Valerie Irwin

I am a figurative artist working in charcoal, coloured chalks and paint. I like to work with my subject over several weeks, months or years, making both detailed observational drawings and quick action drawings in charcoal, looking at every aspect of the subject: the environment, the shapes and spaces within this and how they change with movement and time, building up my relationship with this to find the story and give a sense of Place.

I have worked within the Ipswich Transport Museum, with the Ipswich Orchestral Society at rehearsal, and for five years at Ipswich Dock working between Stoke Bridge and The Old Custom House, focussing on The Old Cranfield’s Flour Mill Site. I drew both its demolition and the construction of the new Mill, a 23 storey high structure consisting of flats and The Jerwood Dance House. This project resulted in over 4,500 charcoal drawings, all completed on site, which are to be housed in the Suffolk Record Office when their new building ‘The Hold’ is completed. The Valerie Irwin Archive Project has been set up to help prepare the collection for admission to the SRO Archive and to be available to the public, both for viewing the originals or on line.

www.valerieirwinarchiveproject.com

07811 902 076

12 East Lawn

Ipswich, IP4 3LH