Paula Youens

Dark Matter

£320

Monoprints

During Lockdown 1 a daily walk and draw diary was posted on my Instagram. A 100 day/600k project recorded every walk in photos, sketches and words.

Our next winter lockdown meant bad weather and short days. On my new walk project I brought home an object to draw. Stones, pebbles, feathers, leaves, a cuttle fish bone. Strange things from foreshore, woods or field.

My piece is based on my studio sketchbook. Rather than landscape I was focussed on the ground beneath my feet. Pebbles and the thousands of flints scattered across local fields were fascinating. Each one different - colour, shape, structure and form.

I chose monoprinting, a  newish technique. Images began with beach stones, progressed to dark flints and ended with tideline discoveries.

Monoprints are one offs and the painterly approach suited was a challenge. I also used unusual materials as well as traditional oil based ink.