We lucky or what?

"10men9women15children" Photographic image, size variable. 

new work

Our nation has become a land of followers. We devour slogans which are directed at us constantly and over time we believe and we start to follow. We don't need to vote for the next big thing but we do. We're told to.
 Celebrity is created through constant media download. Commercials instruct us to buy the things we simply cannot survive without and TV show adverts tease us with whats to come. Inevitably it results in an anti-climax.
We've become a nation thats easily led by slogans, messages and signs.

'Do As Your Sold...no.1',   Household paint on black canvas, 60cm x 30cm.

This gives me the idea that we can change a persons attitude with a simple set of words. One single word, whispered or shouted, can in an instant enrage someone as-well as calm them. The constant pressure of being told to 'VOTE NOW' can eventually see you making that call or sending that text. 

I like the idea of using these words and creating signs to alter peoples attitudes towards the day ahead. The traffic moves slowly along the busy road every morning. Cars are filled with job hating workers heading toward what they already regret. Can my signs change this? I doubt it very much but just for a second they may encourage something, start the ball rolling and bring the idea to life inside someones head. 

These are my hope signs; 'Highway Observational People Empowerment' signs. 

I like the idea of them popping up at the side of the road for people to see on the way to work. Of course, they don't all have to have a positive message. My mood for the day can change the sign I put up, thus changing the mood of the people reading it. 

All week you see positive encouraging signs then on friday one that reads

 'You've got to do it all again next week"....

I want the signs to be seen and questions to be asked by the viewer of themselves and the lives they live. Viewers can use them. Be inspired or encouraged but then at the same time the possibility exists that the signs can anger you, make you realise things, empower you. They have multiple meanings.

I'm interested in the way the words become 'owned' by the viewer. The actual signs stay fixed to one spot but the words go with the viewer. They look at society today, the way we live and survive. How many people hate their day to day routine but in this world of job shortages, huge mortgages and recession can't do a thing about it. 

The words can be placed in situations to create an atmosphere. This garage door would entice you to look inside but at the same time you'd have the feeling that something terrible may lie inside. A simple message that works in two different ways. Because 'no one should see'... I want to see. 

charcoal work.

The inevitable black expanse and the point reached.

'Untitled', house paint on paper, 90cm x 90cm.

New work...

I've been looking at the personalities of people, hidden sides and secrets. Its the thing of whats inside us that interest me, what we do and who we are. The stripped back and the hidden. Some people are bare, some wrapped tightly.

I'm working towards something but not sure what yet?

The outcome created through different media interests me. The theme stays the same but the overall look of the finished piece, which is 3D and lit with an old wire lamp, makes the finished piece a lot more intense and more of an experience. What experience would a closed room full of tightly crammed faces and time controlled lights create? 

Looking at each image we see its the eyes and mouth that give away the subjects feelings towards the viewer. The stares can show fear, anger anxiety and rage. These features alone could be something to concentrate on. A large blank space with one feature? 

Drawing Project 2014

The picture house was a centre for photography in the centre of Leicester.
A busy little meeting place for photographers, designers and artists but unfortunately it was closed by the council due to them not wanting to cover the costs any more, like a lot of public buildings in the UK.
The grubby old building is now just another skeleton or monument of 'what was', it's completely derelict and with the usual signs sitting on the front; for sale, to let etc.
Through the windows you can sometimes see figures wandering around inside and the eery shine of flickering lights at night.
Leicester city centre is full of these types of buildings, wasting away and waiting to be converted into social housing for the mass of unemployed people living in the city centre.

'Picture House', Ink, watercolour on Fabriano paper, 120cm x 100cm, April 2014. 

Drawing Project 2014...

untitled, 

Pen and ink drawing and watercolour on Fabriano paper, 144cm x 85cm, March 2014. 

This drawing was made after a wander through an estate I'd never seen before. Most of the flats were occupied and the smaller blocks are starting to crumble and I tried to draw this into the image with rough edges and splatters of ink. 

Considering how full up these places are  what really stood out was how quiet it was. Every now and again a dog would bark at one end and this set off all the other dogs in the area. The only other noises were the distant high pitched screeches of ambulances and police cars in the city. 

Drawing Project 2014...

This drawing is part of my main drawing project for 2014.
It's built from a selection of images collected on a wander and is another view of the structures on the outskirts of Leicester city.
I find my inspiration in wandering and looking, losing my way in streets and estates I've never seen before.
To me these places are an endless supply of subjects to work from.

'E-State'

Watercolour, pen and ink drawing on Fabriano paper, 75cm x 75cm March 2014, 

Drawing Project...City Colours...

This piece is part of my main drawing project for 2014 and looks at the colours of the various buildings dotted around the city. On a wander I chose buildings that had a specific look but more importantly the colours they are painted in which stood out against the rest of the grey skyline.
It's drawn onto acetate, as architectural drawings sometimes are and then mounted onto a recovered piece of wood from a building site in Leicester City Centre.  The skyline in Leicester changes all the time and every old building is being snatched up and remade into flats and apartments, mainly for students. The good thing is a lot of the buildings are restored in a way that keeps the original features rather than removing them so the old look remains amongst the new structures.
I wanted the detailed precise structural drawing to stand out against the dirty, rough surface of the wood  and the use of acetate gives it a third dimension and as you move across the front of the piece you see things reflected in it, filling the spaces between the structures.

    'Panoramic 1', Wooden panel, acetate, pen and acrylic, 30cm x 90cm, March 2014.

                      Detail of 'Panoramic 1'.

Self Directed Project 2014...'The Bunker'...

This drawing is part of my self directed project looking at the 'life of Exo'.

This place is part of the estate I've been looking at where Exo might live. The building looks like a bunker from the 2nd world war with a big metal fence barricading the way in and the yellow bin reminded me of a tank. Grey blocks of cement tower upwards towards a stormy sky. Patriotic flags move slowly in the wind, suspended from the balcony where every now and then a commander appears with his bulldog to overlook all that lays before him. The metal spiked fence and no entry signs keep you out.

    'Bunker',   Watercolour, Pen and Ink on Fabriano Paper,  100cm x 75cm, March 2014. 

                     Detail from 'Bunker'. 

    Detail from 'Bunker'. 

The next set of images from my sketch books are my thoughts on what Exo might think of the country he lives in. 

More and more we see riots, mass unemployment, benefit cheating and capping, lack of social housing, social food stores, rough sleepers, dereliction, soup kitchens, street beggers, over filled hostels, over population, the list goes on. 

Watercolour and ink, 60cm x 40cm, April 2014. 

Watercolour and ink, 60cm x 40cm, April 2014.

Watercolour and ink, 60cm x 40cm, April 2014. 

Watercolour and ink, 60cm x 40cm, April 2014. 

Watercolour and ink, 60cm x 40cm, april 2014. 

Major Project 2014...My book of images, "Wander, Record"

Do you ever notice how people walk along the streets looking down? Eyes fixed to the floor, or phone, or even their i-pad.

I walk around looking up.

My inspiration comes from all around me as I walk. 

"WANDER...RECORD..." is an ongoing project and is a collection of drawings and notes concentrated on scenes collected as I wander. The drawings are made on the pages of a journal, but whereas sketch books record quick drawings and ideas, I wanted this book to have a finished piece on each page and the fact they are all in a book is also a personal challenge as no mistakes can be made. 

6/3/14......High Street....10.18am

brown sleeping bag, black hair, wet, mumbling, change please, dirty nails, cup, bark, never looks up, slam, phone, down here trev, blonde hair, fast walk, gold coat, big earrings, limp, clip, clip, clip, shout, three, red coats, white shoes, yellow shoes, fifty pence, laugh, bald, dark shades, coat with blue stitching across the back, big bag, stares at me, mcdonalds, shady eyes, looks at floor, massive teeth, boost, rubbish dropped on floor, eats with mouth open, singing, pedals turn, long grey hair, dog, cap, yellow tracksuit bottoms, two kids run, scream, smack, cry, thomas tank engine bag, his vis coat, white hat, huge stomach, mouthfull, tea cup, loud voice, phone box, staring at me, give that camera to me if you want, piss off. 

11/3/14... The alleyway stinks. it reeks. the smell floats through the air in bursts of steam forcing its way into my nostrils. The taste stains the back of my throat. Grease oozes from the small holes in the wheelie bins. It drips down onto the damp cobbles and grows into white mounds of leftover human consumption ready for the rats to gorge on once I've gone. Their black twitchy noses poke from the dark walls as they stare at me and wait for their chance to scurry amongst the shadows. Large machines click and hum above my head, extracting stench filled oxygen from the row of overheated food-house kitchens. A silhouette in a darkened doorway, 'Hey, why you taking photo's out here, nothing here". The door slams shut as I raise my camera. A shout echoes inside. Time to leave....

    24/3/14...The Lanes...2.15pm...

 Hum, Constant drone from the pub extractor fan, stale beer aroma gushes through, wind blows           constantly along the old house fronts, sun shines, highlights a Greggs cup on the step of a building, 1873, 5A, still occupied, double yellows lead to the cathedral, huge, grey, majestic, drills pound the floor, cranes lift the blocks, the lanes are tight, claustrophobic but comforting, vans, cars, constant and loud, dust drifts around, litter sticks to the damp floor, 15, to let, stickers plastered to the car park sign, half peeled, graffiti, scribbled tags, business suit strolls past, bright yellow high vis jackets, windscreen full of newspapers, loud voices, shopping bag splits open, bong, bong.

    29/3/14...Car park roof...3.25pm

   All life is here, below me, looking down.

   The noise is distant and chaotic.

   It builds amongst the buildings.

   Movement in the office window, flicker of computers, filled with bored clockwatchers.

   The council building looks old, grey, full of issues.

   The trees get further away each year. The green disappears.

   We grow, we build, we multiply.

   The space doesn’t.

    3/4/14...E-State...2.15pm

Along the blue fence, chewing gum, through the broken gap, smashed bottle, under the concrete       walkway, tags, along the line of concrete posts, dog shit, into the stairwell, piss, up two flights, bin bag, along the front doors, smashed bmx, who you after mate, keep walking, down the stairwell, oi mate, through the fence gap, don't look back...

              1/4/14...High Street...3.10pm...

              The shops line up, waiting to be emptied, to let, for sale, closing today, final sale,              

              The shells remain, empty, not let, not sold, closed today.

                                                                     .GREEN     

       GREEN SPACE

       GREEN SPACE

                      SPACE

BUILDING SPACE

BUILDING SPACE

               BUILDING.

The streets hold my interest every time I wander them. I'm slowly being drawn towards the structures and buildings that most people don't even notice but to me they are intriguing. Who designed them? What goes on inside them? How old are they?

The actual outline of the buildings has become my main focus and the angles, perspective and size is starting to feature strongly in my work coupled with whatever happens as I make my way through Leicester. 

As the book grows I take elements from it and make new drawings on larger single sheets of paper. 

             Untitled, Wall paint and pen on Fabriano paper, 80cm x 70 cm, March 2014.  

This drawing is the basics of a really complicated alleyway behind some restaurants in the centre of Leicester. 

Its easy to miss, tiny small and even on a sunny day its still really dark and dingy.

The idea was to take everything away and be left with the skeleton of the scene, almost an 

x-ray of what I was looking at, cut out the crap, no detail at all, just pure lines of drawing. 

         Untitled, wall paint and pen on fabriano paper, 80cm x 80cm, March 2014.

This drawing is the skylines of a wander collected over a 30 minute period. All the buildings are blocks of flats, different sizes and shapes just like the people inside them. 

           Untitled, wall paint and gloss on Fabriano paper, 80cm x 60cm, March 2014. 

This drawing captures the city at night. 

Just the blurred, shimmering lights of the streets, the buildings and the movement of people and vehicles can be seen through the rain.

Its drawn in white household paint on top of black wall paint and is not a painting.