2024, the year in review

 This time of year is good for so many things - slowing down, forgetting what day it is, as well as looking back and looking forward.

Each year I reflect on what I made in the course of the year, and consider the pieces I like the most; or those of which I am most proud. Sometimes they are real works; at other times they are simply little pieces that gave me great pleasure.

This year I have a real blend of things, as it was a busy year exhibition-wise and I experimented with different things.

In alphabetical order only, no listing of favourites by ranking, here are the ten pieces I made this year which I like the most.

1. All That Was Lost

The feature piece of my exhibition Hame, these five scrolls cascaded beautifully into their rusty tins, with the hand stitched words depicting such rich and full lives and homes. My heart still feels warm when I look at this piece and I'm thrilled it has a new home at the Strathnaver Museum.

2. Bundled and Burnt

Another piece for my exhibition Hame, this piece is so simple, so elegant and so poignant. It too now resides with the Strathnaver Museum and whilst I will miss it, I hope to visit it there again one day. The background story can be found here.

3. Grief is a Stone book-ets and cards

The three poems here, pondering grief at different points along the way; hand illustrated, embossed and stitched; are quiet and gentle acknowledgements of grief.

4. Hame exhibition activity

Alongside the exhibition Hame this activity brought me so much joy! Visitors participated by writing their responses to four questions over the four weeks and I hand stitched each week's responses into a book. I loved to read people's thoughts and was impressed by the time and consideration they gave to them. Such a lovely record of what home means to folk.

5. I Hit a Wall

This one kind of came out of the blue towards the end of the year, when I was just taken by the notion that this work, incomplete as it appeared, was in fact complete. I tacked the pages together and it was done. Telling the story of the pandemic in 2021 and how weary we were all were; how many things we had to deal with; how many decisions were made daily and how we were transfixed by press conferences, updates and data.

6. Pebble Jewellery

The Pebbles exhibition offered me the opportunity to expand my work into all sorts of mediums - laser jet cut steel words into stone sculptures; and hand formed-silver jewellery in the form of pebbles. I discovered I loved making pebble jewellery! And folk also seem to appreciate it. I now have an exclusive arrangement with a shop to sell it for me - who knew?!?!

7. The Emigrants

This unbound book was another new direction for me with the overlaying of photographs onto lightweight papers as illustration and image. Although the postcard size, Letraset and hand stitching meant it didn't venture toooo far away from me. Another piece for my Hame exhibition.

8. The Shape of Things 6

Although this piece was not my favourite amongst all of the books for The Shape of Things, it does make me happy as it reminds me what a lovely collaborative exchange it was with Annwyn Dean. It was also the only piece completed this year as all the others were made in 2023.

9. Together

Sometimes its a large exhibition or collection-worthy piece; sometimes its a small gift or offering that heads out and around... These together cards are the latter; and they just remind me of how important it is to stand alongside folk and remind ourselves we are not alone.

10. Travelling Home

Last, but definitely not least. This piece has been in the making for years. More than five, as ideas about pegs and threads and two homes percolated about in my brain. Hame offered me the place to put it together with notions of here and there, of travelling and of reminders of home. I quite simply love this piece and it is the only piece of my own work I have ever put up on our wall.

Thanks for coming along on the wander back through the works of 2024. On reflection having so many exhibitions to participate in meant I really did create some work! For once I was spoiled for choice for selection rather than rummaging through and trying to find the small things... It also looks a lot like my palette - the soft muted tones and a surprising amount of blue.

I focussed on the notion of home a lot, and the impacts of displacement on women; pebbles also featured in different ways, as did grief. Community, collaboration and care are there; along with my new found passion for silversmithing. Life is good and it was a very fortunate year.

Here's to more making.

Preparing for the new year

 We often use the time between Christmas and New Year to set and print our New Years cards. It's a thing we started doing because when we were super busy work-working in a previous life, there was no way on Earth we would find time to make, write and post Christmas cards, so we went with New Year. And in the end, it has worked our fine for us, as so many of our wishes and hopes for folk are about the year ahead...

This year I thought I would just do some numbers, and maybe turn them this way and that.

Sounded so easy, but took me quite the while to sort. I have 'flipped' the photos here so you can see what they might print like; rather than try to work out by reading the numbers back to front, if it might work.

At first, I thought that numbers could be read clockwise as you moved around the square. But I got 25 wrong on the bottom and in the end wasn't sure that they looked nicest that way.

Then I thought maybe all the numbers would face inwards, but then when you put the big number inside, I wasn't sure that that worked either. And again, I had stuffed up the bottom numbers!

By now, I can't even work out what I might have been trying to do here! The numbers are wonky every which way.

But for whatever reason I was feeling confident enough to pop the big numbers back in!

Then I thought maybe all the ones you could read horizontally should be easily read, and the two R and L could face inwards. 

But then I went back to all the base lines being towards the centre...

And honestly, this seemed like a good enough place to stop. So I went and set up and inked up.

Before we went to Scotland back in August, a neighbour had given me one of her favourite rocks and asked if I could wrap it for her like I had done with some cement ones for our Pebbles exhibition. I said I would and it went onto the "Before the end of the year" list.

Which seemed to arrive with a rush and a roar this week! So on Boxing Day, I managed to collect the thread and some twigs and happily wrapped the rock just in time.

The before the end of the year list is getting done!

Thursday Thoughts...

“An artist is an explorer” 

Henri Matisse

These words ring so true for me. My sense is that no artist really knows what they are doing, where they are going or where they will land. I think most creative folk I know head off with a bit of a kitbag, some tools, a vague idea of the direction they're headed in and then follow their maps and their instincts and end up somewhere special.

Matisse seems to suggest that artists head into new territory - and discover things. That they find ways of seeing a place anew and afresh; or that they look deeper into the cracks, the dark, the bits hidden underneath. They go places that other folk don't, and they see things that other folk don't see.

Sounds about right to me.

It's Christmas

Once more I share my yearly wish at Christmas: As Christmas arrives and we turn towards family, friends, community, rituals, and gentle remembering, I wish for peace. Peace within, peace between us and peace between nations. 

This year and in the year ahead, may we bring peace to the table, to our conversations, to our families and to our interactions.

 To all my blogging friends who share so much and support each other so much, thank you for another year of magic. Another year of sharing, connecting and supporting.

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

Hearts, twinkles, peace...

Collecting peace...

 I love the network of makers around the world who pause and try to build, create, and bring peace to their work and to others.

One of those generous makers is Liz Ackert, in Texas, USA. Liz recently re-activated her peace pin project and very kindly sought requests for pins, and we received ours last week. 

Mine went straight onto my bag which I carry books in and here it is as I walked into town on Thursday. 

I love this bag and the fraying and the stitching; but I also love that it is a place for collecting peace badges. The first one Liz sent me in 2017 is the apricot one; this most recent one is the beautiful bold cherry red one. Barry and I made the other peace badges when we had a badge/button making machine.

I thought about my word to choose and I thought to bring peace is important. We should try to bring peace with us as we have conversations, when we visit folk, when we gather at meetings and in other places. Making a choice and a decision to bring peace with us, seemed apt and I love my new pin!

The bag in repose...

I still love all this slow hand stitching and even the way some of it is pulling apart. A sure sign that the bag is loved and used!

 

And then the other side of the bag holds quirky maker, feminist and just trying to get through badges too!

Badges from Jubly-Umph

Thursday Thoughts...

"Books have a unique way of stopping time in a particular moment and saying: Let's not forget this." 

 Dave Eggers

This quote got me thinking today about how often I do this. How often I get stopped in my tracks and think, whoa, this is important. Do not forget this moment; these words; this capturing of an idea; this expression; this perfectly succinct crystallisation of so much. And yet sadly, I so often do.

It feels like with the amount of information one consumes in the course of an average day, that where once you might have thought "that was so spectacular, I will remember it", nowadays I find myself barely remembering what is what that stopped, me exactly, nor where I came across it, or sometimes even who wrote it or said it. I am oftentimes left with a vague sense that somebody said or wrote something really good. Which is neither impressive nor inspiring...

Perhaps he isn't referring to that at all; rather he might simply be saying that a book that tells a story is encouraging us to pay attention to the time in which it is set; perhaps the place and how it operated; maybe the workforce of an era; or the gender roles we took on at different times. In a book about WWI we might be reminded to try really hard not to go there again; a book set in or around outback Australia during a drought reminds us of the fragility of both the planet and our people. Perhaps that is what he is saying.

But I focused on forgetting particular moments and was reminded how often that happens to me.

Circles of Concern

 It's interesting to me how things come around, and go around.

I last made a series of Circle of Concerns cards early in 2020 - the beginnings are here. The times feel right for more cards. I blogged on the different stages it seems both here and here.

I think it's fair to say we live in troubling times. Every time I look at the news I think about all the things there are to worry about in the world; all the places you fear for; and all the people struggling and suffering. It's big. It's a lot. And it's not hard to get overwhelmed.

I worry about climate breakdown and the intensity of the weather everywhere; I worry about refugees in countries which are under threat and living through attacks; I am horrified by the Taliban and the decisions they continue to make about what women and girls cannot do; I fear the impact of the elections result in the US; the cost of living goes up and up for folk; housing is scarce and expensive and homelessness is rising.

At times there is not a lot of cheer. Although these roses did bring me cheer this week.

And so I have to bring myself back from all of these circles of concerns - all of these things I worry about - and return to my circle of control. What is it that I can do to help ameliorate these problems? What steps can I take? What small things can I do? These are my circle/s of control and I need to focus on them and take small steps within them.

And so to the cards as a visual reminder of this.

I have begun again with a different typeface and a slightly different layout and size. I printed out a photo for reference.

After printing I draw in the squares.

These are the ones that were rejected - I didn't keep very straight liens as I traced out the square...

This is one under construction... adding circles here and there, trying for the "centre" circle to remain the same size across them all, but with variations around it.

Using my trusty circle drawing template!

A couple with both square sand circles drawn - although now I look at it, that one on the left is a bit wonky and should be added to the reject pile!

It's a slow process and I still have to draw circles on the remainder; and then add gold to the single circle, that circle we can control.

Nevertheless I also enjoyed this accidental photograph of a Christmas star with lights on it where I clearly moved well before the camera had finished doing its thing!  

Finding happiness and joy in small things and small moments.

Remembering to update

 So often I am reminded that its never just about making the art...

Having received the good news from the State Library of Queensland last week about their purchase of I Hit a Wall, I spent time updating my CV for them and completing the paperwork that accompanies the book; as well as doing the packing and posting and invoicing...

I woke yesterday remembering that I probably should update the CV on my website...and the document that indicates which institutions my work resides in.

I added this book to both and went to the website to attach the two new documents, uploaded them and felt most chuffed with myself. But of course it doesn't end there.

I remembered I hadn't include the two works which were acquired by the Strathnaver Museum following my exhibition there in September, Hame. So I re-did the documents and re-loaded them.

Which reminded me I normally add these sorts of things to my portfolio page. 

And from that page I have links to some process stories, and so off I went looking for representative blog posts about each of the works and thinking about titles and images that might describe them well.

I also added in Travelling Home which I love, but which is in our personal collection rather than a public one. As the top of the page says, sometimes it's just about pieces I love.

And then of course I realised I should probably update the news page of the website and include these stories; and remove the other pieces of 'old' news that were there.

It never ends!

Luckily it was a rainy day and I was pretty tired, and I didn't feel like doing much else, so updating all the website stuff felt like a real accomplishment. Phew!

And just to finish with some end of year twinkles - a table setting at lunch in theVillage on Friday...