sketchbook

drawing is many things. more commonly associated with being a preliminary stage on a pathway to ultimate realisation as a more 'finished' work, it is now being more readily accepted as a medium in its own right. to most artists this has been a given for some time, but only recently has this began to be more broadly received. 

the following images are taken from my sketchbook and give an indication of both of these ideas of drawings - preliminary sketches and finished pieces.

 some ideas for sculptures

 another sculpture idea, wall mounted

thinking about an installation

an idea for a collaboration with lucy james (the warming room blogspot)

this is a straight out drawing, not a plan, just a drawing.

this is the sort of thing i'll occasionally construct, usually without expectation or particular intent. quite often, in cases of where i'm looking for new directions, these drawings will help draw out ideas that are lurking beneath the conscious level of thought, or else they provide happy accidents and mistakes that can coalesce into something new and exciting. from this particular one it opens a new passage into sculptural ideas, something a little more surreal than what i normally produce. actually, much of this type of drawing, for me, leans toward a surrealist edge, in stark contrast really, i think, to much of my output.

another straight out drawing drawing

ooh, now these ones i'm quite excited about. they are renditions of those instructional line drawings you get in gardening books.

they are almost always just a human hand interacting with a plant.

i have plans for a series of works from these. at this early stage, i'm hoping to produce a set of drawings, an animation and a series of large embroidered images. i really find these images rather captivating, especially en masse, as they imply a particular human relationship with nature that walks a fine line between manipulation and affection.