I lie awake at night and listen to the birds singing

I just thought I should add the shirt!

It was the opening last night and that was very exciting. I was really pleased to see so many people that I knew and some new faces too. I was put on the spot a bit when the gallery asked me to make a speech and so completely forgot to thank my wife Jeanette and our children and my mum and dad, who obviously are owed the most gratitude of all for putting up with me and supporting me in every way. Jeanette obviously more than most has had to put up with a lot and I am in her debt. This exhibition is for you Jeanette…Thank you.

Anyway, The exhibition opening went well, lots of positive feedback and people particularly liking the contrast between the showcase piece "My Guardian Guides" and the quieter pieces. Two sales confirmed, which is good.

It is so stressful at these things, not being able to spend enough time with anyone. I had my shirt bought literally off my back so that was really exciting.

Ellie took these photos so big up to her this blog!

oh… and finally…

the Guardian haven't listed the exhibition!

We started installing the exhibition at Oriel Wrecsam today.Thank you Jonathon LeVay for all your help. (and Honor Pedican and Jess). It's coming together but there are still things that need to go up. We had a few problems with perspex boxes falling apart and the usual stuff but it is so exciting to see the work on a large scale for the first time. It's quite magical. The opening is tomorrow night. The whole family has been busy making badges, and I've made some small books to sell. (There'll be a catalogue from my last exhibition and the small books and badges to buy.)

I really hope it comes together… it's like running down the street naked, I heard one woman today going past and saying "tut! black and white". well i guess this is what you are laying yourself open to when you have an exhibition.

The Guardian Guide Series

The Guardian Guide Series was completed in 2008 and shown for the first time at Wrexham Arts Centre. I had made some prototypes, which were shown in the touring exhibition “for the love of making books”. The initial reason for working in the Guide was through frustration at not having my exhibition listed in the weekly supplement. I have always read the Guardian and have a longstanding relationship with it. I tell people all the time about stories I have read in the paper, at college I would spend hours in my studio doing the crossword with my contemporaries, I recommended the Guide paper for cleaning etching plates before printing. As time passed I won a prize from Ralph Steadman for a drawing I submitted to sister paper the Observer, I had a letter published regarding the regularity of pig’s heads in the magazine, and I encouraged my teenage daughter to read it every weekend, indeed, we argue over who can read it first. So you can imagine I felt upset that this distant relative did not even list my exhibition.

I began work on the 2008 series and the working process was like an automatic process: each day I would work in the guide developing ideas, which may, or may not, form narratives. The ideas may relate to the previous day’s drawing or may be sparked by something new that had happened that day. I liked the play on the idea of “Guardians” and “Guides”; that these books might somehow help me make sense of my day-to-day existence… who knows?

Anyway, in total there were 888 drawings made over twelve months. There are 12 books. As for the listing, I had been looking in the Northern edition and the exhibition had been listed in the Southern Guardian every week.

I'm almost done!

The last of my (12) Guardian Guides is almost complete and I'm just moving on to pulling the eggs and bottles together. The framed work is now complete and things are beginning to look as though they may actually work together. I can't wait to see it all in the gallery now as it really is the only point at which you can see whether or not it works.

Went down to Cardiff to the Eisteddfod and saw Jeanette's work in the exhibition, it looked really good. The whole exhibition was good actually with some very interesting drawing work and installation pieces.