Distance

Some writing below from one of the artists from our Drawing Matters exhibition, Robert Clarke, I hope you might find interesting

For more of Robert's work have a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluefunnel/


Distance
(23.09.08-14.10.08)
Equipment: Molskine Cahier Notebook {21 x 13 cms.} Pelikan fountain pen. Layout: Each page drawn recto and verso; many drawings extend across double pages.

"What is the distance a drawing covers but the space between two correspondences, one of which will exist just as well without you, but the other one will not. It is the mystifying existence of the former that drives the latter out of hiding to express itself in confessions of love or at the astonishment of consciousness. Whether or not it is art is besides the point. What counts is that it comes from us, is ours, mine and yours, shared between ourselves. When a blackbird comes to my garden, I do not demand that it account for itself and tell me what its songs mean; I know only that it sings beautiful blackbird songs and for that moment there is no distance and we are one. "

"Drawing is my blackbird song. I sing and that's all. Each drawing is a scrap of a song. It's taken years of practice just to get that far - which, compared to what a blackbird can sing, isn't far at all. Each new song is an unfolding of what, until then, has not been sung. I don't know where it's going, other than to the next song. And that's enough: just one more song, and one more song after that, and so on, until I can no longer sing my blackbird songs. But that's all right - for another blackbird will come along with new songs and the wheel will turn. "
Robert Clarke

Landscape Drawing Workshop

To coincide with her work showing at the Bristol Contemporary Open Exhibition, Ros Ford ran a landscape drawing workshop here at the school. Students went outside and made drawings of the River Avon, with the focus on experimental techniques and using a variety of techniques. They then got together for a large collaborative piece at the end of the day.

Street Studio at The Mall Broadmead Bristol

As part of the Big Draw celebrations we put on a free come and draw street studio in the Mall Broadmead (formerly Galleries). We had entertainment from Rose and Brian Popay from the very fine Fine Artistes encouraging passers by to sit down for a while and draw a still life, or take part in a large collaborative drawing of Bristol.

We had a huge response with people of all ages overcoming the initial reluctance to take the time out from their frantic shopping and draw us a picture, some stayed for only a couple of moments others for a number of hours!


















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