During a Residency at Viarco Pencil Factory in Portugal, 6 artists in July/August 19, myself included, reacted, created and drew to the material ‘graphite’ and the factory at Viarco: its basic earthly elements, how it is made into art materials and the people who do that - from factory worker to artists.​

The resultant works here show how graphite ‘thinks’ in the mind of the artist. Exploring the material and the circumstance where graphite is used to manufacture artist’s tool, during the Residency, we immersed ourselves in the elements of its creation, thus creating a body of work. These works of mine sprang from the dedication and the desire to work in this unique factory with the material that is so critical to drawing, to have access to the raw materials, access to the process and unhindered use of the final products and the people involved.

For more about the residency, Viarco and photographs of the studio and factory see here:

https://thinkinggraphite.weebly.com/