Artist journal #4

I always plan to have a backlog of social media posts so that during the half term holidays I can keep posting, but the truth is, even though I have those posts ready to go, I have not posted them. In fact, I’ve been hiding from social media; between misinformation, horrifying news and the pressures that both followers and the social media sites themselves put on creators, it’s not really the fun sanctuary it once was.

I am horrified by recent events. The news just seems to get worse and worse, all with a government I wouldn’t trust to babysit a small child. Seriously, if I had to leave I would be telling the small child not to let Boris hide in the fridge too long as I left. My heart goes out to Ukraine.

On a personal level, I seem to want to learn at least six new printing techniques at once which isn’t possible at the best of times. I am like a keyboard where you’re pressing too many keys at once; they are all jammed, none of the letters are coming up on the screen and there’s a strange noise coming from the computer that can’t be good. There’s a lot going on which strangely means I can’t seem to get anything done; I have many ideas but no resources to transform them into work.

I’ve taken some refuge in RSPB Otmoor, there are huge flocks lapwings  and golden plover above swathes of textured grasses and water. My son saw two marsh harriers, which caused his great excitement as he’d seen them on winterwatch. Here’s the sketches for a lapwing print; as I said before, there’s a lot of ideas, but very little action so it feels a distant prospect.

These hares (they will be hares honest) are the first two plates of which I have printed up. These are just the proofs so I have to wait for them to dry, print the final layer, then hopefully, if they are good enough, print an edition properly on nice paper. It takes an age, but I’m optimistic they should be available before Easter though, as intended.

So far as the garden birds go, the red kites that nested last year seem to be back, their long tumbling flights twining together in a breeding dance.  It means I see less of the buzzard but it’s good to have them back though, and I hope the nest again.