Chalks Anonymous

They stand idly in rectangular packages, dull and ashy underneath the fluorescent lights of the neighbourhood shop. No one else would buy them but I do. When I am prepared to embark upon an artistic project, I unveil my unlikely tools. I begin with an idea in mind, but it is the chalks that provide the direction. The grainy texture of the chalk - as well as its limited range of colour - compels me to think differently about the applications of colour and blending. Essentially, I am compelled to produce distinct art forms using a medium that has been obsolete since the death of the blackboard.

When I showed my art teacher my first chalk drawing she pooh-poohed the merits of my unique media. “An interesting idea.” she frowned. “But chalk is a very restricting medium. These projects are by no means sustainable!” The words stung but I was determined to find a creative use for the seemingly ‘unusable’ art tool. As a student with learning difficulties who had been told that I could not pursue a conventional education if any, I firmly believed in finding hidden potential. I was not an artist but I persisted with my strange, coarse-textured paintings, ignoring condescending looks of adults who believed I was dabbling in a meaningless...