2nd May

An unusually dense drawing, I like the scribbly lines on this.

Posted: 11.25pm on 2.5.07
Returned: 5.5.07

1st May

Well, here we are, a third of the way through the project already. Doing the envelopes has become a very rewarding and mostly pleasurable habit and I haven't missed a single day yet or run out of ideas. However, updating this blog doesn't seem to be quite as habitual. I'm going to try to get better at it though because scanning and uploading three weeks worth of envelopes at once is just a tad overwhelming!

Posted: 8.53pm on 1.5.07
Returned: 3.5.07

30th April

In which I discover that my new pen definitely isn't waterproof!

I couldn't find any 0.1mm Staedtler Pigment Liner's in the art store so I tried out the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner instead. It's a nice pen that gives a good solid black but it's a slightly thicker line so it's not so good if I want very delicate lines.

Posted: 11.31pm on 30.4.07
Returned: 3.5.07

29th April

Although these look like they could be part of the 'spiky thing', they were based on delicate floating seed heads, so they feel a lot more ethereal and gentle to me.

Posted: 8.10pm on 29.4.07
Returned: 1.5.07

28th April

I've noticed that I always seem to really like the drawings where I've used this slate blue pencil. I have to make a conscious decision not to just automatically pick it when I want to use colour in a drawing.

Posted: 10.35pm on 28.4.07
Returned: 1.5.07

27th April

These 'beaded' lines are another recurrent motif at the moment, although more in my sketchbooks than on the envelopes.

Posted: 7.13pm on 27.4.07
Returned: 30.4.07

26th April

There's been a lot of spikiness in my drawings recently. I wasn't particularly aware of this when I was drawing them but it's obvious now that I'm looking at them as a group. Sometimes a style or motif will just keep coming up for a while and I have to get it out of my system before moving onto something else.

Posted: 11.10pm on 26.4.07
Returned: 30.4.07

25th April

These remind me a bit of those ornate nests that Weaver Birds make, except of course that theirs are better!

Posted: 11.33pm on 25.4.07
Returned: 28.4.07

24th April

Ooh, red!

Red has been on my mind a lot lately because I've been working out some sculptural and performance ideas using red thread.

Posted: 7.52pm on 24.4.07
Returned: 26.4.07

23rd April

When I was a teenager I used to obsessively draw connecting dots all over my school notebooks. Apparently I haven't changed all that much!

However, there are some differences - these larger ovals are only joined to their most immediate neighbours and I was able to make aesthetic decisions about leaving some of the outer ones unconnected. I always knew when I was drawing my schoolbooks that there was a point when joining every single dot to every single other dot made for a bad drawing but I could never quite break the emotional compulsion to do so.

Perhaps I have learnt something in the last 20 years after all...

Posted: 8.57pm on 23.4.07
Returned: 26.4.07

22nd April

In my head, these kind of enclosed shapes with spiky lines are associated with aerial views of cold, snowy Northern landscapes but I don't know why.

Posted: 8.45pm on 22.4.07
Returned: 25.4.07

21st April

I described these in the Diary Project notebook as 'hairy microbes' and I'm finding it hard to see them as anything else. To me, these little guys have very distinct and quite animated personalities.

Posted: 8.36pm on 21.4.07
Returned: 24.4.07

20th April

I like the way the line across these 'beaded stalks' curves round and then stops so that its continuation behind is implied but not seen.

This day was also notable because it was the first time that I dreamed about The Diary Project. I don't remember what I dreamed but apparently envelopes were involved.

Posted: 5.52pmn on 20.4.07
Returned: 21.4.07

19th April

These delicately lined oval forms remind me of flints.

Posted: 8.50pm on 19.4.07
Returned: 23.4.07

18th April

This drawing was based on a photograph of a Quipu.

Quipus are a way of recording information from the Inca Empire, they may have been a personal mnemonic device or a form of coded writing but no one is quite sure. They are made from knotted coloured threads and string and historians haven't completely deciphered them yet, so naturally I am quite obsessed by them.

Posted: 8.12pm on 18.4.07
Returned: 21.4.07

17th April

Another favourite drawing, I'm not sure why this one appeals to me so much but I find it extremely satisfying.

Posted: 6.47pm on 17.4.07
Returned: 20.4.07

16th April

I was working on breaking up the smoothness of the lines here.

Posted: 11.15pm on 16.4.07
Returned: 19.4.07

15th April

This was based on a particularly beautiful root ball on one of the vegetables in our weekly fruit and veg box.

Posted: 11.47pm on 15.4.07
Returned: 17.4.07

14th April

This reminds me of disintegrating leaves or perhaps microscopic images of some part of the body.

Posted: 11.36pm on 14.4.07
Returned: 17.4.07

13th April

This drawing was based on my memories of electrical diagrams. It's a long time since secondary school so I won't be held responsible for any inaccuracies or electrical fires if you attempt to make something from this!

Posted: 11.43pm on 13.4.07
Returned: 17.4.07

12th April

This was intended to be a nature study of the ivy outside my study window, this intention lasted all of 30 seconds before the drawing went its own sweet way.

Posted: 11.43pm on 11.4.07
Returned: 17.4.07

11th April

I love this 'frayed line'. It reminds me of that strange hairy curtain fringing that was so popular in the 70's, although I wasn't thinking of that when I drew it.

Posted: 7.35pm on 11.4.07
Returned: 14.4.07

10th April

The 100th envelope!

Posted: 11.45pm on 10.4.07
Returned: 13.4.07

9th April

It's funny how images come up again and again. I was just reviewing my bedside notebook and I found an almost identical drawing that I'd sketched as a possible idea for one of the canvas 'thread drawings' that I'm currently making. However, the image I drew in my sketchbook was drawn several weeks after I drew this envelope and was directly inspired by a book of Islamic calligraphy. I'd completely forgotten that I'd already drawn something so similar on an envelope. Clearly I'm just primed to notice and respond to certain types of imagery.


Posted: 11.57pm on 9.4.07
Returned: 11.4.07

8th April

I always think of this kind of shape as a 'stitched form'.

Posted: 4.17pm on 8.4.07
Returned: 11.4.07

7th April

While I like the shapes in this drawing, I wish I'd used different colours.

Posted: 11.24pm on 7.4.07
Returned: 11.4.07

6th April

"It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else."
Henri Matisse

And it has bothered me for a great deal of my life that I can only draw like myself!

Posted: 10.48pm on 6.4.07
Returned: 10.4.07

5th April

I found these little catkins whilst walking home and felt both attracted and slightly repulsed by them so I brought them home to draw.

Posted: 11.27pm on 5.4.07
Returned: 10.4.07

4th April

I really struggled with this envelope because I was down with a stinking cold at the time and felt totally uninspired so I reverted to the familiar territory of repetitive patterns.

Posted: 11.30pm on 4.4.07
Returned: 7.4.07

3rd April

I am madly in love with this drawing. I like the simplicity of the shape and the subtle grey pencil inside the ink lines.

Posted: 10.55pm on 3.4.07
Returned: 7.4.07

2nd April

I was thinking of diagrams, maps and archaeological plans when I drew this.

Posted: 8.39pm on 2.4.07
Returned: 5.4.07

1st April

I was aiming to work to a slightly bigger scale on this envelope because I was trying to get away from my familiar drawing habits. Going over lines is always a bit of a risk because the drawing can sometimes look indecisive but I like how it works here.

Posted: 10.20pm on 1.4.07
Returned: 4.4.07

31st March

I deliberately chose to use squares inside these shapes instead of the small circles that would be my natural inclination.

I was surprised when I realised that this envelope meant that I was a quarter of the way through the project already. Although I've had days that have been difficult, usually when I've been ill, I'm not sick of it yet.

Posted: 8.42pm on 31.3.07
Returned: 4.4.07

30th March

I doodle a lot. These images started life on a piece of notepaper whilst I was talking to someone on the phone.

Posted: 11.31pm on 30.3.07
Returned: 2.4.07

29th March

Most of the envelopes have come back in surprisingly good condition, this one is the most badly torn yet.

Posted: 5.15pm on 29.3.07
Returned: 31.3.07

28th March

This looks abstract but it was actually drawn from life. It's taken from one of the unfinished thread drawings that are sitting in my study. I work on them whilst listening to podcasts or music.

Posted: 11.08pm on 28.3.07
Returned: 31.3.07

27th March

This struck me at the time as being a little bit 60's, with its mushroom shapes.

Posted: 11.40pm on 27.3.07
Returned: 30.3.07

26th March

Back in Bristol after my long weekend in Scotland: this was drawn on the plane home but posted from Bristol city centre because I forgot to post it at Bristol airport as I'd meant to.

Posted: 3.40pm on 26.3.07
Returned: 27.3.07

25th March

Drawn and posted from my parent's small village just south of Edinburgh.

Posted: 11.40pm on 25.3.07
Returned: 28.3.07

24th March

This envelope gets the prize for being the stupidest posting experience yet. It was posted in Stirling, while I was at my aunt's wedding. I'd had a couple of drinks and a meal at the reception before deciding that I really should go and post my envelope before I forgot.

So I set off, whilst slightly drunk, to find a post box in a place that I don't know - not sure that I recommend this! It took me about half an hour to find one and I spent most of the time talking to my partner on my mobile phone, making him laugh with my indignant drunken observations, which mostly concerned the dire lack of post boxes in Stirling. I did eventually make it back to the wedding but it was definitely the most entertaining posting experience so far.

Posted: 10.27pm on 24.3.07
Returned: 28.3.07

23rd March

Drawn and posted in one of my favourite places in the world - the National Museum of Scotland in Chamber Street, Edinburgh. I've been visiting the museum since I was a toddler and every time I visit my parents, I spend some time there.

Posted: 3pm on 23.3.07
Returned: 27.3.07

22nd March

I finally found a use for my lifelong fascination with bubble bath!

This was drawn on an aeroplane rather than in the bath and it's also the first envelope to be posted outside Bristol (Edinburgh airport, if you're interested).

Posted: 8.25pm pn 22.3.07
Returned:27.3.07

21st March

There are only so many shapes in the world, but these are definitely some of mine. This is pretty typical of the sort of drawing that I tend to reset to and not automatically resetting can be quite a challenge for me. Part of the reason I started this project was so that I would push my drawing, but I've also realised that it's completely OK to have days where I stay with what feels comfortable.

Posted: 11.42pm on 21.3.07
Returned: 24.3.07

20th March

In retrospect I think this should have had a bit of colour but it's too late to change it now.

Posted: 9.10pm on 20.3.07
Returned: 23.3.07

19th March

I was thinking of both ferns and frost patterns when I drew this.

Posted: 9.45pm on 19.3.07
Returned: 22.3.07

18th March

Back to stark black and white. I like this drawing a lot, the shapes remind me of the throwing jacks we used to play with as kids.

Posted: 11.56pm on 18.3.07
Returned: 21.3.07

17th March

Another image that relates to the knotted threads that I've been working with in my sculpture over the last few years. It was interesting to use the brown ink pen instead of my usual black one, I enjoyed the softer, more subtle line and I'm considering getting some even lighter pens so that I can make drawings that are almost invisible.

Posted: 11.40pm on 17.3.07
Returned: 20.3.07

16th March

I have problems with decorative art. On one hand I am really drawn to it, patterns have always strongly appealed to me - my earliest art memories are about tracing, copying and inventing patterns. However, another part of me is quite turned off by it. I notice this attraction/repulsion most especially with baroque art but any obviously decorative art will trigger that 'push/pull' feeling. I get that feeling from this envelope and nearly rejected it for that reason but decided to push my comfort levels a little and let it in the project.

I know this reaction partly comes from the disdain in which the decorative is held in the fine art world. If someone calls your work 'decorative' in a contemporary fine art setting then they're usually being insulting. I trained in sculpture and feel that my work belongs in the contemporary fine art world so inevitably I've absorbed some of those biases, even though I am naturally aligned with pattern-making. It's odd that I can admire decorative qualities in other people's art yet feel so uncomfortable with it in my own work. Still, I can't completely avoid 'the d word' because my work so often deals with both pattern and domesticity, which have traditionally strong associations with the decorative. It's an ongoing issue that I struggle with, maybe I'll crack it one day or maybe that discomfort actually fuels my art and I should just accept and use it.

Posted: 11.28pm on 16.3.07
Returned: 19.3.07

15th March

I think this is my favourite drawing so far - the combination of colour and line just really do it for me.

Posted: 9.55pm on 15.3.07
Returned: 19.3.07

14th March

I am gradually becoming more confident and relaxed about using colour in my drawings. While it won't rescue a bad drawing I have found that if a drawing feels a bit lacking then adding colour will often lift it and give it the zing it needs. And if it doesn't, well then I bin it and start over!

Posted: 9.37pm on 14.3.07
Returned: 17.3.07