From The Road

While on my travels I was surrounded by inspiration. Landscapes took my breath away, hours upon hours on buses afforded me time to mull over my experiences and a few tiny sketches on postcards were all I had in place of a studio practice. I'm not a great artist/traveller. When I'm travelling I'm doing just that, making my way from place to place, seeing all there is to offer, zooming around the sights. Making work while away doesn't come easily to me and it didn't when I was on my last big trip either. I made some postcards and drew a couple of sketches but that was it, in eleven months my pen had hardly touched the paper. There just wasn't always time or space, when there was time I'd draw but it would take such a long time to finish one postcard that I wasn't left with much finished work. When I returned home I decided that I really wanted to create a body of work inspired by my big trip, I wanted to make drawings from the tiny postcards and use photographs from the journey as a starting point for new sketches. In order to fuel the project I booked a slot in a local gallery so that I'd have an end goal, a place where I could bring everything together and show just how inspiring the journey was. 

Pucon, Chile, 21cm x 14.9cm, pen on paper

Twisted Trees in Tierra del Fuego, 21cm x 14.9cm, pen on paper

The exhibition will be called From The Road, a nod to Jack Kerouac's On The Road  which I read not long before setting off in September 2016. I am in the middle of creating work for the show at the moment, I have several drawings already made which can be viewed on my website here. In viewing the drawings in real life I hope the viewer will see the detail that I have attempted to capture and the overall impression of the landscape when you stand back. Each time I create a piece I am transported back to the place where it is inspired by, be it standing on top of a pass looking out over snowcapped mountains or in a forest surrounded by trees, mud and mist. If you are local to Hampshire then I'd love for you to see the show in person, details are on the poster below which was kindly put together by Bea at Sheep Shed Gallery.

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Eternal Inspiration: The Royal Forest of Dean

Five Drawings From Claire Leach's 'Woodland Studies' Series Inspired By The Forest Of Dean 

In November last year my partner and I decided to mark 11 years together by taking a weekend trip to the Forest of Dean. Over two days we did three walks and took hundreds of photographs, the photographs and memories made in that short time have inspired a series of drawings that I am still in the process of making.

This wasn't my first trip to the forest however, it is a place that is so special to me that it is hard to describe. My mum and dad would take me to the Forest of Dean which sits close by the English/Welsh border when I was just a tot. On a visit when I was two we brought home a puppy springer spaniel named Valentine, my parents even looked at moving there permanently. When my parents separated when I was seven my dad continued to take me and my brother to the forest, alongside my step-family. We camped and took bike rides along the trails, my memories from visiting with my whole family became muddled with new memories with my step-family. Despite the emotional upheaval and the hurt I felt during a difficult time the forest remained the same. I could still remember the trees, solid and steadfast, magical and sometimes unnerving. The river still twisted through the land the same way, the rapids by Symonds Yat unchanged. The air smelled like coal smoke and leaf litter in decay, as it always did.

Ancient and Mystical Trees In The Forest Of Dean 

Ferns, Moss and Leaf Litter At The Forest Of Dean

In later years I visited the forest on my own. I'm not sure what it is about the place but whenever I return I feel like I'm home. It's quiet and inspirational, not just to me. J.K. Rowling grew up in a village just outside the Forest of Dean, it is said to have inspired the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, not only that but Harry and Hermione camp in the Forest of Dean in the seventh book; The Deathly Hallows. J.R.R. Tolkien is also said to have based Middle-earth on the area in The Lord of the Rings. The enchanting quality that the forest possesses has seduced me and I can only imagine that as long as the trees are still standing that I'll continue to draw them. 

Is there a particular place in the world that you find very inspiring? Perhaps you've used somewhere that you have visited several times in your work, or maybe the place that inspires you most is right on your doorstep? Let me know in the comments below and tell me of any places that you think I'd be inspired by too. 

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A Few Seconds Of Bravery

Woodland Study IV - The Drawing I Have Submitted For The RA Summer Exhibition 2018

Every year I try and visit the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. It's my favourite annual activity, one where I get to see a wide variety of contemporary art made by lesser known artists and Royal Academicians too. Drawings, prints and works in monochrome catch my attention first, I tend to gravitate towards smaller pieces. I pay special attention to my artistic heroes whose work is generally present; dainty monoprints by Tracey Emin, majestic monochromatic volcano inspired work by Emma Stibbon and swirling coastal landscapes by Norman Ackroyd. I scribble notes in pencil down the margins of the 'list of works' booklet each visitor is given, every time I see a work I enjoy particularly by an artist I don't know I doodle a little star to research later. 

While wandering around the galleries I can't help but covet a little space on the walls for my own. The idea of a tiny piece of my creativity occupying space in a gallery that has hundreds of years worth of history, where J.M.W Turner and John Constable themselves have exhibited fills me with a sense of joy. Every year I visit and every year I dream, however, I have never applied to be part of the exhibition, until now. Last Monday after just finishing a small drawing that I was pleased with and after much deliberation and internal dialogue I decided to submit. What has held me back in previous years? Well, a million voices in my head saying "submitting would be a waste of time, you'll never be selected" or "there are so many better artists out there, why on earth would they choose you". Those voices can be cruel, they can constantly tell you on repeat just why you aren't good enough and why you should not even bother. This year I decided not to listen, to at least not listen long enough to prepare my work for submission, take out my debit card to pay the fee and click the button. That was it, a few seconds of bravery was all that was needed. It was done. 

I decided to share that I'd submitted on social media. I did wonder if I was simply setting myself up for embarrassment. If I made a big fuss of submitting and then didn't get chosen I might look a fool. Or, I might encourage other artists in some self doubt to be brave and submit their work too. Telling people, in my view turned out to be the right thing to do, though it did give me nervous butterflies to do it. I tweeted my news during #HandmadeHour; a weekly twitter chat to a community that have become online friends and confidantes and the response I got was overwhelming. From well wishes to reassurance and most importantly artists telling me that they had been deliberating but were now going to have a go as well. It become my most engaged with tweet after over 5 years on the platform and encouraged me that by being brave I have given myself a chance and perhaps inspired others too. 

Submitting my work was a nervous ordeal and telling people about it was even more nerve-racking. In the week that has passed I've already forgotten about the £35 submission fee and how scary pressing 'submit' was. Now I can't believe I haven't had a go sooner. If my work isn't chosen then it's no big deal, I can try again another year. Of all the artists that were chosen last year for example, I wonder how many were accepted on their first try? Maybe they had been trying for years before being accepted. I found a quote in an article on the Royal Academy website which reassured me;

“I believe self belief and courage are very important aspects of realising your own work and taking it somewhere such as the Royal Academy. Never doubt yourself and take the risk to apply.”

— Emma Bass

So there it is, a moment of vulnerability that I hope will remind you to have a little bit of courage with your work. If you've made something that you're pleased with and have wanted to have a go at submitting to an open exhibition but self doubt has held you back then why not have a go? After all, you have to be in it to win it! Let me know in the comments if you've applied or if you are going to and wish me luck! 

Entry to the 2018 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition closes on 14th February, if you'd like to submit or read more then please click here.

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