Having read The Time Travellers Wife I was intrigued to see Audrey Niffenegger talk to us in her capacity as an artist, and I wasn’t disappointed .

Just as the passages in her novel which had stayed with me involved a character expressing her feelings through making paper and sculpting, so Niffeneggers’ 2D works conjured characters who expressed her ideas figuratively.

Working often within a collective, her works are often influence by and in reference to other artists. These collaborations have resulted in artists’ books and illustrated novels, and the most well know novel.  The scale of her imagination, often inspired by dreams, and the sheer volume of it again gives me courage somehow. The image of her having her coloured pencils and guache constantly at hand makes me smile.

Hearing how so many of these artists who have come to talk to us work has always done that. This proves to me that the life of an artist is a whole life. We see points along their paths, which may or may not be satisfactory 100% resolved in their minds (though most often are), but there is not end point. This is a life’s work.