The Remakes and Sequels Series of etchings

This series of etchings is inspired mainly by graffiti I have found in mediaeval churches and in Orford Castle, Suffolk. The first such print that I made, which is indeed entitled 'Remakes and Sequels 1', is based upon a drawing scratched in the stone of an obscure corner of Orford Castle. It has been identified as a representation of a signal station of the kind in use in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is known that one was in use at Orford Castle at that period. Unlike the other etchings in the series, it is based quite closely upon the original graffito. It is a 'remake' rather than a 'sequel'.

In the other etchings, I have moved away from representations of the graffiti so that they have become resonances or echoes - 'sequels' - of the drawings I have found on the walls of ancient churches. In most cases the original graffiti are in a very poor state of preservation due to to nineteenth and twentieth century cleaning and restoration, and to the activities of other later graffiti artists – thus, multiple drawings are frequently found overlapping or superimposed upon each other.

Because the churches of East Suffolk, which are not far from the sea, have provided the mainspring of my inspiration, images of ships and boats tend to predominate. The etchings of figures are based upon graffiti found mainly in West Suffolk. For example, the image of the man with a sword is based upon a graffito from Coddenham Church, Suffolk.

In some cases, and particularly the more abstract etchings, the images in a single etching were inspired by graffiti from more than one church or more than one location in one church.