When admin becomes art

It was only when my Mac crashed and had to be shipped off to a Nottingham repair shop that I realised how difficult I find it to focus on making new original work when it’s here.

A lot of my work is Mac based, not just illustration but of course all the admin, stuff for the kids, newsletters, emails, it’s been such a long time since I simply could not do anything else but focus on play. At first I was anxious, like I’d lost a limb, but the looming pressure of the to do lists and the forced newness of January 1st made me so happy to embrace it, it felt like a gift.

In what began as a vague theme of things folded and unfolded, I found tabs, tags, grids and files emerging. Was I missing my admin so much that it was coming out in my collage? Probably not, but I like the irony of it - in escaping all my dull admin it was leaking out before my eyes in colourful and abstract ways, becoming a project I was loving.

In my stack of collage papers I found an old print of mine called Quadretti, and adding it into the mix I was reminded of my old Filofax, all the different papers you could get - lines, grids, rulers, places to hold photos and pockets for notes. It was bursting at the seams with 1987ness. I miss it. Maybe that’s why I keep a scrapbook now of overheard conversations, funny texts with my sister, photos, thoughts and screenshots. I’m a memory keeper by nature.

I’m so thankful for that bloody software update that crashed my Mac, it made me really enjoy committing to a tangible project for a unique space of time. The Mac has now been returned so I will be back with illustration submissions, spreadsheets and things to file soon enough, I’m sure.

I have 10 in the shop.

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