Pebbles, Stones and Rocks is open!

 After a really busy week doing all the last minute things that need doing, we successfully completed the set up of the exhibition and were thrilled to open it on Saturday.

We had each approached the theme so differently, and as ever it was a joy to see how well the work held together.

Susan's soft drawing and collage and layering are sublime. Two pieces which were previously small artists' books have been laid down and attached to make a delightful and restful grid - with threads catching your eye here and there.

Steph's work follows her travels and her wanderings from the Moeraki boulders in New Zealand, to flying north to Broome, dust storms in Doha and beyond!

Tory's recent trip to Antarctica inspired her majestic oil paintings, whilst the stories of the penguins who offer love tokens of stones to there partners was the impetus for her four etchings.

My Grief is a stone works on paper are in their own bookshelf...

And my jewellery flows along a cabinet near the door.

The four friends on Saturday: Fiona, Susan, Steph and Tory.

 

And scenes from the opening afternoon - lots of friends and family gathered.

It was  such a joy to reach this point and to see so many happy faces, to talk about our creativity and to see folk enjoying the work, and purchasing some.

Cards and more cards...

 Whilst here is MUCH making of artwork for exhibitions, as well as packing and delivering artworks, the regular business of life as a Letterpress studio continues along.  Recently Barry and I have managed to re-stock our cards and feel quite chuffed that we managed to print, illustrate and package so many.

I still get asked if I am 'the grief card lady" on occasions, and am happy to reply "yes, I am". I updated a couple of cards which had basically sold out.

Three muted colour ways.

Packed and sealed and available here.

The mess of the process belies the quiet beauty of the outcome.

These too are now back in stock. With the words "and life will never be the same again"on the inside, they seem to capture the reality of loss and bereavement.

And then it was back to re-stocking regular celebratory type cards as well. Barry helped out so much - he set and printed nearly all of these, whilst I added the illustration/decoration.

And I re-printed some of these soft and lovely pebble cards, based on a couple of my watercolours back here. The first is the warm pebbles.

This one is the cool pebbles.

It feels good to have a range of cards available again. Not all are on the website shop, but if anybody is interested, just drop me an email or a comment...

Or, I just thought I could try something and see if I can create a link to purchase a particular item...so here goes. I won't actually know if it works till the blog post goes live so its a bit hit and miss...but fingers are crossed!

• Welcome to The World purchase link

EDIT: The links work! So if you are interested in any others, I can arrange that too! Also, the postage would not be what it says in the system - just a bit too complicated for me to modify -  I would arrange to refund you. But also - just email and it might be easiest that way.

Collating the Collaboration - The Shape of Things

 I mentioned in the comments back here when I posted on the final instalment on the collaborative exchange of artists' books that Annwyn Dean and I undertook over a year, that it might be nice to gather them together and do a post with them all together.

I am so glad I had that idea! I spent time with the books at the studio recently, and truly enjoyed having them alongside each other; and together.

Bringing them together, it was lovely to reflect on what a beautiful collection they have become; to look closely and see how we both approached the work; and to see how our signature looks appear throughout them all, despite our use of the other's papers.

It was lovely to look at them as a collection and see how well they sit together; but also lovely to re-consider each of them as individuals and remember the moments of discovery and the things I loved about them.

I hope you enjoy their gathering as much as I did!

Annwyn's books 1-3

Annwyn's book 4-6

Fiona's books 1-3

Fiona's books 4-6

Books 1-3 together

Books 4-6 together

Books 1-6 all together!

What a beautiful collection to reflect on such a beautiful project across the miles...

The Emigrants I

 I am delighted to share this finished work, based on the statue of The Emigrants, in Helmsdale in the Scottish Highlands.

I always appreciate and enjoy when serendipity comes along and let you accomplish things. This work has come about because I was a) doing the course Visual Narratives, through Fibre Arts Take Two; and b) because I have an exhibition coming up in Scotland later in the year and some of the pieces will focus on this statue. I was fortunate enough to then have the online exhibition for students of the course to be called In Retrospect which made me realise I could probably bring all three things together and make a piece that suited them all.

I used techniques from the course, the work fitted the theme In Retrospect, and would be a great start towards the Scottish exhibition.

The work is an unbound book, presented in a hand stitched envelope made from Japanese paper rubbings from our cottage in Scotland, and from our Maleny home, that had been stitched together by machine, and dipped in beeswax. Held with thread from Scotland.

An envelope seemed appropriate - they travel between places...

Inside the envelope are 15 pages of an unbound book, made using techniques explored in the course. The work contemplates and considers what makes a home, and what it is that you would be trying to re-create when you have been forced from your home, and then moved to another country. What is it that home means?

The pages are both landscape and portrait in orientation and the 'title' page reflects this, with home written in both directions using vintage Letraset. 

Each page is a collage of different papers, images and techniques. Each page contains an altered image of the statue, in particular the woman, mother, wife, who looks back at all that she is leaving.

Here, her foot orientated to the past and the land she is leaving whilst everybody else faces forward and away.

Detail of shelter.

I think we often find solace at home, and I imagine it can be hard to find that in the same way in a new and unfamiliar place, country, culture, and climate. But perhaps we know we have created a home, when we do...

I recognise home isn't always a safe place, but it is a place where I feel safe and I imagine one hopes to create that feeling of safety in a new home.

Home can be a haven...

Home can be a place we find and provide care...

Home is a place that holds many memories...

The work is an unbound book, with 14 pages and a title page. The nature of an unbound is profound in my view. It enables a story to be told and re-told in different ways, as needed. As times change. As life changes. As our understanding changes. 

This unbound book also reflects how the foundational elements of 'home' can be re-built in new ways, in new places, creating new stories...

The work can be seen alongside other work by student of the course Visual Narratives. This exhibition catalogue shows so many beautiful pieces, so much heart and so much beauty and skill. I highly recommend a wander through the pages.

The 'hard copy' version of the catalogue will be available within a week or so, and I shall keep you posted.

The Shape of Things 6

 I had thought that  in 2024, I would reduce my blogging to two days a week - Thursday Thoughts and Sundays. I thought the sometimes it seemed like I was just trying too hard to fill another day, and that didn't make sense to me, so for the first week or two this year I didn't blog on Tuesdays. Funnily enough I have realised I have so much work going on and so much to blog about that here I am back at Tuesday posting. 

It makes sense to blog on Tuesday when I have something to say; and then not to blog onTuesday when I am quiet. So that is my new approach - flexibility! Tuesdays are back whilst ever I have something to say; they will be quiet on those days not much has been happening...

In completing this final book of the exchange, I once again worked with things I already had in the studio - making the book fit the the shape of the things... 

This time I had pages of differing papers that I had removed from books - so they already had stitching holes pierced in them and were of differing sizes. For some reason I thought this might be a challenge that could work.

In the end the notion worked and the book holds, but the stitching result was not as neat or sturdy as I would have liked - I was trying to modify too many stitching styles to fit the different holes. Nevertheless, I persisted and made a book and I have learned so much along the way.

I again worked with Annwyn's blue coloured pages, and added some white Letraset to them to carry the words along.

Interestingly, the words happened just by working with the paper. They read:

of water, mist and dreaming.

The finished books are quite small - 8cm(h) x 10cm(w) x 6cm(d) when standing open. 

 

And only 8cm(h) x 6cm(w) x 2cm(d) when closed and in their wee pale blue paper cover.

So this is farewell to The Shape of Things, such a great theme to enable us to interpret it as desired, and to create a variety of beautiful and treasured books.