August 2024

3rd August 2024

in

Still one of my favourite drawings. This came out of a residency I was doing with the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2012-13. I was recording rehearsals for a play called Step, performed by the Young Actors Company. I sat in on their process, sketching and taking photos for later reference, producing a series of drawings and sketches that eventually would eventually go on tour with the play. I did this drawing in response to a relaxation exercise the company were being led through - in character - and as they sat up had to name 3 things that made them happy and three things that made them sad. Which gave me the title for the drawing. I was way out of my comfort zone for this. I’d not had much experience drawing from life at the time, especially capturing moments that were gone in a second like this one. Even now, I look back on the experience as one of my prouder achievements.

2nd August 2024

in

A still life with fish and chips painted with oils, mixed media on paper. I remember working on this in a crowded studio so I wasn’t the most popular artist at the time - stinking up the studio with food I didn’t even get to eat. I exhibited this in gallery opposite the British Museum in London and was a bit dismayed when people thought the fish I’d laboured over was a piece of chicken.

1st August 2024

in

Another find from the vaults. This was made around 2005/6. It was a preliminary pastel sketch before a lager painting in oils but I’ve always liked it in its own right. Not sure the sketch or the painting exists anymore.