My panels are ready for 1st layers, its always exciting, and at the same time frustrating, as each layer has to be given time to dry out before  going on.

As you see I have used sand to create texture directly into wet mixture, I have to work quite quickly and physically to apply large amounts like this, I use a number of methods to apply, including, spreading, trailing, and pouring, at wet stage materials can be embedded, at soft stage I can make marks into gesso, at hard stage, I can sand and carve.

I always have other work to hand, and often work on several projects concurrently, at present I am harvesting and dipping plants, and flowers in paper clay porcelain slip, to eventually become part of my assemblages,

I have been keeping a visual diary of this commission for anyone interested in the journey from bare board to finished piece. I start by preparing m.d.f. panel of size required by sanding and priming. Why mdf? because it is a reliable sub-strait on which to apply layers of gesso, wood moves too much.

These drawings are my first tools, and I use the working sketches as guides for the panels, of which there will be 2,

4′ x 2′ each. Once the panels are drawn out, I can start to apply gesso to create the textures and  the layers. It is a slow build up, allowing for each layer to solidify and dry out before moving on.

Here is the 1st of several images of my exhibition at Sam Scorer Gallery

Gallery view

People never cease to amaze! I was confronted by two blokes who very gently admonished me for giving images for Gallery pre- publicity that were not truly representative of the work in the gallery. I apologized, and agreed that I had been tardy, they were very kind and said that in actual fact, it had been a nice surprise for them, and they greatly enjoyed the exhibition. I feel I have been given a fair warning, to give as much attention to the stuff we think of as tedious, as it is just as representative, and is whats more, out there.

As if creating a complete body of work is not enough, there then comes the admin, cataloging, label writing, blurb writing, and on and on and on, not to mention actually transporting work safely to gallery and putting up. Well I wont actually go on too much about skill sets as I actually damaged some work whilst setting up. Is it all worth it? yes I think so, it gets work out into a different setting and context, and then you have dialogue with observers of the work. Its good to see your creation in a setting with space around it, it inspires further thought and hopefully spurs you on. Images will be coming asap.

Putting up a solo exhibition has to be one of the most exhausting experiences, especially if you have very large heavy panels, it is at times like this that I wish my work was miniature!, however it isn’t and I had the misfortune of dropping one panel whilst setting up and breaking a corner. One of the solaces if you invigilate your own exhibition  is that you do get to meet and speak to some very interesting people. Sam Scorer Gallery is a lovely space in the heart of historic Lincoln, so enjoyable, and with a diversity of both locals and tourists. I have two weeks.