Beginning January 2018 as artist in residence at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales is a source of growing excitement and great anticipation for me. As the RC’s website explains:
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales has a leading national role in developing and promoting understanding of the archaeological, built and maritime heritage of Wales, as the originator, curator and supplier of authoritative information for individual, corporate and governmental decision makers, researchers, and the general public.
As an artist who revels in the archaeological, what could be better? My interest in archaeology began in the second year of my BA in Fine Art, when I went on a guided walk to find Neolithic rock art on the Fylingdales Moor, a few miles north of where I was living at the time. I was immediately captivated.
Neolithic rock art from Northumbria
To put my hands where those hands had been 6,000 years ago, and trace with my finger what his or her fingers had traced began a fascination in me that only continues to grow.
Now as I begin a new stage in my postgraduate research into the concept of the archaeological imagination from the perspective of an artist, I can’t wait for the rest of this adventure to unfold.
‘Excavations 4’, A2, pencil on paper – Carmen Mills
Abstract Art Digs Deeper 
Beautiful drawing Carmel, I am intrigued.