The last day and here is my Oak tree sketch. It is an amazing tree that stands at the end of Conyers road round the corner form my house. If this week has had a lesson for me it is that drawing is definitely a part of me and my practise, but like playing the guitar, you get more out, if you put in some practise time. Also running and drawing are not comfortable bed fellows, but the sketches that have resulted have some energy and dynamism. Drawing and running, art and sport, inertia and movement 25/5/12

It was Streathams turn today for Jography. I chose the suburban Gothic Victorian water pumping station at the end of my road. it was very peaceful with birds singing and the occasional train trundling past on it's way to Streatham Common station. Giving only a short time to look at a building and it's context is rewarding. The pumping station now forms part of the London water main and is used as much as it was when first built.

The action of drawing whilst running is becoming more habitual, but no easier.

Today I decided to go back to the South Bank and run the bridges and make drawings in the same place. This was a lot more fun and I can compare the results from Monday. Here is Monday and Wednesday going North over the river.

 

Although I did use different pens there are a lot of similarities. I think I will repeat this process in Southwark park tomorrow.

Drawing and running today around Southwark Park and along the river was very different. Yesterday along the South Bank, which was busy, and making the video record made the day feel collaborative and gave me a buzz . It was a much more singular contemplative journey,  I felt a pull between the act of running and drawing. I wanted to stop and make a longer sketch, but also to run and explore bits of Rotherhithe that I didn't know. The sun came out so that made a difference to my mood and I ended up making a two hour walk along the river, before coming back to upload the sketches and writing this blog.
I am not yet decided where to do Jography tomorrow, maybe a more central location or near the Olympic site.

Finally the day has arrived and I have been running on the South Bank whilst drawing and making this video with Steve Gorton. People reacted with some amusement and interest. the sketches came out OK considering I was running. I won't wait so long from the idea till the execution again. This sketch is of the Hungerford pedestrian bridge, made in 30 seconds whilst running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxTNcx1bGkQ

Can I make a star shape?

My 45 minute 'jog' today was not as hard as I had imagined it would be. After a very good rest on Saturday, actually just reading a book all day, in bed (My back had gone into a painful mess on Friday so I decided not to run the next day)  I then managed 110 minutes Fartlek on Sunday trying not to go over the same route twice, which nearly worked.

So today's shape came out like this. And it occurs to me that I could make a star shape from it, with a little detour here and there.

Spring, Bognor and the joys of running

We just got back from a short break in Bognor. Why Bognor? well we had tried Arundel, Winchester and Chichester so why not. It is a quiet seaside place, relaxed in early spring sunshine and we ate well. There was time to stroll on the beach and even sit in the sun and watch the waves. £2.50 to see a film at the great local cinema. Which had as much character as the film 'Woman in Black' adding its own bangs and creaks during the film.

In a new place running is part exploration and the sea and a shale beach mean that only certain routes are possible. Little parks and obvious out and back routes really help but make for boring running routes when viewed afterwards. Today back in London a lovely chance to do a hilly fartlek course on Streatham Common. Managed 299 feet of climbing, which isn't easy in South London.

Making shapes on tired legs

My 60 minute 'jog' this morning felt much more like a slog. I had too much on as it looked cold when I set out, the sun soon rose and soon I was sweating. Making circles and a spiral kept my mind off the need to keep going. This is the most daily mileage that I have done in many years, but it always allows me to meditate, my mind turned off from the day to day trivia. So concentrating on the lines I am making helps me to keep going. There is an art to allowing your body to go through tough challenges and every long distance athlete knows this. Tricks, counting to a 100, changing your stride pattern, thinking about lovely places, concentrating on the person in front of you, all these things help.

I've been thinking about connection with the ground and I have worn my inov8 cross country shoes over the commons these last couple of days. They feel like almost barefoot running, but have some grip. This allows a natural stride and keeps any tendency to heel strike down.
My route this morning looks a little like a comic goofey type character, maybe I should develop him?

Comedy course, training and fartlek

I have been rather distracted by the stand up comedy course which I am doing. The need to be funny and the attraction of humour have always been strong for me and writing material that is funny for as many people as possible is very different from making art. The audience are often quiet an art performance, but in stand up, unless you are happy to die on stage, silence is not a great sound. This is interesting, approaching creativity from the base of audiences expectations, instead of ones own spontaneous process.
My training for the marathon goes well although I am having to do a lot of it on my own as it does not always fit with my club running nights on Tuesday and Thursday. The lack of intergration is resulting in less injury as I don't push myself so hard when I train alone.
One of my new routines is to do a fartlek session on the common. This is literally fast/play so you make it up as you go, sprinting between trees or for longer distances then jogging till you recover. Experimenting with an app called Imapmyrun to plot the routes I take, has shown that it will be useful for Jography. It will get the residue of the performance on to the net.

Artists Newsletter blog

I have just made a new post on my artists newsletter blog.
http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/previewPost/1910002
Feel free to join in and comment.

Making connections

I will be trying to make some connections with sports and art groups that are local to me. The obvious place to start is my running club Herne Hill Harriers. Herne Hill have a long tradition of cross country, road running and track competition since 1889 when the club was established. There will be some interesting discussions I am sure as to the conjoining of art and sport. We will touch on the Olympics inclusion of art this year in London. On a more individual note I want to talk also about the role sport plays at school and the sport/academic divide. I will be talking to representatives of the club over the next few months to see what we can develop in the way of a dialogue.

Something like this...

ABOUT JOGRAPHY

JOGRAPHY will consist of Tim Ridley running whilst drawing between five London arts and non-art venues over one week in May 2012. JOGRAPHY lightheartedly examines people’s perceptions of art and sport, using humour to open up a discussion concerning the artificial boundaries between individuals and modes of living.


Follow us on twitter: @JOGRAPHYproject

JOGRAPHY

Welcome to JOGRAPHY, a new performance project from artist Tim Ridley.


Please contact us here.