Exploration - Cape Cornwall - Brisons Veor Residency

In June I was part of a Residency at Brisons Veor

which enabled me to spend a week

experiencing the beautiful wildflowers

the intriguing coastline and changing weathers

with artist Susan Williams MRBS, 

photographers Gareth Williams 

and Andrew Rushton

We walked separately

in pairs

 or as a quartet

We brought our own works in 

progress to continue or pursue.

We enjoyed convivial company

and I had the most intense period 

of making and installing work.

Just a week, but what a week.

I continued to work on the pre-felts made during the course with Jeannette Appleton and developed a piece inspired by the Oblique Strategies cards by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. I had no definite plan other than to let my surrounding sing to me and my experiences guide me, I was swept along by a tremendous energy drawn both from my surroundings and my companions. 

It was a jewel-like and infinitely precious.

An album of inspirations and experiments which informed the work can be found here.

Small Library - Big Ideas - Boston Session 1

The Eloquent Fold, Phiona Richards and I, began our new Open Book project for Transported in Boston Library and were delighted to discover a space full of people waiting to learn new skills and share their ideas, hopes and dreams for the arts in the future in Boston and South Holland. It is a tricky concept to explain but once the folding and stamping had started and with a little encouragement from me, we have found that people were bouncing, sharing and generating lots of interesting ideas. 

The idea is to create two books, one to take away and one to leave as part of the Small Library of Great Ideas, the 14 pages could be filled in one session but we hope that people will join us for as many sessions as possible. This week Phiona demonstrated how to create the book structure and whilst some people folded and stuck, others tried to express their ideas on paper with stamps and drawings.

It was lovely to see people move from bewilderment to excitement, there were lots of animated conversations, links made and good times shared. George came with his Mum, together they fully entered into the creative space their book afforded them, George is a drummer, his Mum has a passion for dance so they decided to call their book BangTap. Phiona and I can't wait to see how they fill the rest of their pages next week.

Next week there will be more book folding in the Reference Room with Phiona and I will be in the main space doing some print making. The transported team will be there to help with the Brewing Up - after all that hard work people deserve nice cuppa! We are loving our Evaluation cards and stamps too!

So next week - prints and books - pages and ideas. Yes you will be making book to keep, but also a book, or at least some pages to leave with us to become part of Boston's Small Library. So if you have skills to share, want to start a group in your area, want to be part of a creative project, this is your chance to get it on the page! The session starts at 10 and continues till 1 but you can stay for as long or as little as you like. You can see more on the Eloquent Fold Facebook Page and Flickr Set

Transported is a strategic, community-focused programme which aims to get more people in Boston Borough and South Holland enjoying and participating in arts activities.  It is overseen by a Management Group, a sub-committee of Leisure in the Community, with artsNK as its lead organisation.  It is funded by the Creative People and Places fund from Arts Council England.

Inspired by Inuit Printmakers

My demonstration prints

I was invited to work with Year 2, Italy Class at Queens Park Academy in Bedford. Our theme for the day was Inuit art and we were inspired by the Cape Dorset Prints at the Canadian Museum of Civilisation. Before 1957, graphic art on paper was rare in the Canadian Eastern Arctic, despite the lack of paper, a strong Inuit graphic tradition has existed for many centuries. Printmaking was introduced in Cape Dorset in late 1957 by James Houston (1921–2005), an artist, writer and the Area Administrator for South Baffin Island.

"Prints also cover a great variety of themes. Some illustrate scenes from myth and memories of the old ways of life, while others depict the transforming life in the Arctic and the influence of outsiders. The land, ocean and Arctic animals are frequent subject matter, and evidence the deeply felt bonds between Inuit artists and their natural world. The artworks make eloquent statements about Inuit identity — past and present — and offer a unique window into Canada’s history." from the Online Exhibition of Inuit prints from Cape Dorset.

Italy Class had already spent some time this term exploring the art and environment of the Antarctic and the classroom had paintings, snowflakes, an arctic base camp with tent and the remains of an igloo created from empty milk bottles. In such a creative environment we were all ready to explore and enjoy the magic of print!

The children cut out patterns to incorporate in their prints and had chosen an animal to represent. We spent the first session drawing our animals up to A3 scale whilst referring to original Inuit prints. 

Mrs Mortimer was inspired by the Cape Dorset print above

The technique we used employed stencils, as in the Cape Dorset prints and our plates were made from 

thin card which we rolled with water based inks in a limited colour palette. We made just over 60 prints during the day! Here are just a sample.

Owls

Prints hung out to dry

Penguin

Polar Bear with a fish inside

Singing Ringing Installation Thing

I'm making a tree for one of the other Songs For Quiet Steps churches

People have told me what singing brings to their lives

and I'm hammering their words

onto copper plant tags to form the leaves.

I'm surprised at how many people mention their soul

and flight, as in singing gives emotion wings.

Lovely to be thinking about the words of others.

90 done, between 10 and 20 to go.

More about the Why of this piece later. Right now I'm going off to be inspired by Barb Jungr who is on tour with Simon Wallis performing Hard Rain, the songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

THE ARTIST'S SWAP BOX PROJECT

Social media can be a a wonderful thing and back in December I noticed an invitation to take part in the Artists Swap Box Project organised by artists Katie Smith and Dave Briggs. After signing up participants were paired with another artist and given the following brief:-

"The purpose of this project is to delight a fellow creative with some inspirational post. We suggest that you restrict the size of your swap box to that of a shoe box and include:

A work of art - this could be something created especially with the swap box project in mind or a piece from your archives. You can use any artform but may wish to consider the cost of postage when selecting your materials. As you are swapping with a stranger please do not send anything that could cause offence.

Career based words of wisdom – help your swap partner to avoid the perils of a New Year’s creative slump by offering some inspirational, motivational or practical words of wisdom. These could be scribbled on a beer mat, embroidered on linen or written in jelly tots, it’s up to you!

Feel free to add to your box as you see fit – your swap partner may appreciate a packet of custard creams, a vintage postcard or a thermal vest, who knows!

Once you have received you box we would love you to spread the joy and post a photograph of its contents here."

I decided to up-cycle the little apple prints I'd made on Apple Day in Fermyn Woods, pairing them with vintage Zoffany wallpaper and giving each print a word that could act as a reminder or a creative trigger. They have already been a starting point for me so I thought it would be good to continue the apple thinking.

Once I had made my 10 little prints I needed to find a shoe box and some other items to put inside and found that the two things were quite challenging. What do you send to someone you've never met and have no idea what their practice might be? I thought I'd go with the flow and put in things that said something about me and also set up the notion of popping down to my shed / studio to share tea and a creative chat. 

Finding the shoe box proved to be a harder task as many shoe shops throw their boxes away or are not allowed to pass them on without shoes! I also wanted a child's sized box to create a cozy space for my A5 prints. Just as I thought I was going to be defeated, one of the shop assistants I'd spoken to rushed after me and told me to try Clarks as they often had boxes which people used to send parcels to the Forces. The sales assistant in the Clarks shop couldn't have been kinder and found not one but three for me to choose from. The Black one was stylish, the grey one was grey but the green one seemed right in every way and I left the shop with a warm glow of satisfaction 'Mission Accomplished!'

Here is the contents of my box, ready to tuck inside

The Contents:-

1. The felt was made as a demonstration piece at a recent felting day which could be used as the basis for making something else.
2. The Garden Shed sign was an unused item left over from a walking project and my studio is my garden shed so it seemed a nice introduction piece.
3. Two Cornish teabags which taste fab, are called Smugglers Brew and have great graphics, first discovered whilst walking South in Cornwall.
4. A Bounce Protein Ball Spirulina & Ginseng Defence Boost which they say "looks weird, tastes fabulous", as in these difficult days we need to keep our energy levels high!
5. I have a particular fondness for Tunnocks Caramel Wafers and Tea Cakes, I think the wrappers  have wonderful graphics and an interesting texture so I thought they could be used or admired and they always make me smile.
6. Tiny pegs to peg the prints up with which also references the Tea Towel Installation for Back to Books.
7. A Seeds of Change multiple with one of my digital images printed on it.
8. My Art Party Conference Protest Placard Multiple.
9. 10 apple prints that have been stamped, stitched, given a wax seal and bagged in cellophane.  

 

I know that my Swap Buddy Marie Shaw, who has the intriguing addy buttongrrl, has received her parcel so I won't be spoiling her surprise if I share the contents of the box more widely now. I can't wait to see what might lie inside my box and it has been great to meet a new virtual friend! 

I am also reminded that there will be warmer weather, my shed will eventually dry out, I will be able to return to working in the garden and there may be opportunities for people to pop by to make something with me or to share tea and ideas. I know that the other two Old Law Beacons will be joining me soon to make some items for our REfractal walk in Kings Wood soon - something else to look forward to!

I have loved this Swap Box project, it is an antidote to the current trend towards mean times and mean spirits, so thank you Katie and Dave for you inspiration and fabulous work to make this happen. You can check out who sent what where here. 

PS I have one compete set and a few random Apple Prints which I am selling to help raise funds for my trip to Salt Spring Island in August, please look in the blog SHOP if you'd to buy like one!