I mentioned this book that was causing me grief a week or so ago, and got a lot of helpful ideas about how to handle my response to it, and where to take it next. In the end I borrowed a few of them and talked to Barry about it. I really did like the idea of a bonfire to start with, then I loved the notion of barbed wire.
In the end I decided to simply wrap it up. To bundle the pages and covers together and wrap and wrap and wrap until it couldn't be undone. Somehow this made me feel better - that the difficult stuff was all tied up and able to be put aside safely. It may be waiting for me again; or it may have found a new form. Barry saw it all wrapped in black and asked me if I'd thought about weaving some white thread into it as a sign of hope...
So I did, because he is so wise, and it offers me a way forward and a way not to stay stuck in the dark stuff.
But I'm never there for long, so I thought I'd share some of the light things I have been playing with as well of late.
I have finished my last letters for the first ALAW alphabet. Phew, just in time. Sadly I haven't finished the piece yet - but the ideas are still there.
Secondly some lovely origami envelopes I have been making as I finalise my Unbearable Whiteness...book. I had planned that it would only be for summer, but I decided in the end to do a half-year, so today the collection of paint swatches is finished. Stay tuned for the final book.
And then, to find the balance between the light and the dark, I thought I'd show you a few bits from a wee book that the lovely Lesley from Printed Material sent me as a prize-gift. It is a gorgeous book and has such beautiful paper in it, and Lesley encouraged me to "do something with it". I think we all suffer from giving beautiful blank-paged books away only to have folk face them with fear and trepidation and never write or draw in them. So I decided I would make a little book of black marks. Here are some of my pages so far...
What a ramble and rave, but the idea of light and dark shone thru this week. The week was dreary grey and white and misty; today dawned still and bright and blue!
In the end I decided to simply wrap it up. To bundle the pages and covers together and wrap and wrap and wrap until it couldn't be undone. Somehow this made me feel better - that the difficult stuff was all tied up and able to be put aside safely. It may be waiting for me again; or it may have found a new form. Barry saw it all wrapped in black and asked me if I'd thought about weaving some white thread into it as a sign of hope...
So I did, because he is so wise, and it offers me a way forward and a way not to stay stuck in the dark stuff.
But I'm never there for long, so I thought I'd share some of the light things I have been playing with as well of late.
I have finished my last letters for the first ALAW alphabet. Phew, just in time. Sadly I haven't finished the piece yet - but the ideas are still there.
Secondly some lovely origami envelopes I have been making as I finalise my Unbearable Whiteness...book. I had planned that it would only be for summer, but I decided in the end to do a half-year, so today the collection of paint swatches is finished. Stay tuned for the final book.
And then, to find the balance between the light and the dark, I thought I'd show you a few bits from a wee book that the lovely Lesley from Printed Material sent me as a prize-gift. It is a gorgeous book and has such beautiful paper in it, and Lesley encouraged me to "do something with it". I think we all suffer from giving beautiful blank-paged books away only to have folk face them with fear and trepidation and never write or draw in them. So I decided I would make a little book of black marks. Here are some of my pages so far...
What a ramble and rave, but the idea of light and dark shone thru this week. The week was dreary grey and white and misty; today dawned still and bright and blue!
What an intriguing solution to the darkness...all bundled up so it can't escape, yet hope can get in...or that's the way I'm seeing it. Just wonderful. I yearn to hold the book to feel the threads wrapped so tightly, going this way and that. It's perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks for seeing the dark book that way Jennifer...it feels a bit like that for me too. I feel very comfortable with it sitting there like that, and the thread of hope helps a lot. I used a while spool of that thread and it does feel good!
Deleteit can be quite shocking when something we made ourselves elicits such a visceral response... even moreso when the feelings are dark and raw... i like your resolution on it - it's almost like you have made it a cocoon, wrapped in (what looks like) silk... honored the hurt, hoped for light... as in all times of darkness, the light remains, even if it is only a dot in the distance... i guess instead of seeing it bundled up so that nothing can escape, i see it given the chance to metamorphosize spiritually/emotionally...
ReplyDeleteit is so wonderful for you both that you are able to talk about your work, be understood and guide each other at times...
Such truth in those words MJ- a real shock! But what a lovley way to see it - cocooned, and almost dormant, waiting to change form and become something beautiful. What a special way of seeing it, thank you. I know how fortunate I am to have these conversations with B - this was hardly a long chat; just a simple idea, dropped in the pond, and it rippled out.
DeleteI went back to read the post with interest. The pages are full of energy but obviously not an energy that soothes you. I've had that experience with my own work and ended up carving the totem into squares. Intriguing the different solutions for work that bothers us! Loving the black marks on beautiful paper.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robyn - it really was challenging me, and I have found this solution a good one. It is interesting to discover how we can retrieve pieces that are bothering us, and still have them be something, not just trashed. Go well.
Deleteyou know what the black book reminds me of? the Sinsar Dubh. it's a fictitious book of Shadows in one of the series i read. not that it looked like the SD, it just feels like it. in the SD, an atoned king poured all his evilness into a book (SD) and then had it chained and locked in magic runes so that the evilness may never see the light of day. but the difference here is ... in your black book, there's hope. there was none in the SD. B is indeed wise.
ReplyDeleteWow - that has a very strong connection doesn't it Luthien? I'm glad that B suggested to have the hope there...it makes the world of difference to me and how I feel about it. He is indeed a wise one! Go well.
DeleteA book wrap that cannot be undone. I love the idea. A dark book full of mystery, things we cannot see, full of things we project into it. It would almost be a pity to unwrap it. A dark, pregnant, wise book of secrets.
ReplyDeleteThanks you ersi marina, I think in its new form it does offer all those possibilities and imaginings. It will be interesting to see if I ever do unwrap it...
DeleteHow lovely to see both a resolution to your reaction to your 'dark' book and the creation of marks in my little book to you... you are always pushing against the tide and getting on with things Fiona. I wish I had half of your work ethic!!
ReplyDeleteHi Lesley - I have loved the challenge of actually working into your book, and it has become an interesting play-time opportunity. What mark can I make today? What pen will I use today? All good fun! And I think it is going to look quite nice as well. I think the dark is resolved well for now - I am pleased it is settled, and has a a little bit of light in it...
DeleteBarry's brilliance saved the day... soooo well. Those little folded packets are intriguing and I really like what you've done with the prize book.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, Barry's addition made a world of difference here. It is just such the right thing to finish it with...The prize book is heaps of fun, and Jo - wait till you see what the origami has become - I am totally in love!
ReplyDeleteWell, let me add my voice to the chorus of approval and admiration! The perfect solution to your creative dilemma. I was worried you might opt for the bonfire idea, but this one is so much better - the darkness has been preserved, has been protected in a way, which (to me at least) shows the ability to treat dark matters with due respect and distance rather than attempting to reject or destroy them out of blind fear. It is indeed intriguing and apt that this book happened in the midst of your working with so much white, and could not be complete without its own little thread of hope. Brava!
ReplyDeleteThanks G/TT - the bonfire was definitely an option there for a bit! But yes, I think it it shows respect for the difficult things and offers some hope of resolution...
DeleteI LOVE your "rambling and raving," as you refer to it... writing to thank you for sharing exactly that!
ReplyDelete~ Helen
Oh Helen, that's just so nice of you! I'm glad you enjoy the meanderings, ramblings, ravings, ponderings...it's so good to know. Go well.
DeleteFiona....love that wrapping notion on the book, as well as the bit of white contrast. I think wrapping provides a wealth of possibilities (as you know from those lovingly wrapped stones of yours!) ....seeing something as bound or protected or anywhere in between. Lovely marks on those pages too....you are always full of inspiration for me!
ReplyDeleteHi Patti- yes wrapping can make something precious as well can't it? It has worked out well for now -perhaps in time I can unbundle it and do something more formal with it; but for now it is just right and just so. Go well!
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