A few years ago, I determined to improve my drawing by doing a drawing a day. However, I was always so busy during the day that what this meant in practice was that I mostly drew while sitting on the sofa at the end of the day and the sketches were of everything I could…
Feet and Hands – Paula Rego
Last weekend I finally managed to visit Paula Rego’s Obedience and Defiance exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. It is an exhibition full of paintings and drawings that span the length of her career. Her work is full of symbolism, with animals used often to depict the ways we harm and care…
Hugh MacDiarmid Mural
The wonderful Outpost Arts in Langholm have commissioned a series of artists to create murals to be installed around the town centre, exploring and celebrating what makes the town special. Although Langholm already has a monument to Hugh MacDiarmid, I thought it would be good to link his writing to the nature that can be…
Craft and Mental Health
There has been a lot written about craft and mental health, and there are a growing number of people who engage in craft related activities as a form of mindfulness or relaxation. It has become big business, from colouring books for adults to knitting clubs, and there has been huge resurgence in ceramics due in part…
Alloa Mural
This was a piece commissioned by a housing association in Alloa to replace a stained glass work that had been vandalised. Let’s hope that this one is more difficult to break!
Life Drawing
Recently, I have found myself drawn to paring back the ideas I had, drawing with fewer lines. These simple life drawing pieces had been in my mind for a while, and I have been making them in the moments between projects. These drawings are from self portraits, but are inspired by ideas of what women…
Deadlines and Dead times
As a self-employed artist, work is often either feast or famine. You tend to work solidly at something and then deliver it, and then find yourself lost with little to do, reaching for the next opportunity. These interludes in between work are a strange time, they appear full of promise as you approach them, but…
Impostor syndrome?
I have recently been reflecting on why it is that most artists I know belittle their own achievements, and worry they are not good enough. I have lost track of the number of conversations I have had about this with other makers who feel that they are not achieving enough, or worry they will be…
Residency
My final piece for the residency was a 9m tall self portrait sculpture drawing on the wall of the building I had been working in. Creating something this scale and this free was a wonderful end to a period of time spent trying to work out what was important for myself, my practice, and my…
La Grotte de Pech Merle
La Grotte de Pech Merle is a series of caves full of prehistoric cave paintings, dating from between 24,000 and 29,000 years ago. The drawings are truly incredible in their simple beauty, with a few lines describing the shape and movement of a buffalo, a mammoth, or a cow. (These photos are from the…
Agnes Jones Art Blacksmith 