2023, the year in review.

 As is my want about now, I take the time to look back over my year of making and record the ones I like best. It is such a worthwhile thing to do as I can oftentimes barely remember if I made anything at all! In disruptive times it can be hard to keep track and time has become ever more fluid as I get older and the times we live in affect how I view and remember things and events.

And so it was once again, that I surprised myself as I went for a wander through the year and found a bunch of things I had made. In alphabetical order, no order of merit or preference here are the ten things I did this year that I like the most.

On reflection, our trips to Scotland meant that I undertook different types of making; whilst the collaboration I shared with Annwyn became a real focus for my book-making.

1. Charred I

I love this simple and elegant post, inspired by some charred fence posts, cove rocks, rope and rust it became a lovely sentinel in the front garden of the cottage.

2. Charred III

Its not that I didn't like Charred II; its just that I never really photographed it! Charred III is also a lovely reminder of how much fun it can be to simply play together and make something from random things. We had been so busy, and this small piece was just the remedy we needed.

3. Earrings

Still in Scotland, we try to take the opportunity when we can, to do a workshop with silversmith and jeweller Lindsay Gallagher. I really wanted to learn how to solder this year and was thrilled with what I managed to achieve (with help from Lindsay). I love wearing these earrings with their shine and movement. These pebble shaped forms have also become the mainstay of my own jewellery making and I have carried so many of the lessons with me...

4. Grief is a Stone

I was wanting to test and take my calligraphy in new directions and really liked the idea of a sculptural form. Working with rocks from the Scottish cove and beaches, these small sculptures have emerged, with a message that describes the weight of grief at times. 

5. Pendant

On return from Scotland I wanted to try and see if I could remember things about silversmithing and making jewellery, so pretty much went straight into the shed to put into practice the things I had learned. I like the layered movement in this pendant and am proud that I resolved each and every step.

6. The Shape of Things I

This was such a lovely way to begin to re-focus my making. The times of Covid had felt very disjointed and shapeless, so working on this really did help give shape and form to my work. This first unbound book just reflects so many ways that time felt different...

7. The Shape of Things II

By book two I had begun to see the shape or outline of some things...

8. The Shape of Things III

This book had lots of pages, and was a diary of sorts of our collective amnesia; the way in which we avoid thinking about or talking about or acknowledging those times of lockdowns and separation.

9. The Shape of Things IV

Whilst for the first part of our exchange I had focussed on time and Covid implications, for the second part I used the theme to encourage me to work with the existing shape of things in the studio. Book 4 used pre-cut and prepared Perspex as its covers, and some previously cut and prepared papers (extended slightly) for the pages) and took a different colour way entirely. Using botanical-like prints from Annwyn, this books tells a story of unfurling...

10. The Shape of Things V

Continuing my approach to using things up, for book 4 I turned to these pre-folded zig zag books of khadi paper. The addition of a pebble suddenly created ripples and the words began... reflecting how ripples grow, even as they diminish. 

There were quite a lot of smaller things that didn't quite seem as substantial art-wise: my YES posters, my pebble cards, my lovely pouches and threads and some wrapped pebbles.  I also did a couple of courses which helped mightily with my making, but didn't produce actual finished pieces, so it has been a varied year in many ways.

As ever, thanks for coming along on the wander and for being part of my year - I appreciate each and very person who reads and comments and shares their thoughts. 

Go well into 2024, and may we all find, and share, love and care and hope and kindness along the way.

Thursday Thoughts...

"If one publishes, then one is creating a public record of Learning to Write". 

Lorrie Moore

I really like the sense of humility in this quote, suggesting that even if somebody experiences the success of having a book published, that really all that that does is show people an example of learning to write.  I like the learning to write bit, rather than a how to write bit, and it's there that I think the humility is shown.

She doesn't suggest that if you read this you will learn how to write - she simply says this is an example of me learning to write, and it is now on the public record, rather than simply in a drawer in my office.

Its a lovely way to think about what all of those books we see in bookshops and libraries are - more lessons in learning to write! They aren't exemplars or some sort of pinnacle of excellence - "f I am published I know what I am doing" - they are simply examples of the process being undertaken time and time again of learning to write.

I think it could also apply to art - if you get work shown in a gallery and in a catalogue, it is now creating a public record of learning to make/paint/draw/sculpt/pot or whatever it is that one does.

My work on a catalogue cover...

Garden beauty and art

A few months ago some development was being done on a nearby block which meant that the old fence posts were torn down. In a mad dash I ran over to the folk who were pulling it down and asked them to save some for me. I must have looked like a whirling dervish as I raced across and into the long grass, and the young man I spoke with was desperate for me to not come near because there was a snake - just there- near the car! But I have become more relaxed about snakes and knew that as long as it wasn't a brown snake (he said it was black) it wouldn't come after me and was probably more scared than he was.  

So I rounded up our 80 year old neighbour and his ute and together we collected them and they came back and sat for a wee while whilst we pondered what to do with them.

Here they after, after Barry sawed the bottoms off them all.

We had some rain this week that made the soil easier to dig so we 'planted' them along our boundary line so to speak, creating a lovely sort of courtyard effect in our garden.

The view from the front door.

And on Sunday Barry moved our birdhouse bee house and fixed it atop the 'tree' with rusty birds in it, and it looks just delightful from the kitchen window.

And more garden beauty - a gathering for our festive season tables.

Art and beauty are everywhere...

Hope and peace

Another festive season is with us and as we turn towards family, friends, community, rituals, and gentle remembering, I wish for peace. 

Peace within, peace between us and peace between nations. 

I also seek hope - believing that what we do, in small ways will make life better somewhere and somehow for some others.

Wherever you may be, and however you may spend the time, may your days be bright and beautiful, may you be safe, and may you find and celebrate moments of peace.

More metal moments

Following on from my not so good pouring of metal last week, I released my wee cottage. It took me three pours to reach this globular mass and I think it might just get re-melted and I will try again!

The initial unveiling has quite a few marks and globs attached.

After breaking some bits off and trying to grind and smooth some edges.

No matter which way you look at it, it's not a smooth little cottage. Rather lumpy in fact.

Yet the remnants were impressive in their own way! Quite wild.

I am however, getting better at soldering, rolling and hammering silver.

A few pebble-inspired pieces emerging...

I have begun playing with how words might work with these pieces and am having fun with that too. So many things to do in so many different directions...

Thursday Thoughts...

“Time heals, after all — although the clock that marks that kind of time has no hands.” 

 Suze Rotolo

This is a piercing and yet simple quote. We all know the adage that time heals, and we suppose it must, because everybody says so and we know that we must move on and get over things, have closure and all the rest. 

This quote has you assuming that somebody else is reminding us of that, and that they have gleaned some sort of insight with the bit '...after all -".

And indeed they have, and it caught me when I read it.  Yes yes, time heals, but there is no way of marking healing, or measuring it, or recognising when it has happened. The thing that time does with healing is not recognisable as time, it may take forever, but we don't and can't tell. 

How can a clock without hands mark time? If it can't, then what is the point of suggesting 'time' heals?

I love the ambiguity it leaves you with.

Harum scarum

 Helter skelter isn't quite right, but neither is hither and yon, but there is something about scrambling around doing bits of this and that I need a better description for! I've gone with harum scarum for now.

Life is full and pulling me this way and that. My making is partly trying to happen to a schedule with deliverables all looming closely; as well as trying to get ahead with heaps of work due next year. 

So yet again, things are progressing on multiple fronts, with nothing yet being able to be ticked off the To Do list as completed. 

Nevertheless, the simplest things give me pleasure. I recently purchased this stack of remnants from the beautiful Ink and Spindle in Melbourne, with the idea of making gift bags from the scraps.  

I felt very bold as I moved away from my usual neutral remnants to warm remnants... some beautiful screenprinted Australian designs on this lovely linen (and cotton).

So far, my plan is not what you'd describe as progressing quickly, but the enormous satisfaction I got from making this double drawstring bag is incalculable!

Meanwhile over in the workshop, I have some metalwork to get done for a piece in an exhibition next year.  Lucky for me I have Barry to guide me in the intricacies and alchemy of smelting and pouring metal. I am however, not yet particularly good at it and I think we may end up re-melting this first effort and trying again. I overshot the mould by a long way and the molten metal just splattered everywhere...

Sigh.

Next time!

And just for the heck of it in amongst it all, we had some weather. It has been stinking hot and steamy here, which has produced afternoon and evening thunderstorms which have been pretty wild. Friends have been without power for over 24 hours, and we got away with simply several large branches down.

This is how we walk to the workshop from our place. Not so much nowadays!

The fence didn't fare all that well.

Our nearby neighbour was lucky that this fence took the brunt of the branches - his roof is covered in debris, but no branches did any damage.

Who knows what the rest of the week will reveal?? There is certainly never a dull moment.

Waxing and waning

 I have a project with a deadline of 29 December, which I figure is kind of a kind date - it gives folk who might get a  bit of a breather between Christmas and New Year a chance to finalise work, as opposed to saying it is due before Christmas.  That said, I am not one of the folk who will get a bit of down time between Christmas and New Year, so I am trying to get my piece completed before the 25th!

I am edging closer and have turned my mind to presentation (before the piece is actually finished of course!) and set out to plan some pockets or packets to contain it.

The idea came about because this wee parcel/packet/pocket was sitting on my desk for no good reason. But I picked it up, touched it, smelt it and wondered if it might be the answer.

It involved letterpress printing on Japanese paper, dipping the piece in bees wax, and then hand piercing and stitching down the sides.

So I gathered some papers that had graphite rubbings on them, and wondered if Letraset might suit the purpose? But answered myself 'no'.

So away I went and dipped in wax. The smell is divine, but for some reason I couldn't quite get my act together for a lovely smooth dipping action. But I did like how the wax trapped the wayward threads on this piece.

A few too many lumps and bumps for my liking.

But I persisted and tested out some envelope ideas.

I quite like the shorter overlap on the second one, but the lumps and bumps distract me a bit. The first one could seem too busy, and is also bigger. So I don't quite have the answer but I do have some options. Which in my mind, at the moment and given all that is on, is progress!

Thursday Thoughts...

"Art is not in some far-off place". 

Lydia Davis

Although I think Lydia Davis is an author, she clearly understands art and its place in our world and our lives.  Art is everywhere if we notice. 

I think it takes a certain kind of attention to be able to discover the art we walk amongst, and alongside, in our daily lives. If we can find the time and the space in our brains, and train our eyes to see, and perhaps our ears to hear, we can discover a bounty of art, without ever going into a gallery.

New York City, on this day, ten years ago, 14 December 2013.

Beauty and a few more pebbles

This time of year its hard to get much making done - our attention has been on getting Barry's new jewellery launched and of course the various festivities and gatherings that happen around now. 

But I managed to achieve a small bit of making by taking the watercolours of pebble circles I had done back here, and photographing them and then working with them to turn into lovely printed cards, on nice warm Arches Velin paper.

I needed to watch a video on how to get the layout right for a greeting card, but was really chuffed that I managed it!

And with that small achievement, all I have left is some beautiful orchids from my Dad's greenhouse. 

I love this unfurling one...