Tell an Untold Story

YES 

Ok so i was on a roll from COP when starting this project- in the mode to churn out a load of work and get goinnnngggg. THIS HELPED SO MUCH! starting my work on a roll and not being in a creative slump (unusual for me) was so REFRESHING for me i kind of needed to step back and think - damn... is this actually me?? This self- assurance that i was creating valuable work all through this topic and not just sitting in  my room stuck for ideas was fantastic to me- Research driven projects on something i could actually get inspired by and get my teeth into ! was ! so ! fun! (note to self- make everything research driven, everything in the world)

My interviews consisted of three segments of a conversation with my dad- a man with whom i haven't really appreciated how much he knows and his own opinions (which are usually different to mine, see also: brexit) and his general calm understanding of most things in the world. love u dad. The thing about him is his emotive tone of voice and pure derbyshire way of explaining things. I played with this in my sketchbook- transcribing the pauses and repetition in his voice visually into broken up lines. here, i also developed a bit of a style of font for myself. Not entirely relevant, but something i really noticed and feels like a bit of a personal development. anyways. His story about the whitely-folk / white leaf oak  was my main source of inspiration when making those little one piece of paper zines. Using the same scribbly style of drawing with just graphite, i created something i felt held value. Visually telling a story in four pages in that style was easy and i felt proud of my work. Next step was actually turning this into more research. 

Going home for the day on that independent field trip was so glorious- standing drawing stone circles, peaceful warm weather, my dad giving me almost too much information on our local geography and history- me finally listening to him after years of being bored by it. Again, using just graphite to continue that aesthetic of raw mark made natural simple lines- felt very reportage-y and gave me a lovely consistency but also a quick method of working. 

The main idea from my zine came from talking to his girlfriend, Claire, who is pagan and has a different relationship and knowledge on stone cirlces and historical rocks in the area- my dad being purely Time-Team Tony Robinson-esque and her being very Festival-At-Stone-Henge-at- Solstace-y. 

The main thing that grabbed me was the influence of religion on natural places- the unknown about the stone circles and the influence of Christianity of how we see them now- a whole world away from how they originally were (probably).

My work turned from stone circles into turning women into stone- a christian myth about circles is that they are satanic dancing ladies turned to stone for being evil. My work became about representing these women-  respecting them and the landscape and setting them free? sounds really super cheesy but. yes. 

For once this year, in my project, i feel an actual connection with my own work and feel happy with the whole consistency, the whole sketchbook and the outcome. i feel excited by what I've made, and not ashamed for once! Indesign was fun to learn, as zine making and story telling is definitely very relevant to my practice. 

i also discovered that i can mass produce simple digital art effectively. keeping a simple colour scheme and theme throughout has been super useful to me and i have learned a lot about my practice- that it is not only unrefined analogue- but digital work doesn't have to be perfect too! Peer crits are super useful places to express ideas and get useful feedback - i discovered people you may not even know  very well can give some great advice and insight. 

i learned this project that my work 

is developing

has to start at the beginning with research 

has flow for once

is not perfect but that's ok

is valid

can make me happy 

is exciting

and most importantly- needs PLAY. 

i'm going to go now cause all that writing has given me a headache. 

peace and love, 

Roy xxx