sky & stich

The winter sky, reflected in the lagoon near to where I live. Strange how the sky didn't seem quite that shade of blue when I took the photo? Cerulean.

Seed stitch on different fabrics; at the bottom is the walnut dyed silk; top left is onion dyed cotton; 2 re-cycled slices of red silk stitched onto a cotton/linen fabric dyed in a black bean dye-pot. The black on the right is gifted silk.

winter walk

With the low light we get in winter, strange shadows, colours, and pattern, can be seen, especially in the mud.

The angles of the sun shining on emerging catkins makes the trees look as though they still have xmas decorations on their branches. The colours brighten the brown and black landscape.

Trees fallen during the winter, remind me of sculptures.

season....autumn

 Some rainy weather brought jewels to my path. Diamonds on a fallen leaf. 

A couple of weeks ago, Pauline and I took Minnie, her friend's dog, a walk round the grounds of Nostell Priory. We tired all of us out, and finished with coffee and cakes in their caff. Round the edge of the lake we saw this tree....I saw a face (two faces actually! Kissing! In public!) only later when scrolling through the fotos on my fone.

We'd had some blustery winds earlier, and the leaves were starting to come off the trees. This copper collection, gathered in the water, set off against the green rushes.

And Evening Primrose! Still flowering in (then) October! Reminder of sun gone; and sun to return. Some day.
I don't know much about the growing season of Evening Primrose, so maybe they are usually found in flower in October? They seemed fragile to me, in that cold October daylight.

new years' eve

Winter water.
In 2008 I made paper boats, and sailed them away on the lagoon nearby. This was the first.
I love the way this one seems to be held by the branches of the trees. And the reflections of the trees are so clear on the water's surface.

This is the beginning of a new project. 2013 will be a new challenge, creatively. A new journey is ahead; and this water-course will play a major part in it.

The end of one year, the start of another. 'Let's hope it's a good one.....'
Happy New Year.

richard hawley & simon armitage

a fuzzy Simon Armitage, signing books, to ghosts in the machine!

A busy week, last week.
On Tuesday I went to Leeds to see Richard Hawley; on Friday I saw and heard Simon Armitage, in Wakefield.

Richard Hawley was awesome. He played a lot of songs from his new CD, 'Standing at the Sky's Edge', which I've been listening to avidly, for weeks now. It really mixes his trademark 'crooning', with something more psychedelic, and guitar-based. There are lots of drones in the music, which I dearly love, and nature references within the song's lyrics. 
Also a lot of....quiet....then LOUD....sections; where Hawley's voice is soft, and the main focus of the song. Then there is a shift to loud, rocking guitar-based sounds. His lyrics too, are subtle, and don't always go where one immediately expects. He eschews cliche...which is always delightful. 
The stage set, too, deserves a mention. He had trees, standing behind the band, appropriate in view of the subject matter of the new songs, and the way he referenced the natural world. 
I presume the trees were in pots of some kind; and they had magically maintained their green-ness, and leaves. During the show, they were light-drenched in hallucinogenic colours, like stained glass windows in Gothic cathedrals. 
I was struck by the connection, as the Gothic cathedrals have columns, with carved greenery and leaves, marching down aisles, creating a forest of stone. The ceilings are intertwining branches of stone, supporting the roof, and impressing the viewer even more strongly of the outer world of nature, brought inside the religious buildings.

My feeling of being inside a cathedral, was emphasised even more, by the fact that Hawley had a music stand beside him...in case he forgot his lyrics? It looked like a church lectern! The world according to Rev Richard Hawley! Mmmmm!

Simon Armitage was appearing in Wakefield as part of Wakefield's first Literary Festival. He did his reading at Westgate Chapel, which accommodates  a bigger audience than the Orangery. Simon was reading from his book which documents his walk (from North to South; against prevailing weather and wisdom!) along the Pennine Way. He was humorous; serious; interesting; profound; just what you want and expect of a poet!
He was asked if he'd listened to music on his mammoth walk, as he's well known as a massive music fan. He replied that he deliberately didn't take his iPod, as he wanted to immerse himself in the experience of the walk, and get away from those things we use everyday that can distract us from the world around us.
He did say that he'd been in a pub, on one section of the walk, and put some music on the jukebox, and it sounded almost physical. That he felt as if he could have reached out and touched it. That it was hallucinatory.
Such is the power of music. It can create synaesthesia within us. 
Simon Armitage's gig, then, connects to Richard Hawley's. The connection of their experiences of music; and the power of both music, and the natural world. When I experience these connections, I am lifted, and my soul is fed.       
  

'Spurn Point & the rest of it'.....

'Flotsam & Jetsum'

Today I've been over to Spurn Point; where the River Humber meets the North Sea. I've not been for a few years, and it felt time to visit the sea-side again!
I went with Tracey and Charlie; we had a great walk along the beach, which blew all our cobwebs away!
The batteries had gone on my digital camera; so I dug out my 35mm compact, and took some photos using that. It felt odd how used I've become to digi-cameras when for years I used 35mm with rolls of film.....I have to get the film developed now....which is weird, because the film was half-way through. And I have NO idea what's on it!
As Tracey said, 'you'll have a lovely surprise when you get the photos back'!

We saw lots of kestrels on our way over there; and a deer was in the long grass as we drove down to the point of Spurn.
I've often seen deer when I've visited Spurn. They are such secretive creatures, it always feels special when I see them. This time was no different.

 'The Larkin Trail'

You can see Alice Fox's artist-in-residence work at Spurn Point here

'Jack Scout'

On Saturday we went to Silverdale, on Morecambe Bay, to see an outdoor performance called 'Jack Scout'.
The performance included, dancers; singing; music; and a one and a half hour walk through the local landscape. This walk travelled over the limestone pavement (passing by glacial erratics) then we wound our way down to Morecambe Bay, and walked on the sands.
Morecambe Bay is a treacherous place, and we had a health and safety warning before we set off. A few years ago, a number of Chinese cockle-pickers drowned in Morecambe Bay. The performance included being handed a cockleshell right at the end, to take home.

A 'memento mori' of those who have lost their lives on the shifting sands of Morecambe Bay.

At the end, Jon and I were silent; both quiet after the journey we had taken. We remained quiet, for some time after, trying to take in what we had experienced.
For the performance wasn't about us sitting passive in a theatre; we had participated in it; the artists looked at us; we looked back at them; it was direct, immediate communication. We had been blown about in the wind, just like the dancers, singers, musicians.
We had all shared our resources; shared a grapefruit together as sustenance.
We had shared a vision of the landscape, opened up to us through the intervention of the performers.

It was remarkable; and we will look out for other environmental performances by the same team.

It is created by Sap Dance and Louise Ann Wilson Company, and runs from 18-26 September 2010

You can find out about 'Jack Scout' by going to bit.ly/JackScout