Perfect Form was inspired by my time as artist in residence next to the iconic sperm whale skeleton mentioned in Moby Dick at Burton Constable Hall. During my time talking to visitors, staff and volunteers discussing the skeleton I always seemed to end with how you get no idea of the shape of the animal from the bones and that …
Twitter is an interesting and remarkably random thing. As part of my artist in residence project at Burton Constable Hall I had some social media targets and so I had returned to my long dormant Twitter account. I needed to work out how to use it and specifically to best promote my somewhat niche art practice. (If you are reading …
I live in Norfolk (about as far from the coast as you can and still live in Norfolk). There have been a series of sperm whale strandings on the North Norfolk Coast and on the other side of the Wash in Lincolnshire (and on mainland Europe). I have not gone to see the carcasses (for lots of reasons, not least …
This is a small piece inspired by a particular aspect of arctic whaling that has interested me for a while now. British Arctic Whalers had various superstitions and traditions and the ones that interest me at the moment are those that relate to their material culture – special things that they made. In December I was privileged to be able …
So, I’ve completed the four pre-exhibition residency stints in the Stables at Burton Constable Hall as part of my Artist in Residence (AIR) funded by the Arts Council and the Friends of Burton Constable Hall. It seemed like a good time to reflect on how my first official (and funded) residency has gone. It’s been awesome! I’ve shared my passion …
Moby Dick is at the core of my work, and I know that it always will be. Sometimes it feels very close to the surface, and sometimes it is buried deep, but always there. At the moment it is pretty much on at the surface. My residency at Burton Constable Hall (home to a skeleton mentioned in Moby Dick) is …
I’m just back from my first stint at Burton Constable Hall as Artist in Residence. I have spent a wonderful four days in the barn with their iconic sperm whale skeleton mentioned in Moby Dick. As well as working on drawings of the skeleton and other items in the collection that have caught my eye I very much enjoyed talking …
Inspired by my recent trip the Gulf of St Lawrence where I was fortunate to see some of the small population of beluga whales that live near the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord. A couple of days later I visited the Redpath Museum at McGill University in Montreal to see their beluga and minke whale skeletons (and lots of other great …
I’ve used some related imagery I’ve been working on for a while to loosely illustrate this traditional song about a whaling voyage in book form. I used a combination of digital printing on fabric and fabric paint for the lyric pages. The images were made using transfer dyes, layering burnt sheer fabrics and freehand machine embroidery. The pages run in a …
Transfer dye on textile. 2015. Work in progress. Image inspired by various images of the Hull whaler Diana trapped in the Arctic ice in 1866.