Drawings for a Cathedral

Last year as one of The Ten Group of Artists, I was able to exhibit some new drawings within Guildford Cathedral.  Our graduation ceremony for the Fine Art degree we all completed in 2010 took place in the Cathedral so the venue was the ideal place to celebrate the fifth anniversary in an exhibition called appropriately Quinquennial.

We decided to make new work for the exhibition inspired by the Cathedral itself.  My drawings took the theme of the Seven Virtues and the Seven Gifts of Spirit, encoding the words themselves and meditating on their meaning.

It was an interesting experience to research the venue and then exhibit there and the Cathedral's team were very supportive of our work.

Guildford Cathedral looking towards the Altar

Panel with my Drawings

Hope

Faith

Justice

Dorset Art Weeks

I am now enjoying the sunshine on the Jurrasic Coastline near Burton Bradstock as I am lucky enough to be taking part in the Dorset Art Weeks at the Othona Community.  I am a regular visitor to Othona as it is a wonderful place to recharge my batteries and at times concentrate on some new drawings.  The place has had an integral part in the development of my work, so it was a great pleasure to be invited to show here alongside four other artists. 

We have made use of the chapel and library as exhibition space and have been able to show about 100 pieces of work between us.  Certainly I have never had the chance to show many pieces at once so it has been both daunting and exciting to do so.  At one point I was not quite sure if I would be able to pack everything into the car but it all managed to fit.

We allowed ourselves a couple of days to hang and prepare which went quite quickly but without being too pressured.  Last night we had a preview evening before opening our doors to the public this morning.

So we are here until the 10^th of June with cream teas each afternoon so I'll have to go easy on those or there maybe an expanding waistline to go with the suntan.

The other artists showing are Sue Kemp, Edward Robinson, Elizabeth Sayers and Mart Tebbs.

Display in the Chapel

Two of my drawings either side of a triptich by Edward Robinson

Drawings and miniprints in the library

 

New Drawings

I have had a couple of weeks away from the studio visiting Dorset.  A time that allows me to draw and while away I completed a couple of larger drawings in the new style that I have been experimenting with recently.  Instead of using just single thickness lines I have been working with variable thicknesses.  Before going away I had made a small drawing and transferred to a screen and experimented with some different colour ways.

The two larger drawings are the first I have done at this size (paper 56 x 76 cm) which allows more scope for experimentation with the form.  I’m still not quite sure where they are going and will need to do a few more drawings yet.  This is part of my process, from each drawing I learn something new and start to incorporate that knowledge into the next drawing and so on.   For my degree show last year I did over 20 drawings to reach the final five that went on show, from each one I learnt something new. So with this type I still have a long way to go.   

In the meantime I have also been trying some miniature versions that I am just starting to print, hopefully to have some work to submit to the British Mini Print competition in September. If anyone has thoughts on them, please make a comment