Chris Thomas said this blog might be a theraputic exercise for the artist. He is right about there being a theraputic exercise, but I did not know myself whether it was the writing of the blog, or the dog walk in the first place, that was theraputic? I now suspect the later, as I was really looking forward to going ‘up the woods’ with the recent snow fall today. I can still make art inspired by dog walking without having to blog it. So that is exactly what I will be doing.
http://stroodcommunitytrail.blogspot.com/
Is my newest blog, about another part of Kent, and covers a current commission. As it is part of that commission and linked from the commissioners website, I will probably have to adjust a little so as to not to depict anything out of context, and probably less emotionaly, which will change my blogging style a little.
But this blog has enabled me to make art from a personel point of view and focus on what interests me, which is my surroundings and the history around me. My art has always been about other peoples suroundings and their histories. Not a hard thing to do you may say.
For me it is the hardest thing in the world to see. And now after almost 20 years of making art on a day to day basis I can now say I will be making time to do stuff which relates to my inner world and drivers. So this blog has been a stepping stone for me, a stepping stone across a void too wide before.
I do not know how to present or show this work yet, but at this point I dont think I’m going to worry about that. Far more important to create a substantial body of work and then look for the strands and threads within it and how they may be presented in different ways later. Of course time plays a part in these things and slow and steady is better than nothing. That is why the blogging aspect works so well as irregular but frequent updating slowly builds.
The woods feel different, as work continues there. There is a clearer, lighter and more open feel to them. I will be in there alot this coming year with Cosmo and on my bike.
So; adios amigos.
