems to actually paint silence.

ANYWAY. On my little quest for sparks I drew some tattoos out for a pretty friend, she wanted a robin and this little guy was one of the versions I drew less suited for a tattoo but there is something about the gesture in his head which makes me fall in love with him a bit. Nothing monumental just a sweet little pencil drawing.

next..

So university is done and I did some work and it was good, I won the Embrace Arts award from Leicester university. That's a proper university that, they teach doctors and everything. Here are some photos from that lovely degree show thingymabob that we all have to do.

Naturally, I'm left feeling quite abandoned and lonely watching education trail off and away like an ex boyfriend considering the possibilities of what next. I've had a month of complete creative drought, I'm telling myself this is to avoid a meaningless rebound but I'm pretty certain it is laziness or even inadequacy. Either way it stops here, I'm rounding up inspiration and likes to be my little trampoline to help me hop into a new painting. I have already decided a few things, like me next work will be singular, I've found myself scratching my brains for projects and series' but I've found that this is aiding my block as I am over thinking to extreme. So instead I am going to concentrate painting by painting, make a collection not joined by theme or some massive idea but by a quainter sense of satisfaction, a collection of things i like, like those odd little nick nacks that everyone has and cant throw away for some undetectable reason.

So do you know what i have proven in keeping a blog? That i am no good at keeping blogs.

I've neglected my internet presence for far too long so here is the low down on whats appearing from the end of my paintbrush/lens/pencil.

Degree show looms, there are decisions by the the bucketful to be made and all of them are dull bar few. Business cards are a big explosion in my brain, last year i sold a painting from my business care, so they are dreadfully important.

I think i am going with this one;

Another Poster

This one was less last minute so i think there is a definite improvement in my poster skills, third times a charm maybe?

Crit!

My last ever crit bumbled into my life on monday.

And for once it was usefull! ill put some feedback in my next post but for now ... bed

A softer world.

A beautiful website to occupy your minds.

www.asofterworld.com

some of my favourites ^^^

house arrest

For the last two days ive locked myself in my bedroom with a sketchbook and a pencil and some questionable film choices, some blinders, some terrible. For instance Thank You For Smoking is one of the best films i have ever seen, and got me through three versions of one sketch.

Anyway, as i prepare to go back out into the real world, here are some of what ive been producing.

larger scale ideas of what i do

Hold my hand and go.

convert or kill

I'm currently watching chronicles of riddick whilst i draw, wouldnt it be lovely to conduct a convince or kill policy about your work? Also how creepy id thandie newton?

Anyway. What is inspiring me currently?

An old set of work from the deautsche borsche winning photographer Paul Graham has certainly caught my eye. It is undeniable that his work is stunning, i first became aware of him as part of a northern ireland exhibition at wolverhampton art gallery, and then a trip to New York which was littered with his work, a shimmer of possibility blinding its way to fame.

Recently however, i've rediscovered some of his older work; End of an Age, which is about everything which is occupying my mind and my work. I think the result of this set of photographs is a statement about age, about being in the no mans land of "young adult" and feeling like an observer in the lack of effect you seem to be able to have on the world. Drinking, smoking, placidly watching, his edge lingering clubbers are haunting and beautiful in an almost distasteful way.