I feel as if I have come to a standstill creatively.

Whilst I was in the Special Collections a week or so ago, I started to think about books, and the physicality of a book, and in particular the concept of a book cover. I started to question the purpose, or role, of a book cover: is it to keep the story in or to keep the rest of the world out. Is it a protective barrier, something secretive? I started to think about making 'books' that aren't confined by the traditional book cover, and pushing the boundaries of what it is for something to be a book. I also liked the idea of 'reversing' a 'book' - i.e. writing a narrative on the outsides of objects or things which are seen as protective, for example, envelopes or eggshells.













I have written on the outside of an egg shell which was already broken. I was writing about protection, following the theme of book covers and egg shells. I am very protective of my sister, so I was using the way I feel if she's upset or hurt as some sort of inspiration. I think that, had I written on an uncracked egg and then cracked it, it would have been more poignant; physically breaking the egg would be symbolic of the impossibility of complete protection. I feel that the whole project is sort of veering towards birth and the mother-child relationship, which is not good as I have no children and have never experienced birth, and am thus unable to comment on the subject with any great authority.

I also want to print letters on the outsides of envelopes.

The science project idea seems to have reached a dead end, as what I want to do is possible, but would take too long. I am disappointed about this but I don't know what else I can do. The idea that Joanna Verran had come up with was photographing agar sheets with bacteria on them, I am always conscious of aesthetics within my work, and, to the naked eye, bacteria growing on an agar sheet does not look pretty. I wanted to photograph the changes through a microscope, as I felt the series of images would be visually more satisfying and cohesive, but as it isn't possible within a day (which surprises me, although I don't know much about the subject) then I feel I will have to give up for now and go back to the idea if I have a brainwave of any sort.