December 2018.....

Its been an eventful month with TCL's one year anniversary exhibition at Coffee on the Crescent at Hyde Park, Leeds curated by Stu Hansom, showing 12 pieces of work at Horticap Harrogate and one of my photographic pieces 'Pearl' selected and shown as part of an international exhibition at Loosen Art in Rome, Italy .
 Its always rewarding seeing work 'out there' and people engaging with the images and by being around the work I am able to get feedback and answer any questions people may have about the theory and making behind the work. Its always my intention to produce work that is curious and makes people look closer. Hopefully this generates a lasting connection with the work and a further association to the environment that we all inhabit; the land and elements we come into contact each day.
I have been so happy and pleased with the recent results of my Ice project work and feel the results are worthy of more exposure.  Their reference to fragility and climate change is one of the main driving forces in the making of the work as well as the physicality of materials and making. I feel because of its natural organic nature the work  is crying out to be shown/placed within a contrasting urban environment ; something high end and contemporary such as work spaces i.e. corporate offices. There are so many more possibilities with this project and ultimately I would love to go large with these works in both a photographic sense and actual making. Billboards (thinking outside the box!) and wall size is the aim; to be used as a campaign for climate change or global warming??!! The need for a better resolution camera is probably  what's holding things back at the moment but as funds are low but we will see how things develop! On a smaller scale it would be fabulous to have my work used on an album cover! As anyone who knows me well understands how passionate I am about my music (that's Soul music to be exact!) and it would be the icing on the cake for my work to be used in some context to represent the visual aspect of a piece of music.
As the majority of artist create alone in their studios I love the way art exhibitions and creative events bring people together. Generating conversation, contacts and  supportive networks all helps with the sanity of a creative mind. The endorsement of your work from a fellow artist is one of the greatest compliments and a recent conversation with a fellow artist who expressed the comment that my work had 'soul'  was such a great compliment.
In a growing hyperreal consumer driven society it's sometimes difficult to find much that is honest, true and with integrity. As an artist I strive to counteract this by being as genuine and authentic as humanly possible in both materials, process and production and by utilizing nature and the elements it is hoped my work conveys a sense of honesty and truth. 
As 2018 comes to a close and the new year approaches I feel the need to explore a more sensitive delicate aspect of mark making and sculpture; to experiment with materials that are #bareleythere (its a starting point anyway!) and as a list of things to do begins it include,s more projects and fun times with the TCL ladies, a  return to the landscape to generate new work and a new collaboration/project with my good friend and artist Paula Hickey. Bring it on!!