End of Residency

watercolour on window see more

Drawing Breath

Drawing Breath, my first solo exhibition, marked the end of my Gallery Residency at Bath Artists' Studios.

We draw breath as we focus on something intricate or fragile. Breath is a constant escaping entity that cannot last, just as time, or in truth anything, escapes us. This exhibition is a pause for stillness, capturing re imagined natural forms mid rhythm across pages, walls and windows. Some pieces will last whilst others will fade.

It has been fantastic creating in the Gallery space as my studio and an excellent opportunity to play with the space and display as part of the creation process.

My residency has been a focus on natural forms, re imagining and working with these to create something new. I have explored in all sorts of ways, contrasting expressive and intricate mark making with watercolour, emulsion, fine line pens, graphite powder and pencil. I have drawn into poppy seeds, onto leaves and composed trees out of small branches. This playing resulting in ephemeral installations and detailed works that capture a fragility.

The Gallery Residency was a fantastic opportunity to explore and play in a brilliant space. This was a great chance to make experimenting with display a part of the creation process and not just an end consideration. As display is something I am very interested in this was perfect to explore. I'm definitely going to miss the Gallery space.

You can find out more about Bath Artists' Studios on their website.

Or more about my work: www.sophieerin.co.uk

Amidst - small branches, onion skins, fine liner, table top see more

 Playing Shadows - hung plants, graphite powder, tracing paper see more

A glimpse - watercolour and graphite pencil on cartridge paper see more

 Capsule - watercolour and graphite pencil on cartridge paper and frame see more

Drawing Breath Wall Drawing - watercolour and graphite powder see more

graphite pencil and watercolour on tracing paper see more

 Drawn on leaf - fine liner on leaf see more

Pin Cushion Wave - graphite pencil and powder on tracing paper see more

Tracks - framed fine line pen drawing on cartridge paper, mountboard and wall see more

 Forgotten Stories - white emulsion, plants and graphite pencil drawing on book pages see more

The Still Amidst The Storm

The Drawing Breath wall drawing was created with watercolour and graphite powder, working directly with the space - composed intuitively. I enjoyed using these two different mediums to create similar imagery, the watercolour focusing on the detail whilst the graphite powder adding a smooth and wispiness to the drawing. Likened by visitors to an echo or music, the dancing lines capture a movement. 

Curating installations in the show was really interesting to see how they interacted with the other work. For some it was a case of displaying them in a way that emphasised them as different pieces distinct in their own ways. Although I feel Amidst, a set of 4 small trees made out of little branches, was a piece in itself - I was please with the way it used the wall drawing as a back drop. I liked the way the works complimented each other and together they were my favourite work in the show. Therefore I naturally  also titled them together as The Still Amidst The Storm.

www.sophieerin.co.uk

Watercolour on windows

Whilst looking after my show Drawing Breath I decided to make the most of my residency and work on a window whilst I invigilated. I already had one window work in the show using the same media so I was keen to play further with using watercolours on glass. I recreated some shapes I had been using in a few of the works on show and made a trail up the window.

I really enjoyed both the creation and outcome of this piece. The fragility of the work more real than some of my other temporary works. Wall drawings requiring rubbing out or painting over whilst the window pieces wiped away so easily. Any interaction with weather or touch might deteriorate the piece and I discovered that flies have a taste for eating watercolour, leaving a small dotty pattern in some of the lines.

Now knowing that watercolour paint is successful on glass and so easily removed my windows at home definitely aren't safe from a bit of experimenting.

www.sophieerin.co.uk 

Playing Shadows

I find shadows very appealing so for this piece I decided to play with making some up of my own. The piece is quite simple but seemed to appeal to a lot of visitors with it's use of illusion. Although the playful work is not created with strict accuracy for some the illusion had them believing until the moving plants gave away their stationary shadows.

I used found foliage from the riverside which I found aesthetically appealing in its subtlety. This is hung in a rising formation with clear thread and graphite powder drawn onto a long sheet of 90gsm tracing paper.

www.sophieerin.co.uk