They Arrived!

Thank You For the Thank You

Lovely thank you letter from Katie Smith for taking part inArtist Swap Box Project combined with a few found objects became a mini installation in the shed. Must download the play list and raise the roof!

The Weight of Waiting

A river walk

 

with birdsong

Lovely trees, just right for wrapping.

Nature gripping the wall.

Indomitable Clematis - Montana

Making the dereliction look enticing

Beautiful cherry blossom

brightens an ordinary street

on an ordinary Sunday.

Later 

there is printing.

Waiting = weight.

Oh dear.

Baby Bunting

I've been working on a project for Back To Books over the last year Andrew Ruston has researched a series of walks / excursions to explore churches in or near Northamptonshire that are no longer working churches but that are cared for by the Church Conservation Trust. Lucy Anderson has written a sequence of poems and now I am making a series of temporary, site specific interventions for each church. I have been printing and free machine embroidering on some very small pieces of bunting (many thanks to Maureen Walvin for edging the pieces with bias binding for me!). I think these may be for Preston Deanery which seemed such a blank and empty place but with lovely light. The bunting represents the imagined congregation and is a work in progress.

 

Words

The first months of this year have been challenging, so to keep my spirits in good state I've been adopting Jo Dacombe's "Do one thing" strategy, every day I try to do one thing towards improving my situation or extending my artistic practice. Some days I do wish I'd opted for a career writer as trying to make things happen, improve things, get projects under way takes up hours and hours of unpaid time writing. However I am just too literal and my imagination does not run to the twists and turns of crafting  fiction. 

I must also confess that having worked briefly and long ago in Literature Development, the career path of the writer is beset with just as many pitfalls as pleasures and isn't any easier than that of a visual artist. I do find it interesting that no one seems to quibble about a writers daily rate of pay, which seems to be generally more than for visual artists. Do we value the work it takes to write, do we feel safer with the the narrative and value it more than a visual statement?

I do love the powerful richness of words, language, poetry, sentences, communication, I use words in my work either as inspiration or as part of it's content. However some days the sheer effort of will it takes to sit down in a room by myself, in front of a screen and answer questions; which may or may not result in being able to make some work frustrates me. At those times I feel caught in a continual round of exam conditions, writing to time, trying to meet someone else's criteria, wondering 'Have I made myself clear enough, have I understood the question?". At other times I revel in the process, I have ideas, I am excited, the process is fun, the words flow, particularly if I feel there is a good chance of success.

When the field is fallow, work is not plentiful, then I have to do that leap in the dark stuff, spend time applying for things because I need the work, not because I am entirely convinced that success will be mine. I can't just sit in the shed moping, I have to try, I have to make an attempt at changing my predicament. I know the activity of writing down ideas is never really wasted, thinking is good, dreaming is good, even if success is unlikely. 

So the words on my mind are:-

SUCCESS, FAILURE, YES, NO, FORWARDS

Compton Verney Longest Line of Bunting World Record Attempt

Compton Verney is 10 years old this year and to celebrate they are attempting to break a world record by making the longest line of bunting. I thought I'd help out! I am still trying to use and re-use things from my old Beanfield studio and knew I'd have paper and materials to hand so set to and here's my contribution with screen prints made with very degraded screens from a Big Draw project in Corby, after school club wax resist examples, stamps, glitter, batik dyes, wall paper and most are double sided too. A very enjoyable form of paperwork resulted in 42 pieces of bunting before I had to head back inside to do a bit more less interesting (and often less fruitful) paperwork!

If you're short of something to do, why not sort through your old papers and help add to the bunting world record attempt. You can find out more about the project here and you can download an instruction pack here

Marking A Fine Line Finally Installed!

It's been quite a long journey from idea to installation

I've worked with many lovely people and you can 

read about Back To Books and all who took part here

Most of all I must thank my wonderful volunteers Carolyn, Ricky and Mark who took such care in creating the woodwork and gave so much time to the installation and to the Green Patch for letting us use a poly tunnel this winter as a temporary workshop. It fill my heart to think of all the time and effort they gave!

Also huge thanks to Ranger Dan Hurst

 who got us up and down the 

Brampton Valley way in many variable weathers!

The Frost panel was the trickiest to install

but with Spring in full swing,

blossom appearing along the Way,

 

lambs and lush greenery

 

don't let the moss grow under your feet

take to your bikes and ride!

More photos here

A Glimpse of Colonize

You can see and read more about the exhibition here I am an unnamed guest but it's nice to see the work made in my garden hanging in Jamestown - many thanks to Wendy Williams for the photo.

Link to Private view video

Published on Apr 9, 2014

Colonize is new work from the SCIBase; a collaborative project between BasementArtsProject, Leeds and the SCI Collective based in the Northwest of England. 

Dykeman-Young Art Gallery
100 east 2nd Street
Jamestown , NY

Open through April 26

Link to Gallery of exhibiting artists