They said yes. I’ve been awarded a grant after the second try. I begin my Gallery Watching in September. The fear of what I have left myself in for comes and goes, as does my confidence in my drawing. Nevertheless, […]
It’s a compunction that certainly began at art school. Drawing was always held up to be the ultimate in expression, the fundament of it, if not the whole. For me it has gone beyond that, though I must admit to […]
I’ve been thinking about sketchbooks. They are beautiful things, well they can be. I love the paraphernalia of them, the elasticated straps that hold them in place, the endpapers, the red ribbons that save a page. I like them small, […]
There’s been a gap. A drawing gap, that is. Well, not completely. I went away and before going had to finish 3 articles, so my drawing practice, sadly had to be put aside. It hurts when I have to do […]
The point of any practice surely is to learn, evaluating as one goes so that there is some kind of betterment. Nevertheless, getting stuck in those formulaic methods of seeing and responding still happens, particularly, as with reportage drawing, the […]
I want a lot from it. And sometimes it is the only thing that makes sense. Drawing, for me at least, is a true thing, an authentic thing. It goes beyond thinking, and that is its pleasure for me. I […]
‘So it will be like Rolf Harris, then?’ said my partner when I told him about the changes I want to make to my project. He was referring, of course, to the Saturday night programmes that Rolf Harris used to […]
They’ve suggested I resubmit my application for ACW funding. I don’t know, and yet I’ve thought of little else all week. There is fear, certainly. Will I be rejected again? The project needs a rethink and I’ve done it. I’ve […]
I had three people asking what I was doing in a space of two days. This is unusual even considering the fact that I’ve been drawing the customers in the same coffee shop for almost five months now. The first […]
Yesterday I had really interesting conversations with three visitors at the show/live work. Not having had the time to write (nor even reflect!) since coming in the gallery last Wednesday I feel as though I am ’out of order’ – […]
Part of the reason that I began a daily drawing practice was in anticipation of a project for which I’d applied for funding. I heard over the weekend that I’d failed to secure it. One of their reasons for refusing […]
The social distancing restrictions enforced on cafes by the Welsh government will be lifted in two weeks. Meanwhile, I, who miss the closeness of watching, drawing and listening to my fellow coffee shop customers, have to bide my time. ‘They […]
The restrictions in Wales limiting the interaction in ‘our’ coffee shop seem set to continue. So I make do. I drew both Saturday and Sunday and focussed on trying to capture a sense of place, and whatever stillness there was. […]
I’ve been writing and my drawing practice has inevitably been left to slide. And I’ve felt it. Stripped bare of all its usual jostle, noise and I must say amiability, the coffee shop where I practice has not been as […]
It was all change when we returned to our coffee shop after Christmas. Stripped of tables and with a one way system marked out on the floor, I panicked. How or whom am I going to draw? Don’t indulge it, […]
The coffee shop was initially quiet on the two mornings that we managed to visit it. We thought it might be the case after the Welsh government have imposed new restrictions due to come into force after Boxing Day. For […]
In an attempt to side-step a mind that is bent on destabilising my confidence, I often speed draw. Tea helps, as does the arrival of a motley of coffee shop frequenters in marvellous winter garb (and/or with fantastic haircuts to […]
The wind still raging post storm Arwen, the coffee shop was as cold and inhospitable as the week before. But, draw I must, and I did. With the door either propped open or left ajar for it to bash and […]
When I’m stuck inside writing, I spend what is left of my afternoons drawing things. It isn’t the same as drawing living, moving beings and I struggle to animate myself and the marks I make paper. The last two days […]
I’d had my booster jab the day before and I still felt a little crap but I went drawing anyway. I need to. The coffee shop has begun interspersing Christmas songs into their usual muzak. I don’t mind. It was […]
It was another cold morning in the coffee shop yesterday, with the door open to the elements. People didn’t stay, or if they did (mostly the stalwart regulars) it wasn’t for long. I struggled to motivate myself. I never work […]
I’d gone to the coffee shop intending to spend the three hours focussing on drawing with my collection of dip pen nibs but was stymied by the cold. I mean I did draw but I was torpid and slow to […]
I spent the weekend drawing. Writing had absorbed me all week and I needed to throw myself back into it. And, I had the delivery of some new dip pen holders and nibs and a lovely fat bamboo pen. It […]
I had remembered what day it was but hadn’t expected to see evidence of it in the coffee shop at 9.00 am that morning. I noticed the ex-paratrooper first. He wasn’t in uniform but wore a black suit. A funeral […]
I looked through my sketchbooks from Saturday and remembered the people I drew. I leave it a day to revisit my work. Paul Hogarth wouldn’t look at his drawings for three days after making them. A good practice, I think. […]