Ego 1995

Sometimes it feels right to take a step back, to retreat to the place when it all began to unravel. Maybe I am incorrect. Maybe this was the place when it all began to knit together. I remember that it was quiet, that there were no distractions and nobody could see or hear me, so it didn’t matter what I said.

25th October 2006
Having found myself involved in a bizarre woodland adventure, I was once again inspired to follow my artistic dream. In a sunlit glade I found spelt out with broken twigs the word ‘Whatever’. Daringly, and with no heed to caution, I changed the twigs to spell ‘Who?’, and so began a stilted yet fascinating, often disturbing, discourse. With my imagination brought alive at last, I decided to leave behind for now, my previous dabblings with clay on canvas and take on a new direction – in some ways inspired by my woodland conversation, but touched with humour and irony…. and possibly using a more visual medium.
So began the bottling.
Initially my experiments with bottling were explosive, shards of flying glass would become precariously lodged in the kitchen ceiling. The process was long and extremely dangerous, there were times when I would hold my head in my hands believing the project to be doomed to failure. Then one day – EUREKA!, I discovered an ancient technique that made the process almost foolproof, I have only electrocuted myself three times since.

During this period I was ably supported by close friends and family who visited me more often than usual. They too were fascinated by the process of bottling and were keen to keep me readily supplied with suitable clear glass bottles. For example, in the aftermath of my failed experiments, my close friend Jules was often at my side eager to empty bottles. Her encouragement, enthusiasm, dedication, and her nifty way with a Bar Craft Connoisseur cork screw cannot be too highly commended; her contribution to the project cannot be overemphasized, she is a legend in her own lifetime… albeit a tad incoherent…. and wobbly on her pins….