I’ll own up that the title for this news post is taken from a book i’ve recently treated myself to. I can’t stop looking at it. It’s a catalogue of 31 black and white photographs by Robert Frank published in 2019. Mesmerising, peaceful, moving. This collection titled ‘Good Days Quiet’ and ‘Memories’ could be a visual diary of his own experience of ‘Lockdown’. In fact this is 'Robert Frank’s final book and ‘organises Frank’s archives in the twilight of his career, alternating ‘photographs (interior and exterior) of his home in Mabou, Nova Scotia with portraits of family and friends’.

My own visual dialogue of this time could look a lot less focused. I’ve constantly found myself moving from one thing to another. I’ve probably always been a bit of a ‘flitter’ - is that even a word ? So, this unprecedented and surreal time seems to have heightened this tendency more.

When the lockdown started I was working on a small group of mixed media pieces, on Book covers, for a group exhibition titled In Our Garden - These unfinished pieces sat on my wall for quite some time. My intention was to use the sewing machine to work into them. To layer and collage. In the end it was using acrylic paint that helped resolve these 4 works to a conclusion that I felt reached their intention. I have popped them on to my shop page and will leave them there for a limited time.

On reflection, although I intended to use these pieces to explore a general narrative about our relationships with garden spaces, In the end they are more personal than that. In fact they speak more about my own use of the garden space around me to escape. A refuge from Lockdown. A way to distract and control the situation. It seems to work that they are small and intimate.

My new Shed Studio surroundings, adapted whilst on lockdown, has provided some fresh inspiration and i’ve been working on a new group of paintings based on photos, drawings and small mixed media experiments. It’s proving to be invigorating doing something different. I did say at the start that I tend to move and shift focus. I think it’s oddly a way for me to be more productive.

Time Window - digital photographic exploration

The first couple of experiments just played around with the light and shapes. Also the surface. I didn’t have much In the way of board to work on so I just used some mount card to start with.

Then I moved on to thicker board. Exploring a more minimal approach. More space and less form.

The larger paintings are on deep canvases. These are collages with thin painted layers of acrylic ink. I had been working on these at the previous studio at WaterHall Farm and when I saw the photos of the blind I realised how I could resolve these.

Next up, my plan is to explore and examine this imagery with some other approaches . I like the idea of a more 3 dimensional surface so Ive been building up and painting on a gesso board.

Amongst the new ideas, and more experimental trials, I have also felt uneasy at leaving work unresolved from the Tracing Shadows Project I had been working on with Helen Terry. We have (Helen and myself) had some really good online conversations since lockdown, exchanging ideas and comparing how we are getting on. We were so close at finally getting to reveal our work, but will just have to wait a little longer. Our project Catalogue for Tracing Shadows was nearly completed and we love how it looks, and we have included lots of pictures from our studio sessions.

photopolymer plate with white ink.jpg — Photopolymer plate inked up at Digswell Arts print studio, SJT

With that weight of the ‘unresolved’ on my mind I managed last week to revisit some of the prints I made during the first phase of the project. Although they are quite varied they have in common a small intimate approach and they represent a stage where I was exploring new plates and methods. Now that I’ve finished them I feel pretty chuffed with how they look. I have popped a few of them on my shop page and will be adding more later on.

Managed, detail. Collagraph etching with collage, graphite and acrylic ink.