Storyscapes: Part 2

Doh, sad news again I'm afraid. We didn't get picked to build the Storyscape piece for the Museum in Wem. It's a shame as I think our ideas were pretty good and I think working with the folk at the museum would have been great fun. Dez and Ali who run the museum are really nice and are both full of stories. The museum itself is a treasure trove of different art objects, storytelling artifacts and book upon book of stories. Sadly, I didn't think to take any photos when I was down, but if you are in the Shropshire area it is definitely worth a visit.

After the interview on Friday Ann and I spent the weekend driving around Shropshire and Wales. We'd never been to that part of the country before, and armed with our satnav, we happily trundled around having a look at everything we could find. Was a very pleasant way to spend a weekend, despite the torrential rain and high winds.

Highlights of trip include, the Myth museum itself, the odd village of Portmerrion, seeing several thousand swallows swarming over Gretna Green and me accidentally catapulting a bowl of rice over a nearby table.

Panda old, Panda new

About a year ago I traded in my wee blue panda (see above) who had loyally served me for 10 years. It was a sad day, but the poor thing was rather unwell and required an owner with more car repair skills than I.

I knew things had reached a culmination the day I was filming a short film in Dumfries. I drove down in the morning and on the way, the engine started to smoke, then the exhaust began to start banging before just out and out roaring, like a trapped lion. By the time I reached the location I had also lost my radio, aerial and the windscreen wiper was malfunctioning. I drove into the quiet farm where we were filming with a RRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrr. The people I was there to film, the producer and all the crew were standing around in the yard. I pulled up and turn off the engine at which point, the car went pfffffff and billowed huge swathes of smoke. Everyone turned and stared at me. I just got out, closed the door and walked over as if everything was normal.

The nice RAC man got the car back to full working order again, though I did have to stop every 30miles or so to let the engine cool down. But it was the final straw and sadly I made the decision to trade it in and I am now the proud owner of an almost identical blue panda, with roof bars. Its a very nice car and very comfortable to drive, but it does lack some of the wonder features of the old model - no turbo boost and no "loud" button on the radio.

Anyway in honour of my old friend I attach below a print out, cut and build card model.

Storyscapes

The museum in Wem are after some kind of device that will act as an art object/ interactive piece within the musuems pernament collection but which can also be used by storytellers as part of a storytelling experience. This sounds hopefully along the lines of the Storytelling Machine I designed for the musuem of Shetland, so I am developing a idea along similar lines.

Had a few good ideas so far. One of which is using music and an old bird cage. I'll post some outline sketch ideas next week after the interview.

not much cop

Hmmm - I have been very lax so far this year with posting on this blog.

Still no new images but two bits of news.

1 - the gallery show in Plockton is cancelled. (The gallery will be shut all year.)

2- I've been short listed to make a new museum piece for a gallery in Wem.

That is all. Good night.

Book fairs and shops

We have been seleteced for two book fairs in April. - one in Glasgow and one in London, which is handy as Scott can do one and I can do the other. The only tricky thing is that the Glasgow one had already been fully booked out before we heard about it and we therefore are going to be selling our books from a makeshift ice-cream style/ book selling tray.

So I guess we'd best get on with designing it.

We will also now be selling at Hithero, (the excellant shop of wonders behind the merchant city Tindebox) and Aye Aye books (the artist bookshop outside the Sculpture Studios.)

Tchai Ovna Poster - colour sketch

I'm begining to sketch up some ideas for posters for the Southside Festival which is happening in Glasgow in the summer. The above is a colour sketch for a poster for Shawlands highlighting Tchai Ovna one of my favourite places in the area.

Cityscape - wires and valves

Countdown to Christmas

Despite starting my shopping early - I am rapidly running out of time to get good Christmas presents for everyone.

Carnival Road

An oldie, but one I'm still working on slowly.

Just found out that a postcard I designed is one of 135 selected for a new book about international postcard design - created by http://www.flat33.com/flat33_v2/index_home.html

The book will be out September 2008.

Snail Scale

Happy 100th post today.

Good news I've been asked to make another wee film for Channel 4 so will need to get planning on that this week.

hats

Between the words

(Sample of some of the different artists work)

The Bookmark Project 2007: Parallax

Guest Curator: Danielle Williams

November 4 - 11, 2007

Reception: Sunday, November 4, 2 to 4 pm, Koffler Gallery lobby

For the sixth year in a row, the Koffler Gallery has organized The Bookmark Project. This year's theme, Parallax, examines the bookmark's paradoxical nature, as its very position and purpose appear to vary when viewed from different perspectives. Selected through an open call, artist-designed bookmarks are introduced into the 8,000 books on display during the 30th Annual Jewish Book Fair, Leah Posluns Theatre Lobby at the BJCC, with sample bookmarks on display in the Koffler Centre showcases through November.

This year's participating artists include: Natasha Bailey, Roberly Ann Bel, Mira Berlin, Allistair Burt, Carrie Chisholm, Alex Coley, Heather Courtney, Stephen Cruise, Scott McCarney, Nola L. McConnan, Issha Marie Onoya, Kathy Ouellette, Portia Priegert, Cecilia Tiburzio, Karoline Varin-Jarkowski and Alma Yingyi Wang.

For more info click here http://www.kofflerarts.org/gallery.shtml

Where have I been

My goodness how the time has flewn
Its night before its afternoon,
December is here before its noon,
how did it get so late so soon?

I've not posted a new drawing for three weeks, which is not really very good. I have been maintaining a creative output but its just not been image based.

Over the last month I have pitched for a Channel 4 short film commission, made a film and clay figures for my friends wedding, written a proposal /short script for GMAC's Shortcuts commission scheme and made more postcards for an exhibition in Toronto. So I still feel I've managed to get a bit of creativity done this month - but seriously lacking on the wee pretty pictures scale.

Also - I am still struggling with plumber problems - the heating is still not working 100%. Doh

Grand opening

The blues

Breakfast

Jobs I could do

Jobs I could do

Intro page 3

Intro page 2

Intro page 1

Its working again

Well it took me five weeks but my computer is now working, the server is back on line and the links above should all work again. [Please have a play and let me now if you find any glitches.]

Now that the ball is moving I think all my bad luck over the last few weeks will hopefully disappear, I'll actually get some work done and I'll finally find a decent plumber and get the last leak in the flat sorted .

Water, water everywhere and no a drop to drink

More extracts from my work in progress about the life of a lonely lighthouse keeper.

Plumbers are mean

Unfortunately my hopes for a trouble free September are not going so well.

We spent most of Sunday relaying the floor in my kitchen following the recent leaking to the neighbour downstairs. That night I discovered we had no hot water as the boiler pressure had dropped to zero.

We topped it back up but by next morning it again was at zero. I then refilled it but by the middle of the morning and phone call home confirmed my worst fears. The pressure was again at zero and we still had a leak.

I quickly ran home, only to discover on arrival that I had left my keys behind and I had to phone Ann to drive across the city and let me in. To make matters more difficult the neighbour downstairs has gone on away for three weeks and not left an emergency contact so I have no idea if it really is flooding, just a strong hunch but I can;t take the risk.

In 20 minutes I have undone the 5 hours of work relaying the tiles and floorboards and I have discovered that there is water under the floor. I phone the insurances home emergency number and they send out a plumber who finally arrives late, grumpy, rude and unhelpful. He tells me that until I've lifted ll the floor and identified exactly where the leak is he can't help and he leaves.

I then have to rip up loads more floor boards and finally identify where the leak is coming from. The insurance company contact the rude plumber who finally calls at 10 to say that he is too tired and is going to his bed. "But its still leaking" I tell him. He tells me how to shut off that part of the system, which I do, but it is still leaking. I phone back the insurance who send out another company who arrives at 1am only to advise he doesn't have the correct equipment to carry out the job and will have to come back. He also advises that the leak in the pipe is not causing my pressure to drop and that there must be another problem???? Arrrrgh

This morning after no sign of the plumber I chase up the depot, who advise that they are still trying to agree the costs with the insurance company. I chase up the insurance company who advise that they are happy to pay the price. I phone up the plumber who then admit they don't have any engineers available to do the repair today anyway. I currently await further news from the insurance company about what is going to happen next.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a bright new day and all the bad luck of August can be left behind.

Bad luck continues

Something in my flat is dripping into the flat downstairs. I've taken up the floor in the kitchen and moved the washing machine and dishwasher and I've ripped apart my bathroom but sadly I'm yet to find whats causing it.

So add that to the rest of my bad luck:

Server goes wrong - need to redo site
Computer broke - hard drive ruined

Rooflight of flat broke - needs repaired
Ankle broke - well doc says I've got a fracture

I can't wait for August to finish.

Juice

I had a very nice drink of juice the other night - with a great label - check out the the tree trunk turning into a hand holding an orange. Top marks.

Emergency

Sketch for a short comic novel I'm working on about an isolated Lighthouse keeper.

Well - I'm afraid my computer has returned minus my hard drive which has packed in. Meaning I've lost nearly all my work from the last couple of years and lots of my music and more importantly my photos. I've reinstalled what backup files I've got but some of those have packed in as well. Most disappointing of all I've lost the whole of a new project I was about to reveal called 365 days of sky. Last year I took a photo of the sky each day, wherever I was in the world. The result was a beautiful kaleidoscope of blues, greys and whites as the ever changing sky twisted and blurred above me each day. Sadly, it is now, nearly all gone.

There is a chance the retrieval company might be able to get the information back - but their prices start at £500. Doh. Maybe if I go ahead and I do get the images back - I can sell prints of the sky photos to help recover my loses. Here's a couple of the ones I've still got.

St Louis Arch, USA Stockholm, Sweden Glasgow, Scotland

I'll attempt to put the rest of this site back together from the remnants of my back up files.

Still not working

My computer is still in the doctors and so I therefore haven't been able to sort out the server problems. Fingers crossed it comes back on Thursday and I can get back to work.

computers are bad

I'm afraid I've not been able to sort the server problems yet as my own computer is playing up now too. One of the hard drives has disapeared and it looks like it will have to go to the computer doctors.