remember, no matter where you go, there you are...

so another installment into the psyche.

here's some detail from a digital sketch of an up coming self portrait



so to accompany another piece of self involved narcissism please find below an interchangeable set of Q&As randomly found, which will accompany any post about the self portrait works, enjoy!

What are you thinking of right now?

not anything really. thoughts are so fleeting these days; i can’t seem to hold on to one for very long.

What makes you laugh?

stupid things mostly. i very much enjoy dark comedy. things you’re not supposed to laugh at, but what else can you do when there’s nothing else to be done?

What makes you cry?

anything has the potential to make me cry, i see it as a great release like laughter or orgasm. it reassures me that there is still something going on in there when i catch that lump in my throat and a drop in my eye.

What do you consider to be the greatest invention?

religion. its been making its leaders billions while the masses starve die or kill for it yet always has a steady flow of customers/consumers/slaves to do its bidding.

Do you have a mentor or inspirational figure that has guided or influenced you?

i wouldn’t say i have had a constant being that has guided me along but people have popped in and out to help where they can.

Where do you feel most at home?

i never feel at home. i’m too fidgety and can never relax. it’s usually in the arms of my husband or where ever i’m having a drink or where all my crap isn’t.

Where are you right now?

my studio, in leicester

What is your proudest achievement in work?

helping the Elephant Family charity by painting an elephant that sold for £10,000, which went towards their grand total of over £4 million!

What is your proudest achievement in life?

getting married

What do you most dislike about contemporary culture?

that no one realises what’s going on around them or choose not to realise and that usually no matter where you are or what you’re doing you are reachable

What do you most like about the age we live in?

the internet

At what points do life and work intersect?

are they a separate thing? not for me anyway! which i think is very strange, as i believe it is very important to have that work life balance and i enjoy it sometimes but i can’t seem to switch off

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

don’t eat that

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

falling in love

Recommend a book or poem that has changed your perspective on life?

1984

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

i love you much (most beautiful darling) more than anyone on the earth and i like you better than everything in the sky -sunlight and singing welcome your coming although winter may be everywhere with such a silence and such a darkness no one can quite begin to guess (except my life) the true time of year- and if what calls itself a world should have the luck to hear such singing (or glimpse such sunlight as will leap higher than high through gayer than gayest someone's heart at your each nearness)everyone certainly would(my most beautiful darling)believe in nothing but love

ee cummings

What is your earliest childhood memory?

my memory is so shit it’s unbelievable! that’s why i take photos at any opportunity. the memories i seem to remember are ones i’d rather forget. i’ve always said if i ever write a memoir i’d need all my friends and family to help me, i never remember i always need some kind of prompt. Bex is usually that prompt.

What’s the most important relationship in your life?

the one i have with my husband. i still don’t fully understand it, which sometimes scares me, but it seems to be my grounding in reality

What’s the most romantic action you’ve taken?

getting his name tattooed on my wrist, tacky but love it

What’s the most spiritual action you’ve taken?

helping a girl who was about to jump off a bridge

If you could wish for one change in the world what would it be?

that it would choose love instead of fear.

my very first review....... circa 2008

art review featured in The Metro (East & West Mids regional edition) in early 2008,

written by Wayne Burrows.

please click the above image to read full article. but here are a few quotes;

"atkinson brings a very personal spin to the imagery, adding a digital clarity to her dream-like spaces"

"each has remade Dante in their own image, and atkinson shows that this 700 year old poem is still able to adapt to new ideas and techniques today; its symbols and stories refusing to let go of our collective imagination."


about the author.....

Wayne Burrows’ first collection Marginalia appeared from Peterloo Poets in 2001, and his second, a chapbook containing the first section of a sequence based on Francis Quarles’ Emblems, appeared from Shoestring Press in July 2009.

His work has featured in the British Council anthologies New Writing 12 (Picador, 2004) and NW15 (Granta, 2007), the Forward anthology for 2002 and Said & Done: New Writing from Brittle Star (2011).

He also completed The Protein Songs, a sequence about genetics for use in Retina Dance Company’s Eleven Stories For The Body, Distance To Our Soul in 2006, and this ongoing sequence will form the core of a third collection.

He was writer in residence at Nottingham Contemporary in Spring 2011, and is currently working on new material for the visual artist Neville Gabie’s Orchard Project, due for completion in December 2011.

He took over the editorship of Staple magazine in 2008 and currently lives in Nottingham.

and we say sold....

so as we bid a fond farewell to all the city junglers i wish a huge congratulations to charity organisers, the bidders and of course us artists hehe for an absolutley fantastic event!

over the past 2 months edinburgh has been transformed into an urban jungle, literally! with 130 life-sized elephants, crocodiles, orangutans, tigers and hornbills taking over city streets, buildings and parks. celebrating the magnificence of asia's endangered wildlife, whilst generating mass awareness of their plight and making everyone smile at the same time.

the event, which launched in edinburgh, will be taken around the globe to cities such as new york and sydney with the aim of raising £50million over the next ten years to ensure the creatures survival.


at biddings end on sunday 2nd october my hornbill
"one for the rock, one for the crow, one to die and one to grow"
sold for an amazingly generous £2,050!!

“The concept behind the design is an old gardening saying that represents that no matter how dire the situation is, there are still those that will sow the seeds of hope. Proving that logic, nature and love always finds a way.”

with the buyer in for a special surprise when they unveil the seedling growing on the underside of his tail :D

The Great Jungle City Gathering on Thursday 29th September saw Lord Harry Dalmeny of Sotheby’s auction off £400,000 worth of the creatures at the glittering event in the National Museum of Scotland hosted by Mark Shand charity founder, rock and pop legend Midge Ure and Lord Dalmeny.

With the rest of the herd being auctioned off online with the grand total still being calculated.


the jungle jam on 1st october with band colomboloco at dovecot studios, edinburgh. saw a day long final farewell to the remaining creatures before they set off on their adventures to their new homes.

what an epic expedition and an absolute pleasure it has been to be involved in such a fantastic event. dont you worry peoples there is plenty more to come from the amazing elephant family team. GET INVOLVED! elephant family / jungle city