Current obsessions

beetle
A beetle - with detail of scarab

Where do you start when you haven’t been actively creating work for a numbers of years?

I feel like I need to:

  • rebuild some technical skills
  • explore new materials
  • allow concepts and imagery to grow

I have an obsession with beetles and fur at the moment. I hope to regain some drawing skills using these images, and exploring the use of coloured pens and pencils. Here’s a beetle sketch, overlaid with a scarab from the Smithsonian Institute (public domain image in case you were wondering).

I plan to animate the beetles, so now off to better my skills in graphics and animation applications as well.

My studio

My studio
My studio: February 2012

This pristine image of a studio, unused, shows my starting point. I haven’t got my hands dirty for close to 5 years. The unfinished painting dates back to early in the noughties. It sits on the easel as decoration. I’ve converted a spare bedroom into a ‘studio’, but I am quite used to working in hallways, dining rooms and on balconies. I wonder how long it is before I go looking for a bigger space …