Denkbilder or thought-images were a writing form utilised by members of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Probably the most famous denkbild being Walter Benjamins “Angel of History” from section IX of Benjamin’s Theses on the Philosophy of History . It is an image in words, but an image that cannot be rationally explained despite the proliferation of different interpretations. ‘A Klee painting named ‘Angelus Novus’ shows as angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned towards the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence...

  Thinking about the purpose of my writing and artistic practice I would say that it is a naturally occurring form of amplification. Each time I translate a visual motif into different artwork new associations arise that amplify the visual image. Amplification was a method Carl Jung used in the interpretation of dream images. Jolande Jacobi writes that, ‘In Jung’s amplification method the various dream motifs are enriched by analogous, related images, symbols, myths, etc., which throw light on their diverse aspects and possible meanings, until their significance stands out in full clarity.’ Jolande Jacobi, The Psychology of C.G. Jung (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973), 86.   Rather than the significance of the image standing out in full clarity, the amplification process occurring within my artistic practice produces a constellation of related analogies, memories and collective associations that cannot be reduced to one meaning or significance. I ...

Just before I wake properly, I dream I am drawing large commas all over a sheet of Arches paper. Initially I think this means needing to pause. Commas have lots of uses but for me they always signify a pause for breath. Now I have thought about it a bit more the dream was more about the feel of drawing the commas on the Arches paper. I have been having issues with pencils. I have been using the Derwent Graphic which I thought should be good, but I have found them scratchy. Every so often there seems to be a harder lump of graphite that scratches the paper. I am now dreaming about pencils that glide across the page. I never thought much about the pencils I use before. I go back to using a tin of Boldmere which I think came from The Works and find them alright. I buy some Staedtler and they are also alright. I buy some Bruynzeel and they are a little scratchy. I find some HB Faber-Castell in TK Max and I like them so do whole drawings with one HB pencil, using pressure to get the darker ...

  Having run of steam with my drawing I have started obsessing about paper. There is something very appealing about a blank sheet of paper. It is like the promise of spring below a layer of snow. With me that promise can remain dormant for a very long time. It cannot be any old paper though. Discovering large sheets of Fabriano Artistico Hot Pressed watercolour paper was a revelation. I have used other makes as I could not find the Fabriano anywhere near here and I hate ordering on the internet. In many ways I draw better on a paper with a bit more tooth. Drawing in chalk on black paper also suits my drawing style but black paper just doesn’t have the same appeal. I finally found an art shop nearby that sells the Fabriano. The problem is they also sell Arches. Years ago, I had a sample pack of Arches watercolour paper which I loved, so I bought some watercolour pads. Later I went back and bought a very expensive sheet of 640gm HP Arches. I’m not sure how I feel about drawing ...

  I dream that my soul returns from the underworld. I am at my parents’ house. The Black Dog returns but this time he has some semi-translucent fly/butterfly wings. I say that I am going to check his micro-chip. It is the middle of summer, but it snows heavily. My neighbour is outside doing something. Eventually I go out to see what he is doing. He has cleared all the snow from my parents’ garden. It looks like it hasn’t snowed at all. I ask him where my sister is and he says she has gone camping with a friend. I say, “They will freeze their arses off.” The dream was made up of the day’s residues. I had an e-mail asking me to check the information on my cat’s micro-chip. I have been drawing fly and butterfly wings. I was listening to The Cure and the last track was The Caterpillar, “The day I stall is the day you change and fly away from me.” The dream seems to express worry that my creative episode will not last long. M y soul returns in benign form with delicate wings. He ...