Yes, today is the Church’s Birthday and to mark this there was an all-out jamboree for the Island Churches. It was actually a lot of fun and for myself, the first time I had set foot in a football ground! I took to the shade of the stands after a round of gazebos representing churches and interest groups. From this vantage point I was able to take in a vast array of people moving about including a certain contingent brandishing Mr Whippys. There was then time for a second round of the gazebos including dropping in on Christian Aid and Traidcraft. Yes, Fairtrade is very much on the Christian agenda and Craft of the highest quality was represented. A couple of artists were present with stands and there was also the Eco-challenger vehicle, taking me back to my days on the team of the Medina Valley Centre. Personally, I can think of no better way to spend a sunday afternoon than getting reacquainted with those I have got to know over the years of living on the Isle of Wight, enjoying sunshine, seeking out the shade, some slightly over-amplified worship music and ofcourse the Isle of Wight Gospel Choir (not to be missed)!!

I finally worked out what to do with my individual box pieces which I had been making by hand using paper folding. These have now been assembled into a group of nine after many months of adding to the collection at odd times. I have actually been doing double-sided pictures (more images to come), working onto glass and frame and removing the backing board. Good fun actually and the box art piece here is backed onto canvas so who knows!! It is a work in progress but I feel I finally made some decisions. Alongside this I have the view from my studio wall of three works which I would like to group together in this way when finally shown.

I had a real sense of boudaries today as I went as part of a writing group from Newport quayside along an industrial corridor bordering the river and out into a wider vista onto the river proper. This is by way of preamble because what I was really struck by was the plethora of boundaries along the way. The brief we were given was one of using close observation and taking field notes. There was no end of corrugated iron fencing or wire mesh. I had the strong desire to cross boundaries particularly around the boatyards where there were interesting potential finds in terms of odd bits of wood and general detritus. Writing often makes concrete what for the visual artist can be a bit of a haze. I had a recent comment at my studio from fellow artist and painter Lisa Traxler that the framed work seemed to question rules and boundaries. For me this was significant and today’s trip along the river only serves to highlight this further. With the work that spills on to the frame it’s a kind of bid to extend the boundaries and conversely I also crop certain pieces to impose new boundaries with only a small part of the work on view. The rest is known only to the artist and is a conscious decision on my part. I hope to scale up certain pieces in future. There is also the dimension of the limited edition prints currently in production, which also alter boundaries and perceptions as compared to the originals. Red Tree shown here seems to be questioning boundaries and wrestling with those imposed on it, just as nature has so much to contend with whether it be the man-made environment or the vagaries of the natural world with it’s own inbuilt hostility.

Well, what better way to take in the delights of Ryde Sands than a bit of ‘mind mapping’. In actual fact what started off as some marks to show waves breaking onto the sand metamorphosed into a tangle of words within a web of lines. This is not your conventional mapping exercise, which was demonstrated to me recently as a business tool for planning ahead. ‘Dilemma’ is still my favourite word of the moment and I think this map best depicts the lack on clarity that currently exists within my head. Travelling a short way along the coast towards Seaview is the most tucked away and exquisite nature reserve. I couldn’t resist the graffiti sign near the entrance, which I share with you now. Just about sums up the situation as I consider what to do next. There may be a glimmer of light yet and will keep you posted as to any developments as I continue to brace the tide of ’small fish in a big sea’.

Hello. Is there anybody out there? I’m actually throwing out a challenge for answers as I’ve reached a bit of a cross roads in my work, which I’d like to share with you, my fellow blogger/curious reader. My partner tells me I am quite ‘driven’ when it comes to being an artist and I’ve had to take this on board. Artists probably have an uncanny knack of being able to take themselves too seriously and for this reason I’m trying to take a step back, remove my foot from the accelerator and coast along to see where I end up. Without meaning to sound naive there must be a way forward other than as a small fish in a big sea continually bracing the counter-current. Opportunities may come my way if I am alert to them and allow myself to ‘go with the flow’ for a while. In a bid to take myself less seriously and counterbalance my hoarding instinct at the same time, I’m hoping to de-clutter for a car boot and table top sale in the semi-rural idyll of Whippingham. This is not far off the trail of Osborne House, favoured home of Queen Victoria when she was away from the palace. There should be ample opportunity to practise my sales pitch and get into direct contact with the public for a good honest haggle.

Hello from a daytripper. I decided to launch myself into the world of Limited Edition Prints by teaming up with a company known as The Happy Carrot (do check out www.happycarrot.co.uk) based in Winchester. They hope to reproduce 5 images from different periods in my career and in due course these will appear on the website. We were able to use the photographic facilities at Winchester School of Art and for myself it was a foray back into an Art College environment but on my own terms, albeit for an away day from the studio.

Cloud did indeed give way to rain, but not before a little light lunch at the Seaview Hotel, a long-standing favourite for celebrities visiting the Isle of Wight. This particular hotel was not short on artwork and even in the ‘Ladies’ there were a couple of choice collages. It’s good to see Island art finding it’s way into unexpected places. Also made a couple of impulse purchases at a Jalopy shop come hardware store I discovered along the way that was full of cut-price miscellanea. Couldn’t resist the enormous roll of doubled-over plastic sheeting. My mind went simultaneously to the allotment for propagation and children’s workshops for making messy artwork in the form of plastic banners. I hope the spade and picture hooks I came out with will also prove useful. It was ‘that’ sort of shop where you just can’t keep your hands off a bargain.  Hoping to have something a bit more meaningful to comment on next time.  Signing out as ‘artist with the hoarding instinct’.

How’s this for weather. First of all dramatic sea spray along Cowes seafront at high tide and then down on the South coast of the Island at Ventnor with a rainbow marking the end of a passing shower. It was good to be out along the rugged coast from the Botanical Gardens through to the town along the coastal path. As ever I was loving the elements and am taking a short Easter break (albeit staying at home) away from studio practice, gallery proposals, teaching commitments and all that stuff in general. Artists definitely need that break, atleast this one does and I revel in Public Holidays, whether paid or unpaid! Go on fellow artists, give yourself a pat on the back and a well-earned break from the daily grind.

Yes, that’s me, the visual artist. I have actually done my fair share of writing in recent years, mainly by way of a personal journal but also the odd piece of poetry or prose for limited consumption. I ventured off for the workshop I mention here on saturday and spent a somewhat damp but worthwhile day taking field notes in the grounds of Northcourt, a manor house nestling below the Downs in an enchanting and historical location. The writing was interspersed with yoga exercises and a bit of singing and dance to connect with nature.

 I was actually able to see the world from both an artist’s eye but also merging that with the scientific as I tried to follow the brief for writing through objective observation . I feel the need to inflict a little snippet of writing on my readers. After all that’s what bloggers do! To set the scene we are at the final stopping point around the grounds with the rain beginning to set in:

‘The rising dampness of the slope takes us to the ’storm beech’, a monolith standing erect  against the cold grey sky. At its side an angry anvil of branches has been brought down under their own weight. Rhododendron encroaches with its saturated green leaves and buds firm as bullets. Yew and Pine are also close enough by to provide an evergreen screen to frame the view. Moss has replaced grass under foot and the air is suffused with  earthiness and wild garlic, melded together and lingering on the air downslope as we wind our way back to the house. On the doorstep are the ever faithful stone lions, sentinel, moss-ridden and enduring all weathers in order to see our return.’

Spring is in the air and throws down the challenge of balancing domesticity with productivity (in the artistic sense). I have to say I actually feel more energised and creative for embarking on a flurry of Spring cleaning. Menial, repetitive tasks are suppose to stimulate creativity or so I’m told! Added to this is the resolve to get planting down at the allotment: potatoes have gone in already on some plots and I don’t want to miss the boat. If you really are that interested (and that may be a big assumption) then visit www.veraveg.org for some fine specimens of local produce grown right here in East Cowes.

So, have I nothing to say about high art or has that all gone out the window? By no means! I’ve been able to do a couple of mainland visits in recent weeks, including following up a Guyanese artist (as suggested at ArtSway). Frank Bowling is currently showing work at the Arts Institute, Bournmouth. He has been painting since the 1960s and was a contemporary of David Hockney and a whole raft of Pop artists. I was able to introduce myself to him at the Private View to his latest exhibition, a series of large abstract paintings from the 1980s. He is a most interesting character and we shared stories about Guyana although I have to confess to never having lived there, being British-born. My parents, however, are both Guyanese and that made for interesting conversation.