New Work

Presently working on large works that combine painting, with bags. The 'bubbles' represent the different textures and elements of paint.

                                                       

Combining the two

Although it was essential to experiment with different techniques and methods -enabling me to move on to the next stage, I was aware that the works were starting to get a 'craft' feel about them, and were moving further away from my original concepts.

Seeing 'Wave' and 'Discarded landscape' in a gallery setting, I became fascinated with the soft flow of the plastic when it was caught by a draught of air. The shreds of plastic reminded me of feathers, so I began to think about works that tied in with the theme of flight.

I produced several drawings and small works, before attempting a pair of 7ft wings. ( one of which is shown  below) Then moving further on, to copy the wings onto canvas, and thus completing the circle back to 'Fine Art'

Images below: 'A means of Travel' ( one of two ) and 'Black Heart'. (  shown here at the Williamson Art Gallery)

Then came the Wall Hangings

Exploring techniques further, I hit upon the rug making, rag rolling road. Anyone who has ever used either of these methods, will know how long and pains takingly tedious they can be.  It was important to me though to keep pushing the ideas as far as they would go.

Out of many different experiments, I ended up with two I was really pleased with. The two works - 'Wave' and 'Discarded landscape', took several weeks to make and used a variety of bags - mostly donated by friends, family and neighbours who were really keen to find a use for them.

Both works have been exhibited in several recycling exhibitions.

The Commission

I carried on with this technique, experimenting with different thicknesses of bags, and drawing on my knitting skills to create patterns and designs.
Three of the small works were exhibited at View Two in Liverpool in 2009: http://www.viewtwogallery.co.uk/archives/event-soup-at-view-2
It was shortly after this, that the call out for designs for the Go Penguin project was announced. I really didn't think they would go for a knitted penguin, but I submitted a design anyway, and was thrilled when it was accepted. Especially, as I was to be sponsored by the Environment Agency!
The Penguin was exhibited in The Capital Building in Liverpool : http://www.gopenguins.co.uk/site/index.php

The first Artworks

I started experimenting with the bags to see if they could be used in the same sort of manner as paper or even paint. So the first works were basically collage.

It was around that time that a group I am part of - Red Dot http://www.red-dotexhibitions.co.uk/ were staging a recycling exhibition at the Academy in Liverpool.
I wanted to put the new work into this exhibition, but was slightly put off exhibiting collages, as I thought it was a too obvious medium.
So...can bags mimic any other medium? Looking at a jumper draped over a chair gave me the idea.

'True North' and 'Magnetic' : knitted carrier bags, and exact copies of two of my paintings, were exhibited in the exhibition.

So why carrier bags?

During the many walks, I tend to meet the same people - who are also taking their dogs for walks, and generally just enjoying the peace and tranquility of the area.

BUT...as with all good things...it started to attract the usual litter bugs.
There was one particular time when some kids had had a barbecue down there, and left a pile of bottles, wrappers ...and just all kinds of rubbish. Although there was no damage to the area, it was really disheartening.

I met up with an elderly dog walker, who had taken her own bags down there, and had started to collect rubbish to put in her own bin.  At that stage, I joined her...and this is the point when I noticed just how many carrier bags were around... stuck in trees, bushes, floating on the pond... it was a complete eye opener.

So that's basically when I started thinking about what I could do with these bags rather than  just throw them away.

Background

Why I originally choose to work with carrier bags, was quite a long process, that happened..... I suppose by circumstances.
I have a dog....
Part of my daily routine is a half hour walk ( or more!) around the strip of land at the bottom of my road, that was formally known as 'Prenton Quarry'.
With the backing of Groundwork Wirral http://wirral.groundworknw.org.uk/ the land was transformed into a conservation area, and has become a haven for wildlife.

During my walks, I got into the habit of taking photographs of the area, and using the images for reference for my paintings that have an environmental theme.