Unearthing Artwork

Tidy office, tidy mind. The past weekend I decided to ‘sort out’ my home office and found a load of old college and university design work, some of it cringeworthy, but it did bring back great memories from being a student in 2003-2006 studying at Norwich University of the Arts (when it was called the Norwich School of Art & Design) and Hereford College of Art & Design. However, underneath all the endless project ideas, numerous visuals, and insightful essays that I worked on over them years, I unearthed an interesting piece of artwork that a friend of mine at the time gave me. I remember it as it was on the last day, at the end of year exhibitions, before I headed home from university to the real world. The artwork was a linoprint created by a Welsh artist called John Abell.  

After a quick Google search, I discovered that a few years ago he had been a runner up in the Welsh Artist of the Year 2013 competition. The competition is open to amateur and professional artists who have a link to Wales and it has been running annually since 2000. Obviously, Johns work has evolved since he was a fellow student and the work he has been creating, I think, is incredible. I recommend if you get a chance to check out his website you’ll see a variety of creative pieces from linoprints to exuberant watercolours along with updates on his latest work and exhibitions. You can even follow him on twitter @JdrAbell.  

I consider myself very lucky to have a piece of his early work, which I'll get framed and find a place for. I do believe artwork should provoke a thought and/or trigger a reaction, and in this case, as odd and ambiguous as the subject matter may be visually, it strangely reminds me of the good times I had as a student. Mainly learning my craft as a graphic designer and being immersed in not just things graphic design, but also art history, photography, typography and many other creative disciplines.