One of the objectives of Drawing Projects UK is to enable the exploration of the role of drawing within a range of creative practices and contexts. This summer we welcomed three projects under our Open to Draw scheme through which artists or others can propose projects that test and develop their ideas through drawing. 

The first summer project was undertaken by Wendy Sharpe who, alongside her exhibition Theatre of Dreams at Bridge House, also planned and tested an experimental project for the Yellow House in Sydney in association with The Australian Art Quartet. By drawing directly onto the walls in one of our studios, Wendy was able to explore the scale, language, materials, colour, imagery and pace that she would need to deploy to produce a large scale 20-metre drawing as an integral part of a live performance at the Yellow House. See a short video of how this developed back in Sydney: Wendy Sharpe at the Yellow House [courtesy of Derivan].

The second Open to Draw project was undertaken by five artists visiting from Yorkshire - Andy Black, Kate Black, Tracy Himsworth, Lucy O'Donnell and Sally Taylor - who brought a focused energy to the drawing centre as they collectively explored their individual ideas and practice through drawing and dialogue in the project space. The five artists had jointly presented a number of exhibitions over the last 18 months and had identified a need to engage in a different way to better understand the connections in their practices of drawing. Through drawing and working together, rather than through exhibiting completed works together, they were able to extend their individual goals through collective engagement. A Curators and Educators event we held at the end of their short residency brought a distinguished group to the drawing centre and the ensuing dialogue uncovered the value of having a dedicated space in which to test ideas in dialogue with others through practice, and conversation, and revealed insights into the creative process and the value of research and development time for artists, other than the expectations of exhibition practice.

Our current resident artist is Sophie Cape, who has just arrived from a residency in Italy. The project space will afford Sophie the time to reflect on her experiences of working in the marble quarries in Carrera. She will make a series of works on paper developed from preliminary drawings, documentation and sketchbooks, and the materials of the landscape she aims to portray. White marble dust will be a key element of the new drawings as she seek to convey the disorienting, rugged whiteness of the  historic and spectacular Italian quarries. We look forward to seeing how her drawings develop from her experience, and to seeing a preview of them before she returns to Melbourne at the end of the month.