The Months of the Year: January to June
pastel, charcoal and ink on paper
76 x 54 cm
1976
February
pastel, charcoal and ink on paper
76 x 54 cm
1976
March
pastel, charcoal and ink on paper
76 x 54 cm
1976
April
pastel, charcoal and ink on paper
76 x 54 cm
1976
May
pastel, charcoal and ink on paper
76 x 54 cm
1976
June
pastel, charcoal and ink on paper
76 x 54 cm
1976
Works Texts 1992 pp 85
In the first few weeks after leaving art school I started a group of sizeable charcoal drawings in order to establish myself in my new studio and to feel my way towards an uncertain future. Thus for the last thirty or so years, whenever I have been stuck or have dithered or floundered or come to an impasse in a particular work I have renewed myself by improvising on large sheets of paper. These improvisations tend themselves to become groups or series as one leads to another.
The most important tool in the creative armoury is the eraser. Somehow with rubber and chalk I seem to have more courage to change and obliterate, destroy and rework than I have with a brush. Frequently I rub the whole thing down with a cloth and start again. In the seventies, notably with The Months of the Year I started to use brighter colour.