Two weeks until Dungscape opens

Final prep for the opening at Knepp Wilding Estate on 15th August

“Pinch, punch, first of the month”, from a cafe in beautiful sunny France - a recharge with friends and family, after intense exhibition preparation, end of term, exams, and other delights.

The Dungscape paintings are framed, linocuts drying, hotel booked… and the Knepp publicity is ramping up - it’s bolstering to see the project through their eyes:

I would love to have your company at the opening event, two weeks from today on Saturday 15th August. Or if you are able to visit the show another time, it would be great to know what you think. For visitor information including the Private View, location, times and plans click here.

Whatever your engagement - with encouraging words, research help, art help, emotional crutchery etc - you have been the wind in my sail: Dungscape has stretched all my capabilities for planning, communication, networking, and toe-curling self promotion to bring this show to fruition. There were several obstacles that nearly brought Operation Dungscape to a halt, but your belief and support kept me plugging away. So here we are, on the home straight:

There are just a few places left at our shared table in the restaurant after the Private View. For more information, and to book:

If you’re extending your visit to Knepp, it’s worth checking their visitor event pages:

There are still spaces on their Beaver Safari on 14th August - the day before the show officially opens (the Friday night BBQ is sold out), and two Tomato tasting events on 15th August - the day of the Private View.

Some of the technical challenges I’ve encountered over the course of this project will inform my future practice. For example, irridescent paint. I’ve found that this ‘structural colour’ is only appreciable when viewed in real life or video (not still photography). It is of course subject to the position of the viewer in relation to the painted surface. Acrylic paint versions seem more pronounced than their oil equivalents. So, whilst I have used them in Dungscape on the swallow feathers, insect wings, and Purple emperor wing, overall it seems more effective to observe and portray the light effects of structural colour, using traditional materials:

^{Coloured pencil and ink sketch of Onthophagus medius, made using a microscope at Bristol Museum when Dungscape was just a slip of an idea}

This and many other early sketches will be part of the show. The to-do list is still long (how would you present a wad of loose sketches?!), but it’s mostly icing on the cake at this point.

Right, we are moving on from La Rochelle today. The temperature has dropped slightly, and the wildfires further south are at last coming under some control. So I’d better close the laptop and drive to our next destination. In fact Leon (who has just halved his insurance premium with his first year of no claims bonus) will be doing some of the driving, keen to practice on the right side of the road. I’ll leave you with a few holiday photos, and a promise to share more about the linocuts in my next newsletter.

^{L to R, top to bottom: Beaver sketch from La Rochelle Natural History Museum, La Rochelle beach, surreptitious ferry sketch, me writing to you, Izzi and Tom sketching.}

Thank you as always

Gxxx