Stained past

Stained Past #1 350x250mm, Ink, gel pen & tea on watercolour paper ©2010

Just finished this. The paper was stained first by being laid on the surface at my studio 'tea station' (atop of the caravan fridge) for over a month, where it collected cup prints and drips from a hundred or so tea makings. The drawing came after and ink was spilled. Am now trying it the other way round.

Royal Doulton Triangular Pitcher

A Christmas present from my sister, another fine piece to add to the collection. Circa 1891 and possibly worth $300 according to Gaston's Value Guide. Maybe.

See another piece my sister found for me:
http://thewillowpatternproject.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-time-for-dickens.html

Mark Dion - Tate Thames Dig

In the summer last year I went to see 'Classified: Contemporary Art at Tate Britain', which was a display of recent major acquisitions which included stuff by Hirst and the Chapman brothers. I came across Mark Dion for the first time, whose Tate Thames Dig 1999 groups together objects found on the banks of the Thames in a large mahogany cabinet. One of the drawers contained nothing but blue & white ceramic fragments. The piece was the result of Dion's organised dig and beachcomb of the foreshore at Millbank and Bankside and was first displayed when Tate Modern opened. I missed it then, and quite possibly might not have noticed it then either.

"Like a good detective, Dion revels in seeing beyond individual fragments to recognise larger patterns; making connections between often seemingly unrelated objects and events. Through the careful juxtaposition of the finds from the Tate Thames Dig, Dion creates new layers of meaning, linking our thoughts to the constructions of the past and choices for the future."

Taken from Art Now: Mark Dion: Tate Thames Dig 26 October 1999 – 26 February 2000. Text by Clarrie Wallis
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/artnow/markdion/default.shtm