(but it don’t matter)

I once was aligned with stars so bright,

I could clearly see you blinking.

. .

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

A return to a foggy wilderness,  recalling a previous set of mine from 2009, ‘she heard whispers’.  Slightly colder in tone this time, I think.  This was, nonetheless, a spellbinding experience.  The fog and clouds rushing past like phantoms, revealing and hiding again the hardly-theres and the barely-visible.  There were secrets here, just out of sight.  Perhaps, eternally so..

I’ve been working, behind the scenes, on a series of images in continuation of a new personal project, The Tumblers (see here for first entry, In Love in the Dark).  My output has been reduced somewhat recently due to commitments, and probably also compounded by my departure from Flickr some while ago (hard to explain, but the culture of flickr – for me, at least – seemed to require a consistent output that I began to find thoroughly draining).  It has been liberating to be working on a number of projects in my own time, at my own pace, without the need to showcase every little thing.  I think, in a way, I’m retraining myself towards a better discipline and – hopefully – finer and thought out work.  We shall see..

The Tumblers series also marks my first steps into collaborations with other artists.  I shall reveal more in time, when things become more concrete.  Needless to say, I am very excited at the prospect!

Till next time,

Chris

Current Inspirations:

Book The Art of Looking Sideways / Art style of video game Limbo / Music The Instrumental Sessions / Art from Cendrine Rovini / Magazine Carpaccio Magazine

So, school Summer holidays are upon us.. I’m happy to have Jeff, my eldest son home for awhile.   Here are some photos from a recent beach trip:

Despite the ominous clouds drifting into our sunny morning’s fishing through dregs of constant seaweed , Jeff refused to believe it was going to rain (it did) and  put up a bit of a fight about going back home.

Monks bay (pictured) is a great little beach, despite being of the seaweed/rocky kind.  There’s a quiet, mystical draw to the place.  I like the fact that every time I come here, there are always signs of campfires; and always in the same spot. .

And no, the orange VW camper van doesn’t belong to us;  It does look damn cool though!  I liked how the kids looked in front of it with their fishing nets and accompanying shadows.

And…

I was very pleasantly surprised last week to receive a letter and these wonderful photographs as a gift from friend & photographer, Emma Llensa.  As well as being a great photographer, Emma works alongside illustrator Maria Cerezo to bring us the excellent Carpaccio Magazine (who have kindly featured my work on two occasions) – a showcase for emerging artists and photographers.

I think anyone is guaranteed a great day when a surprise gift is received in the post!  Made my day, for sure!  Thanks very much Emma!

I am most likely going to be tied up in school summer holidays related shenanigans for the next few weeks, so I expect my output to reduce accordingly (as is the case in such things).  I have been jotting any new ideas in my sketchbook for future reference..

Till next Time,

Chris

Current Inspirations:

Art by Polly Morgan / Art by Maurizio Bongiovanni / Music from Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse

Hello.

In a recent post I mentioned that I was working upon an idea involving unrelated, cascading images in sequence. I am now happy to unveil the first of a new series I am (for now, at least) calling, “The Tumblers”…

The idea was partly inspired by viewing various blogs (mostly Tumblr, hence the series title) where individuals had collated images (both illustrative and photographic) from around the web and displayed them in a format which, when viewed in sequence, gave way to a peculiar sense of narrative (for me, at least).

I became interested  in how my brain attempted to link images, to try to locate a common essence and rhythm, even when there was none.  So, with this in mind, I trudged back to the Chemical Gdns. labs (to the backdrop of a dark and stormy night of course!) and aimed myself squarely at the idea of recreating this idea synthetically…

The idea has mutated somewhat since it’s original conception (don’t they always?), the concept of each image being unrelated to one another has taken second stage to a sense of flow which began to naturally generate between the sequence.  As I worked upon this, this flow became more intriguing to me than this idea of a non-sequence.  In fact, although my original sketch for this was entirely random, the more I look at this piece, the more I recognise common themes that connect all of the separate images.  The elements are touching one another, not entirely content to be confined.  The pregnant belly (above) connects to the image above it, and that to the opposing aqua-blue sperm to the left.  There are veins, roots, skulls, life and full-stops.. A passage of life, I like to think.

Thank you for reading.  I am never entirely sure whether or not I should include a written account or not; a genuine sense of conflict for me!  I like to hope that the work can stand up alone without the support of words.  At the same time, though, I feel it’s important to reveal something of the journey that takes place to get an idea from A to B.

Take Care,

Chris :)