Work In Progress

I didn't show any work in progress pictures here of the large-scale charcoal drawings I made for the Inspired By Landscape II exhibition, as I wanted them to be a surprise.  So (hopefully) here's a little slideshow of one of towers coming into being.  It really did feel like I was constructing every brick, but contrary to normal building procedures I was able to defy the laws of gravity and work down from the top!

Exhibition at Cliffe Castle, Keighley

The Inspired By Landscape Exhibition is now up and running at Cliffe Castle until 15th January 2012.

The opening on Saturday afternoon was well attended with lots of people coming over from Hebden Bridge, Bradford, Leeds, Harrogate and even Chester. 

Until the doors opened on Saturday I'd not seen the complete installation with all the projections running and the lighting in place so it was a lovely surprise to see that everything worked well together.  The giant charcoal drawings of the reservoir valve towers looked suitably dramatic on their individual walls overlaid with the projections of rippling reservoir water, with the blue light behind giving a feeling of space.

Big thanks are due to the very hard working team at Cliffe Castle, who really put the time in to ensure the large octagonal gallery was looking its best.  Special thanks to Paul Mahoney for his technical wizardry with masking the projections so precisely and understanding the effect I wanted to achieve. Thanks also to Mark Wharton for filming the water with me.

Something about all the different lighting used in the show makes it strangely difficult to photograph. The projected water disappears if you use flash, but without it the ripples take on a reddish cast. On the above photo I've had to do a lot of Photoshoppery to make it more like the real thing and its still not right.  I'll be going back with a tripod to have another go but to get the true picture you'll just have to go in person!

Surprise

Not sure if it was the right decision to avoid showing any photos of the big drawings here until after the Exhibition Preview but I do so want their size and monumentalism to have maximum impact at the show. I like a surprise every once in a while and hope the people who've been following this blog and who are coming to Cliffe Castle on Saturday will feel it was worth the wait.

The drawings are being exhibited with an extra added element I haven't mentioned here at all.  This is something completely new to me and involves equipment, other people's expertise and much that is beyond my immediate control so at this point I don't know for sure it will all come off.  I believe the drawings are strong enough to stand on their own but really hope the other bit can happen because it should transform and animate the whole exhibition.

Big Paper

Last Friday I went down to Machpelah Mill early, took down my 3 big drawings and rolled them up.
It took over 2 tense hours as I was working on my own and had to think through every move to avoid doing anything to damage the paper. The evening before I'd given them all a huge final spraying of fixative and the room still stank of chemicals.

It felt weird rolling up the drawings and making them disappear, they've been such a presence in the room over the past 5 weeks and it hardly seemed credible all that work could be reduced to this insignificant looking parcel with its lop sided masking tape carrying handles.

My friend and colleague Chris Herbert gave me a lift to Cliffe Castle in her camper van.  The drawing roll travelled in style - luxuriating on the fully extended bed and arriving at the gallery in perfect condition.

The installation date had been put back until today, so this morning it was the Keighley bus for me, the 500 which goes up over Oxenhope Moor and via Haworth.  The moor looked delightful in the early morning sun and it was good to reacquaint myself with the uplands after weeks of grafting indoors.

At Cliffe Castle not everything went to plan and although the big drawings are now up there's still a lot to do in a very short time.  I've got to go back on Thursday to review things.

Giant charcoal drawings

I've finished the second of my 3 giant charcoal drawings and here's a couple of close-up photos to show texture detail. Can you guess what they are yet?

There's now less than 3 weeks before the work must be completed.  I have to take all the exhibition work to Cliffe Castle, Keighley on 12th September so they can have 2 weeks to organise the hanging for the preview which is taking place on Saturday 24th September.

It all feels too scarily close, so tomorrow I'm straight on to starting the third drawing. The giant sheet of paper is already fixed up and ready to go.

My space at Brooklyn Studios in Hebden Bridge is too small for doing these drawings so Trevor Smith the owner of Machpelah Mill has very kindly agreed to let me use the large basement room there.  The windows look out onto the canal and its very peaceful, which is just as well as I'm starting to feel the strain of my deadline...