Linework

Show It To The Sun (Freja) - digital, 2010

I’ve started work now on my contribution to the Inside Out Art Group’s “Artists at Work: Art Works” project, which is aiming to bring together local artists and businesses in Oswestry to help promote and celebrate the unique retail, trade and commercial culture of this small market town.

Had a brilliant hour+ chat with Rena and Stuart over at Fine Line Tattoos, which is the business I’m going to be linking up with during the course of the next year. We talked about anything and everything, from their clients to their tattoos to Stuart and Rena’s own lives and stories.

My main interest over the next twelve months will be looking beyond the image of the tattoo itself, looking back at the personal histories and stories behind the ink. It’s a cliche, I suppose, but it’s a good point from which to start: the idea that a tattoo is simply the visible end product of a long, complex and involved personal narrative. So that’s where my art will start – looking at some of the reasons and stories behind the tattoos.

I’ve no idea where this will all lead! I’ll be going into the Fine Line studio every Thursday between 11 and 3, sketching, painting, drawing, talking to people, just seeing how this all develops. I’m really looking forward to it – and really looking forward to the chance to do something a bit outside my usual remit. I’ve been looking at the work of people like Shaun Barber, Mike Giant, Sylvia Ji and Ed Hardy, trying to get a handle on some of the background and avenues I might explore.