Narratives - an artists' book exhibition

 Whilst we are away, another beautiful artists' book exhibition is occurring in Maleny. As part of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Writer's Festival some good people are once again showcasing artists' books at The Little Red Cottage in Coral St Maleny. Details below.

I am sad to be away, but so grateful to be included.

The theme this year is Narrative - Connecting hearts, minds and nature

I have two entries in the show. This will be the very first showing of my book Simply Being.

The nature of the book, about slowing down and taking time to be, and to be present, resonates with the theme I think - connecting your own mind and your own heart; and particularly connecting with nature.  

The words in this book emerged from time spent here in Scotland where I do look slowly, and try to listen softly, and of course, go gently...

I have also contributed my three Grief is a Stone book-ets.

It felt to me that these book-ets also tell a tale of connection with our hearts and our minds. They speak of how we try to make sense of loss and grieving and how it shifts and moves and changes over time...

It often intrigues me when I look back over a year of making say; or like this when I put two books together that are unrelated in theme and thinking and realise how closely they seem to be related.  These books feel very 'me' and I hope that a few folk I know might get to see them and enjoy them, on my behalf whilst I am away.

Some collage art

I discovered a large folder of imagery waiting for me when we returned. It contained images that I had printed when I was doing my Fibre Arts Take Two course last time with Sally Tyrie.

They were all about the fishing sheds and the fishing net drying poles at the end of our road near the cove, and they didn't belong back in Australia. It was nice to reacquaint myself with them and I began to play with them back here.

I really liked their softness and their tonal togetherness and went on to make more collages. My little studio space was somewhat cramped on Thursday as I had taken the laptop upstairs so I could watch an online sketching course, whilst Barry did his watercolours on the kitchen table.

Nevertheless, after watching for a bit I was able to continue with the collages and have ended up with six that I like.

They measure 12cm x 12cm and I originally had been thinking about them as art-cards, to be sold with their own envelope. The kind of thing where you could write on the back in pencil; then send to somebody, and the recipient could frame them or pop them on a wee easel or some such.

But now I'm not so sure. Barry has ordered some square black mats and I am wondering if they might actually look better as matted artworks? Who knows, these things evolve and become what they will become.

There are two other postcard sized ones too. A nice dilemma to have.

And just because Spring flowers are cheery and beautiful, here is a tub we planted at our front door.

Thursday Thoughts...

"When you love something like reading - or drawing or music or nature – it surrounds you with a sense of connection to something great. It’s an alchemical blend of affinity and focus that takes us to a place within that feels as close as we ever get to ‘home’. "

 Anne Lamott.

I love reading and re-reading Anne Lamott. She has whimsy and wisdom in spades and it's a great combination.

I think she is so right here - that when we love something it gives us a deep and meaningful connection to the world and beyond. It helps us feel part of the connectedness. We are a small moment in the ongoing story of folk throughout the ages who have enjoyed the same pastime, hobby or calling; been interested in the same things; dreamed similar dreams.

I love how she hits the sweet spot with the suggestion of alchemy where affinity and focus meet and create that feeling of home. 

When I am making, at my desk, in the studio, hammering away I feel the most like me I can feel, and I feel deeply at home with myself and the world. The same goes for reading. When I sit and read I feel like I am home, that I am me.

Working in the shed plus beauty and joy

 We often reflect on how fortunate we are that the cottage had a shed when we bought it. Sure enough we need it to store gardening materials and tools, and paint and the like, but it also offers B in particular, but also me, the chance to have a workshop space to make and create in.

And so it was that I tested it out recently to see if I could make some jewellery whilst we are here. We had purchased some tools and some supplies and I thought I had most things covered, so off I went.

Setting up

Realising that although it was great to have bought a stool for me to sit on; that in fact there was nowhere for my legs to go under the bench, so instead, I needed to sit sideways and set up the work station that way. Solved.

No idea what I was pointing at, but I had so far managed to form and solder three pebbles.

Having thought of almost everything, I realised I had not thought of pickle. The stuff that you put the pieces in to clean them, remove the grime and finger grease and other things. I mentioned it to B, who went away and boiled some water and added lemon juice! Ta da we had a functioning cleaning pickle. In a mug. We now have a glass container to hold pickle, but in the interests of necessity for now we had the mug.

I managed to form 6 pebbles that seem to have worked out in pairs so I can make 3 pairs of earrings. I don't have a roller here so had to hammer the wire flat which has left more marks and texture. I am working on whether I like that or not! I think I will try to oxidise a pair as well and see how they look.

And the dappled sunlight coming through the window, the tile, and the soldering tile were a lovely combination of marks and shapes.

So it looks like I will be able to head back to the shed and keep making. We are having a pop up show in May here in the Village Hall and I want to make sure I have enough stock. I'm sure I do, but I always have a little niggle voice saying what if you don't? 

And so to beauty and joy around us. Here is a robin in a nearby tree singing its little heart out.

A tulip at our front door.

A new arrangement in our bathroom.

A nearby bridge with the gorse in bloom (I removed an ugly barricade fence and some rubbish in the burn in photo editing just so you know it has been doctored)

And the latest cute family group in the village.

I made a book...

 It's not often I land where I have, which is I have made a book and I don't know what it is. I guess that reflects my time at the cottage a bit - I am less purposeful and more explorative; more open to trying a bit of this or that simply because I don't have a full set up or I have fewer commitments or goals to hit.

So I started painting marks with an acrylic ink onto some lovely kraft card squares I had brought with me. Payne's Grey and White.

Not knowing where I was going, I turned them over and kept going.

And then I cut them down and put them together and they were a BIG book - heavy and hard to handle, so B suggested maybe make two books. So I looked for some paper or card to make extra pages and found some beautiful Vintage Paper Company paper which I could use; as well as a test page where I had laid out all the stitching mark for my peg piece - as well as some test  stitching. 

I embossed some lines I had previously cut for my first book in my exchange The Shape of Things with Annwyn way back in 2022 into some black paper/card I had here, and then stitched them using some thread that a friend had passed along to me after her mother died. All together a compilation of things that I found along the way.

Here they each are standing - quite firm paper means they stand well!

And a selection of openings.

So my question is are they done? There is already so much in them it seems to me that it could be hard to add to them. I have pondered writing in tiny writing around some of the marks, between some of the marks and maybe begin to tell a bit of a story of sorts?

Is there any way the marks could guide me to a narrative or story? Could they support and enhance a storyline?

I have pondered are they just lovely things to look at?

Or are they book-like journals with pages begun and space for new ideas to be jotted down, sketched in? Something to be added to?

It's quite the confusement for me. I am usually far clearer in my intention before I begin; these wee ones evolved and became something, but I remain uncertain as to how best to use and appreciate them. 

Thoughts welcomed and gratefully received!

And in a weird sideline; as I was connecting my phone to transfer these photos across, I opened to this photo. 10 years ago I made these books with Susan Bowers, and I was struck by how similar they are to the shapes, tones and marks of the ones I have completed here. Very graphic in their sensibility. In these wee ones we deliberately left the pages unbound so the story could be told and re-told in whatever way one chose. My new ones are firmly bound.

Interesting.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Every act of compassion, kindness, courage or generosity heals us from the story of separation, because it assures both actor and witness that we are in this together” 

 Charles Eisenstein

Gosh, how important are thoughts and words like these right now? This is from an essay Mr Eisenstein wrote back at the beginnings of the Coronavirus Pandemic.  Here we are in continuing uncertain times, still seeking connection.

We need to feel connected and that we are not alone, especially when times are tough and moving fast and uncertainty destabilises us every single day. His way of saying that by observing those acts of compassion, kindness, courage or generosity we can be assured that we are not alone; that in fact we are in this together is made even more lovely by his reference to the fact that they are healing us 'from the story of separation'.

To have such a way with words.

If anybody thinks they might still like some Together cards, to keep for themselves or to share with others,  I have some with me and can easily pop them in the post.

Pens, drawing and flowers

 Recently for my birthday a friend gifted me a journal and a pen. I have loved these pens from the first time I saw them, she didn't know that, and I doubt I would have gotten one for myself; but now I am the happy owner of this one, The Wren from Tom's Studio.

I promised to bring the journal and pens with me and try some ideas in the journal. I am notoriously bad at using journals, but I liked its already worked into look and figured I could work with that rather than simply blank pages.

The pen uses these nibs that you can replace depending on what colour ink you are using; as well as these soak-it-up cylinders which draw the ink from the bottle and can be changed in and out. Quite a fun way of doing pens! I  will have to see what other colour inks I have here and try them out.

And so in line with my commitment to use the pen in the journal I did some blind contour drawings o f a jug of daffodils.

I like blind contour drawing because there is no pressure - you just look at the object and draw the contours and don't lift your pen and who knows what will happen. I was chuffed that she could see daffodils when I showed her!

In typically trepidatious fashion I started with the card that had been in an envelope fold on one of the pages thinking I could throw it away if needed (why oh why do we censor ourselves so much???) and then overcame myself and drew another version straight on the page. Well done me. First actual page in the journal committed to!

I am going to try and do something in the journal with the pen each week, and see where I go.

And just because daffodils...

The late varieties are so different!

A single tulip contemplating will it open further, or retreat? It retreated when it started to hail yesterday, but today is pondering emerging once again...