Monthly Archives: December 2025

Explaining

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Explaining

There is a fundamental problem with explaining your work to people in most contexts. The meaning you give in the particular moment would be a different meaning in any another. I think I mean I’m still struggling with the idea of praxis because it seems that the recognition of it is contingent.

In any case I am just about to complete another CAA course, this one a four week ‘crit’ course with David Risley  that has been particularly challenging because of the need to explain. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t want to explain. The ‘crit’ itself moves the work into the realm of spoken or written language rather than the visual and that makes the work lesser in some manner.

explaining

Notes on Woolgathering December 25

After a 1 to 1 talk with David Risley I made some notes about the way I might make ‘woolgathering’  more closely fit with the things I suggested about what I wanted it to say. Then I spent time putting that into practice and made a new video.

 

But I’m reluctant to talk about the work before or during the video, I think it needs to be seen first?

The most upsetting thing about this was that I really wanted to use this crit process to sort out the direction I wanted to take the birds in and I haven’t really talked about them at all.

Studio 01 12 2025

I started the month like this. This is the studio on the day of the 1 to 1, which lasted about fifteen minutes.

explaining

Pigeons 5/12/25

I made this drawing between the 3rd and the 5th December.

Rooks 08/12/25

Then made this one on the 8th December. I managed to stretch the large sheets I made form cartridge and wallpaper paste so while the other two sheets were drying I made some other drawings.

Two Pigeons 10/12/25

This one of two pigeons and the next one of the left hand pigeon.

Single Pigeon 12/12/25

I also went along to ‘The Little Anarchist Bookshop‘ at ArtBomb where Terry Hudson is presenting an installation of his ethical woodland festival based workshops. Not entirely sure what I think about it but admire the motivation.

 

Birds and Trees

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Birds and Trees

November has been all about birds and trees, mostly birds, mixed in with a lot of preparation for Open Studios on the last weekend of the month. After thinking about birds and trees last month I started to draw birds.

Birds and Trees

‘Scattering’ (geese) 10/11/25

This drawing of geese seemed the appropriate way to complete the first of the big drawings I laid backgrounds for in the last week. I made myself four large sheets for drawing, each made by using three A1 sheets of cartridge and using wallpaper paste to stick them together.

‘Jackdaw’ 14/11/25

I used these to make four drawings, starting with this one of a jackdaw.

‘Gull’ 12/11/25

Moving on to the seagull,

Birds and Trees

‘Pigeons’ (after Milton Avery) 12/11/25

While also working on the second, darker, sheet stretched last week to draw pigeons.

‘Rooks’ 14/11/25

‘Gulls’ 17/11/25

Then I a made the crows and the seagulls. I gave them a kind of order but in reality they tend tom get worked on concurrently and ordered according to completion rather than the beginning. The pigeons reference Milton Avery’s ‘Paris Pigeons’ from 1955.

I deliberately made these sheets to have a rough texture, it works better for some drawings than others, that gives the impression of the sky or of the breeze.

‘Dark Crows’ 19/11/25

I made two small drawings of crows above trees while I was thinking of rookeries and realising that my crow drawings are actually rooks.

Birds and Trees

‘Light Crows’ 19/11/25

It’s the splayed wing-tips!

‘a murder’ 19/11/25

This led to the big drawing ‘a murder’ with the birds rendered as gestural shapes against the yellowing sky.

‘Crows in flight’ 24/11/25

I made some black shapes from offcuts of styrofoam to mount and give the idea of rooks flying together.

I had a visit from some rooks, I assume, on the 25th November. We usually get one or two rooks or crows in the garden but this is the most I have seen at any one time. Maybe that’s what you get for thinking about birds and trees.

‘Crows in flight’ 11/25 detail

These are to be mounted above head height.

Studio 26/11/25 ‘the difference between birds and trees’ and ‘Crows in flight’

Then presented in conjunction with ‘the difference between birds and trees’.

Open Studio 29/11/25

Open Studio 29/11/25

Open Studio 29/11/25

These images are from the open weekend, 29th and 30th November. There were fewer visitors than last time, Saturday was miserable and rained all day. Sunday was better and I got a tentative sale and an offer of an exhibition next year.

More crows in flight 30/11/25

I did some drawing on both days, the small ones in response to requests for smaller works to buy. My intention was to separate them for framing but the birds seem to work well together.

The artist in the studio 30/11/25

Finally I got photographed by Mike Stubbs when he visited the studio on Sunday, somewhere between the Pub Landlord and Buster Bloodvessel.

Drawing

I’ve continued to draw every day;

The November drawings can be seen here

  • Draw Every Day – November 25
    Draw Every Day – November 25
    Draw Every Day - November 25 Continuing to draw every day, finished Book 26 on 1st December. ...
    See photo »

…and the October images here

  • Draw Every Day – October 25
    Draw Every Day – October 25
    Draw Every Day - October 25 Continuing to draw every day, finished Book 25 on 14th October ...
    See photo »

There is a link to the previous month’s Gallery on each page.

Or you can go the Galleries page on the top menu

The drawings are posted to  Instagram each day.