Placeworks

Placeworks is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the formation of Jarvis Inc with a works outing to the Royal Ballet. And an idea for a new domain name.

Sarah has been commissioned to write several reports to support consultancy work in town centres, including work with potential Portas Pilots and towards a vanguard Neighbourhood Plan.

The new painting year began on Thursday with a convivial session by the river. Indoors, luckily, as it's smelling cold again. In December I had been suffering from a cold and found the idea of ink drawing more appealing than painting. I liked the results, quite noir-ish, put me in mind of a graphic novel, or perhaps an illustrated novel, which I am now mulling over at the back of my mind, and I decided to continue with ink this month.
Much as I hate those drawing exercises that involve charcoal tied to a long stick and accepting a lack of control, and despite finding a new drawing pen and two nibs at the bottom of my Christmas stocking, I perversely decided to try out a technique of drawing with a match dipped in ink. It worked well - an acceptable degree of randomness, with a nice straight edge. Just need to work on that narrative now...

In future I plan to bring my art and urban communication practices together more directly.
Through my work in Bankside and London Bridge I have built up some knowledge of an historic city centre quarter in transition. Communicating that change through words and photographs, online or in print, is an effective way to reach a lot of people fast. But it is often a means to an end - to convey information that can be seen and then, because it is ubiquitous, forgotten. Exploring this process through oil painting invites a more deliberative engagement with the city, inviting, I hope, deeper thought about what is happening around us and bringing a new perspective to the way our surroundings evolve as new structures emerge. And like oil painting it is not just building up but also scraping back: the process of development brings the chance to explore beneath the surface, as the archaeologist's trowel digs into the hidden city to expose a rediscovered past.