I have been asked to do some book review readings on the wireless. I have been approached by a local radio producer/broadcaster and asked to write a selection of book reviews to be aired over four Sundays in September. The readings will be about five minutes long, but I will also be including a variety of locally pitched top ten charts, and possibly some information about exciting up and coming releases.
All in all a fun and exciting challenge to be approached for. I had a sit down meeting with the producer/broadcaster yesterday and finalised the books. The show will have a limited run through September, but will be broadcast on the Internet too, so keep your ears pricked and alert!
The home of my creative exploits.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Thursday, 18 August 2011
New blog header.
Just a quick message to say that I hope you like the new blog header. I decided to include a couple of my own illustrations from the Gormenghast project. The characters are the insurmountably talented Mr Peake's, but the reproductions are my own.
A Maelstrom of Images.
It has been a long time since my last entry, but the months have been packed with creative exploits. My illustrating, which until now has only been a fun distraction, has suddenly become a vital part of my paid employment. The last six months have seen me illustrate and build two campaign windows for Waterstone's. One centred around the centennial of Mervyn Peake, the second around the explicitly popular children's characters 'The Octonauts'.
It has been a very interesting process that has seen my artwork transition from a personal pleasure, to a professional work. My manager approached me with the proposition of building a clock face to put into a window to promote the works of Mervyn Peake. A window planned to coincide with his centennial. Being a fan of Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy I was thrilled at the prospect. Little did I realise what I would be setting in motion.
I had no idea how to plan or execute a project of this type, and resorted to falling back on my fleeting experience of technical drawing whilst studying engineering. I put together a variety of rough design sketches and started a process of drafting and sourcing potential visual components. After a week I felt I had the beginnings of an idea for the clock face, and how to execute it.
I then made the mistake of sitting down with my manager to finalise the idea, and swiftly discovered he wanted more than just a clock face... Two large posters, a backdrop, and signage more to be precise. After a day of fervent scribbling I had drafted some rough ideas for each of the additions, and threw myself head long into the drawing.
I started with the two posters. I decided to create a collection of Peaks own artwork from The Gormenghast Trilogy including the characters names. The hope was to give both posters the feel of a visual roll call of dramatis personae. Thankfully Peake's visual style has a lot of cross over with my own drawing style, and was easy if time consuming to reproduce.
I then moved onto the clock face. This was a more complicated challenge because of its size. Drawn on one long roll of A0 cartridge paper, I outlined the face in several blocks, then filled them all in once the outlines were finished. From a purely logistical standpoint, my antique writing desk was only just big enough to fit the paper onto. Once the face was illustrated I drew the hands separately, cutting them out and mounting them onto the finished face. This ensured a continuity in the image behind the hands.
After the illustrating was completed, I used recycled POS card to mount the face, and then mounted the card onto a recycled OUP press cardboard dumpbin. Once the drying the process was completed the clock face was finished.
That done it was time to work on the backdrop. The city of Gormenghast is described as a vast sprawling castle, with the dominating Tower of Flints rearing above it all. I used images of real European castles to create an eight foot long back drop, which I then cut out of black sugar paper to give me the silhouette.
One quick portrait of Mervyn Peake, and the parts of the window were finished and ready to be installed. The final installation looked like this:
The final installation was received well by the store, Waterstone's headoffice, and the publisher; with one member of the public asking if it was possible to buy the posters I had created. In retrospect I should have said yes. Every penny helps!
Off of the back of the success of the window I was asked to create an Octonauts display in the same vein. Feeling high off of the success of my Gormenghast work I readily agreed.
I started the window with one large overriding concern. I don't work in colour. Anyone who has the dubious honour of remembering the scratchings I did at art college can attest to the historically unsuccessful nature of those works!
That said I could happily outline all of the work before I had to consider colour, which is what I set about doing. The work consisted of a large seascape background, modelled on a scene from one of the Octonaut books, and a collection of character standees. I chose to draw Captain Barnacles, Kwazii Kitten, and Dr Shellington, as well as the large submarine the GUP-A, used by the underwater adventurers.
Once the outlining was completed, I couldn't procrastinate over the colour issue any longer, and went to have a chat with my friendly art shop assistant. He quickly pointed me in the direction of Derwent's Coloursoft pencils, that would give me the level of control I wanted, with a suitable vivid appearance.
A lot of colouring, several blisters (not nice on your hand!), and one broken pencil sharpener later I had coloured all of the characters and most of the seascape. To finish the larger areas of block colour on the seascape I used pastels for a quick fill.
I only had three weeks to get everything finalised and installed. Needless to say this resulted in a lot of all nighters, and one three day waking stretch, but was completed the day before the stores most important head office visit. The final installation looked like this:
Thankfully this installation was also well received, with photos even making there way to Fisher Price, the toy manufacturer.
All in all I am quietly satisfied with the final outcome of both installations. I have learnt how to apply my skill with a pencil to a larger more professional sphere. I am now giving more thought to how to combine my illustrating with my writing in greater depth. There is talk of more window work on the horizon, which I greet with a mixture of excitement and utter terror. But ultimately I'm not happy unless I have my head buried in some kind of creative endeavour, and Waterstone's are giving me the latitude to explore a new outlet for my madness.
It has been a very interesting process that has seen my artwork transition from a personal pleasure, to a professional work. My manager approached me with the proposition of building a clock face to put into a window to promote the works of Mervyn Peake. A window planned to coincide with his centennial. Being a fan of Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy I was thrilled at the prospect. Little did I realise what I would be setting in motion.
I had no idea how to plan or execute a project of this type, and resorted to falling back on my fleeting experience of technical drawing whilst studying engineering. I put together a variety of rough design sketches and started a process of drafting and sourcing potential visual components. After a week I felt I had the beginnings of an idea for the clock face, and how to execute it.
I then made the mistake of sitting down with my manager to finalise the idea, and swiftly discovered he wanted more than just a clock face... Two large posters, a backdrop, and signage more to be precise. After a day of fervent scribbling I had drafted some rough ideas for each of the additions, and threw myself head long into the drawing.
I started with the two posters. I decided to create a collection of Peaks own artwork from The Gormenghast Trilogy including the characters names. The hope was to give both posters the feel of a visual roll call of dramatis personae. Thankfully Peake's visual style has a lot of cross over with my own drawing style, and was easy if time consuming to reproduce.
I then moved onto the clock face. This was a more complicated challenge because of its size. Drawn on one long roll of A0 cartridge paper, I outlined the face in several blocks, then filled them all in once the outlines were finished. From a purely logistical standpoint, my antique writing desk was only just big enough to fit the paper onto. Once the face was illustrated I drew the hands separately, cutting them out and mounting them onto the finished face. This ensured a continuity in the image behind the hands.
After the illustrating was completed, I used recycled POS card to mount the face, and then mounted the card onto a recycled OUP press cardboard dumpbin. Once the drying the process was completed the clock face was finished.
That done it was time to work on the backdrop. The city of Gormenghast is described as a vast sprawling castle, with the dominating Tower of Flints rearing above it all. I used images of real European castles to create an eight foot long back drop, which I then cut out of black sugar paper to give me the silhouette.
One quick portrait of Mervyn Peake, and the parts of the window were finished and ready to be installed. The final installation looked like this:
The final installation was received well by the store, Waterstone's headoffice, and the publisher; with one member of the public asking if it was possible to buy the posters I had created. In retrospect I should have said yes. Every penny helps!
Off of the back of the success of the window I was asked to create an Octonauts display in the same vein. Feeling high off of the success of my Gormenghast work I readily agreed.
I started the window with one large overriding concern. I don't work in colour. Anyone who has the dubious honour of remembering the scratchings I did at art college can attest to the historically unsuccessful nature of those works!
That said I could happily outline all of the work before I had to consider colour, which is what I set about doing. The work consisted of a large seascape background, modelled on a scene from one of the Octonaut books, and a collection of character standees. I chose to draw Captain Barnacles, Kwazii Kitten, and Dr Shellington, as well as the large submarine the GUP-A, used by the underwater adventurers.
Once the outlining was completed, I couldn't procrastinate over the colour issue any longer, and went to have a chat with my friendly art shop assistant. He quickly pointed me in the direction of Derwent's Coloursoft pencils, that would give me the level of control I wanted, with a suitable vivid appearance.
A lot of colouring, several blisters (not nice on your hand!), and one broken pencil sharpener later I had coloured all of the characters and most of the seascape. To finish the larger areas of block colour on the seascape I used pastels for a quick fill.
I only had three weeks to get everything finalised and installed. Needless to say this resulted in a lot of all nighters, and one three day waking stretch, but was completed the day before the stores most important head office visit. The final installation looked like this:
Thankfully this installation was also well received, with photos even making there way to Fisher Price, the toy manufacturer.
All in all I am quietly satisfied with the final outcome of both installations. I have learnt how to apply my skill with a pencil to a larger more professional sphere. I am now giving more thought to how to combine my illustrating with my writing in greater depth. There is talk of more window work on the horizon, which I greet with a mixture of excitement and utter terror. But ultimately I'm not happy unless I have my head buried in some kind of creative endeavour, and Waterstone's are giving me the latitude to explore a new outlet for my madness.
Friday, 8 April 2011
Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
I have finally come to a decision over what to work on next. I'm going to go back to 'The Birth of Martin James' and expand it from 5,466 words to something bigger. I have been staring at it for about a month, questing for a decision on what to do. The simpler choice would be to remove 466 words and submit it, but I can't see how to cut them without detracting form the narrative.
The more I have looked at it, the more areas I can see to improve. Areas where the narrative can be de-compacted, or where the addition of carefully crafted back story would drastically improve the emotional response of the ending. In its current state it is essentially a good idea. A good idea that with some time and work could be a fascinating story. I think with enough thought and planning it could be an interesting vessel for exploring the sense of 'unheimlich' that is increasingly pervading my perception.
I have found some more books that will give me additional perspectives on how to construct the narrative. I will be returning to Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space alongside a collection of post-modern fiction writers. I am also spending more time viewing Japanese animé as it seems to be a wealth of conceptually clever narrative construction.
The first step is going to be a series of cursory and in-depth fractal plans to work out what needs to be written. I also intend to go back to basics and build character profiles (not that their are many characters in this piece). I hope that working through the basic construction techniques again will help me to develop the habit of using them.
I will post more, probably including some thoughts on the construction techniques, as when I am complete them.
The more I have looked at it, the more areas I can see to improve. Areas where the narrative can be de-compacted, or where the addition of carefully crafted back story would drastically improve the emotional response of the ending. In its current state it is essentially a good idea. A good idea that with some time and work could be a fascinating story. I think with enough thought and planning it could be an interesting vessel for exploring the sense of 'unheimlich' that is increasingly pervading my perception.
I have found some more books that will give me additional perspectives on how to construct the narrative. I will be returning to Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space alongside a collection of post-modern fiction writers. I am also spending more time viewing Japanese animé as it seems to be a wealth of conceptually clever narrative construction.
The first step is going to be a series of cursory and in-depth fractal plans to work out what needs to be written. I also intend to go back to basics and build character profiles (not that their are many characters in this piece). I hope that working through the basic construction techniques again will help me to develop the habit of using them.
I will post more, probably including some thoughts on the construction techniques, as when I am complete them.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Update.
Well I'm a little behind in keeping my blog up-to-date. The last month has been an odd combination of creative endeavours. I spent four very busy days working on a submission for an innovative form magazine. It involved a lot of illustrating in a short space of time.
Sadly the submission was rejected, but I wasn't surprised. The piece is nigh on un-publishable, as the form is so very different from the norm, and the single piece was longer than their magazine!
I pushed to complete it more for the act of finishing and submitting a piece of work. Needless to say it was nice to experience the act of submission properly, and it's my first rejection! Probably the first of many, but at least that means I'm writing.
Since then I have been spinning my wheels a little. I can't decide what to work on next. I have been reading a lot of books to find some inspiration, but am struggling. I have instead focused my attention on physical creative exploits. I have started a project to modify my computer hardware into a 'Steampunk' or 'Vicmod' style to better suit my writing desk. I have invested in the majority of materials needed to rebuild my monitor, but need to wait for next month's pay to finish buying them. I have converted an old kerosene lamp to electric, which sits by my bed with a flickering candle bulb inside. Not a lot of light, but a nice addition in the evening.
The modifications are challenging, and I'm learning a lot more about electronics and working in metal. They are also expensive in time and money, and I'm a little worried I'm putting too much time into them.
I have it in my head to finish and submit another piece of fiction in the next month or so. I have a more conventional piece of writing from my Mres that could be tweaked and redone with only a week's work.
I just can't seem to focus myself at the moment. The dreaded 'What is it I'm trying to achieve?' question has reared itself in my head again. The sensible part of my brain is telling me to get a full-time job, finish my savings, and move back to the seaside. Certainly I would be happier (have more money, friends, maybe a girlfriend) on a day to day basis, but wouldn't have the time to write. If I am serious about being a writer, it makes sense to stick it out here...
I think I'm just struggling to blow into my own sails at the moment. It can be hard to push forward when you have no help, and moving back to the coast seems so very appealing. Truthfully it's not worth running away. I need to tough it out and see what I can get done.
This post seems to have turned more into a stream of conciousness moan. Not quite what I had intended. I shall wrap it up on the resolution to get the next piece of fiction written and submitted. I will endeavour to blog more regularly on how it's going.
Sadly the submission was rejected, but I wasn't surprised. The piece is nigh on un-publishable, as the form is so very different from the norm, and the single piece was longer than their magazine!
I pushed to complete it more for the act of finishing and submitting a piece of work. Needless to say it was nice to experience the act of submission properly, and it's my first rejection! Probably the first of many, but at least that means I'm writing.
Since then I have been spinning my wheels a little. I can't decide what to work on next. I have been reading a lot of books to find some inspiration, but am struggling. I have instead focused my attention on physical creative exploits. I have started a project to modify my computer hardware into a 'Steampunk' or 'Vicmod' style to better suit my writing desk. I have invested in the majority of materials needed to rebuild my monitor, but need to wait for next month's pay to finish buying them. I have converted an old kerosene lamp to electric, which sits by my bed with a flickering candle bulb inside. Not a lot of light, but a nice addition in the evening.
The modifications are challenging, and I'm learning a lot more about electronics and working in metal. They are also expensive in time and money, and I'm a little worried I'm putting too much time into them.
I have it in my head to finish and submit another piece of fiction in the next month or so. I have a more conventional piece of writing from my Mres that could be tweaked and redone with only a week's work.
I just can't seem to focus myself at the moment. The dreaded 'What is it I'm trying to achieve?' question has reared itself in my head again. The sensible part of my brain is telling me to get a full-time job, finish my savings, and move back to the seaside. Certainly I would be happier (have more money, friends, maybe a girlfriend) on a day to day basis, but wouldn't have the time to write. If I am serious about being a writer, it makes sense to stick it out here...
I think I'm just struggling to blow into my own sails at the moment. It can be hard to push forward when you have no help, and moving back to the coast seems so very appealing. Truthfully it's not worth running away. I need to tough it out and see what I can get done.
This post seems to have turned more into a stream of conciousness moan. Not quite what I had intended. I shall wrap it up on the resolution to get the next piece of fiction written and submitted. I will endeavour to blog more regularly on how it's going.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Book Reviews.
I have a new review up on the UBG for My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher.
I haven't posted for a few weeks as I have been busy reading and researching. I have been trying to get a better idea of the medical science behind exercise, to help me approach the fit for 30 challenge in a better fashion. I will post more on the BBE blog.
On the arts and writing side there is some news. It looks like my book reviews are going to change venue. Without wanting to go into details, the UBG stuff may be coming to an end. This poses an interesting question. I can shift my reviewing to Waterstones, and indeed I am signed up for proofs through the company. I have two sitting on my shelf waiting to be read and reviewed. However, to my mind, hosting them all through work seems to lack a certain artistic credibility.
I endeavour to keep a healthy distance between my work at the big W, and my writing. Although the two are somewhat entwined, I try not to bring my artistic endeavours through the front door.
This leaves me wondering if I should find another review site to host my scribbles. I could always stop writing anything but the work related reviews, but that seems a waste. The third option is that I could push this blog into a review blog. I admit that this option is tempting, but troublesome in its own ways. I would have carte blanche to review anything, but would have to foster strong relationships with the publishers, which is a lot of work. It's not impossible, but would take up all of my free time outside of work; leaving no time for writing.
I don't think it's wise to lose the writing time, even if I'm not yet committed to a new project yet. Ultimately that is where my career, life, etc lie. It makes the most sense to ask around and find a new reviewing venue.
I haven't posted for a few weeks as I have been busy reading and researching. I have been trying to get a better idea of the medical science behind exercise, to help me approach the fit for 30 challenge in a better fashion. I will post more on the BBE blog.
On the arts and writing side there is some news. It looks like my book reviews are going to change venue. Without wanting to go into details, the UBG stuff may be coming to an end. This poses an interesting question. I can shift my reviewing to Waterstones, and indeed I am signed up for proofs through the company. I have two sitting on my shelf waiting to be read and reviewed. However, to my mind, hosting them all through work seems to lack a certain artistic credibility.
I endeavour to keep a healthy distance between my work at the big W, and my writing. Although the two are somewhat entwined, I try not to bring my artistic endeavours through the front door.
This leaves me wondering if I should find another review site to host my scribbles. I could always stop writing anything but the work related reviews, but that seems a waste. The third option is that I could push this blog into a review blog. I admit that this option is tempting, but troublesome in its own ways. I would have carte blanche to review anything, but would have to foster strong relationships with the publishers, which is a lot of work. It's not impossible, but would take up all of my free time outside of work; leaving no time for writing.
I don't think it's wise to lose the writing time, even if I'm not yet committed to a new project yet. Ultimately that is where my career, life, etc lie. It makes the most sense to ask around and find a new reviewing venue.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Reading
I have been reading from the Oxford Journals today. It's dense, complicated theory that is rooted in many different academic fields. I possess nowhere near enough cultural critical or philosophy theory experience to fully appreciate the multidisciplinary nature of the work. I'm working on broadening my theory base, although it will be years before I can think on the same level as Dr Greg Garrard. It has suggested several new titles which I have added to the reading list. Ecocritical theory specific works that should be read.
I can't make my mind up whether it is comforting or infuriating to know that It will take me so many years of hard study to be near as good as these theorists. I'm a smart guy, with a 1st class research masters, but the sheer scope of some of the multidisciplinary research is near stupefying. I'm wading through the high end academia while reading from the bottom up too, with the hope that in a few years I will hit a happy medium where I can treat at something approximating the same rigour.
It leaves me arguing with myself on how far do I want to follow this route. Am I aiming to be a creative writing lecturer, or do I have my sights set on being a critical theorist? A blend of both is probably the healthiest choice. An area of expertise alongside the act of writing. Perhaps having been away from university for a handful of years is the reason for this feeling of stupidity. Like I'm wading through intellectual molasses. I shall persevere and push through. One laden step after another.
On a different note, I had some success with a new character, writing several brief sketches of exploration. I shall make sure to keep up with the practice alongside revisiting all elements of the writer's tool kit. It felt good to work on something new. A comfort to know I'm still capable, adept even, at drawing deeper connotation in simple prose.
It would seem I am right on track.
I can't make my mind up whether it is comforting or infuriating to know that It will take me so many years of hard study to be near as good as these theorists. I'm a smart guy, with a 1st class research masters, but the sheer scope of some of the multidisciplinary research is near stupefying. I'm wading through the high end academia while reading from the bottom up too, with the hope that in a few years I will hit a happy medium where I can treat at something approximating the same rigour.
It leaves me arguing with myself on how far do I want to follow this route. Am I aiming to be a creative writing lecturer, or do I have my sights set on being a critical theorist? A blend of both is probably the healthiest choice. An area of expertise alongside the act of writing. Perhaps having been away from university for a handful of years is the reason for this feeling of stupidity. Like I'm wading through intellectual molasses. I shall persevere and push through. One laden step after another.
On a different note, I had some success with a new character, writing several brief sketches of exploration. I shall make sure to keep up with the practice alongside revisiting all elements of the writer's tool kit. It felt good to work on something new. A comfort to know I'm still capable, adept even, at drawing deeper connotation in simple prose.
It would seem I am right on track.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Back to basics: Character Construction.
I have spent a lot of time working on illustrations, and testing formats for rewriting my research dissertation and intend to keep chipping away at the project, however I feel that I'm ignoring working on new pieces of writing. It will be great to get the dissertation rewritten, but if it's at the cost of any new works then it's not beneficial at all.
To rectify this I have spent the last week looking at my old works, and deciding on the element I miss most in my writing. I have come to the conclusion that I need to work on characterisation.
My previous work has always stemmed from and revolved around a particular or singular theory. Most commonly psychological literary theory. The characters I have created have always been designed to service and further the exploration of these ideas. In and of itself this isn't necessarily a bad focus, however if it leaves me incapable of creating dynamic realistic characters outside of a narrative focus, then it leaves me lacking.
I have dug up the old character construction check lists that I used to use, and will be spending a few weeks exploring the ways of creating characters, and the important aspects to be included. I'm hoping this will organically lead to some small character driven pieces of fiction or poetry.
While I'm working on the various forms of research I have tabled to complete, I see no reason why not, in fact it seems healthier to, re-familiarise myself with the core base of any narrative; that is the people within.
Time to put my head back into my university readers, and the Creative Writing Coursebook.
To rectify this I have spent the last week looking at my old works, and deciding on the element I miss most in my writing. I have come to the conclusion that I need to work on characterisation.
My previous work has always stemmed from and revolved around a particular or singular theory. Most commonly psychological literary theory. The characters I have created have always been designed to service and further the exploration of these ideas. In and of itself this isn't necessarily a bad focus, however if it leaves me incapable of creating dynamic realistic characters outside of a narrative focus, then it leaves me lacking.
I have dug up the old character construction check lists that I used to use, and will be spending a few weeks exploring the ways of creating characters, and the important aspects to be included. I'm hoping this will organically lead to some small character driven pieces of fiction or poetry.
While I'm working on the various forms of research I have tabled to complete, I see no reason why not, in fact it seems healthier to, re-familiarise myself with the core base of any narrative; that is the people within.
Time to put my head back into my university readers, and the Creative Writing Coursebook.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Day to day work.
It has been a productive day or so far. I am working on compiling reading lists for ecocritical studies. If I want to do my Phd, and take it down that route, I need to start my research now. I have compiled a cursory list to start. It should grow as I find differing routes to search. The texts are not all strictly critical theory, with some standard non-fiction fare to push my general interest in the area further.
I am also working on the format tests for the illustrated portions of my reworked dissertation. I will post up an example once I'm done.
I am also working on the format tests for the illustrated portions of my reworked dissertation. I will post up an example once I'm done.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
New illustration added.
I have finally finished the last of the new Oxford images I wanted to create. I shall play around with formatting for the pages that are completed using the new illustrations. If I'm pleased with the results I shall post something of them up here.
I'm getting into a better routine now that my part-time job is stable. I'm spending a lot of time working on The Big Body Edit, but I shall be putting more of my time into getting creative projects furthered. I have been sourcing some new research materials for the next project (not Phd based) that I want to tackle after my dissertation is reworked. I have also found some very interesting bases for altering the format of the prose for portions of the dissertation. The City and the City by China Mieville has given me a lot of ideas. My aim is to spend some time over the next few weeks seeing how this can apply to my work.
I'm feeling excited about the next few weeks. I must remember to take the time to read my next book for review too. It's amazing how time flies.
I'm getting into a better routine now that my part-time job is stable. I'm spending a lot of time working on The Big Body Edit, but I shall be putting more of my time into getting creative projects furthered. I have been sourcing some new research materials for the next project (not Phd based) that I want to tackle after my dissertation is reworked. I have also found some very interesting bases for altering the format of the prose for portions of the dissertation. The City and the City by China Mieville has given me a lot of ideas. My aim is to spend some time over the next few weeks seeing how this can apply to my work.
I'm feeling excited about the next few weeks. I must remember to take the time to read my next book for review too. It's amazing how time flies.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
The Big Body Edit.
Sorry it has been a couple days since my last post. I have created a new side blog called The Big Body Edit. Its purpose is to chart my progress on my own 'Fit for 30' campaign. Many thanks to David at Oppose/Edit for giving me the idea. I intend to well and truly entangle my creative endeavours with my health and fitness activities, as I feel that a healthy body leads to a healthy more creative mind. I hope that if you choose to check it out that you find it interesting.
Friday, 21 January 2011
A fortuitous month
It has been a while since my last post. Its been a busy and successful month, with me seeming to have attained semi-permanent employment, and making some productive head way financially. Without wanting to jinx my seeming good luck, my life seems to be falling into some kind of pattern.
Jobs and money aside, the best thing that has come out of this month is the beginning of a routine. A routine that affords me at least three days a week to work on my own creative projects. Something that I haven't had since university. I am attempting to draw up a realistic yet rigorous schedule that will make the most of my new found time. Something that draws all of the activities that I want to pursue into the standard week.
On the creative side, I have a new book review up at The Ultimate Book Guide for Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London; and I am looking into a small writing submission to get myself restarted properly. I still have some more illustrations to complete, alongside a week or so of research.
I have also begone to think about which field I want to research next. I'm leaning towards mathematics, alongside the ecocritical backlog I have to sort through. This seems to be letting the first few thoughts begin to drift towards the option of my Phd research possibilities. An exciting and daunting possibility.
I am planning on fitting more regular posting into my weekly routine, so with luck, and if I don't get distracted by the many differing projects, there will be more interesting things to read on here.
Jobs and money aside, the best thing that has come out of this month is the beginning of a routine. A routine that affords me at least three days a week to work on my own creative projects. Something that I haven't had since university. I am attempting to draw up a realistic yet rigorous schedule that will make the most of my new found time. Something that draws all of the activities that I want to pursue into the standard week.
On the creative side, I have a new book review up at The Ultimate Book Guide for Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London; and I am looking into a small writing submission to get myself restarted properly. I still have some more illustrations to complete, alongside a week or so of research.
I have also begone to think about which field I want to research next. I'm leaning towards mathematics, alongside the ecocritical backlog I have to sort through. This seems to be letting the first few thoughts begin to drift towards the option of my Phd research possibilities. An exciting and daunting possibility.
I am planning on fitting more regular posting into my weekly routine, so with luck, and if I don't get distracted by the many differing projects, there will be more interesting things to read on here.
Monday, 20 December 2010
New book review.
New review for Catherine Copper's The Golden Acorn up on The Ultimate Book Guide blog. Winner of the Brit Writers’ Awards 2010 for unpublished writers. A lovely little book that made me smile. Well worth the read.
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Creative Process
I made a very spur of the moment decision last week to buy Imogen Heap's Everything In-Between The Story of Ellipse. It's a documentary that follows Imogen during the three years of creating and releasing Ellipse. I've just finished watching it and it may be one of the best purchases I've made in years.
I've been in love with her and her music for more years than I can remember. To get a glimpse into the creative process of arguably the most inventive musician working today was incredible. It's fair to say that I'm more in love with her now than ever, but more importantly she has given me a view of pure creativity and clues on how to get there myself.
It's been a few years since I left university, and my creativity has never been a prolific as it was during my studies. In the place of flow and imagination I've been possessed of inertia and claustrophobia. I used to sit and play at the computer. Write two thousand words of an idea just for fun. The last few years I have had to agonize over every word written. Sitting at my desk had become painful and melancholic.
After watching Imogen create her album I finally understand what is different between university and now; what it is that I've lost. Such a simple precious thing as to have been overlooked on previous self meditations. The answer is fun. I stopped having fun. At university I played and did pretty much anything that I felt like. In the years after leaving I stopped messing around and tried to be serious. Trying to figure out what my writing was and what it would do only allowed me to lose sight of why I did it in the first place. It was fun. I write because I like it.
Forget the big ideas. No social or philosophical agendas. Just create for the pure enjoyment of it. And not only words. Sing, draw, paint, carve, juggle, do anything that comes to mind. I was successful at university because I had an idea and followed it until nothing was left. I would spend ten hours playing with words just to get a sense of what I wanted. I would go further than most to get the exact piece that I wanted.
I need to let myself have fun again. Not this sanitised professional form of writing. It doesn't work. And more to the point, I need to let that sense of fun spread into the rest of my life again. Throw away the professional persona I've been using these last years. Let go. Forget everything and come back to myself. My new Job with Waterstones is allowing me to do some of this. I go to work and it's like playing in a big sandbox. I can be the over the top joking self and it works. Now I need to let that sense of fun and play get into my work.
In short, I plan to sing too much, jump around like an idiot, unpack my hats and juggling balls, and be a better more creative version of myself. Many thanks to Imogen Heap for reminding me to be silly. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I've been in love with her and her music for more years than I can remember. To get a glimpse into the creative process of arguably the most inventive musician working today was incredible. It's fair to say that I'm more in love with her now than ever, but more importantly she has given me a view of pure creativity and clues on how to get there myself.
It's been a few years since I left university, and my creativity has never been a prolific as it was during my studies. In the place of flow and imagination I've been possessed of inertia and claustrophobia. I used to sit and play at the computer. Write two thousand words of an idea just for fun. The last few years I have had to agonize over every word written. Sitting at my desk had become painful and melancholic.
After watching Imogen create her album I finally understand what is different between university and now; what it is that I've lost. Such a simple precious thing as to have been overlooked on previous self meditations. The answer is fun. I stopped having fun. At university I played and did pretty much anything that I felt like. In the years after leaving I stopped messing around and tried to be serious. Trying to figure out what my writing was and what it would do only allowed me to lose sight of why I did it in the first place. It was fun. I write because I like it.
Forget the big ideas. No social or philosophical agendas. Just create for the pure enjoyment of it. And not only words. Sing, draw, paint, carve, juggle, do anything that comes to mind. I was successful at university because I had an idea and followed it until nothing was left. I would spend ten hours playing with words just to get a sense of what I wanted. I would go further than most to get the exact piece that I wanted.
I need to let myself have fun again. Not this sanitised professional form of writing. It doesn't work. And more to the point, I need to let that sense of fun spread into the rest of my life again. Throw away the professional persona I've been using these last years. Let go. Forget everything and come back to myself. My new Job with Waterstones is allowing me to do some of this. I go to work and it's like playing in a big sandbox. I can be the over the top joking self and it works. Now I need to let that sense of fun and play get into my work.
In short, I plan to sing too much, jump around like an idiot, unpack my hats and juggling balls, and be a better more creative version of myself. Many thanks to Imogen Heap for reminding me to be silly. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Saturday, 11 December 2010
A change of tack
The dictionary will list one of the verb meanings of tack as to 'turn into the wind' and so it is that I am turning. Amending direction.
I've been musing over the point of electronic publishing since setting up this blog. As technology progresses our networks and connections seemingly broaden as our existence reduces; reduces to the pluralised reality of a parallel digital persona overlapping, imposing, and occasionally superseding our real selves. In the craze of self publishing espoused by Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and the very many social networking tools, I feel the need to stop and qualify exactly what my existence is. Where lie the boundaries between my real and digital selves? And to what degree is my day to day existence qualified by said digital self. It is a core existential dilemma that has plagued mankind from the genesis of creation. The modern equivalent of Plato's cave and his shadows. I sense the allusions to T.S. Eliot's Waste Land in the line "I will show you fear in a handful of dust"; and I fear that internet publishing is but another form of fending of man's fear of impermanence.
It seems to be a core human desire to leave something of themselves behind after they have passed on. The nature of the point can be argued from many differing aspects. It can be viewed as as the biological need to procreate being expressed in the subconscious of a thinking mammal. Perhaps an ego driven delusion fuelled by fear of the unknown, of death, and the grasping need to exist on afterwards. Whatever the cause, be it physiological, psychological, even spiritual, it seems to be a need that exists to a degree in all of us. As a writer I am possessed of my own fair share of this sentiment, although it presents itself in a more specific form. That of the quest for meaning.
What is the meaning of my life? What am I trying to say with my writing? What is my reason? A man far wiser than I once wrote that there are three constants in life; rules if you will, and they are as follows: Paradox, humour, and change.
Paradox: Life is a mystery. Don't waste time or energy trying to solve it.
Humour: Keep a sense of humour at all times, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond compare.
Change: Everything changes. It is a universal constant. Make peace with the fact and all will be easier.
Taking these to be true, at least in my own life, I have decided to try and stop searching for the meaning of my life, writing, existence. I am going to attempt a little faith. So with that resolution the content of this blog will change a little. It is still so early in the content of this blog as to mean there won't really be any form of transition. I intend to use this page as an exploration of my own art, and the process I take to create it, alongside the occasional academic contextual article. To frame it in terms most writers will be familiar with, this page will be a critical self reflective and academic monologue of my personal creative process. I hope that you find it enjoyable reading.
I've been musing over the point of electronic publishing since setting up this blog. As technology progresses our networks and connections seemingly broaden as our existence reduces; reduces to the pluralised reality of a parallel digital persona overlapping, imposing, and occasionally superseding our real selves. In the craze of self publishing espoused by Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and the very many social networking tools, I feel the need to stop and qualify exactly what my existence is. Where lie the boundaries between my real and digital selves? And to what degree is my day to day existence qualified by said digital self. It is a core existential dilemma that has plagued mankind from the genesis of creation. The modern equivalent of Plato's cave and his shadows. I sense the allusions to T.S. Eliot's Waste Land in the line "I will show you fear in a handful of dust"; and I fear that internet publishing is but another form of fending of man's fear of impermanence.
It seems to be a core human desire to leave something of themselves behind after they have passed on. The nature of the point can be argued from many differing aspects. It can be viewed as as the biological need to procreate being expressed in the subconscious of a thinking mammal. Perhaps an ego driven delusion fuelled by fear of the unknown, of death, and the grasping need to exist on afterwards. Whatever the cause, be it physiological, psychological, even spiritual, it seems to be a need that exists to a degree in all of us. As a writer I am possessed of my own fair share of this sentiment, although it presents itself in a more specific form. That of the quest for meaning.
What is the meaning of my life? What am I trying to say with my writing? What is my reason? A man far wiser than I once wrote that there are three constants in life; rules if you will, and they are as follows: Paradox, humour, and change.
Paradox: Life is a mystery. Don't waste time or energy trying to solve it.
Humour: Keep a sense of humour at all times, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond compare.
Change: Everything changes. It is a universal constant. Make peace with the fact and all will be easier.
Taking these to be true, at least in my own life, I have decided to try and stop searching for the meaning of my life, writing, existence. I am going to attempt a little faith. So with that resolution the content of this blog will change a little. It is still so early in the content of this blog as to mean there won't really be any form of transition. I intend to use this page as an exploration of my own art, and the process I take to create it, alongside the occasional academic contextual article. To frame it in terms most writers will be familiar with, this page will be a critical self reflective and academic monologue of my personal creative process. I hope that you find it enjoyable reading.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Illustrations
I have updated the illustrations page with the latest of my works; and have a couple more which are nearing completion. It won't be long until the main body of the new illustrations is finished, at which point I will need to invest in some Mayan resource materials to complete the illustrated portion of the project.
I find this type of illustrating interesting and time intensive. It is less a process of artistic creation, than it is a study in stillness. A capturing of a physical place in a metaphysical construct. This is the first time I have created an illustration with more concern to the context than the content.
They are, after all, representations of a memory discovered in an inner metaphysical landscape. That the content lends validity and momentum to the letter that they are included within is important, yet it is the monochromatic style and intense level of detail used to create them that ultimately empowers the narrative, both episodically and in its entirety.
I hope that the viewer comes away feeling the intense stillness and cold of the images. The memory they are formed from is past, and the world they are found in is dead and contradictory. With luck they will help to create a subtle tension in the reader's suspension of disbelief. Not a common narrative tool admittedly, but one which should, contradictorily, serve to draw the reader deeper into the overall narrative thematically.
The power of the strange and uncanny should never be underestimated in literature. Indeed the word uncanny holds a particular pertinence to this and all of my projects. To be specific the form of uncanny as seen in its German form 'unheimlich' and as described by Heidegger in Sein und Zeit. Without exploring this in detail, it is enough to say that uncanny means the anxiety experienced in the indefiniteness of reality. The collapse of everyday familiarity as the existential mode of being-in-the-world conflicts with the mode of the not-at-home (Apologies to Heidegger fans for a bastardised form of his text).
So it is the brake down of the definiteness of the borders of reality that will hopefully pull the reader on. I can admit that the text as it is still needs more to get it to this point; and certainly there are authors who have achieved this affect with far greater haunting precision, but hopefully with more work I will get there.
I will look to put up more illustrations as they are completed; and I'm sure when I feel stuck with the words, I will pick up the pencil as succour.
I find this type of illustrating interesting and time intensive. It is less a process of artistic creation, than it is a study in stillness. A capturing of a physical place in a metaphysical construct. This is the first time I have created an illustration with more concern to the context than the content.
They are, after all, representations of a memory discovered in an inner metaphysical landscape. That the content lends validity and momentum to the letter that they are included within is important, yet it is the monochromatic style and intense level of detail used to create them that ultimately empowers the narrative, both episodically and in its entirety.
I hope that the viewer comes away feeling the intense stillness and cold of the images. The memory they are formed from is past, and the world they are found in is dead and contradictory. With luck they will help to create a subtle tension in the reader's suspension of disbelief. Not a common narrative tool admittedly, but one which should, contradictorily, serve to draw the reader deeper into the overall narrative thematically.
The power of the strange and uncanny should never be underestimated in literature. Indeed the word uncanny holds a particular pertinence to this and all of my projects. To be specific the form of uncanny as seen in its German form 'unheimlich' and as described by Heidegger in Sein und Zeit. Without exploring this in detail, it is enough to say that uncanny means the anxiety experienced in the indefiniteness of reality. The collapse of everyday familiarity as the existential mode of being-in-the-world conflicts with the mode of the not-at-home (Apologies to Heidegger fans for a bastardised form of his text).
So it is the brake down of the definiteness of the borders of reality that will hopefully pull the reader on. I can admit that the text as it is still needs more to get it to this point; and certainly there are authors who have achieved this affect with far greater haunting precision, but hopefully with more work I will get there.
I will look to put up more illustrations as they are completed; and I'm sure when I feel stuck with the words, I will pick up the pencil as succour.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Tempus Fugit
There are not enough hours in the day. I have so much work to do that I don't where to start. I have at least two articles in my head, a laundry list of illustrations pending, a fiction piece that needs to lose around five hundred words, my research dissertation rewrites, and I promised myself I would illustrate several Christmas cards this year. Oh dear... I feel like Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit muttering "I shall be too late!"
The blog is now up and running, and I can begin to work on the outstanding projects. I guess I should embrace linear narrative for once and start at the beginning. The Christmas cards are the most time sensitive. Watch this space for the designs.
The blog is now up and running, and I can begin to work on the outstanding projects. I guess I should embrace linear narrative for once and start at the beginning. The Christmas cards are the most time sensitive. Watch this space for the designs.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Art and Photography
As a writer my innate preference in art, and I use the term in its broadest possible context to mean all the products of human creativity, falls into the textual; but the more I explore the written form, the more I find it difficult to separate it from the visual arts. The written word is in itself a graphical representation of oral communication. And so it is with painting, photography, and, to a similar extent, sculpture. They are all representations of an element of our physical or internal metaphysical world.
So where does the boundary between written text and visual art lie? Do we draw the distinction that text is ‘the main body of written work as distinct from illustrations or footnotes’? If so, what happens if we examine oriental calligraphy? Suddenly this classic boundary seems wholly inadequate.
In Japanese there are three distinct writing systems: Hiragana (ひらがな), Katakana (カタカナ), and Kanji (漢字). As a written text I don’t understand a single one, but as a piece of visual art I find a great deal of beauty in their construction. Both the Chinese and Japanese seemingly do too, as a great portion of their traditional artwork involves delicately wrought calligraphy.
And what happens to our definition if we look at the work of Bob Cobbing? Bob Cobbing was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet and a central figure in the British Poetry Revival; and ultimately the incitement behind my fascination with the idea of text as ‘Art’. His work reached beyond the written word as word, and into sound and visual art. In his own words, “Gone is the word as the word, though the word may still be used as sound or shape. Poetry now resides in other elements.” – Bob Cobbing, 1969.
As a young poetry undergraduate I remember being shown a Cobbing poem that was unreadable as a traditional piece of text. The title eludes me, but I remember feeling so challenged by it, that I became a little obsessed. Below is an example of his work.
The more we examine, It seems to become clear that for all the wealth of ‘text depicting actual words’, a strict definition between written forms and visual arts can never be declared with any authority. Modern poetry and post-modern works aside, this is evidenced in oriental cultures where the written form and visual art were so intimately interwoven from their beginnings, as to be nigh on indistinguishable. So perhaps it’s not the definitions that matter, but the intent behind the piece of ‘Art’?
And when examining the intent of a piece of art, it now becomes possible to draw several, albeit flimsy, boundaries between the classical forms of ‘Art’. These boundaries do not deal with definitions of the forms, but rather attempt to qualitative the efficacy of differing forms when imparting a particular idea. Simply put, when does classical text, photography, painting, or even music operate as the most efficient vehicle for meaning? Would Van Gogh’s Starry night have been better as a poem, or maybe a piece of music?
I think we can say ‘no’ with a degree of certainty, but it is this form of distinction that we can draw between the forms. A contemporary example would be the motion picture Troy. From my literary standpoint, the film was a dreadful adaptation of a great text; it just didn’t work. Thankfully Homer didn’t have the medium of film to consider when writing his text.
So how do we decide which form to work in? Truthfully most ‘artists’ don’t have a choice. We may excel in one medium, but fail dreadfully at another. I am a writer so I write. I would love to think that I could write and perform a song instead, but as anyone who has heard me sing will attest, I really shouldn’t.
But were I possessed of talent in all creative arts, then to make the decision, I would have to examine the benefits of each form individually. And it is this examination that leads me, for this blog, to consider photography.
Photography has one of the heaviest social burdens of all the arts. We will all be familiar with the popular maxim that ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’, and nowhere is this clearer than in the News media. A captured image has the power to deeply affect the viewer on an almost visceral level. Below are several examples of images that are instantly familiar, and extremely evocative.
Photographs can be so powerful that governments will go to great lengths to censor them. China and the Tiananmen Square Massacre is one such image. The unknown rebel, armed with his shopping bags, standing defiantly in the path of the army’s tanks is, to my mind, one of the most powerful images ever captured. In the west we are all familiar with it, but in China it has never been seen. Censorship is so absolute that it can’t even be found on the Chinese internet.
So what is it about photography that makes it so powerful? In the most reduced terms, photography gifts us with the ability to view an event or object in its exactitude that we were not present to witness. But it is not this ability alone that makes it so powerful.
To quote another maxim, ‘the camera never lies’; an unedited photographic image is an objective, that is unbiased, representation of an event or object. However, even if the process of capturing images is objective, the act of capturing them is purely subjective. The photographer decides what to capture, what to include and discard, how to frame the image. In this regard a photograph will always attest to the many differing facets of the photographer’s personality, along with the subject material. Susan Sontag argues in ‘On Photography’ that “To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one’s self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power.”
So in every photographic image we are viewing pure objectivity and absolute subjectivity. It is this embodiment of dichotomy that marks photography as a true and powerful art form. These seemingly simple representations afford us a chance we rarely ever experience in our day to day lives. To, in a small sensory way, experience the exact perception of the world from the photographer’s viewpoint.
It is an act that will never be precise. The biological visual process means that my perception of the colour red will differ from yours. Not to mention the idiosyncratic psychological, sociological, and even experiential baggage that we each bring to the viewing. For example, the colour red is considered to be lucky in China, and this feeling will never be divorced from an image that includes red.
But, I would argue, it is these differences that ultimately validate photograph and render it precious. In each image the photographer is giving us a similar escape from reality that we find in good fiction; and we the viewer interact with a similar suspension of disbelief in the hope of being shown the photographer’s world. Ultimately this process of interaction is subconscious and requires little to no effort on the viewers behalf.
Is it this effortless instant journey from own perceptual reality to that of the photographer’s that makes photography important to me. This experience is becoming increasingly needed in modern society. As technical modernity speeds up our daily lives, photography, at least for me, offers a moment of respite and beauty; a reason and experience to pause and reflect over: A chance to be reminded that our existence is so much more than our daily routines.
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