Ongoing studio experiments - month to view

I have been experimenting with using pre-existing patterns and structures to provide me with a basic framework to work with.

I used a sheet from my month to view calendar as the basis for this watercolour. 

Ongoing studio experiments - dotted paper

I have been experimenting with using pre-existing patterns and structures to provide me with a basic framework to work with.

I used a sheet of dotted paper to as the basis for this watercolour. 

Ongoing studio experiments

I have been experimenting with using pre-existing patterns and structures to provide me with a basic framework to work with.

I used a sheet of gridded paper to as the basis for this watercolour. I left the gridded lines unpainted.

marginendeavour work in progress

marginendeavour work in progress

The latest project for marginendeavour

Silence - Episode 2 - BBC Radio 4

“We live in the age of noise. Silence is almost extinct.”

Philosopher and adventurer Erling Kagge, the first person to reach the ‘three poles’ of North, South and the summit of Everest, explores the power of silence. Struck by a vague angst about his constant need for distraction and reluctance to hold still for a single moment, the explorer asks how we lost silence and where we might go to find it again. 

Some of the main points of discussion in this second episode were the following.

Silence can be boring, uncomfortable, scary, a sign of loneliness or sorrow

We experience silence when we keep quiet when there is something that one does not want to talk about

Silence can also be a friend and comfort, reassuring

It can be daunting, one may rather do anything else as opposed to filling the silence with oneself

The problems faced by humanity stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone

One searches for fresh purposes that draw our attention outwards, away from ourselves

Such opportunities for interruption have increased dramatically over the last century

We live in the age of noise

Noise comes in the form of distracting sounds and images and as ones own fleeting thoughts

The more we are inundated with noise, the more we seek to be distracted

A chemical in the brain called opioid is meant to create the feelings of happiness that one gets when one has completed ones goals.

Dopamine is a chemical that helps regulate movement, attention, learning, and emotional responses. It also enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.Dopamine is stronger than opioid, and is the reason why one is never content that they have fulfilled their desires.

It is more fulfilling to anticipate and seek rather than to value and appreciate the fact that you have fulfilled your desires

This form of noise engenders anxiety and negative feelings.

The basic business model of social networks such as twitter is to create a need for you to use an app, which the same app should then fill, but only temporarily

FOMO - Fear of Missing Out or fear of missing a special moment

Silence is the opposite of all of this. It is about experiencing rather than overthinking, allowing each moment to be big enough, shutting out the world and creating your own silence

Bodies publication available from Etsy

My text, Here I Am, was included in the Bodies publication. Bodies explores the fragile relationship between body and mind. How our bodies work and look can affect our mental well-being and how our minds operate often has a direct effect on our physical appearance. Bodies was a collaborative creation looking at how people view their bodies; the subtle differences and similarities that make us who we are.

The texts are a collection of prose and poetry from various practitioners that were edited together by Ragna Amling, who conceptualised the zine. Design and Illustrations by Steven Affleck.

The publication can be bought for £6.50 + delivery from Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/602692566/bodies-zine?ref=shop_home_active_1&fbclid=IwAR1lnVqQgjcnLHqE_eiFJOCYi-ggJLb9V9i_8Qvcj6RjexZHucZkYB7H7wk

RSA Winter Newsletter 2019

I feel very honored to be included in the RSA Winter Newsletter 2019, alongside friends, former tutors and colleagues such as Stuart Mackenzie and Ross Sinclair.

Having just graduated from The Glasgow School of Art in 2008, it was a huge confidence boost

to be selected to exhibit in New Contemporaries 2019 at the RSA. I used the opportunity to

make new work which proved more challenging than anticipated as I no longer had access to the facilities and space at Art School. At the time I was doing a full-time, voluntary internship at Glasgow Sculpture Studios and, in order to be able to afford food and rent, I had an evening and weekend job, meaning that I had very little time to make artwork. It was a great introduction to the realities of being a Fine Artist, and ten years on, I am as busy as ever, juggling employment and self-employment with valuable studio time.

Following the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition, I secured myself a studio in Glasgow, and

spent five more years making artwork, exhibiting, leading workshops and doing residencies. In 2014 I moved to Newcastle to pursue a Master of Fine Art Postgraduate Degree at Newcastle University. In 2016 I graduated with a Distinction, was the recipient of the Hatton Award and was awarded with a Graduate Studio at The NewBridge Project, Newcastle, where I continue to have a studio.

I really benefitted from exhibiting in the prestigious location of the RSA and believe the support from the curatorial team has contributed to my further successes. In 2017 I was awarded an Arts Council England Grant for the Arts for a new body of work investigating the experience of auditory and visual hallucinations. One of the highlights was participating in a Spoken Word residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada where new work was created and presented.

I share the development of my work via my blog (https://helenshaddock.blogspot.co.uk/) and website (www.helenshaddock.co.uk). I continue to work in a multidisciplinary manner, through installation, performance, sound, video, writing and sculpture. Over time I have

become more confident about making work that is rooted in contemporary experience in both an emotional (feelings and thoughts) and physical (materials and situations) sense. My work addresses the complex struggle to achieve equilibrium and balance in society today. My research examines how it can immerse an audience in multi-layered psychological and physical situations. Recently, language, in all its forms, has become more central to my practice and I am excited about how my work will continue to evolve.

Silence - episode 1 - BBC Radio 4

“We live in the age of noise. Silence is almost extinct.”

Philosopher and adventurer Erling Kagge, the first person to reach the ‘three poles’ of North, South and the summit of Everest, explores the power of silence.

In this insightful analysis he asks

- why do we we need silence?
- how did we lose silence? 
- Where we might go to find silence again?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00026wv

RSA Winter Newsletter 2019

I am delighted to have been asked to reflect on my artistic development since exhibiting at RSA New Contemporaries in 2009 for inclusion in the RSA Winter newsletter.

Art Matters by Neil Gaiman

A week ago my friend gave me Art Matters by Neil Gaiman. 

It was the perfect antidote to being bedridden and in great pain. The fact that it only took me 2 days to read it from cover to cover is a testament to how good it is.



"A creative call to arms from the mind of Neil Gaiman, combining his extraordinary words with deft and striking illustrations by Chris Riddell. Art Matters will inspire its readers to seize the day in the name of art. "

Be bold. Be rebellious. Choose art. It matters.

"Neil Gaiman once said that 'the world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before'. This little book is the embodiment of that vision. Drawn together from speeches, poems and creative manifestos, Art Matters explores how reading, imagining and creating can change the world, and will be inspirational to young and old."