Catchwater

The new blog I mentioned earlier is now up and running.  Its for the Watershed Landscape residency and's called Catchwater.  I'm not sure how it'll all pan out having two 'art' blogs on the go but feel its the least confusing option.  Click here to go there.

April leaves


Who knew that Horse Chestnut leaves come out of bud as eccentric green lampshades? certainly not me until this spring when I noticed these beauties glowing in the late afternoon sun of early April.

And just now, as April draws to a close following a frenzy of sun-triggered growth another surprise:


A goldfinch feeding on a tree festooned with pale green carnations - which turn out to be the newly minted fruit of a young elm tree.

Pennine Prospects new web site


Its all happening at Pennine Prospects, the organisers of my residency - well, they've just uploaded a dynamic new website for the Watershed Landscape with lots of info and pictures like the one above which I've borrowed, showing all the artists and writers in the project, and here I've got my own page which is quite exciting.

Its a shame I don't look more happy in the publicity photos taken last August at the Cow and Calf above Ilkley, but I'd just had some awfully sad news and was only just holding it together.  Still, the bird book gets a good airing.

The website uses motifs from the series of woodcuts that Pennine Prospects commissioned from me last year.  I especially like the way they've been faded back so the effect is quite subtle.

I've decided I need a separate blog to document my ideas and work in progress for the residency and am busily setting it up.  I like to fiddle with the html a bit to customise the look, so there's still a bit to get sorted before it goes live.

Inspired by Landscape - The Watershed Project

Hooray! today marks the official start of my Artist's Residency in the South Pennines.  I can't wait to get going.  Its been over a year since I applied for the job and my mind has been racing since then. Inspired By Landscape is a 3 year project involving 3 artists and 2 writers.

I'm following on from Sally Barker who was the Year 1 resident artist and has concentrated on making temporary sculptural interventions from local materials and photographing them within the landscape.  Alongside Sally, resident poet Andrew McMillan has also been creating new work but will now be handing the pen on to Writer Char March for Year 2.

There was an article about the project in the March edition of Artists & Illustrators Magazine, where I made some rash promises about taking my portable etching press out onto the moors for public engagement workshops - we'll see if our capricious and sometimes cruel 'summer' weather lets me do this.


Here's a crazy little collage made from manila and security envelopes.  Its Lower Gorple Reservoir tower.

Northtown in black and white