family sculpture show

This child was adorable at last weekends workshop at Hepworth. Was great to be reminded how much fun kids can have with scrunched up paper.

big draw

Drawing on the windows of Costa in Wakefield... an outreach activity with The Hepworth Wakefield to celebrate the big draw in autumn 2011. The following week we filled gallery 7 with two huge floor based drawings using Clare Wood's paintings as inspiration. Participants of all ages imagined the creatures that could inhabit Clare's paintings, and created them using drawing, mark making and collaged vinyl.

art practice in a social context

Yesterday I attended a symposium run by Yorkshire Artspace (YA) in the brand new Knutton Road Studios in Parsons Cross, Sheffield. YA said: 'Through this event we hope to explore and examine the role that art, artists and arts organisations can play in communities and neighbourhoods'.

The day was made up of a variety of speakers and discussion, the audience were engaged and asked lots of questions. Being amongst the debate enabled me to ponder and define my place within it and where I chose to situate myself.

The speakers that really interested me were artists Kate Genever and Steve Pool and Francis McKee, director of CCA in Glasgow. Kate and Steve revealed some of the processes and responses they encountered during their residency (commissioned by YA) in Parsons Cross. They stated 'they want to be artists of the world, not artists of the art world that make work that only speaks to other artists'. Their residency was an exchange with people, not doing something to, but doing something with others. They commissioned other artists by putting out a call for proposals on Arts Jobs and this raised awareness of Parsons Cross/Knutton Road in the art community and got four more people thinking about and responding to the residencies concerns. Questions were posted and teased apart: what is community? How meaningful is an end product? With so much stuff in the world do we want to make more? Kate and Steve raised many concerns and talked sensitively about them, including problematic issues such as art as a panacea, working with both social agendas and creative agendas and fears of being seen as do-gooders.

Art practice in a social context is a complex issue that requires thoughtful, considerate and responsive negotiation, clear communication is key. Kate and Steve's collaborations gracefully acknowledge and faced these complexities head on and created useful and meaningful outcomes.

Francis McKee told of taking on the failing and hated CCA building three years ago and being told, 'You can do what you want with it'. He began by adapting and shaping the building, developing a responsive, open source approach to programming where anyone could propose to use the space. Engaging with the public and communities in this way ensures the CCA shows what the wider community is interested in and creates a diverse rolling programme for the centre. Francis has turned the building into a busy, bustling, well used space with people claiming ownership of the building. He spoke about 'leaving the art out of it', bringing people in for the cafe, bookshop, other events and then inviting them to view the art activity. This honest approach was refreshing, as much of my work in communities has little to do with ART, it is about conversations, ideas, learning new skills and self expression (which is art...).

One of CCA's early projects involved turning a room into a greenhouse, growing runner beans and inviting people to pick their own. Cooking classes were run alongside to teach how to cook the vegetables. The Abundance Project in Sheffield was mentioned as inspiration.

sites in sight

I'm ecstatic to report that I've been selected as Artist in Residence for the Sites in Sight community project in Wakefield. The Art House working with Wakefield District Housing put out a call for artists in September and I almost didn't apply due to flying off to Norway... very glad I put the late night hours in.

I'll be working in the Warwick Estate in Knottingley, in a shop leased and run by the Warwick Community Group. Our Sites in Sight project will explore the locality, looking at the place in which the community live, focusing on the theme of friendship and what that means for people of all ages on the estate. This ticks all my boxes in exploring place, space, belonging and notions around home. Had a fantastic meeting with Rebecca, Mary, Gail, Clare and others in which we began to sketch out the project. I'm feeling very positive that we will make something wonderful happen.

interior ligthning

Created for the first group show by staff working at The Hepworth Wakefield this piece took four and a half days to install using nine balls of acrylic wool, and that time again to raise my arms above my head without wincing. Interior Lightning included painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, intervention and installation.

My intervention was inspired by Hepworth's use of string within particular sculptures and a desire to play with an illusion of colour mixing in space. This work continues my fascination with elevating cheap materials using time consuming processes. People responded positively to this work and I'd love to create an adventurous intervention in a larger space.

open studios

Come visit me in studio 6 of the Porter Brook Studios. I'll be there friday 5.30pm - 9pm, and saturday 11am - 4pm - I'm galavanting off to London so will miss the last hour - other studios open until 5pm.

clare woods

Clare Woods show at The Hepworth Wakefield was the inspiration for my weekend workshop in the galleries learning studios. Families created a walk through landscape, with drawing, mark making and vinyl collage. The results were fabulous and I'm repeating the workshop on the 10th and 11th of December 2011, its free and drop-in (11am - 4pm) so do come along.

norway

never mind

On the train to Doncaster I eavesdropped into a conversation between a young couple seated behind me. They were obviously in their getting to know you stage, and she shared her troubles with the police when she was younger, resulting in 60 hours community service from the courts. Apparently the victim wasn't hurt badly, only an inch cut to his neck and she hadn't done it. She told of her childhood, how her mother would leave her for days at a time with hardly anything to eat, how one time she had survived for four days on a packet of biscuits. Her tone was bright and chatty while imparting this devastating information.

The train pulled into Doncaster and as they got up out of their seats her companion said, 'Never mind love, life goes on'. I stole my first look at them, and watched as she stood there blinking. He then went on to comment on how easy it was to get to Frenchgate from the station, and she agreed.

sculpture

For The Hepworth Wakefield I'm inventing and delivering workshops for early years, primary and secondary and also running drop-in sessions for families. These images are from my recent drop-in weekend, which will be repeated throughout the summer. Families are invited to create sculptures and drawings in response to the collection in the galleries and landscaped grounds beyond. I've got amazing images of children proudly showing off their work but sadly can't post them as I've not got permission from those involved. Enjoy!

the hepworth wakefield

Hello Hepworth! Opening this weekend and its gonna be PACKED. I'll be leading activities in the learning studios with the creative practitioner team. All hands on deck! We can't wait to get started after months of talking, planning and sourcing materials...

new elgin

wonky steps

train of thought

Can I sit next to you?

If you like.

How old are you?

I’m 40.

Ohhh, but you look young.

Thank you.

Do you have children?

No.

(Sad face) Do you have a husband?

No.

What no husband! But you have had boyfriends?

Yes.

Lots of boyfriends?

A few.

Lots?

Not lots, but a few. If you don’t have a husband you can have boyfriends.

You are older than my mum and my dad.

Am I? Not everyone gets married and has children and that is ok too.

(Pondering this fact, but unconvinced) You are the oldest number in the world! What would that be?

I don’t know what the biggest number in the world would be...

You look 900 million years old!

Oh, I thought you were going to say something nice to me. If I am that old then you will have to carry me off the train because I’ll not be able to walk!

Ok, I will carry you. Are we at Derby already? (slumps in seat, develops a sudden tummy ache and doesn’t want to get off the train)

Yes, we are. I used to live here years ago, long before you were born.

I am nine, ten in November.

Bye bye, go safe, nice to talk to you.

Bye bye.

violet

Violet and Jack, a proper love story. The land girl from Camden Town, the lad from Somerset, married in London and settled in Clutton. Recently I went to visit their shared grave, him dying in 1991 and her in 2006.

I have fond memories of Jack, he was kind. As a self conscious girl of 15 he told me I was pretty enough to be a manikin, I've never forgotten that. There were huge fields at the end of their long garden, a green unending expanse, we fed chickens and kicked up the dust on sun baked dirt paths. Apparently he died in the garden, dropping before Violet's eyes as she stood at the kitchen sink.

My Aunty Vi was my mum's favourite sister and in her prime an absolute knockout beauty. Jack was a lucky man.

pastwords

Currently, a large majority of my time is spent tapping away, or staring at my laptop. Like many of us I spend HOURS gazing at the screen, for work, for play, for social networking, for research, for entertainment. Occasionally the screen darkens and I’m surprised by my own reflection and become cognisant of the solitariness of my interaction in a way that I don't feel when watching TV. Is it to do with distance? Interaction with a laptop is intimate, it rests it on my knees, my stomach, I take it to bed with me.

As my online usage has increased I’ve gradually assembled a variety of usernames and passwords that allow access to my online world. Each username and password reflect where I was at the time of their invention and tapping them out takes me on a trip to past lives, for example, a romantic trip arranged by an ex for my 30th birthday, door numbers of previous homes, cities lived in and memories of a much loved deceased pet. So a simple transaction online can bring to mind the past self while accessing information relevant to the now.

Could a chronology of passwords tell a life story? Could this tumble of words become a poem? What would a stranger make of your passwords and the secrets that your online fingerprint holds?

engaged

I know of people who don’t do public transport. There is a funny scene in The Inbetweeners where the lads on an appallingly shite night out in London shout ‘bus wankers’ to people at a bus stop... wonderfully they get caught in a traffic jam a few yards down the road and get their comeuppance. A sweet victory for people choosing to be, or dependent on public transport.

Public transport has provided me with random opportunities to meet people whom I would never have encountered any other way. One such meeting occurred recently and the strangers words have stayed with me, providing food for thought and impacting on friends I’ve shared the story with.

On a beautiful summer like day in early April I was waiting for the 379 in Bristol bus station, we were informed that the bus had broken down so had half an hour until the next one. I passed the time chatting to a woman who had sat next to me, it turned out that Caroline was an ex Londoner too, had moved to Surrey and then to Glastonbury five years previously. Before the move she had worn an engagement ring for fifteen years to keep suiters away. Caroline has always known she didn’t want children and that she herself had been a mistake, none the less she had been loved and had happy memories of childhood. In Glastonbury she decided the time had come to remove the ring and see what happened.

Caroline told me she really wanted a job in the local bookshop so popped in and asked about vacancies. There were none but she left her details. The following week she was called in for a trial run, offered four days a week, then a further two days in another bookshop owned by her boss. So happy, busy and at the centre of town life she was in a great position to meet the community. In the bookshop she got chatting too a man who had recently retuned to Glastonbury and eight months later they were married in the local registry office. Marriage had never been an ambition, so at 50 to be walking down the aisle was a complete surprise. She had met her soul mate and felt free and very happy. Removing the symbol of being taken had opened Caroline up to try new things, to embrace opportunity, to see what happens if... Her advice to me was to put it out there, ask the universe, get stroppy and don’t give up.

Her words got me thinking about my own wants and if/how I name and voice them. Also to consider the invisible physiological engagement rings each of us wear, not necessarily tying us to a partner, but tying us to a past, a limiting belief, an outmoded idea of ourselves that no one in our current life would recognise. The ways of being that allow us to survive the past are no longer needed today, we (hopefully) update our hair, clothes and interiors but do we ever spring clean and challenge our belief patterns? Do they still suit us? Are they useful? Could they be limiting us in some way?

creature

This creature totally brightens my day, I always look out for it when traveling in and out of the city centre. It lives at the city end of Ecclesall Road, Sheffield.

behave

lost things

During the deep snow of December I became conscious of lost gloves sprinkled about the place. Now I'm noticing lost and discarded items everywhere and have begun to photograph them. The significance of this is just dawning on me at a time when I must admit to a feeling of lostness myself. The heady mixture of the close of one year and the beginning of another, returning to a city that is not yet home and the approach of a significant birthday has resulted in a dose of existential angst that is most unwelcome and most familiar. So as I process my memories and thoughts I am in league with lost things.