ARTISTS TALKING

# 21 [23 January 2010]

A train is coming under the bridge by St James Park in Exeter. St James Park is the home of Exeter City Football Club. I haven't been but I like the noise, and other people's excitement. And trying to read the match from the intermitent cheers and carry on.

Obtensibly this lino cut is a pretty picture. a picturesque view. it is a photo I took as my camera poked above the parapet of the bridge at the end of my road. I like the photo and I hope the image will come out well. Its a good challenge.

This photo shows my photo and the lino I am cutting.

# 22 [8 February 2010]

my boys run a lot. and often far from me. in fields and woods (away from cars) this is great. I like to see them in open space.

the photos show the wood cut I am doing of the movement of boy running. its a joy to study closely their different body formations.

# 23 [8 February 2010]

for a little while I have be looking for animations made by printmakers - and sure enough I have found some!

This guy Mark Andrew Webber has created what he calls his linomation. In a straight 18 full days he cut 300 plates to make this piece. This is inspiring for me. Go to..

http://www.markandrewwebber.com/index.php?/linomat...

# 24 [8 February 2010]

At Exeter Phoenix the current exhibition is 'Mind over Matter', a series of kinetic work. Machines that move in mysterious ways.

This work by Tim Lewis is much liked by many of the visitors, we had school groups in this morning and afternoon and I overheard many enthusiastic comments.

The 'moving' men spin round and are flashed at by tiny strobes which together trick the eye into believing in these walking men. They walk, quite fast, behind each other in a circle, disciplined like soldiers (but never moving on).

People love to wait for it to stop (to stay out of the way of the movement sensor that makes it spin) to stare at the men all in their slightly different positions.

This, I learnt today, is 'persistence of vision' - the delayed reception of information by your brain which means it then blurs together the images and so makes it look like the men are moving.

This is what makes animation, animation.

# 25 [24 February 2010]

I have a little boy waiting quietly by my side, sucking his thumb. He should be in bed.

I don't much talk of my family here, but the two small boys who occupy a lot of my life are inspiring much of my current work. I am fascinated by their movements; their running fast and free; their small bodies in open expanses, so vulnerable and invincible at the same time.

I'll put some images of a woodcut on this theme soon - just waiting on an order of ink.

a small finger is touching my elbow and he is standing very very close, I can ignore him no longer!

# 26 [27 February 2010]

here's a couple of prints I've been playing with this evening. Its one movement of my youngest boy.

I wanted orange and yellow to suggest the heat and vibrancy of their lives. Unexpectedly  the image looks like a boy soldier in the desert. He looks like he's holding a gun in this image because in the original photo he is holding a long stick (for bashing the ground as he walks along).

This is part of what is interesting me - putting the small boy figures into spaces and finding out what different manifestations they take on. So to bring out the politics of childhood - I mean, for example; in this country: children out on their own and what this means depending on how they are perceived, neglected/independent/vulnerable; and for example, as these prints suggest, in another country, children forced into combat.

it'd be great to have comments on this; on what I'm saying or the prints themsevles.

# 27 [20 April 2010]

its been a while

march was always going to be a busy month, and then in april I escaped

I'm exicited by printing the large woodcut outside onto fabric using an old lawn roller. My kids were enthralled so that's the best compliment I could get; they sat totally still through the inking up and rolling. The eldest (5 years) said 'very good mummy' before racing off down the garden. I was very pleased with that. Normally he just looks kind of quizzcally at what I'm doing, or says I don't like it, or says nothing at all and walks off disinterested.

so now I managed to do that, the wood pannelled side of my parent's garage which caught my eye a year ago, looks very promising as the next case for the lawn roller.

roll up roll up!

# 28 [28 April 2010]

here's sight of work in progress

# 29 [24 May 2010]

I have a commission opportunity with Nicci Wonnacott (check out international womens art facebook group)

Its run by Double Elephant Print Workshop (www.doubleelephant.org.uk) and Devon Records Office.

Nicci is a performance artist, I'm primarily a printmaker. With her I did my first art action yesterday, Sunday 23rd May, at Clovelly, a small fishing village on the North Devon coast.

Ours was a homage to the Three Suffragettes, who 101 years ago in 1909 on Whitsun (which this year fell on May 23rd), travelled from London to Clovelly, one of their many actions in their fight for 'Votes for Women'. At Clovelly Prime Minister Asquith was entertaining friends at Clovelly Court. That Sunday morning they went to All Saints Church, dressed in the colours of the movement, green, white and purple (still the colours, see International Women's Day). They sat in the church, waiting for their moment. Asquith's wife saw them, and guessed them to be sufragettes, passing her husband a notes to tell him of the danger lurking. He looked as if to say; get me away safely! and at the end of the service he was whisked away out a side door of the church. The ladies, bundled out of the village, returned by foot that night (from some 10 miles away), entered the gardens at Clovelly Court and left 'Votes for Women' banners strewn across the flowering bushes in the gardens. 

Nicci and I, and her daughter paid homage to these brave young women. Early sunday morning we filmed our action, bemused the fishmen, declined offers to go on their boat. Seriously though, it was very poignant, and moving. People were curious and one or two locals remembered the story of the three suffragettes.

We worked with filmaker Emily Keene, and we'll edit the footage to a 4 minute film. I plan to create printed documentation too.

Our slogan was 'What about the Women. Watch the winds of change'. What about the Women is taken from the Fawcett Society's campaign during the General Election.

We borrowed a dedication from a 'Votes for Women' journal, out in May 1909. I gifted typed written dedications, and hand painted stones.

The project is 'Politics in Print' and the exhibition will be 4-6 September at X-centre, Exeter.

# 30 [2 June 2010]

been in the studio today, and created a small drypoint and a small photoetching inspired by my small running boys

I'm enjoying this theme very much. I like exploring the movement, the shapes of the figures, their placement in the space.