'came in through the bathroom window......'

The twisted and distorted view out of the bathroom window at work! Overlooking the grounds of the Quaker meeting house. And beyond are the old Almshouses; with Morrison's the brick tower in the far distance.
The Quaker garden is full of clumps of snowdrops. Lovely to see.

The trees are bare now; but last May/June, here is how one of them looked. Thick hawthorn blossoms. I can hardly wait for the flowers to bloom this year! Though they might not return so thick; the trees have been hacked back, quite drastically.

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.

ring of brodgar

Isn't this beautiful!
It's stone/s, maybe tiles, found on the recent excavations at the Ring Of Brodgar on Orkney. They have incised patterns on them, which are particularly noticeable on the stone on the right hand side. A 'butterfly' design, of 2 triangles, attached by their points, can be seen.
My initial response to this photo when I saw it, was to think that it had painterly qualities; texture, colour, form, composition. It's like an abstract painting. Wish I could make paintings with such power.
They also found one of those mysterious carves stone balls in the dig. I've come across many of these carved balls during my visits to Scotland.
The website has a photo of the carved ball, with the following text;
'hardly anyone has ever found a carved stone ball in a modern archaeological context.'
So a very important find indeed! 

You can find out more about the archaeological dig here, which is where I got this photo.


And here's a photo from the twitter feed of the orkneyjar.com website. The carved stone ball, rediscovered after thousands of years hidden away.

weaving #2

This is the 'story so far' of the weaving I began in December. It's still very small; about 3.5 inches high (8.5 cm?). I'm not doing it completely technically 'correctly'.....I'm playing with it, and just trying to make marks that fit with what my ideas are. I'm working with the idea of flowing water; a beck; a river; a stream; the movement of water through a landscape. 
I'm deliberately working with a limited palette; working with a different colour discipline. I'm interested in what effect limitations have upon my work. This is something that's become clearer to me as I've worked with textiles for the last few years.
The 'blue' meander on the weaving is actually a cream/white thread, rather than the blue shown. It's beginning to take on a movement of its own as it moves through the thread.

Alkborough Labyrinth

Alkborough is a village on the edges of the River Humber, in north Lincolnshire. It's famous for having a turf labyrinth.
I've visited a number of times; in bitter cold winter, where we walked the labyrinth slipping and sliding on the icy surface; in summer, many years ago; and at the end of the summer, where I took photos, and a ladder, so I could take photos from above!
Below is one of the photos I took from the labyrinth in the village; overlooking the confluence of 3 rivers. Beyond the labyrinth, is the floodplain, the wetlands, and the rivers. 
It's one of those wonderful liminal places that I love to visit. It's possible to walk along a footpath from the labyrinth, with the rivers down on the plain, and ponder how many ancient people have also travelled the path. It's an ancient track, amongst trees. And eventually we came to the small well. Water everywhere here; even high above the 3 rivers.
Alkborough celebrates its turf labyrinth by these blue plaques at the entrances to the village. They'd make wonderful rubbings! I'll go back for another visit, and take paper, and graphite pencils, and make rubbings.

reverse

This is the back of one of my stitched sample pieces for my City & Guilds course. What struck me was the lines; how they look like paths, or rivers, or lines in the landscape that can be seen from aerial photography. It's like a map. Funny how things emerge from something else. The front bears no relation to landscape, or maps, or any of my usual concerns. And yet, and yet, almost as if the underside bears witness to my psychological pre-occupations. It's glued down now, in my portfolio, and no longer visible. A hidden landscape. 

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.

Palimpsest

 Three photos; not quite matching up......overlaps.

The stitched and layered 'jigsaw' piece; using sashiko stitches; organzie overlay; map lines; aerial photography earth lines.

Spurn....again

 Photos from my recent visit to Spurn Point.

The door inside the lighthouse.......

 Cracked window looking out of the lighthouse.

Looking out the lighthouse window to the groynes on the beach. 

I love the way the colours come together at Spurn. The greens, browns, greys, blues, are a soft background that the lighthouse structure frames and focuses. 

To stand in the lighthouse, was to experience the overlap of the outside world and the inside of the building. And the rust particles and peeling of paint of the lighthouse structure, emphasised my sense of dilapidation, and things being worn away. Just as the sea pounds the Spurn peninsula, wearing the pebbles to sand. Everything is shifting at Spurn, all is in motion.  

Spurn Point; 'Textures of Spurn'

View through the lamproom window of the lighthouse at Spurn Point. Looking to the north (east) of Spurn Point.

We visited Spurn Point yesterday, to see Alice Fox's textile (and print) exhibition 'Textures of Spurn', on show at the Lighthouse. It was an opportunity to not only see the work (I've been following her artist-in-residence blog) but also to go inside the lighthouse, which is no longer in use.

Despite the weather; cold, windy, cloudy, with occasional rain; the views were fantastic, and the shape of the spit of land was made visible. 

The clouds were dark and threatening; the wind hummed through the telegraph wires like an Aeolian harp; the sea boomed and crashed.

It was an elemental place, and we were scrubbed clean by the sand blown across our bodies; faces and hands, scoured. I returned home with sand in my hair; dishevelled.

We walked the 3.5 miles from the car park, down to the lighthouse. Walked the steps up (and down) the lighthouse. Then walked the 3.5 miles back to the car. 

It was an exhilarating walk. A walk of memories, of previous visits to Spurn. And worth the walk, to climb the lighthouse steps, and see Alice's artworks. 

Alice Fox's enormous textile piece, 'Spurn Cloth #1', tied, and displayed around the circular space of the lamproom at the lighthouse.

 Another view of the lamproom textile piece, 'Spurn Cloth #1' by Alice Fox.

'Spurn Cloth #2' by Alice Fox. Hanging down two floors of the lighthouse space, at Spurn.

You can see Alice's blog, which tells the story of her residency, at www.spurnpointartistinresidence.blogspot.co.uk

'woolgathering'

Sections of fabric, hand sewn with 'sashiko' stitches; organzie, machine sewed, layered over it. 
Some of the fabric is hand-dyed; others are scraps from my textile 'grab-bag'. Pinned on the wall of my studio, trying to get enough light on it, to photograph.
I now have to put some small stitches in, to attach the organzie to the fabric behind. I'm hoping it will go into the 'woolgathering' exhibition I'm having with Jill Hallsall at Westgate Studios Project Space, in November, for the Wakefield Artwalk. 
You can see another photo of this piece at 'stitching & dye-ing'#2 dated 17/06/12.

Heritage Open Days

This weekend is when the annual Heritage Open Days take place. Various buildings throughout Britain open up so we have the opportunity to see inside places where we might not normally have access.
Westgate Chapel is opening its doors to the public, so I've volunteered to go down and spend the afternoon helping.
I'm hoping to get a chance to visit the catacombs; in all the years I've been involved with the Chapel, I've never managed to see them, so cross my fingers for today!

Scarborough is having a number of open day events. Including, next Thursday, a special day about Star Carr! Sadly work commitments mean I won't be able to make that, which is very frustrating.
But the information leaflet has photographs of 2 of the antler frontlets which were found there. These are what make the site so significant.

Star Carr

 The Derwent River

This section of the River Derwent has been canalised, for quite a length. A long straight section, that I'd guess is relatively recent (?)
I stood, and sat here, for a number of hours, soaking in the landscape; watching the wildlife; drinking in the silence.
Close by is the site of 'Star Carr'; where during archaeological digs last century, deer horn helmets/masks were discovered in the peat. These are now in the British Museum. Not, sadly, in either Hull, or Scarborough Museums. Needless to say, they are a highly significant find, and nothing like them have been found anywhere else in Britain.

I saw a hare in the field next to where I sat. Always an amazing sight. No deer, though, although they are round and about that area still.
Did some sketches and took photographs. I'm planning a painting based upon that landscape, which was the reason for my visit. 
Artists have worked there in the recent past, and you can type in 'Mesolithic Interventions' and find the blog for that project; there was an exhibition in York Art Gallery a few years ago.

More information about the archaeology can be found here.

'chicken scratching for my immortality'

The campsite I stayed at had lots of chickens wandering around; they were really tame, and I crumbled up some breadcrumbs for this one, to tempt her closer. The sunlight really caught her colours. 

Beacons Festival

Last weekend I went to Beacons Festival.

Listened to music; drank beer; ate food; enjoyed the sun....when it shone! And tried to avoid the rain!

On the Saturday, it was glorious weather. The sky was blue; the clouds were little fluffy ones!

The sunset over the fields, and the hawthorn tree, was spectacular.

For 3 days, I sat in a field, camped up in Blanche, and chilled. Bliss!  

 And after Beacons? I drove off to explore North Yorkshire, and look for Star Carr!

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!

Chun Quoit

The pencil drawing I made of Chun Quoit in Cornwall. 
This is an A1 version I did, after the smaller sketch I made in situ. 
It's a passage grave that Barbara Hepworth used as inspiration for one of her sculptures, which is on show at The Hepworth Wakefield.
When I went to the Hepworth on Sunday, I did a small pencil sketch of the sculpture. 
The sculture is nothing like the real Chun. It's smooth, and upright, with an incised circle drawn into it. The stones of the passage grave are heavy, rough, and marked, though not by any workings that can be seen. Though I'm sure the stones were worked in some way.
As I wasn't allowed to take photos, I can't put up an image of the real sculpture.

Blue SeaScape

A textile piece I started on the Creative Textiles course last year; only recently completed. Well, a lot of hand stitching went into it. It's layers, and collaged fabric, and machine & hand stitching. I think it's finished now....knowing when to stop, that can be difficult.

Summer Solstice

Happy Solstice!
A stormy sea view from last summer on Islay. Camped up on a fantastic beach site, and the sun setting over the western side of Islay. An orange ball, dropping into the horizon.
The weather had changed from hot and sunny as we camped up, to cloudy and windy. It fits the weather we're having right now. Lovely hot, sunny days, that have shifted to cooler, wetter, and grey sky.


Here at home I've been boiling up a dye-pot of eucalyptus leaves. Three bundles in the pot, awaiting unwrapping. What surprises are in store? Who knows. The kitchen is becoming, in the words of Leonora Carrington, 'an alchemical kitchen'!

Stitching & Dye-ing 2

A 'work in progress' of the organzie overlay of stitched collaged fabric/s. This is the 'top' of the length of organzie. Approximately one third of the length of the whole piece. It's quite a small piece, 28cm wide, and 91cm long. It has an almost three dimensional quality, too, as the organzie puckers and crinkles under the machine stitching.
I like that.

Stitching & Dye-ing

Using the fabric that I've dyed during the textile course I've been attending, I decided to sew rows of stitches....sashiko-style.....The blue/pink fabric is dyed using procion dye; the stitches are sewn using sashiko thread; and overlayed this, is a length of organzie I'd embellished with machine stitch, more than 12 months ago.

I'm making a collage of fabrics onto which I'm stitching rows, and overlaying these, with the embellished organzie.

The top photo shows the layers; the bottom photo shows the fabric in the process of being stitched.

The starting point of all this was seeing photos taken from the air, of features in landscapes which are invisible from the ground. Air photography has changed the way that archaeologists have looked at the landscape. They show us hidden forms.