Inspire 52 - Week 43. Seasons And A Piece Of Cake

As the wind take us upon this ride arisen from the source
The cart is not stopping for any more passengers.
Through lands of pumpkin fields, snow and dark lagoons
There must be a light to carry the messengers.

One piece at a time, eating this cake will surely make you sick
One piece at a time, keep eating through the stodgy and thick
One last piece in one moment of time - take it right now before it's mine!

Inspire 52 - Week 42. Master of Arts

Of all the paper and all of the ink
That swirls around in my head,
Black and white that was once such a friend,
Must now be put to bed.
A new journey and new horizons,
New places to go and see,
New faces to find on the flip side of me.

Inspire 52 - Week 41. Circus, Soleil and Wolves

Well indeed it is incredible how things can change in not even a year ... This year has been incredible and indeed this project is taking unexpected turns too.

 

Inspire 52 has been hard to keep up with in recent times, mainly because I am doing so much art, having given up my part time job just over 2 months ago, life is now all about the art, not that it wasn't before, but now I am in just oe river, paddling downstream in the flow without taking any detours. I am sure there will be some rapids along the way, maybe even a detour or two, but hey, that's all part of the exciting journey isn't it?!

 

So what the hell am I trying to get at? .... Well ... I started an MA in Illustration, (and I will also be crossing pathways into Contemporary Performance), 2 weeks ago and this involves documenting my processes and work ... this means another blog! - Now I'm not saying that I'm giving up on Inspire 52! Oh NO!! I am simply proposing a change of format for a while. I have decided that from now on (at least for a while) I will write seven lines, one for each day of the week. They may be inspirations of the day they may be a reflection of the whole week.

 

I kind of feel like I have generated sooooo much work in a rather prolific manner over the last year, that now it is time for change. A change of direction and a change in the way of doing. So as I no longer know what it is I am doing with Inspire 52, I have decided to give it a new approach. Shake things up a little for the welcoming of autumn ... it is indeed a time of change is it not!

 

However, you are lucky this week as you will get some images of what a great creative and inspiring weekend I have had ... next week only 7 lines! There may well be beauty and revelation in simplicity!

 

Friday : Cirque de Soliel in London, unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures, so you have a picture of the O2 Arena in London instead - incredible show - I sat there jaw dropped, moved yet frozen for practically the whole show until we got up and danced like nutters at the end and got complimented by the people sitting behind us for our dancing skills! LOL! :-)

 

 

Saturday : I performed as a Wolf in the pre and post show performances for Paper Cinema at The Pier Theatre in Bournemouth. A beautifully enchanting show of performative illustration - just my kind thing http://thepapercinema.com/

 

Sunday : My newly Illustrated circus tickets, commissioned by Lighthouse to perform as part of their Family Circu Day to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. I was delighted to be part of it and also performed a short show of The Monochronium story with my Wardrobe Studio Post Office



 

 

 

 

Right ... that's your lot! ... Over and out ...

 

 

 

Inspire 52 - Week 40. In The Frame

As autumn settles in and a new routine (ish) is also on the verge of settling in, I see myself content that I am (just about managing to keep) up to date with my Inspire 52s and also feeling a bit more space in the week to think about new creations.

This summer has been a blast of happenings, activities, projects, performances and new places and faces - which has been fantastic. Still not been on holiday, but having been knocked off my feet with injuries was in itself a gift to change the flow of things and give new perspective and insight, which I guess a holiday also does sometimes too - though I would have obviously preferred a holiday rather than getting injured!!

This week has brought a little bit of space for continuing inspiration to my Monochronium world. I have been developing characters, scenes and plots as, yes thats right, the story did not end at the end of the exhibition in July, indeed there are plans for the next phase!

Here is a new illustration for this week, this is part of the exploration for the next stages of 'Adventures Into The Monochronium'. Of course I am not going to be giving too much away, but futher to the great audience response from my work this summer with the exhibition, show and spoken word performances, the project naturally requires me to take it to the next stages now ... which is very exciting.

Here's some lines dots and marks for ya!

In The Frame
by Hazel Evans

Riding the the frame can be a tricky game
When someone you don't know, calls your name
'Have I been here before? Am I coming here again?
As I step right out of this tall walling game,
The hands on the walls are of my own but simply have their own mind,
Drawing the marks of past moment laughs as bubbles tick tocking chime.
This cart takes me far on a travelling star and over the night sea,
As I look through the glass, someones's looking at this way - is it really me?

 

Inspire 52 - Week 39. Memoires of Sedimenta Pebble in The Land of Lower Gardinia

This week has been full of exciting things again, development of a new production, work on a new commission, performance in Bournemouth Arts Festival with The Girls and Wulf Theatre - and facilitating a drawing workshop for The Big Draw today.

Sedimenta Pebble in The Land of Lower Gardinia

Inspire 52 - Week 38. Man in a chair

This week, as things have been getting into a new pattern for autumn and I have been finding myself working more from home and less out and about on location, I have been spending more time at the kitchen sink. Since moving into this new place a couple of months ago, I have noticed a man who sits in the garden against the back wall of his kitchen on a solitary chair. Sometimes he smokes, sometimes he just stares into space. He inspired me this week to write a poem about him.

Man in a Chair
By Hazel Evans

There's a man sitting in a chair
Face in his hands
Wondering how he got there.
What of all his plans
That have left his soul so bare?
How does this man
Have such an empty glare?

There's a man sitting all alone
Out in the rain
At the back door of his home
With a heavy hearted pain
Empty tears silence his last moan,
Facing himself again
Lost, broken, sodden to the bone.

Admittedly, it's not the cheeriest of poems, I have however had a very cheerful week myself so no direct relation to what I'm doing, but indeed a moment of inspiration.

I'm looking forward to getting back on top of my Inspire 52 project and creating some new work and going and continuing the path until the end!

See you next week

H

Inspire 52 - Week 37. Cutting It All Up And Down

And so the summer is coming to an end... what a ride - seriously!

As the autumn begins to show it's face and very gratefully indeed I welcome it in with our 'Indian Summer' it also marks a time for change. Two things I have done recently spell this out to me and they have both involved cutting things up, not to disolve them completely, but to make them into something different, like a metamorphosis to take us to the next stage of life.

1. The cutting up the Explosive Illustration collaboration with Hayley Potter.
2. The cutting down of The Paper Forest.

These two events co-incided with each other and indeed began to trace a new pathway forward for each body of work. I won't go into the deatils of wheat the plans are, as with every art project they need to be kept top secret for a while, however, here is a photo documentation of what happened... there are more pictures to come but we will be releasing a full documentation at a later date, this includes a full documentation of the collaboration with Hayley Potter and the making of the book we will are creating together. Click on images to enlarge

1. Cutting up

 

Inking it up

 



 

 

 Planning the disection

 

 

 

The 3m x 4m illustration has now been cut into 52 individual A3 pictures that will form the next stage of the collaboration ... I'm very excitied about the next bit ... to be revealed at a later date. It's been really great working with Hayley this year. As we were cutting up we were talikng about what we have gained from each other in this collaboration, it has been a very insightful and growing experience.

2. Cutting Down

Cutting my way through the Paper Forest ... having lived with it for 2 months in my exhibition, it was now time to cut it down. But in honour of the art work and everything it has bought me as a new installation, story, song and journey of discovery, I had to do it correctly. I began cutting each piece of paper with my big shear like scizzors, cutting my way though the 'thin tall trees speaking tales in time'. I kept the words, poems and comments that the public had contributed and began carving a new path through the forest.

Wonder away, wonder away,

As the trees lead the way

 



Shadows emerged smiling bright

 

The act of cutting through the forest felt quite overwhelming yet exciting at the same time, it was releasing hidden spaces and creating new places - something new was happening and emerging.

 

 

It felt like I was performing inside a piece of poetry.

 

Illuminating shapes and scribing sounds

Murmuring roots from the undergrounds

 

 

The Paper Forest spoke softly to me

And asked me to write my story

 

Conclusion

Cutting up and down the art has been a learning experience, a journey of freedom, an expression letting go and finding new paths forward. 

 

 

 To see the Paper Forest installation in it's original form click here

 

Beautiful edited pictures by Danika Westwood

(Plus some snapshots from my phone)