The Art House Co-op Mystery Project.

I miss my Art House Co-op Sketchbook...

It's currently in Los Angeles touring with the rest of the Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour and I miss it.  Not the having it particularly, but the doing it...so when I saw that Art House Co-op were recruiting for a little mini project I just couldn't resist.

This is what they sent me with instructions to create something

and install it in a public place for a stranger to discover.

It's a light blue Prismacolor Pen (which I'm now a little bit smitten by) and a card saying:

"Help! Robots are taking over the 

local elementary school"

So here's what I drew...

 

This is Abek
The gauge on his chest indicates how interested he is in your conversation...he wishes it didn't.

This is Binak
He thinks he can dance like a human.









 

This is Modran

He likes to amuse people by rolling slowly sideways on his foot-tracks whilst pretending not to notice.

This is Phara

Her glass head casing steams up when she gets angry.

 

This is Bosk

He wishes he had a separate head component like the other robots.

and here's where I left them...

About half a mile down the road I paused and glanced back over my shoulder before I turned up the road which leads to my house.  Under my robots' tree stood a woman, shopping bags in hand, gazing upward, and I realised at that moment that Abek, Binak, Modran, Phara and Bosk are probably not the last robots I'll be leaving for strangers to find.

A challenge for you.

 

"Oh, you drew a poem!" 

That was what a friend of mine commented as he flicked through the pages of the sketchbook I recently completed for the Arthouse Co-op's 2012 Sketchbook Project.

 I had started the project as a kind of enforced brainstorming endeavour.  I planned to fill the crisp white pages of my new sketchbook with as many scrawled and messy ideas as I could think of, but then a red ribbon emerged and it coiled and writhed in my head.  I had to follow it.

So, I drew a poem...Apparently.

I like it.  I like its wordlessness, but I have found myself wondering what it would sound like if it could speak.  I imagine it with not one, but a hum of many distant voices, intertwined, all whispering different stories.  Which is where you come in.

Your challenge is to be one of those voices.  It's not a competition, there's no definitively correct interpretation, no particular plans for commercial publication and, although I may post my favourites here, or on my website, your words will remain just that.  It is simply an interesting thing to do and purely just for fun.


So, take a look at the slide show below or follow this link where you will find all my illustrations:  Write your poem (nothing too explicit please) and leave it at the bottom of this post.  Feel free to leave your name and details or post anonymously, It's completely up to you. 

My brother says there's a reason why people don't illustrate poems until after they are written and that my challenge is impossible...I reckon he's nearly right...but not quite.

Link:

"A PATH THROUGH THE TREES"

#drewapoem challenge

My Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project 2012 Sketchbook

Well...here it is:  My Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project Sketchbook so far.  It's called "A Path Through the Trees".  Those of you who follow me on facebook or have strayed onto my Flickr account will have already seen most of these but here they are again for the rest of you..."A Path Through the Trees".


I had no intention of it being a series of pen and ink sketches.  It was supposed to be a collection of multicoloured textural studies but, as always, things didn't turn out as I expected...I'm rather pleased.

For those of you who have asked, I'm not sure what the red path represents...other than a journey.  It's one of those symbols which appears in various forms in the art of so many cultures, meaning different but often very similar things...perhaps I'm referring to one of them, or perhaps all of them and maybe some others I've not pinned down yet too.  As for where it is going and where it will end up...I've about five double pages before the journey is complete and I'm afraid that at the moment I've no idea.  It does have a narrative of sorts but I'm not sure there's a punch line.

So, take what meaning you want from my sketches and may your own path through the trees of 2012 lead you somewhere beautiful and interesting.
 

Happy New Year!

To view my images in greater detail, and to be the first to see the final few pages as I finish them go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/naomiadams/sets/72157628211091783/

or like my facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/www.naomiadams.co.uk

A path through the trees

I thought it was about time I started on my Sketchbook Project sketchbook (rather than thinking about it, talking about it or blogging about it.)

So, these are my trees...I dream about them...or at least an increasing number of my dreams are set amongst them.  They are sometimes peacefully bathed in afternoon sun, sometimes moon-drenched and menacing.  Sometimes I know my way between the trees instictively and sometimes I am utterly lost or trapped.  They can protect and obscure me from the monsters at my heels or they can trip me and get in my way depending on the mood of the dream...and they sneak out into my art from time to time, especially when I'm given a blank sketchbook entitled "A path through the trees".

What do you think?

I don't dream of the red path...perhaps it's there so I can find my way back.