Gwylwyr y Môr / Watchers of the sea
The work below has been collated from three ongoing projects in support of my application for Immersive Arts Explore 2025 funding. Please scroll down to see work from each of the three projects in turn: Gwylwyr y Môr, Ty Hir, and The Happy Tree. The images can be expanded by clicking on them.
Gwylwyr y Môr / Watchers of the Sea
The drawings below form the starting point for a proposed installation which incorporates sounds of the sea. The groynes are located at the mouth of the Afon Ogwen near Bangor, North Wales and are subject to erosion by wind, sun, and sea.
Succession.
Gwylwyr y Môr. Graphite. A6 sketchbook
Y Gogarth. Monoprint on 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 10.5 x 16 cm
Untitled. Willow charcoal and Pierre Noire. 95 gsm Strathmore Charcoal. 30 x 43 cm.
Stumps. Graphite. A6 sketchbook
High view. Pierre Noire. 300 gsm Somerset Textured. 19.5 x 14.5 cm
Cold. Pierre Noire. 300 gsm Somerset Textured. 19.5 x 14.5 cm
Weed. Pierre Noire. 300 gsm Somerset Textured. 19.5 x 14.5 cm
The sea moves. Graphite and Pierre Noire. 300 gsm Somerset Textured. 19.5 x 14.5 cm.
Ty Hir / Longhouse
In a field off the A4080 near Brynsiencyn, Ynys Môn, is a ruined longhouse. It would once have been housed a family and their livestock. I have been drawing the house over a number of years, witnessing its increasing state of ruin and the steady growth of vegetation that conceals it. In this ongoing project, I explore what the house may once have been, and what it may yet be.
June 2023. Graphite on 200 gsm cartridge paper. 20 x 15 cm.
October 2024. Pastel pencil on 110 gsm cartridge paper. 42 x 30 cm
September 2025. Charcoal on 300 gsm Somerset textured paper.52 x 33 cm.
Teulu. Graphite, Leuchtturm 1917 notebook. 21 x 14 cm
Time drawing. Graphite. Fabriano classic artist journal. 15 x 20 cm.
Coed 1. Graphite. Fabriano classic artist journal. 16 x 20.
Coed 2. Graphite. 110 gsm cartridge paper. 30 x 20 cm.
Y wraig. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 6 x 9 cm.
Y gwr. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 6 x 9 cm.
The Happy Tree
The Happy Tree was inspired by a series of conversations with Belgian teacher and ghost writer Amandine Robaey through which we developed a taxonomy of the notion of happiness. To date, I have created three linocut prints in what I envisage to be an ongoing series. The photos below show the three prints (Two Happies, All Things Were One Thing, Melancholy Happy) and elements from the process of their creation.
All things were one thing (Black). Linocut. 280 gsm Somerset velvet. 16 x 16 cm.
All things were one thing (White). Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 16 x 16 cm.
All things were one thing (Emboss). Linocut. 300 gsm Somerset Satin. 16 x 16 cm.
Detail of carved block 1. Relief prints are flat surfaces; the blocks from which they are made are 3D. Somewhere between the two is loss.
Detail of carved block 2
The unseen. Clearing marks on lino
Two Happies. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 14 x 16 cm.
Rethinking the tree. Might the tree grow from its mirror?
Melancholy Happy Study 1. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 15 x 10 cm.
Melancholy Happy Study 3. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 15.5 x 10 cm
Melancholy Happy Study 2. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin.10 x 8 cm.
Collage. Developing a composition
Four fish composition
Melancholy Happy. Linocut. 250 gsm Somerset Satin. 22.5 x 15 cm