More Feathery Experiments...

Feathers stitched onto cotton, January 2016

My last couple of posts have been about the importance of 'playing' and enjoying work and life. This post sort of continues with this theme and is more a chance to share some pictures and show you some of the ideas I've been playing around with in my studio rather than a deep and meaningful examination of my practice.

Sketchbook pages exploring feather ideas...

Sketchbook pages exploring feather ideas...

Playing with ink

Drawing on a prepared page

Birds and feathers have been recurring themes in my work for some time now and I've had lots of different thoughts and ideas about where the work could go. Thoughts and ideas are great but there's no substitute for actually just getting on with it! So, I have been in the studio everyday (even if it's just for half an hour) doing a bit of drawing or sampling. 

Large Feathers (A2) Ink on paper

Jackdaw, Ink and Acrylic

Feather, Ink on paper

I've been trying to keep up with daily drawing for quite a while now, with varying degrees of success. I do find it a good habit to get into and my drawing definitely improves but I did find I was in danger of getting stuck in a bit of a rut in terms of always relying on my pen and continuous line drawings. To help break out of this I started experimenting with drawing ink and I've been enjoying how different it is. I have a lot less control so the drawings don't always go quite as I intended but I love the random patterns that the ink can create. 

Feathers stitched onto cotton

Feathers stitched onto cotton

Feathers stitched onto cotton

Feathers stitched onto cotton

Feathers stitched onto cotton

As well as the drawing I've particularly been enjoying playing with feathers, using them to make mono prints and stitching them onto cloth. I now have some much clearer ideas for pieces of work and am looking forward to getting stuck into these in the coming weeks. I've also found that by just getting on and experimenting the conceptual side of my work has become clearer and more focused, but that is a subject for another post.

Feather mono print

Feather mono print

In Circles, accepted for Upfront Open Exhibition

I've also had a piece of work accepted for the Upfront Gallery Open Exhibition and this has helped boost my confidence and motivation, especially as it is one of my feather drawings. All in all it's been an exciting and positive start to the new year and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes...