Having been in this wonderful City of Manchester for nearly 6 years now, I have built up quite a collection of photos from round and about my strolls. My phone camera usually proves adequate to capture streets, doors, buildings, textures, views etc and I now have a body of work which documents the many sights which inspire me and feed into my paintings, illustrations and collages. Anything quiet, abandoned, forgotten and ooozing with history gets me going.Doors are a special fascination for me, because they lead to, or used to lead to, somewhere or something else to what you see on the outside.
I was fortunate enough to visit the magical city of Venice a few weeks ago and found, as I am more and more so, that all I need for hours of uninterrupted entertainment, is white paper and a black pen. Capture the moment and embellish it later on. Unsure whether or not to touch the original line drawing, I took a good snap and tentatively added some colour. Still not convinced. Going to see if some thread will change my mind.... It's all about experimenting apparently.
Despite not being a huge lover of fancy bits of technology and the "smart" phones especially, I am grateful to Nokia for having such fab camera aps, so I can capture little bits of nature and accidental beauty whilst on my daily travels. Whilst on a trip to London last weekend, I emerged from the grubby tube station bracing myself for the hustle and bustle of the Capital streets that lay above....instead, as i gazed up towards the sky, I found myself beneath the most magnificent empty tree, branches bending and twirling from all angles, and the clear blue sky beaming through the gaps. Maybe London ain't so bad after all....Image 2 - the distinctive flowers from Nexus art cafe standing tall on each and every table, I barely notice them any more. Until....they cast a beautiful shadow on the white wall behind them.Sometimes you just need to to see things from a different angle.
Just a little something to celebrate the onset of old age for my dear friend Becca. I re-used some old bits of decorative tissue paper and ribbons, collaged them all together and set the sewing machine on it. Together with a freshly painted frame, it came together quite nicely.
What will become of us riding these lonely midnight trains?
I ask myself each time I take a seat and gaze both longingly and contently out of the large windows. The world beyond moves so fast but I stay completely still, lost in a moment only I can explain.
