Well, I’m pleased to say that the seagulls didn’t make off with the chocolate (or the red wine!) on this last drawing in the ‘series’. I removed it from the roof on Sunday evening where it was being violently abused in the eye of a storm. It was barely secured, the masking tape having lost its tack in four days of rain. The sheet of paper had folded in on itself and, spurred on by a very heavy wind, was gamely trying to make a break for it.

I’m very glad it didn’t succeed though (and that the seagulls weren’t interested in its chocolaty goodness) because I love this one! The red wine has produced beautifully subtle shades of burgundy and purple-grey (with shadows of distant indigo) and the chocolate and candle wax have created very interesting textures, particularly where the force of the wind and rain has flaked them away to reveal the stained paper underneath.

Of course with all of these ‘drawings’ there has been plenty of intervention on my part – the conscious application of substances on the paper (although done in as automatic / mindless a way as possible), the positioning of the paper outside on the roof, the prescribed 96 hour timescale etc. – but despite the unavoidable involvement (the “intention”) I feel each one has captured some sort of elemental essence, and this last one most of all. They’re like corporeal snapshots of something wild and intangible…