July, Already

Blimey....how quickly time goes!
I'm still on with stitching the 2016 Moons. Still got some way to go. There will be an exhibition of them in September, as part of the Wakefield Artwalk.
Meantime; a kind of circle; if not quite a Moon.

Drawing

A drawing from my visit to Malta, in 2009.

Meantime; I'm still stitching away on the textile pieces from last years full moons. And outside, is cold, and the possiblity of snow.

Uist; 1998

Sketch from a visit to Uist, the Outer Hebrides. It was wondeful. My perception of the Land was drenched colour. The Light was intense. I felt so free. We camped in the campervan. I sat, drinking whiskey, and smoking; watching the light change on the hills.

William Blake at Oxford

Can't believe it's been a month since I last posted! Been very busy at work; and tired as a result. AND went to Oxford to see the William Blake exhibition.
Which was amazing!

 My friend got me the catalogue for xmas, so I had an idea what the exhibition would be like. And there had been an underwhelmed response by some critics.

Despite everything; I loved seeing his prints again; and could only marvel at his printing skills, and beautiful handwriting on his printing plates.

Written backwards, so they'd print the right way round.

 And saw a number of Samuel Palmer drawings. Palmer, a follower of Blake's.

Beautiful; intricate; be-jewelled.

Seeing them in real life, has helped me make sense of the catalogue.

You just can't beat looking at the 'real thing' in art!

I love the Hare in this one!



neolithic carved ball

From an old sketchbook; another of the mysterious carved balls I've discovered in museums up and down the country. This was one of the least worn versions I found. Tricky to draw; even trickier to carve, I bet. Especially when they didn't use metal tools....as they didn't, because these were carved in the 'new stone age'.  

Chun Quoit 2

This is the drawing I did at the Hepworth a couple of weeks ago. It's of a sculpture that Barbara Hepworth made. It's a small drawing, in an A5 sketchbook.
The sculpture was titled after the neolithic tomb, that I drew in situ when I visited Cornwall.
It was good to see the sculpture, after knowing about its' existence for years!

The Hepworth, Wakefield

Today I visited the Hepworth gallery, in Wakefield.
I wanted to do some sketches of Hepworth's stringed sculptures, as I'm planning a 'clay & string' project for a group I work with. I also did a sketch of Hepworth's bronze 'Single Form (Chun Quoit)' from 1961.
I visited Cornwall when I was studying for my M.A. and I did a drawing of the neolithic tomb Chun Quoit near St. Just. This was later exhibited in an exhibition I held at the cafe in Wakefield Theatre, as well as being shown in Doncaster Art Gallery. 

Behind this Hepworth sculpture, to the left, is Chantry Chapel; the spires just pointing into the sky. 

The River Calder, flowing over the weir outside of the Hepworth, here seen from the medieval bridge where the Chantry Chapel stands. The sun was bright, playing on the surface of the water, turning it to pewter.

Fossil & Printing

We've been doing some stencil printing on the Textile course. 
My original drawing was from an image of a fossil tree; the lepidodendren which formed the basis of the coal measures.
This print was from an acetate sheet, which I burnt through using my soldering iron (for textiles). It's black paint, onto cotton. And as yet, I'm not sure what the next stage will be. But that's fine; like a lot of the pieces I'm making, I will let it settle, and see what emerges.
I've made a number of these prints, on different fabrics; to see what I can do with them. Overlays (!) and stitching I suspect?


Here at home there's lots of work going on; the roof of the garage needs replacing, so I have lots of clearing out to do, to make it ready for the builder. And I'm having some of the garage converted into a workspace, so I can have a home-based studio to work in. Exciting, and daunting at the same time!

Isle of Islay; drawing with stitch

The snow has arrived! It began to fall yesterday afternoon, and just kept coming....
I'm guessing it will freeze tonight. Though there doesn't seem to be enough to cause major disruptions here in Wakefield. 
However, the days are starting to stretch out and we're enjoying lengthening daylight. Today has been bright and sunny, as the white snow has reflected the light. Cold, but lovely.


Looking back to last summer and a holiday spent on the Isle of Islay, here is the second 'sewn drawing' based on a pencil sketch I did in August 2011. It's from our visit to the nature reserve at Loch Gruinart, an RSPB site.
We had a walk round, through woods, and fields, and generally enjoyed ourselves. 
I'm enjoying the challenge of recreating a pencil drawing onto fabric, using thread as the 'line'. For these 2 sewn drawings, I've used sashiko thread; which is quite like embroidery thread, though slightly 'fluffier', and with a more matte quality.

Hare Stone

At Lime Tree Farm in North Yorkshire, stands a stone circle, erected by willing helpers at the end of last century. Each of the stones was put in place at specific points throughout the year, situated in particular directions.
When I went there a few years ago, I was struck by the patterns of quartz, running through the rock. 
To me, it created a Hare. I was seeing a number of Hares during the late 1990's, at lots of different locations. Once you've seen a Hare, you can never mistake them for rabbits! I've seen some huge ones, the size of a medium-sized dog! And they have a very particular way of looking at you; as if they're seeing right into you, and through you. Very magical, are Hares. So it's not surprising that I saw the Hare in the quartz of this stone. 

Drawings and Designs

Looking back through a sketchbook I've had for about 6 years, I found this sketch; one done fairly recently, but I'd then forgotten all about it.
I love new sketchbooks; whenever I go anywhere that sells art materials, I have to go over to the sketchbook/paper section, and have a look at their stock. I'm a real bibliophile; love books in all their forms! I always want to start work in a new sketchbook; but the promise of its pages seems so very intimidating. Will the work be 'good enough' to fill these pages? The ever-present doubt of the artist...'will it be good enough'?????
This sketch was done with pencils; small marks; a tiny sketch, in an A5 book. I was trying out some ideas for working with textiles, and threads. And influenced by a Shell poster from the 1930's; 'Mousehole, Penzanze', by Anthony Stewart. He'd created a sea, from flat areas of pure tone, stripes of white, black, and blue. I was wondering how I might use that idea to create a textile piece. I'm wondering still!

'The Big Draw'

As October rolls round once more, the Big Draw is upon us.

A couple of years ago I went into a local primary school and did a few afternoons with a class to publicise 'The Big Draw'.We used big sticks, and pots/saucers of ink. Deliberately, so that there would be no worries about 'getting it right'. There were lots of blobs and blotches, which all added to the effects.

I took in lots of feathers too, so the children could have a go with ink and quill pens. It made quite a change using such ancient technology!