-
The Legacy of Artemisia, or Why Should We Care That Someone Was Raped
The Legacy of Artemisia, or Why Should We Care That Someone Was Raped: A blog post written by Una, first presented as a talk at Comics Forum, Leeds, 2017. I’m going to talk about honour and artistic freedom. I’m going to argue that the old fashioned concept of honour has contemporary potential, in that it…
-
Dedicated to all the others
Dedicated to All the Others is a life story project, funded by Arts Council England and Leeds Inspired. It’s rooted in my first graphic novel Becoming Unbecoming. Since Becoming Unbecoming was published by Myriad Editions in 2015 so many people have reached out to me to tell their stories, and I’ve tried to be worthy…
-
Marking an important 20 year anniversary
Marking an important 20 year anniversary. On my bedroom wall sits an apparently unremarkable photograph. A fragment of a larger photo-collage, it blends with all the other family snapshots scattered in plain, wooden frames around our house. In this photo I am smiling, wearing a red, seersucker dress from a well-known UK retailer founded in…
-
Drawing and well-being
Drawing is, or should be, a soothing activity. Yes, it can be difficult, it can be hard work but if you’re finding it stressful, it might be a good idea to reflect on why that is. I can tell you now that it’s not because you ‘can’t draw.’ Everyone can draw, you just have to…
-
My student drawings
Here’s a gallery of drawings I made as a student, mostly from my foundation course way back in 1990. Some from a life drawing class I did as therapy around 1999. If you are looking to improve your drawing, especially for comics, you can’t do too much life drawing. There are sessions you can do…
-
Life-writing, with pictures.
In October, I took up a visiting scholarship at the Oxford Centre For Life Writing, based at Wolfson College, Oxford University. It’s an unpaid, honorary position, but a huge privilege to be nominated to do this, plus I get access to all their amazing libraries and other resources. What is life-writing though? Doesn’t it just…
-
Dedicado a todas as outras: Una e Coletivo Rubra
Sua abordagem sensível ao material foi exemplar. Sua atenção aos detalhes foi extraordinária. No teatro, elas até projetaram uma tradução em inglês para mim. Sinto que elas podem ter melhorado certos aspectos das metáforas visuais de “Desconstruindo Una” no processo de transformação em performance.
-
Dedicated to all the others: a play.
Uma tradução deste blog está aqui. Obrigada a Carol de Assis. It’s odd that it took a trip to the theatre for me to really notice her. After all, she’s been hanging around, my little inky friend, for five years. There I sat at the back of a theatre just beneath the booth, 6,000 miles…
-
Run for your life
Watching the London marathon and all those amazing over achievers made me want to write about my own rather less ambitious running for my blog post this month, because running has helped me in unexpected ways that might be useful to you, whether you’ve experienced violence in the past or not. The benefits of running,…
-
True North
Here’s the spark to light the fire Here’s the rope to haul the sail Here’s the coal to feed the engine Here’s the strength to build the rail True North, 2018, Boff Whalley for Commoners Choir I’ve been wondering lately if I might be a ‘professional Northerner’, an insult sometimes levelled at people from the…