a-n The Artists Information Company

With my degree focusing on screen printing I always had drawing at the roots of my practice. My work was very stylised and created outline drawings, contour line drawings, but never realistic, like for like pieces. I’m going back to basics and working on my drawing skills again. It’s nice to have a focus to work with again, going from a degree with briefs to work from, to having complete free reign over what you work on can be quite daunting.

I’ve chosen to focus on observational drawings, looking at urban sketching and botanical drawing. Botanical drawing is the area that I feel most comfortable working on, something I have done before and would like to go back and improve my skills in this area as well as try out different techniques. Whereas urban sketching is something new for me to challenge myself with. Having been trawling through the Urban Sketchers blog and book I’ve been inspired by the vast array of different styles of capturing the world around us.

Pictures to follow soon…

It’s back to the art world and back to blogging for me. I graduated from Norwich University of the Arts in June 2012, I put up my degree show and the next week went into full time work as a cover supervisor in a local high school; although I don’t have any planning or marking to be doing outside of school hours, it’s still a very exhausting job that keeps you on your toes all day. I’ve also been struggling through the stressful process of applying for teacher training, a process which takes a full year to prepare for and complete. All of this added together has lead to me having a good 9 month break from making my own art.

In those 9 months I haven’t been dormant from the art world though, I’ve had the chance to see lots of exhibitions and start my own school art club. I’ve been gathering lists of books and artists that have inspired me and now I’m in a position where I have so many ideas that I need to start making again.

Going from a specialist arts university with fully equipped workshops and a large studio space, to being at home with a desk and a laptop is difficult to get myself motivated. I used to be very spontaneous with my work, I’d have an idea in the morning and by the afternoon it was drying on the print rack. Now I feel that I need to meticulously plan any prints that I might want to do as I will have to book and pay in advance for screens, chemicals, paints and time in a workshop. It’s going to be a totally different process to work with from now on and I need to find my own way to get into it now.

For the first time I’m starting a proper sketchbook, I’m gathering pictures, photos and research and I’m doing my own sketches and doodles in there. I’m a note taker and have always had notebooks full of lists and written ideas or thoughts; a pile of print outs and drawings in a folder sat on the otherside of the desk to keep the 2 seperate and easier to manage. I’m taking a new approach and seeing how this works for me, particularly as I’m starting to look at different content for my art work as well.

For my degree I looked at the feminine cliches that appear in society. I used very feminine patterns and colours to disguise images taken from glamour modelling and pornography. I am continuing with this route in some respects and have a commission for the illustrations to a short novel using this style; however for my own artwork I want to look at life around me, in particular at nature.

At the moment I am hugely inspired by the work of the Norwich Printmakers Society and in particular Vicki Johnson, Vanessa Burroughes and HJ Jackson. I’ve seen work by these 3 artists several times at many local exhibitions and printing fairs but I’ve also been inspired by Peter Blake and his screenprints. Although the content of the prints is not as relevant to my own work, the techniques that he used excite me and fascinate me. I saw his exhibition at The Lowry last week and could have sat for hours looking at his daimond dust prints, there was something quite magical about them.

I live amongst the countryside and the coast which are fantastic for inspiration for me. Over the summer I collected thistles of all different shapes and sizes and have dried them ready for drawing and disecting. I want to look at the wildlife that lives and grows along the norfolk coast line and the rivers running through the county, taking photographs, making drawings and creating prints from them. This shift in content of my work goes back to my original interests, looking at plants and the process of life, from bloom to wilting and the days inbetween (largely influenced by the work of John Blakemore and his tulip series). After 9 long months I am now ready to start the making again and I hope that soon I will have many pictures of research, development and even some prints to post on here.

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Clare Mills