2019 in review

2019 has been a year of ups and downs personally, socially and creatively. It began with a serious foot injury which meant I was bedridden for a couple of months. During this period I turned to writing as my creative outlet. Over the past few months I have lost touch with this aspect of my practice, but writing regularly is one of my priorities for the forthcoming year.

My understanding of time changed during the months of my recovery and on my return to the studio I referenced this in the watercolour paintings that I made of diaries, calendars and notepaper.

 

Throughout March 2019 Caitlin Merrett King was resident at The NewBridge Project, working closely with studio and associate members to record Group Show, a podcast acting as an informal archive, giving voice to the inner workings of NewBridge, friendships and current collaborations.

Caitlin's podcast became the ideal opportunity for the group of women (see image below) who were involved in the realisation of Bobby Baker's Great and Tiny War, to talk about collaboration and some of the associated issues.

Episode 8
https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/listen-group-show-caitlin-merrett-king/



The work of marginendeavour (David Foggo and Helen Shaddock in collaboration), has become an increasingly important aspect of my practice. 

We also contributed to Caitlin Merrett King's Group Show podcast (episode 1) with a work titled 'The Back and Forth'.

https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/listen-group-show-caitlin-merrett-king/

Much of our work in the studio has centered around the idea of an eyesore on a billboard. We produced a number of 'mock ups' for billboards, and are currently working on a life-size billboard to be exhibited in the Spring/Summer.









I was delighted to have my work included in a new publication WordPower: Language as Medium.





As life became more turbulent, drawing became one way in which I tried to deal with what was happening.



In August 2019 David Foggo and I hired the NewBridge Project Space for a small exhibition, Bits and Pieces, featuring some of our solo works as well as one work by marginendeavour. We collaboratively curated the exhibition to emphasise links between individual artworks and our practices.















Working within the grid structure of the Frieze listings page, I set myself the challenge of using coloured hole reinforcers in different ways to fill the blank spaces.













marginendeavour created a new eyesore artwork for the Newcastle University Fine Art Postcard Auction.



marginendeavour continue to work on the life size billboard.




After a few months of creation and development, we launched the marginendeavour website. Please visit it at https://www.marginendeavour.co.uk/

I also updated my own website http://www.helenshaddock.co.uk/

One of my artworks was included in the Gallagher and Turner Open Exhibition 2019.
https://gallagherandturner.co.uk/open-exhibition-2019


Another series involved collaging complementary colours in the blank grid spaces within the Frieze magazine listing pages.









In November marginendeavour and Lesley Guy from TOTALLER joined Theresa Poulton, Jill Tate, and Matt Pickering for a roundtable discussion in which we exchanged ideas and experiences with other artists with a shared interest in working collaboratively and collectively.



My most recent series of drawings has been based on the 26 letters of the alphabet. Each A4 sheet features one letter










As the world counts down to the start of a new decade, I am currently working on a series of number drawings.

I'd like to thank you all for your support throughout the year. 

I look forward to continuing to share my artistic process with you.

May 2020 be filled with creativity.