May 6th 2013: the day that would have been her birthday.

Not a conscious decision to stop writing my blog during this time, just that my heart went out of it. I have continued to draw and etch but no painting, no sculpture, just small work fitted in during the necessity of sorting out her house. A huge sad job of going through her papers, clearing her house of furniture, pictures and possessions, cleaning and organising, with the aim to put the house on the market.

Not just down to me but as I live nearby and was her primary carer and then the executer, the responsibility lies with me. I have siblings, my sister lives abroad and my brother is a couple of hours drive away, however we’ve managed to all get together to work out who should take what, thankfully we are each so different from each other that the possessions haven’t split us apart. Our taste and style so entirely different from each other, the spaces we inhabit so different and it seems that the memories we associate with the objects are different too. Over the last few months we’ve been able to appreciate each others strengths. My brother’s ability with everything mechanical, he is a fixer, arriving with his van full of tools and his happy positive outlook. My sister’s strength lay in her cataloguing, there were so many books and I was at a complete loss as to what to do with them all. And me what was my strength? No idea, maybe just the ability to keep at it until the job was finished.

Now I am back in my studio, preparing work for the Open Studio.

Saturday May 18th and Sunday 19th 11.00am – 6.00pm

Studio 17, Unit 0, SFSA

Harrington Way, Warspite Road, London SE18 5NR

                                          Directions to SFSA

Force Fields. 2012. Oil and acrylic on paper

Open Studio today. 11am – 6pm.

I’ll be there with my work and demonstrating wire sculpture construction Studio 17, Unit 0

Find Second Floor Studios

Paintings and drawings made during and after spending 4 weeks drawing during rehearsals of choreographer Russell Maliphant‘s stunning dance The Rodin Project, to be performed at Sadlers Wells 29th – 31st October.

Hip Hop rehearsal. The Rodin Project. 2012. Oil and acrylic on canvas

 Darkness Visible. The Rodin Project rehearsal. Carys Staton. 2012. Oil and ink on fabriano paper

 Darkness Visible. The Rodin Project rehearsal. Dickson Mbi. 2012. Oil and ink on fabriano paper

 Darkness Visible. The Rodin Project rehearsal. Jenny White. 2012. Oil and ink on fabriano paper

 Force Fields 2. 2012. Oil and acrylic on fabriano paper

This work was exhibited during September at no format gallery as part of my recent large solo exhibition. Some of the work will be on show in my studio in November when I will be part of SFSA Open Studio weekend.

17th and 18th November, 11.00 – 6.00pm

  SUB. (Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili’s work for Rambert)

Below left: Breathing Space.   Below right: Firebird. (English National Ballet rehearsal)  

Bottom left: Skylarks Don’t Sleep In. (Royal Ballet performing Wayne McGregor’s Carbon Life)    Bottom right: The Call of The Tide.

Editions of 20. Framed:  £130      Unframed: £90

On 21st September, 14 Lewisham College students from the BTEC Level 3 90-Credit Diploma performed a dance they titled “Live Art” in the no format gallery during my exhibition, dancing amongst the work. To watch the performance filmed by Jack Thrush Lewisham College Media & Music Technician please see:

http://vimeo.com/50631041

The brief had been to create a new piece of work using my art work as a starting point and inspiration.  The Project Leader is Robert Nicholson. The project was a collaboration between myself and Lewisham College Dance department.

My exhibition at no format gallery finished on Sunday evening, it’s been up for 10 days, lots of visitors to the gallery, many of the visitors know my work and came specifically to see the exhibition and buy, some were complete strangers who chanced upon the show on their way to or from The Reach Climbing Wall, parents collecting kids from the circus training area in Hangar Arts, some just out exploring on bikes.

All were welcome and many had interesting comments about the exhibition. Here are some comments from the visitors book:

“Wonderful work – so much energy, strength and life” J

“Love the work especially the sculpture with the poem” L

“Great show – fantastic movement depicted with beauty and feeling” C

“Great movement in all pieces” Ch

Tweet from rognbrow and another

However responses from dancers I’ve worked with were perhaps the most meaningful. This next message is from Italian dancer Alessandra Ruggeri who I worked with making the YouTube film Chasing Shadows in 2009

“The body I see in your drawings is the body I feel as a dancer” 

The 3 paintings below were made after spending 4 weeks drawing the Russell Maliphant Dance Company. One day in the Lilian Baylis Studio during a rehearsal, lighting designer Michael Hulls shone lights the colours of fire on the dancers bodies, as they moved they created pools of burning glowing light and for those moments they stopped being dancers and became mystical or other worldly.

When Dickson Mbi showed up he hugged me when he looked at the painting of him in The Rodin Project. He didn’t need to say anything. (see above middle)

Jack Jones from Yorke Dance Project who danced a solo on the opening night, realised that I must have also drawn him dancing in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake when he saw a painting on canvas derived from those drawings. (see below left)

I loved watching dancer Irina Baldini spend some time with the sculpture of her, (life size wire sculpture, Irina, above, but the woman pictured is not Irina the dancer). Probably the last time we shall see this sculpture as she now lives in a lawyers office in Essex (although I’d be happy to make her again to commission).

I enjoyed observing the students from Lewisham College walking around the gallery discussing my work, showing their response through movement, asking questions, chatting about the emotions that came to them when looking at the sculpture, drawings and paintings.

And of course I loved their dance created in 1 week specifically for a performance in the gallery by the students as a response to my work.

Lewisham College 1st year Btec dance students are in no format gallery with me and their dance teacher Robert Nicholson rehearsing for their performance tomorrow afternoon. They have devised a dance taking inspiration from my paintings, drawings, sculpture and etchings.

Just watched a run it’s looking good, the performance is open to the public, tomorrow, Friday 21st September at 2.30pm and of course you get to see my work too.

Travel details to no format gallery.

My sculpture, Marilyn, is now in Bath ICIA theatre ready for the performance, Words Worth, tonight. The sculpture is of Yolande Yorke-Edgell in the dance Marilyn, inspired by a letter written by Marilyn Monroe to her psychiatrist after being committed to a clinic in New York after suffering mental exhaustion.

I drove to Bath on Tuesday with Marilyn lying in the back of the car.

 Marilyn on stage

Yolande Yorke-Edgell on stage with the shadow cast from the sculpture

I invited 18 1st year students from Btec Dance at Lewisham College to come to no format gallery where I have my exhibition, they began to create a dance inspired by my work. The performance will be open to the public at 2.30pm on Friday 21st September.

   Lewisham College dance students create a dance inspired by my work

Lewisham College will perform at the no format gallery 2.30pm on Friday 21st, all welcome.

My show will be open on Friday 21st 2.00 – 5.00pm, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd 11.00 – 6.00pm