1st July 2010
On my very first day at St Martins I arranged to spend my time meeting and drawing the house's residents; this was when I first met Robert and Abdi. Both Abdi and Robert are featured in the publication that I've produced. Here are a couple of early drawings I made of them. Abdi was eager to join me in drawing as I drew him. The next week I ran a workshop and initially he was the only person to attend. When Abdi starts to draw he is instantly absorbed into the process, he's a big bloke but he draws with the same intensity of a child.
29 June 2010
On Saturday I saw the publication I've made as a result of this residency for the first time. I spent the afternoon handing it out to the public outside Highbury and Islington tube station. It was a funny experience, on the whole people took it without a so much as a word. A few interested individuals asked what it was, and for more information about Islington Exhibits. The very first guy I offered it to replied that he didn't want it as he already had a copy!
My friend Ellie pointed out that people like to have something to read as they sit on the train. It was so hot on Saturday that I worried they might equally have liked the idea of a free fan.
25 June 2010
Here's a couple of pages from the sketchbook I've kept during my residency at Saint Martins, I used it in the time before and after I ran workshops there. One of the first things I was told by a resident at the home was that the pool table was off kilter, causing players to have to, literally, shoot up or down the table. I played a match with one of the residents on my first day and found that this problem added an element of unpredictability absent in the orthodox game. I was roundly beaten, the resident I was playing, Abdi, has a real talent at the pool table, even a wonky one.
