18th July 2010: Who made a mark last week?

I was more than a little pleased this week to learn that Making A Mark is now #3 in top 25 art blogs in UK.  I've rather recklessly promised to try and do a chart of how all the top UK art blogs are faring since the Manchester since CreativeTourist took on the task of creating this ranking last year.

Just a slight problem - which is the HUGE number of hours I'm spending at the moment on tackling planning issues, on behalf of our local residents association, in connection with a multi-million pound development in the middle of a densely populated housing estate.  (Think full time job / Linda Snell doppelganger!)

However, the combined use of Flickr and a blog has meant that we're now getting very positive and fast results.  There's nothing quite like having a link to a blog post with videos and slideshows of infringements of planning conditions to send to the regulatory and enforcement people!

• An enforcement investigation by the Planning Team at the Local Council has now written to me and declared that the builder has contravened the planning permissions and has ordered the builder (a major name in the building industry) to 'stop' work on site. 
• Plus the Health and Safety Executive have agreed to carry out an investigation of the construction site and should be arriving soon.  

We're hoping that we get an even more satisfactory conclusion before the schools break up this week as our bottom line is making the estate environment safe for children for the summer holidays.  That's the absolute top priority right now.

You may have noticed that my Making A Mark blog posts have been published later and later and this is the reason why.

I don't know which I was most proud of last week - but if I'm honest, having lost the planning permission battle (our Residents Association fought hard and kept the developers at Planning Committee through five cycles of committee meetings) there has been a certain amount of satisfaction in now working very hard to make the safeguards in that planning permission and resulting planning conditions work to protect residents' interests!

I've also discovered that blogs are wonderful mechanisms for campaigning and getting your story across.  We don't think the planning and regulatory authorities quite know what's hit them!  Plus we're now contemplating packaging the story for the local London newspapers and television stations! 

However I've overdue for my routine quarterly blogging break and the extra work for the Residents' Assocoation means that I am now extremely tired, have a lot more to do this week and really need to take a break very soon.   Hence this is not the normal Sunday post although I hope to be back soon - but am not going to promise a date.

Smithfield Market on a Summer Sunday

11" x 17", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Large Moleskine Sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The above sketch is a worked up version of the sketch I did yesterday when I had my first "me" break in a long time.  You can read about it in A Summer Sunday Sketching West Smithfield

My other art posts last week were:

Making A Mark

• Tonking and Henry Tonks 
• BP Travel Award - 2009 and 2010 
• Ted Seth Jacobs and Sadie J. Valeri 
• BP Portrait Award 2010: List of Exhibitors and Brian Sewell

Making A Mark Reviews

• Book Review: 100 Great Artists 
• Which is your favourite make of hard pastel?

Travels with a Sketchbook

• Charles Rennie Mackintosh's sketches of Northern Italy

The Art of the Landscape

• Singer Sargent: Where's the place in this painting?