5 THE ART OBSERVER August 2009 in the early 20th century have confirmed this theory. In the 1930s, an archaeologist took the time to re-bury human crema- tion remains that were found for future generations to examine. The archaeologist also buried a plaque in the hole that stated his intentions. Julia was given the first opportunity to draw the ‘re-excavation’ independently. Seeing the bones really stood out as an extraordinary moment for her - especially as there was a bone specialist from Wessex present who was able to describe details about the ancient people just from the small samples. She was especially excited about seeing the plaque as it was first uncovered. By Molly Byrne Robinson JULIA MIDGLEY  is an artist and printmaker who resides in the northwest. Starting out just after university and with an emphasis on drawing Julia has distin- guished herself as documentary artist working on numerous projects. Most notably, her past projects have included work for Granada Television, Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospital, The Arts Council North West of England conference, and the Chester Roman Amphitheatre excava- tions. She was appointed DLA Piper Artist in Residence in 2007 for the LJMU Art & Design Academy and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers, R.E. With such an impressive back- ground and prolific body of work, it is no surprise that she was invited to take part in the prestigious Art in Archaeology Stonehenge Riverside project. Working alongside archaeolo- gists, Julia was given the oppor- tunity to illustrate findings of the latest Stonehenge excavations in the summers of 2007 and 2008. This project is being carried out by a collaboration of five British Universities with the goal of discovering more about the landscape of Stonehenge. Artists have been drawn to Stonehenge as a subject for centuries and the partnership between archae- ologists and artists seemed only natural for this project.          Although this project was similar to Julia’s previous ones docu- menting archaeological digs, it was also different in several ways. On previous assignments, she was the only artist docu- menting, but this time, there were several artists working on the site. This made for a very stimulating environment - all of the artists lived together in a cottage, everyone discussing and comparing work with one another. Stonehenge was a on a much larger scale than anything Julia had documented in the past; there are different regions of the ruins covering a significant area. Any excavations at Stonehenge tend to attract attention and the Stonehenge Riverside project was no exception. Julia says she, as In 2009, Julia will not be joining the crew on-site but, is instead, travelling to the labs to document the ‘post-ex analysis.’ So far she has visited Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield and plans to go to Bournemouth next. She has also been documenting an individual in Sheffield, not associated with the University, who is examin- ing findings as well as another in Salisbury. The Stonehenge Riverside Project has received a great deal of press including a feature on ‘Time Team’ with Tony Robinson this past June. The project will produce its first official publica- tion in 2010 which will detail findings and feature the work of the artists. An exhibition in Salisbury is also planned for 2010.   An exhibition of the work done by the artists is currently on display at the Royal Academy and will travel to the Oliver Holt Gallery in the southwest. The work has also been displayed at the Whitworth Gallery.     Additional artwork by Julia Midgley will be on display throughout August in the annual Summer Mixed Show at the Wendy J Levy Gallery, Didsbury, Manchester. well as all of the artists, was very conscious of the presence of visitors regularly on site, which was a new experience. The time spent documenting also differed from Julia’s previous projects. For example, when illustrating the excavation of the Roman Amphitheatre, she would go one or two days a month throughout the duration of the project. With the Stonehenge Riverside project, the artists were present for two full weeks of each of the four week excava- tions in 2007 and 2008.    Throughout this project, Julia began to incorporate new materials into her work. She explained how the artists noticed the materials used by the archae- ologists to document the finds - graph paper, tracing paper, and hard pencils (4H and 5H) - and noted the differences and similarities to their own. Julia began to use graph and tracing paper in her work, effectively ‘mimicking’ the work of the archaeologists. Paper has always been a central element in her work and the graph and tracing paper were perfect additions. In 2008 Julia produced lots of small (A6) watercolour sketches of the project. She used water- colour because it echoed the constant rain during her time there! She will probably frame and display these as one. Because of the importance of this project, it was a memorable experience all around. However, the excavation of Aubrey Hole #7 stood out as a particularly significant occasion. The Aubrey Holes are thought to be burials and excavations of these holes Art in Archaeology Julia Midgley at the Stonehenge Dig