Blogs have been thin on the ground for the past month. My time has been taken up very productively, mainly with gathering source material and acquiring various materials for painting and drawing onto and exploring different approaches to exploit these materials fully. From this point I have begun to produce work that I am actually happy with. I am becoming more attracted to reclaimed timber, whether in sheet material, boards, planks or slats. I am finding these materials interesting as they provide another layer to the painted works, offering the viewer the chance to contemplate their significance in relation to the subject matter.
These materials were fashioned to build houses and structures and when found or reclaimed are often used to create temporary shelter. With shortage of housing and a serious lack of homes currently being built a significant contributing factor to homelessness and the threat of homelessness, the relation between these materials and the people and issues depicted on them is one well worth developing.
At the moment I am about to begin work on some found fencing panel strips. Their role in marking and securing boundaries, separating land and property and defining ownership of these is an opportunity I could not pass up. The irony of using a material that keeps people out of homes and off of land to portray the homeless fascinated me and is an idea well worth developing.
