A Place to Begin Again.

Please, feel free to listen to some new Mountain Goats whilst you read. - "Genesis 3:23"

So it's been a busy old few weeks in my world. After finally putting together my website last month my Mac decided that it'd had enough and just packed in, all programs and such that I was running slowed right down and then ceased to be...so another joyous trip to the Apple store in Glasgow was needed. That said, after waiting over a week for my Mac to be fixed I was given a larger hard drive by the Apple folk and luckily didn't lose too much of my data as most of my stuff is backed up to an external Hard Drive.

The Life of the World to Come, the latest Mountain Goats Album.

I've travelled back down to Merseyside twice since the last time I wrote, once to accompany my mum who was going to visit my sister and then just a few days ago whereby we (me and Jen) went to my Dad's via Manchester to see the Mountain Goats...well, it wasn't so much the Mountain Goats as just John Darnielle on his own which I actually think is miles better anyway. I majorly enjoyed the gig but I suppose that's to be expected, John Darnielle could show up and play a few chords and I'd go away happier than most. The one downside to the venue was how small it was, I know that this generally makes for a better gig but for some reason there were so many tall people at the Ruby Lounge which made it very difficult to see even a few feet infront of yourself, that said the setlist and the fact that he played a few piano numbers made it excellent.

My workspace (taken by Jen)

Illustrationwise I seemed to hit yet another brick wall after my computer died and then I set about reupholstering small pink cabinets, decorating rooms (see photo above for my new workspace), and spending alot of time playing new XBOX games generally anything that meant not drawing. It's odd though, writing that makes it sound like I'm effectively trying to avoid doing any drawing which I'm not. I think that I'm generally trying to force myself too hard to come up with an idea that will become some amazing piece of work, which I suppose is my greatest hinderance at present.

Old man and old car.

There's something that I love about the old style FIAT and it

seems to be somthing that I simply cannot capture in a drawing.

In an attempt to get myself moving again creatively I've taken to drawing signs and alike, anything really that maybe contains text or some form of visual identity, from street signs to cars and crap like that. I see it as nothing more than a starting point for now if I'm honest, some active research in order to get some sketchbook work together and get the cogs inside my head moving (albeit rather slow and clunkingly at this moment in time but moving nonetheless).

Racecar and a selection of other things.

Front of Moroccan train.

WMU insignia from my new mug, found by Jen at the Recycling centre.

"R" from Boris Bilinsky's Metropolis poster.

West 44th Street sign, New York

Street signs by day and by night in Marrakech, Morocco.

Some text.

I find the whole blogging about work that I have/haven't been doing to be rather theraputic, putting everything that I've been doing together in a spot like this makes it fairly obvious to myself that I have actually been doing something besides sitting on my arse in the living room drinking beers and playing FIFA 10, which makes me feel less guilty about doing that. Now I'm off to make some bread and the bed.

Keep listening for more.

JAB