I have always enjoyed looking at maps. Maps of places I have been or perhaps plan to go! The contours, colours, lines and symbols. I would imagine that I was there, either in or floating above the landscape. The idea for 'Useless Maps' began a few years ago in Cyprus where I was artist-in-residence/tutor at the Cyprus College of Art. Ancient neolithic/chalcolithic villages had been discovered close to the college. Very little remained beyond foundations and the many small figurines and artifacts found hidden within them. I became increasingly interested in these figurines and the black and white plan drawings made by archaeologists of their finds. I began to use these as a basis for my own oil pastel drawings. I would look intently at the black and white line drawings then put them away and draw them from memory. I would add colour, remembered or felt colour, I enjoyed the result and the transformation. Only I or an archaeologist would recognise them for what they are, to others they were abstract images, useless as a map or plan, but people liked them and they sold. |
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 Kissonnerga, ancient village. 2009. Oil Pastel on Paper  Folkestone Harbour. 2010. Oil Pastel on Paper |
In January 2010 I moved into a live/work space in the Creative Quarter in Folkestone and had a dream about angels hovering over the harbour. I drew a few versions of this, slowly the angels became less important and the shape of the harbour from above, a sort of Herring Gulls view, began to dominate.  Angel over Folkestone Harbour. 2010. Oil Pastel on Paper It was at this point I think that 'Useless Maps' was truly born. I drew an extended version of Folkestone coast and town, then St. Augustines Abbey in Canterbury. I enjoy the way that at first glance they appear to be real maps, look closer and longer and you see that they are more or less abstract paintings...just marks, colour and lines. I began to think more about medieval maps, how often they were not true maps, not designed to get you from a to b. Perhaps sometimes they were drawn to help you to find God or show your power and influence. People seem to enjoy these 'Useless Maps'. I have been encouraged to do more harbours around Kent, first Margate then Whitstable, Dover and Ramsgate. It was at this point that I realised that I could personalise them and draw someones town, village, farm or Golf Club...hence this website to promote the idea. On the following pages you will find more images. If you like one or are interested in seeing them for real, or would like to have your own 'Useless Map' drawn then please contact me by phone or email. Phone:07577820054 |
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