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About my drawings

I draw to think and get a feel for a subject I am interested in.

As an artist I often wonder what my contribution to the world is… every now and then when one of you has been touched by one of my pieces, big or small or when I have been able to pass on my passion for creativity to one of you in my classes, I know then that it is all worth it and that I am walking the path I want to walk.

When working on public art projects, a lot of my time is taken up with project management. I enjoy the practical aspects involved with organising large scale work, but I noticed that in these times I can lose my connection with the work. These drawings are my way to explore and stay connected with my inspiration. What you see here are my thoughts and research on Light/ Shadow/ Form/ Sound, which help me develop the sculptures and installations that some of you have experienced.

I am not a business woman and yet I need to make a living out of my practise. But more than this, I genuinely enjoy sharing my work with all of you. It was my friend Sam’s idea to create an online shop and sell my drawings.

Please contact me with any thoughts, suggestions or queries, and please be patient with me if there are any teething problems!

Ann-Margreth Bohl

Sculptor

Limited Edition Prints

I recently started to manipulate graphite drawings in a digital illustration app.

The process started out of curiosity and I soon discovered that this fluid, fast and reversible method allowed me to play with aspects of my drawings that are not accessible when working purely with graphite and pastel. There is a tension in these opposed processes that I enjoy playing with.

In all my work I try to convey a sense of time through contrasting geological/universal time with impermanence. In the case of these digital drawings I am concerning myself with the movement of flickering light, I am trying to slow the flickering down by giving it a memory through repeating and layering what is usually too speedy to hold in our attention.

Light Architecture

I made the ‘Light Architecture’ drawings alongside my first big public art installation ‘Passing Light’, my thoughts at the time were full of big structures and how the light moves through them. It was then that I discovered how much I enjoyed drawing with graphite on black paper.

Lumen

The play of light and shadow is a recurring theme in Ann-Margreth Bohl’s sculptures.

Lumen (the name comes from the standard unit for measuring light) was inspired by two recent journeys. The first was to Portland in Dorset, where Ann-Margreth first began stone-carving (‘I feel a very strong connection to the place’). Looking at cut blocks that were left in the old Portland stone quarries, Ann-Margreth became interested in the spaces between them: ‘I watched how the light moves round in them, at different times of day. A void can be a space where a lot of things are happening.’

Underground

Working with light I soon realised that light has more impact the darker the place I am working in is. With these drawings I was imagining underground forms and the material that needed to be removed to make space underground. Quarries fascinate me and the blocky void they create. Looking back at these drawings my aim was perhaps to occupy these voids and imagine the impact and potential of these spaces.

Shadow Form

What if… ephemeral shadows are frozen in time and create a solid memory? Is it possible to translate the movement of shadow into a three dimensional form, which decisions need to be taken to determine the outcome of the form.

Light Shadow Form

Following on from ‘Shadow Form’ with ‘Light Shadow Form’ I am trying to observe and draw from memory how I think shadows move, the burred edges, almost like fog, spreading out, never settling enough in one place.

Shadow Burst

What is a shadow? Looking into a lightless space? How does it look when it first starts to be visible. ‘Shadow Burst’ resembles for me the first traces of shadow, as if looking through a microscope.

Light Form

Working on black paper is the most natural way of drawing for me, currently reflecting on my drawing practise I realise that when I am working on a dark background I am working with light trying to get closer to the qualities of light. As a sculptor form and space is my main tool to work with and in these drawings, forms are building or light moves around a form.

Light Land

The natural world is not very often present in my work, I am not thinking about landscapes when drawing, ‘Light Land’ is a bit of an exception, I felt moonlight on a snowy hill.

Light Beam

As with ‘Light Land’, I drew this little ‘Light Beam’ series during the days, it is only ever a few days here, of deep snow. The whole world changed into light and dark into blue shadows and intense light. I am especially fond of these two drawings. Whilst drawing I worked only with natural light as it reflected from the snow outside into my studio, I was able to be focused on the changing light conditions on the black paper, more a feeling than anything else… I can still go back there with a clear memory and a ‘knowing’ of the movement of natural light in that winter wonderland.

Light Burst

Soon after ‘Light Beam’ I felt pretty stuck, dipping into a quiet place of uncertainty and many questions, too many questions, my intentions became unclear and I lost my way. These moments are so important, even if unpleasant. I tried to find qualities of light whilst literally poking around in the dark. Some of the ‘Light Burst’ series where drawn whilst listening to music. I love music and it helped me to draw on days when I felt little motivation. It took me a few weeks of working before I realised that I was not drawing to explore light anymore and I was drawing to sound.

Sound

This is a new beginning after years of being concerned with qualities of light and shadow it is time to move on.
This ‘Sound’ series is a start.
When I draw I work within these restrictions
-only draw to sound or music
-only make a mark if you feel something
-play with different sounds that are just around

These drawings show sounds shimmer, flutter and glance through space. Somehow there’s an impression of vibration, movement and form. Almost sculptural or three-dimensional, they resonate with some deeper sense of perception and being.
Tim Loe

musician and filmmaker

Sound in Stone

As Covid-19 appeared in our life and we moved into lockdown I started working in my bike shed, creating this series of drawings.

In my previous drawings I imagined the pure energy of sound and my response to it through drawing. With the ‘Sound in Stone’ series I am exploring questions like…

When rocks shaped, did they create their form through a response to sound? How did gravity, sound and matter collaborate to solidify in geological forms that we can find millions of years after their formation?

You might be surprised by the sudden outburst of colour, this is the influence of me traveling to La Palma a Canary Island for an artist residency shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic unravelled.

I arrived there in January 2020 with some of my graphite drawings and after a short while I started using colour, I was drawing to field recordings of La Palma with orange earth pigments found in caves on the island. I enjoyed taking orange (acrylic) into the ‘Sound in Stone’ series.