So this is how it all turned out:

Stuart: head
Jill: torso
John: legs (etc)

I quite like the ‘etc’. Which remains ambiguous…..

Three Lincolnshire artists met in a shed this weekend. What they did can’t yet be revealed in its totality, but this image is part of it! It had to be done well in advance of the exhibition it’ll figure in (no pun intended) so that advance publicity can be put in hand by Graham at Forge Arts.

A bit of a punt, but all three of us seemed to feel the finished piece worked, in some mysterious and completely bonkers way. It remains to be seen what anyone else thinks.

Getting the corpse together should make it easier to focus in on the new work that needs to be done in time for the show, as well as this year’s Lincolnshire Art on the Map (Open Studios), which will be upon me before I know it. Luckily I’ve work in hand as I knew I’d be distracted by other aspects of life over the summer. (Sadly we’re not talking this year about barbecues, long sunlit evenings, wine in the garden… if only!) As with writing, it’s always difficult to resume when you’ve more or less come to a full stop. But there are usually ideas simmering away quietly in the background.

The exquisite torso is largely done, apart from possible embellishments to come. Main excitement in August was the opening of SeeIt, the first open show at The Hub, Sleaford, for local artists. It has a strong craft bias so the work was varied – and the wine plentiful. Two of my pieces are in it, To the Woods

and the little Medieval Builder’s Dream-book (though displayed back-to-front!)

My piece in the open exhibition at the Ropewalk gallery, Leogria (see the Dragon post) has been sold. It’s one of those pieces that came and went so quickly I didn’t have time to get to know it. But I’m not complaining….

Or threatens, more like! My next headache, could be nightmare, is to make a torso on a 20″ square piece of MDF.
Why? Well, two other Lincolnshire artists and I are doing a show in the autumn using assembled materials (bits and pieces) rather than just paint. In a mad moment we agreed to do a collaborative centrepiece, an exquisite corpse.
We’re talking about a pictorial game of consequences, or the one where each person draws part of a body, covers it up and passes it on… and you end up with a freak. Each of us picked a body section out of a hat, plus three words intended to ‘inform’ the piece – ‘sabotage’ might be a better term. And the words were:
transform…uncouth…omasum (don’t even ask).
I can’t say anything about how I mean to go about it as my fellow-artists are supposed to be in the dark (which makes three of us). The exquisite corpse was a favourite game of the surrealists, who gave it the name. So, instead of a clue, here is a picture of… my peas.

Working to deadlines without compromising on what you want to deliver – same in art as everything else – means shutting yourself away, working furiously, and blotting out stuff. Then life catches up. Chores: a rampant garden, untidy house, desk full of papers, reproachful inbox. Sad things: the loss of a dearest friend. Good things: a wonderful birthday celebration, some overdue cheques..and my first visit to the Globe Theatre on Millbank which was a real delight: good company, good acting, the obligatory rain – and a wonderful building.
Some if not all these things will find their way into my art pieces to come – the curved half-timbering on the theatre has whetted my appetite. Some ideas are slow-burning and take years to mature. And sometimes I pluck an image, a colour, an idea, something or anything, from anywhere around me and put it straight into the piece I’m working on. Serendipity…

This was the wonderful backdrop I was allocated for those pieces I was grappling with not long ago. Aubourn Hall has ten acres of garden, around which were dotted all manner of interesting pieces of sculpture large and small. It rained off and on, but no real downpours and it was quite warm – how English! (apart from the warmth). On a hot summer night Friday’s preview would have been magical…. I sold half my pieces – pretty good going really.

Straight on to the next deadline, getting stuff ready for the first Open Exhibition at the Hub, Sleaford ( it’s just begun a really quirky show on beach-huts, by the way). I’ve put in four pieces including a folded ‘dream-book’, but sadly didn’t manage to finish the book I was working on. I also met two artist friends there to discuss our joint November/December show which involves an exquisite corpse! If you want to know more, keep following these posts….

…And here are the results of the past week’s labours – I’ve been able to finish off various outdoor pieces for a sculpture event this weekend, at Aubourn Hall near Lincoln. Materials include Guinness and coke cans! Much help drilling and fixing from our friend Tim Miller-Dewing, and the rain held off too.
The little piece with a tree on it appears on p.52 of the current (July’s) The English Garden, which features the gorgeous nursery and garden at Hall Farm, Harpswell, run by Mark and Pam Tatam. (Worth travelling miles for their superb plants at an amazing price, plus garden metalwork.)

Too soon to relax – more deadlines coming soon….

This is my entry to the first Ropewalk Open Competition – on the theme ‘from the Humber to the Wash’. The area feels ancient and largely untouched, though its geography is constantly changing. ‘Leogria’ (the title) is used for this part of the world in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12th-century History of the Kings of Britain.
A bit of light relief when I conducted a family workshop last week at the Hub, Sleaford – a marvellous regional treasure-house of craft and design. People made hats, bats and the most brilliant dragons. Now, having dismantled my exhibition yesterday, I’m back to contemplating imminent deadlines on garden pieces and some real hard graft – more on this soon.

Weather too wet to make paper or do work on outdoor pieces. No alternative but to start clearing up my studio, a shambles after getting ready for ‘Tree of Life’, the current exhibition. Excellent distraction on Saturday: our friends Roger and Carole Lee launched their terrific joint show at the Willoughby Gallery, Corby Glen, with metal sculptures and frocks – have a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersforge/. Gallery is a gem and well worth a visit – picturesque old building, immaculately kept, once a school for the sons of deceased clergy.

This old ropeworks-turned-gallery virtually overlooks the Humber Bridge, with sweeping views of the estuary. People ramble and walk their dogs nearby as well as looking at classy art and craft in the gallery. A lovely place, with a good cafe serving delicious organic/ local food and drink.

My current exhibition consists of hand-cast paper loaded with colour-washes and pigments, work made out of recycled materials, and a few outdoor pieces for the beautifully designed new garden.

I really like this place and it’s well worth a visit.

‘Tree of Life (Philogenetic Tree)’, above – done for the show – has been sold. It used natural pigments, acrylics and wax and depicted microscopic images from the hierarchy of living organisms.