I Hit a Wall on show

On Friday B and I headed off to the big smoke (Brisbane) on the train (for 50c each way!) to see an exhibition called Dearly Departed, at the State Library of Queensland.  The Library has put together an exhibition around death, dying, loss and grief and has sources lot son fascinating items from heir collection; the original layout maps of cemeteries, stonemasons tools, journals of nurses and doctors; and all many of things related to how we mark death and the grieving process.

I was thrilled to learn that my artist' book I Hit a Wall  had been selected to go on show alongside so many other precious items.

I have written about its progress before (plenty of link backs in that previous link) but here are the words that accompany it in the collection (but which are not display in the exhibition):

I hit a wall 
2024

After the year that was 2020 I regretted not creating any work that spoke of, or to, the pandemic.
In 2021 I thought I would pay attention and just note down key events.
My Dad had gifted me a number of my mother’s handkerchiefs and I thought to embroider a journal of sorts onto them.
I began by writing down events in my own handwriting, transferring them onto a hankie, and then hand embroidering my handwriting.
I had no idea what 2021 would hold and that in fact, it would be busier than 2020 had been.

Each month I would capture events, and start stitching.
It took all my creative time to try and keep up with policy shifts; quarantine; border closures; contact tracing; gatherings; social distancing; access to vaccines; short sharp lockdowns…
It was exhausting.
I persisted.  
But then.

There was too much. I was too tired of it all.  I felt numb and overwhelmed. I felt weary.
I transferred the month of August onto the hankie but couldn’t start stitching. So much happened in that month that I had to do the criss-cross writing so often seen in old correspondence where the written lines went in two directions. I felt it would never end.
And I submitted to a sense of overwhelmedness and simply stopped.  

I hit a wall.

Leaving this artists’ book partially completed represents us all at the tail end of that year. I had thought I might pick it up and complete it, but I haven’t been able to.  Like everybody I probably just want to park those times, not re-visit them in detail.

Reading the handkerchief pages of this book, I am amazed to recall the daily drama we dealt with.

But I hit a wall and have now simply tacked the pages together and it is complete just as it is…

31cm(h) x 31cm(w) x 1cm(d) closed; 31cm(h) x 62cm(w) x 1cm(d) open.

Cotton handkerchiefs and embroidery thread, Pilot Frixion pen

There were different themes across the exhibition, and my work was part of the Pandemics, epidemics and quarantine.

There is an interesting virtual tour of the exhibition for those who can't get to Brisbane, and here is a screen shot of my work on display.

Back to the book itself, August was the month that defeated me - so much happened and I felt overwhelmed by the thought of trying to capture it all, let alone sew it all.

And by October, I had nothing.

This remains a book that I am proud of, and that has a special place in my heart and in my mind. They were such difficult times, and with this book, we remember them.

Thursday Thoughts...

"What's really good about the word 'art' is that 'art' is a word like 'love,' or 'god,' or whatever. It transcends so many things. "

Tracey Emin

I have been re-reading journal articles about the world of artists' books; and the Book Arts; and what makes a piece of work Book Art; and on and on in the attempt to characterise and catalogue artists' books.

These articles are nearly 20 years old so it has been interesting to see how they hold up - what is useful now; what fell by the wayside; what new direction took off afterwards etc. So yes, defining art is an interesting notion!

The openness with which Ms Emin describes art - the way in which it can encompass so much, can make room to hold and support diversity is a real strength of art I think.

Of course there will be divisions and categories within any gathering under the title of art; and purists will be annoyed by new things that purport to be art; and will no doubt say "yes... but is it really art"? And for me it broadly doesn't matter. I think lots of things are artistic and creative; does that make them art? It probably doesn't make them Art!

I am interested too in how she uses both love and god as the comparatives, and uses the words transcends. And yet I immediately read the meaning as to encompass and include. Whatever way it goes, I think art as a word, can be a very big umbrella.  Or many umbrellas.

Glimpses

 I have been working on finalising three verses/poems that reflect some of our time in Scotland.

I have called the series Glimpses. Each one is a glimpses of a scene I have become familiar with, and fond of, in the north of Scotland.

The chaffinches that visit our kitchen window are absolute favourites and still stop me each and every time. Yet, they move so swiftly I often only catch a glimpse. 

The changing nature of the hillsides as the seasonal colour changes take effect, incrementally, yet creating such vast contrasts, inspired glimpses of the turning.

 

Trees of the blanket bog came about following a conversation with my brother in Australia:

 

“It’s Autumn there now isn’t it?” he said; “How’s the colour?”

 

I turned and looked out the window.

 

“The colour’s more down south, like Perthshire, up here, we don’t really have trees”.

 

And I told him what we have instead are power poles. That these are our ‘trees of the blanket bog’; and how at certain points in our regular drive, we glimpse them, scratching the sky.

I have been working on them with my beautiful new typewriter and some lovely Japanese papers. 

There were typos, and layout mistakes, one time I didn't return far enough and the new line started in an indented position...so many things to focus on.

I was working towards using the Moleskine notebooks I mentioned back here...but after attempting to glue

the paper onto the lightweight page part, I was disappointed with the buckling and the way in which it flattened and deadened the lovely paper. So...B was right! And I had to ponder what to do instead. 

In the interim, I went and worked on my second doodle page - which was calming and mind-emptying, so I didn't get too het up about my failure.

I knew the typed pages were good and showed promise. I had stitched the typewritten page to another page of the same paper and they created a lovely framed/bordered look. But then what to do with them?

I tried them out on some Arches Velin paper, cut as if to make a cover. I liked the look, but then thought about attachment. Would I sew right through them into the cover? That was problematic as any sewing would cut through the words which were split over the gutter of the page. Glueing them was another option - but I really didn't like how much it deadened the work and didn't let it feel alive.

So I did a mock up in plain paper and much smaller than the real thing. And wondered how it would go if I simply machine stitched from the stitched border to the top; and from below to the bottom?

This was functional - it held the paper page in place; but also met the form requirement of letting the page have lift and life. Felt like I was onto a winner!

And so I went and folded the page and set each page into a cover and sewed from the border to the top and to the bottom. And left the threads...

And attached the title to the front of the cover. And they were done.

I have made four of each verse, and now I know what I want to do, I have the capacity to make more. But this is a good start, in readiness for the Pop Up in Scotland in August.

Conversations with Women Friends cards

I have popped all the cards into their packets/pouches and will see if I get any more made before we head to Scotland; but for now I have enough stock to got with in preparation for the Pop Up in Armadale in late August.

Women Friends are so important in our lives, and  I felt I wanted to honour those relationships somehow - recognise and celebrate them.

I ended up sequencing them - calling them CWWF I, II, II, IV etc all the way up to X.  I thought it would help people choosing, but also I wanted to think my way through sequencing them for a book I might print with them all.

CWWF I is a smily one - simple. We can often say so much with a delivery of chicken soup. Or a friend just delivers it without even talking about it and you know all the love and care that is in it.

Sometimes the conversation is pretty much one where one person does the listening as it's a hard, tough, sad, soul-destroying experience that needs to be shared and heard; not solved. CWWF II.

CWWF III - so often this is my answer to "how did it go?" Whenever I think back over all the topics we touched on - the health, the books, the politics, the friends, the work, the weather... so many things!

This one is powerful, and potent, and didn't need a red thread of conversation between us... CWWF IV

CWWF V - oh my this is cracker! Those moments when a shared experienced is captured in one word and you both just burst out laughing! The stitching line tries to capture that explosive burst somehow.

CWWF VI - this one captures those special friends you have known for decades, where your conversations cover so much territory. Over decades we have seen the ups, the downs and the round abouts...

Sometimes our conversations with friends are texts, chats, messages, emails and oh the bliss of a written letter. CWWF VII

Nothing beats sitting side by side and blethering whilst the road unfurls before you. CWWF VIII

CWWF IX - so true! Somehow time disappears and you take a breath and look around your and realise its been hours...

CWWF X. This one. The special ways of knowing and understanding, of sharing, connecting and checking in... is like no other relationship.

And yes, they still look glorious in a bundle!

Thursday Thoughts...

“Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting, and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives us a terrific advantage.”

Roald Dahl

My first thought was "well, yes, of course Roald Dahl would say that!"

Given the books he wrote and the stories he told and the way he engaged young readers - this is exactly how he saw the purpose of books.

His use of the word daunting interested me as I thought about this quote. For children I agree whole-heartedly. To develop a love of reading, and even the skill, books need to be accessible and engaging. If possible children shouldn't experience books as challenges to overcome, battles to be had, enemies to tackle. 

However, I can't fully agree with books not being daunting, if their purpose to educate and challenge. We can't always spend our life doing the nice things we love doing and not having our thoughts, perceptions or beliefs challenged. It does us good to se the world from a different angle and sometimes this can be daunting.

Daunting is also a nice word because it has a feel of the 'possible to overcomeness' of it. It isn't impenetrable, it isn't impossible it's just a bit daunting. Once we overcome our fear or hesitation we'll be right!

I agree in full with him as he finishes with how learning to be a reader gives us a terrific advantage, and is something I would wish for all of us. 

Celebration of Books Maleny, 2015. Setting up our Book Swap tree where folk could bring a book, then take a book....

Conversations with Women Friends - the choices

I have turned to these conversations because they feel unique, they feel special, and they feel enriching.  They are something I want to make small portable bits art about. The small works will try to celebrate the joy of women friends and the conversations we share.

Whilst I have bene pondering and playing with possible words for a while, I have settled on my ten descriptors/verses around different conversations with women friends. 

This is their first iteration as a set of words. I have thoughts about other ways to share them and use them, but for now I have settled on some business card sized pieces of printmaking paper, with typewriter, vintage Letraset, silk thread hand stitching and tracing paper pouches with machine stitching.

But the journey to this point has been a bit round about!

The first challenge was what sort of pouch to present them in? I tried a few origami fold style ones of different sizes. I tried some rectangular ones made of printed lightweight paper with tape holding the edges down and I tried my usual pocket pouches that I make for pebbles and some of B's jewellery.

Interesting how I came down on the side of what I know, and what I am known for.

And I decided I wanted to try out lightweight tracing paper as the pouch. Luckily I had a pad of 25 sheets I could use to test, but then I had trouble tracking any more of the same stuff down. I found another alternative, after trying some drawing/tracing paper friends had gifted me years ago. In some circumstances it would have been right; but for these, it just looked a little bit dirty, which was a real shame because I have a stash of it still!

I had typed the cards, and cut them all down to size and rubbed out the pencil guide marks and then it was down to determining how best to use the illustrations I had in mind.

I had decided on two circles with a line of running stitches between them, signifying a conversation. But first to the circles. I selected a couple of the letter O from a  few different typefaces we have and quickly stamped them using an ink stamping pad. Of course that ink ran, but I also wasn't too sure that I would get a crisp mark out of them anyway just by hand inking and stamping.

For the sake of testing I also chose to trace a few circles using a circle tool I have. They came out pretty cleanly which was good.

Then Barry asked if I had considered Letraset? And I hadn't, so I popped downstairs to the studio space and collected my bags of Letraset and set to work searching for a variety of Os that could work. Generally speaking they came out well and I thought yes, we have a solution. They aren't always perfect, but I kind of don't mind that they show their age.

And then to deciding which of the conversation lines I might use. Not the solid lines, and not the ones that were underlining but rather the intermittent lines that went between two people. I thought hard about do I choose a single style or ????

And as is often the way with me, the answer was in the ????s and it came about as I read each card and thought "that's a jumping up one" or that's a between two people one" or "that doesn't need a line between them" or "that is a very close one" and the images just happened.

And so here they are in sets of ten. I have made three sets of ten with a few spare. The idea is that they get sold individually because one of them might be just the perfect one for a friend; but that all ten could also be bought together as an art piece/installation.

The red thread harks back to my Women Friends work for The Red Thread exhibition and felt like the right choice. See here and here and here...

The wild dangling threads are just part of me and my making (dating back to A Subversive Stitch I think way back here).

I'll go through the finished cards individually next time I think.

You can see that each card is individual and unique with different typefaces and sizes of the Os, and different placement and numbers of stitches.

 Just like our friends and our conversations. Unique.

Doodling along

 I mentioned back here that I had set up a wee doodle practice because I thought I might enjoy having a very small thing to turn to each day.

So far, I have done pretty well with it - I think I have missed one day (so did two lines the next day) and one evening I realised I hadn't done it, and with only ten minutes to go before dinner was ready I thought let's see what I can get done - and I managed half a row.

It's been interesting to notice how much I have enjoyed the maybe ten or 15 minutes I spend each day doing what is really, a fairly mindless task. I think it has enabled me to empty my mind and simply focus.

It has been little bit like a circuit breaker and then of course there is the lovely simple feedback loop that shows me that I have done a little something.

I looked at my container of watercolours and just went - I don't ever use the browns - now is the time! I had five to choose from:

And so it begins.

Rather than simply paint directly into the shapes, I decided to try a bit of that watercolour thing of laying down the water first, then adding the pigment to it. Clearly some work better than others!

Some days the rows happen quickly!

The day I did two days in a row, in one sitting.

I think I did two rows in one day here because they were so tiny.

The ten minutes before dinner day!

And the next day.

And where I am up to now. Nearly time to draw up another one I think.

I have absolutely no purpose with this except to paint some shapes each day. It is proving to be both simple and soothing.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Shape clay into a vessel;
 It is the space within that makes it useful. 


Cut doors and windows for a room;
 It is the holes which make it useful. 


Therefore benefit comes from what is there; 
Usefulness from what is not there.” 

Lao Tzu

I know I have some work ahead of me when I read over a possible quote and go yes, then shake my head in disagreement, and wonder if I've not read it properly.  This happened with this quote and so here I am about to dig in and try to sort out my thinking.

I am fully on board with the first idea - that it is the space within a vessel that makes it useful. A cup is useful because of the void within it that can be filled with liquid that provides sustenance or comfort.

The second idea about doors and windows making a room useful I'm less sure of.  I think it's the walls and the roof that make a room useful! The roof in particular is key in terms of protection from the elements and by virtue of keeping the roof up, walls are also key and they also define a space which creates its usefulness in terms of scale - a tiny storeroom or a large living area. Doors allow you enter it and make use of it I guess.

And then I end up being somewhat confounded because I am not sure I fully understand his definitions and delineation between benefit and usefulness...

Somehow benefit comes from the form of the cup - the structure? Because it creates a void? And usefulness from the void within? And for a room its benefit comes from walls and a roof and the usefulness from doors and windows. Is that because the windows allow light in and one can therefore navigate the space, see things and find things within it? Doors make it useful because you can enter it?

Enough pondering for one day. It's a tricky one!

Both the benefit, and usefulness, of a cup are clear tome!

Back to jewellery - making!

 In preparation for the next Pop-Up Art Show back in Scotland later in the year, I have put my head down and been working hard to create some new pieces of jewellery. Some are variations on a theme so to speak; others are new designs and I am enjoying the challenges they all bring.

I did a lot of soldering of silver wire when we were at the cottage, and on return I have rolled it and buffed it.

Here I took five of the rolled pebble forms and set them together as a necklace. Rather than solder them together and make it a rigid piece, I thought I would try to link them together; and that would give a little bit more movement to the piece.

And then I connected it all together with a sterling silver chain. And was happy!

I had six small pebble forms ready to go, so I also rolled them. This time I did solder them together and they are such delicate little stacks of stones.

And here they are together. Quite a good result for a new design; and an older design modified to use very small forms!

Packed and ready for sale!