Paper Ponderings
FIONA DEMPSTER - MAKER WITH WORDS
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Thursday Thoughts...
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Playing with notions of home
As ever, our trip to the cottage has made me stop and consider the notion of home. I have pondered this before, but travelling so far to a place so remote and so different, and yet feeling so at home, at times confounds me.
Home and Place.
I have returned with lots of thoughts and drifting words to try and express this experience; trying to gain some understanding. For the time being they remain a little bit misty, a little bit unformed. Occasionally some sunlight pours through, and I have odd moments of clarity.
So I am listening to each and every moment, no matter how small, and where I can I am using it to help me make sense of it.
As I was unpacking stuff and putting it away, I looked at the rusty pages I had brought back with me.
I enjoyed their wild, intense, yet incomplete marks. From the old hot plate coil.
Sunday, May 15, 2022
Studio time with stones
I have managed to spend a few days in the studio this week - first up needing to unpack, sort, store and inventory things on return from Scotland. Secondly to try and get the mustiness out of it and undertake the odd search and desetroy mission to discover where any mould had started to grow given the amazing amount of water we've had. And thirdly to simply soak in making which has been grand.
A couple of quick statistics on the rain.
We have been back in Maleny for a week. During the week we have had 577mm of rain. That is 57cm, over half a metre of water. In 7 days. Our monthly average is 114mm, so we have managed 5 x the monthly average in just a week. No wonder we feel wet and damp. Today tho - the sun shone!
I had brought three cove stones back with me (maybe between 4 and 6 cm long), with thoughts of lettering in my head. Stones and pebbles and rocks are such a deep part of our home in Scotland; pebble beaches, rocks every time we dig, stones for carving...
They are lovely stones, and I wanted to trial some Letraset on them. But I had to work out why they needed words on them...what was the purpose of adding words?
I thought about how I feel about the stones, and how I love having one in my pocket to roll around between my fingers. I thought about their quiet and calm presence on a desk. I thought about how much I love just looking at them. What would I say?
It came to me, that the stones act as memory keepers and reminders. They can settle and calm you. Strangely enough they feel supportive and caring. Friendly even.
I jotted down my thoughts and went to work.
I chose the darkest one first, figuring I could hide errors in it more safely than with the creamy one.
I moved onto the cream one and it had flecks of dazzling quartz in it I think, which may have made it harder to adhere to. I love how each stone has its own nature as well, and will work with you, or be a bit more independent.
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Thursday Thoughts...
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
A few favourites...
We are still sorting and sifting and settling here; altho I have attended three community events in two days so we must be sort of on track.
I thought I would just do a quick run past some of my favourite moments from our trip. It won't be an exhaustive gallery, but these are some of the highlights that popped up as I glanced through my photos...
In no particular order.
From the bedroom, out through a misted window, this wee lamb was nestled with its mum. The lambs were absolutely a highlight for me this time - SO MANY!
Sunset around 9.30pm one night, out the bedroom window. The long evenings and twilight were wonderful. And there are some tiny fence line marks on the horizon. Lines.
Another evening sky out the bedroom window. The sky.
Early morning on the way to the cove. Looking across the headland, so gentle and peaceful. Loving those lines.
The cottage with mum and the newborn lamb, the morning after its arrival.
One of my wee lochans from my poem/words. I love these wee lochans so much. And the sky.
The other wee lochan that shimmers as we drive by. With geese and the sea beyond. And gorse. The air was scented with its fabulous coconut scent.
We turned left and went down a single track road and came upon this. So many stories to be told, or made up.
An evening wander and more lines in the sky.
Did I mention the lambs???
This slowly crumbling cottage...
I may yet do more memory lane posts, but these are just a few of our special moments.
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Small batches...
I have come to the notion that time at the cottage is a time of small making.
And perhaps as they say, from little things big things grow. I hope some things do grow from the small making I managed whilst away.
Having enjoyed our cove wanders and the marvellous rusty bits and pieces that we gleaned along the way, I suddenly remembered that I could use some of the pieces to rust-stain paper. I rushed into doing it with some very strong tea, and realised half way through I had probably forgotten how I used to do it, but went ahead anyway.
I tried a few different papers.
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Thursday Thoughts...
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Words and wasps
I was happy to be asked by a neighbour here if I could do some calligraphy for her in the front of a photo album that was being gifted to a special relative.
As ever, I wanted to check what sort of calligraphy might be preferred, especially as I don’t have any of my calligraphy tools with me! That meant that I would have to prepare the writing in pencil, and ‘colour it in’ so to speak.
The quick pencil sketches I did to show different styles - no lines, no rubbing out, really just indicative notions.