Project 1

Reading Task: Motion
Read the following two chapters in ​Drawing Water​; ‘​North’​ and ‘​Birds’​, available in your student resources. Think about your own experiences of motion, movement and travel, and reflect
on the physical effort, apparatus or vehicles involved. These may be instances of trying to get somewhere specific, of wanting to be
somewhere else or embarking on a journey for the sake of it. Maybe just wanting
to be moving rather than still.
● What was involved?
● What would you want to convey to others about these experiences and how might you represent that visually?

I read the two articles with interest and they both really made you think about the different interpretations of movement and motion. The balloon as we see it deflated and landed makes us consider what went before. Its journey of flight. Birds are always a source of fascination. How do they know where to go when they migrate. I’m always fascinated by how they fly. Capturing their movement and the details of a bird is a delicate and intricate task if seeking realism. However I have painted gulls with a couple of gestural brush strokes and its worked well for me. Journeying and travel I always try to embrace, but sometimes the journey can be a bit perilous. For example a recent trip to London and the tube was a bit frightening. The train was so full we were packed like sardines. It felt quite claustrophobic. Car journeys have also at times been fraught. For example driving close to the edge of the road with a sheer drop below. I’ve encountered many of those kinds of journeys. Being driven by someone else can be frightening too, particularly if they don’t seem very competent or their driving is fast and erratic. These frightening experiences can affect us physically. I have held my breath as if waiting for the crash. I’ve held on so tight I’ve hurt my hands. On the other hand some journeys can be frightening but also exhilarating, like the rides at the funfair. Thankfully my days of those experiences are gone. One of my favourite small books about flight but also has meanings about aspiration. It’s called Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It is about Jonathon, a seagull!