In January 2023 I started a conversations project during my residency at Applecart Arts, where I realised I find it easier to initiate and have conversations if I paint at the same time. Each person is someone I am interested to have a conversation with. Whilst there might be particular things I would like to talk about with them, I don’t have questions planned in advance and what happens is organic. Whilst we speak, I paint. What I share here is the painted/drawn outcome of the conversation. Afterwards, I write up my reflections about my experience of the conversation. Then, they go into my gallery of conversations, which you have found yourself in here…
Steve and I were on the beach together. He was working on making a crab shrine nearby, as part of the Samphire Hoe Solstice Celebration facilitated by the Bee Friendly Trust. It felt really nice to be on the beach together, working nearby to each other. Art Babies formed on a beach in Ocracoke and being by the sea together always feels special.
I asked if he’d like a painting conversation as he said he needed to sit in the shade and it felt like a nice idea to me. I had also planned on my next conversation being with the sea which would be the first more-than-human painting conversation and maybe I was putting it off a bit. Also it was really fucking hot, so shade was appealing.
This was actually our second painting conversation, the last one we did in Applecart Arts, when I was on residency there and this whole thing started. It was similar in that we’d spent so much time talking to each other anyway (even on that day) that transitioning into a specific thing felt a bit awkward. Once again we both worried about whether we were doing it right. Haha.
One of the other artists joined us for a bit. Part of me felt the ritual of it was being broken, but then I enjoyed listening to them talking and me occasionally joining in.
Steve then continued working on his crab shrine whilst we were talking and also wrote a crab haiku. I felt a bit bothered that he was doing other stuff, I kind of wanted him to be more present with me. I told him I wasn’t talking to him because he seemed busy but actually, I don’t know if I had much more to say. Maybe it just felt like an important part of these conversations, for the other person to not be doing something else at the same time. It’s an experience of getting to spend connected time with someone, where I usually feel more relaxed because I’m also painting, and I usually feel like I have their attention. Also, I tend to think the other person is comfortable because I am asking them questions and listening but also doing something else – though that might be a projection of my own experience of conversations.
We were sitting by a wall which was high above our heads and some kids started climbing up there and a couple of times dropped rocks and water off it. I felt on edge about whether something might surprise me or hit us and hurt.
We talked about how much we both like animals and talking about animals and things being about animals and how that helps us unmask with each other. Unmasking is something we’ve talked about a lot recently. We’re both realising more the things which impact us, which can feel stressful, but also means we can find ways to help ourselves. We also talked about Steve liking connection with people when he is inviting them into his world a little bit, whether it’s a talk, a workshop or a crab shrine. This makes me think about something he wrote about inviting people in to experience art through windows into your world. You can read that, here.
I didn’t like the painting for a lot of it. In part because it feels similar to the previous painting I did with Nicolás not that long before. This is the first time I have done one right after another. But I’m trying to let go of that. I also didn’t add words to this one, which is unusual in this series.
To learn more about Steve’s work, you can find him on instagram or his website.