Idea for The Grotto (do I need an idea?)

 We need to submit a print by the end of the month for The Grotto print sale. This is actually a great opportunity to try selling stuff. However, it does beg some questions for me:

• Do I focus on something that represents my practice, or make something I think people will buy?
• Do I go back to looking at 2d when I am currently very focused on 3d?
• How do I do this in the 25-ish days left before i have to submit?

My current thinking is to use my Homeland picture as a plan B - it's colourful, not too challenging, and hopefully Roz would be cool with my using it ;)

Which leads to Plan A. I think I want to do something bespoke, and something that is within the fringes of my practice, but which people could have on their wall, look at each day, and not develop a neurosis as a result... I'd like to do something that speaks to hope, that looks like it's worth £50, and I'd like to do something algorythmic (because I think it's different and under-appreciated).

I was going to say "after a lot of soul searching", but actually I've not had much time for soul searching, so after a quick soul temperature check, I think I want to do something quite pared down and organic, based on these pictures I took on the local heath:

I want to call it "After the Fire" (the amazing black 'structures' are the charred cores of gorse bushes burnt in a fire a couple of years ago). 

Putting aside (very reasonable) questions about whether this is a smart thing to even try, I think it sits somewhat inside the limits of my practice, since it relates to grief, but also hope and healing. It takes me back to 2d algorythmic work, but I think that could be fun and refreshing. I think it will be a big challenge to work out how to make it feel organic and appealing without making 'fake charcoal', to decide what to include, and to work out a composition that's balanced and peaceful without being boring... 

Currently prevaricating between Blender and PyCairo... Ugh, so many pros-and-cons.. I made a simple start using Blender, but I am leading back towards PyCairo - broadly Blender gives me more 'for free' at the cost of less control, but PyCairo gives me plenty of control at the expense of having to code everything more-or-less from scratch....

Of course, even without the ability to draw, there are a bunch of ways I COULD do this non-digitally - direct printing or photo-manipulation of ready-made items like twigs and grasses being an obvious starting point.