Studio Notes 28
Sketchbook pages from 2017
I am sorry but nothing is getting done because the birds are too beautiful today.
See how they squabble with such grace and feather shadow.
Are they fighting or just making feisty songs?
I am sorry I cannot be up there in the sky, looking down at their sunlit feathers.
(above is from notebook scribble)
If birds appear, as they often do, in my artwork, it is because they are a big feature of my daily life. I see them as an essential element in our landscape here, for without at least one bird somewhere on the scene, a place has something less about it. Of course there are quiet times, when the birds are still. Then the odd bird flies by as if on a stealth mission. Early morning and twilight is when I hear the birds at their most vocal, raucous even. Robins sing late into the evening, into the dark, making certain they are heard for miles. On a fine day recently, walking to the local shop, I noticed a bright robin at the very tippy top of a tree*, singing in such a distinctive voice and wondered if they, like us, have very different accents.
*Yes, I do still say ‘tippy top of the tree’ as a child might. The tippy tops of trees are something people don’t stare at enough. At least, as an adult, you can stare at them a little more easily?
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This week has been about shifting furniture and moving books, sorting through old and not so old things. I now have more bookcases in my room, my son has new carpet which he insists I stroke often, there’s a different feel to the house. Slowly, before spring has arrived, we are having a re-jig (I dislike the term de-clutter, as nothing we have is clutter, exactly). I spent a little time working on one of my ‘pin boards’ - the one in the front living space. To make this I used an empty tvintage frame (picked up at a local market), painted it gold, and added an insert of cardboard backed padded fabric (a sandwich of fabric, felt and card). I used quilting fabrics that caught my eye a few years ago. I used vintage trim to work as holding strips, but really I depend on pins to hold things in place. I like to keep it eclectic and have a mix of found images and my own made images. Yes, I do think my work can inspire me! Don’t think a board for inspiration has to exclude your own imagination, of course, it can be anything you want it to be - and I like to see my humble image-making next to an eclectic mix of stuff.
I have framed collages, in various rooms, that have a similar mix of my own work alongside found images. But the advantage of a pin board is that you can adjust and revise things quite spontaneously as there is no glass. That’s what a pin board is for, really: temporary thoughts and hold that thought, what about this with that and why not pin a tiny sketchbook open on the wall? And yes to dolls pinned up too, why indeed I will display anything on a pin board if it works for my eye.
I have a shoe box of postcards that I have collected over time - postcards from galleries, as well as vintage and antique photographs, snippets from magazines and books, greetings cards and bookmarks etc. So when I have to revise a display, I get my shoebox and have a good look through, to find what appeals to me at that moment.
And yes, I am making new mixed media dolls…..
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Two podcasts I came across recently and enjoy listening to - thought you might want to try them if you like to listen as you stitch/knit/wash up etc…
They are:
The Long Thread Podcast - a US based podcast, featuring discussions with artists and artisans of the fibre/textiles world - spinners, weavers, needleworks and others.
And
Things I Forgot Were Good For Me - a UK podcast that helps you remember, re-learn and inspired you to think again about what might bring some extra joy and meaning to your everyday world. I enjoyed the recent discussion with modern colour theorist Momtaz Begum-Hossain - her aesthetic is quite different from my own, but I agree that colour can work on a very personal level and help us in many ways.
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Soon, I will be launching my paying subscribers studio notes. These will be sent out about twice a month, in addition to these weekly Sunday notes. There will be more in-depth discussion of my work and a bit more about my process (not step by step tutorials). Supporting subscribers will also see new sketchbook pages, fiction writing, poetry and memoir notes. I hope you may consider paying a modest amount each month to help support me and my writing/creative sharing.
More details next week
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Thanks always for reading here.
Very much looking forward to your paid subscriber option! I am one who loves to know the story behind things, and to read your reflections on what matters to you and how it shows up in what you make gives me a greater understanding and appreciation for your art. Also, I have two old gold vintage frames and now I’m thinking that one of them might become a pinboard! I have hung them on the wall and displayed smaller works within them, but creating a background surface would allow much more flexibility in using the space. And finally, birds…. yes. 💙
My thoughts are if you don’t find your own work inspiring how can you expect it to inspire others. Not strictly always the case as someone might see something you haven’t but in general.
Did you watch Monty Don’s Adriatic Gardens? The sound of the birds in the episode in Croatia was so uplifting. So many wild flowers. So much we should be doing in this country.
Hope you have a lovely Sunday and coming week.