Promotion Plus!!!

 It has been a time of so many things!

A little while ago I was advised that a piece of my work had been selected for the Annual Juried issue of Letter Arts Review.(LAR). LAR is the pinnacle of lettering arts journals across the world and I have been rejected three times; and then I gave up.  For whatever reason I had a notion to enter one last time and was as surprised as all get out to be told that one of my Grief is A Stone pieces had been selected as an example of some of the best lettering arts going around in the past year!

I know that these things cannot really be representative of the best of anything - in fact they can only show the best of what is submitted; and then the definition of best is so subjective and if your work speaks to a judge, then it might be selected, if not it might be rejected; and yet the quality of the work is there in both. So I know all that, but it doesn't take away from the feeling of being super chuffed to have been selected!

Here are some links to the process of the making of this piece.

A neighbour recently mentioned that my jewellery had pride of place in the window at Maleny Additions, and I thought I should have a quick peek. Sure enough two pendants and two pairs of earrings were on show - looking lovely and twinkly.

And the last little bit of something was that the seminar I am teaching in NZ in September is out and about and being advertised.

Here is the link to the video if you'd like to watch it.

P.S. it's a video about me, not the workshop!

Things we do in the in-between times

Life has been full preparing for the exhibition; following up the sales information for artists; re-stocking; and also being available and at the studio whilst the show is open. It has been hard to get a steady run at anything (except the jewellery re-stocking; that was  good day!).

Here are some of the things I have had a go at in the in-between times this week...in no particular order.

As per Barry's blog post here; I helped install and christen the new post installation near our home, with our friend Faith. It was threatening showers all afternoon; and we managed to get it in without getting wet! But a raincoat was a sensible choice.

I took the time to photograph this letterpress poster again - we have had an awful few months with domestic abuse and women being murdered here in Australia, and we just have to keep saying Enough is Enough. Sunday was a day of marches across the country, and I added my voice where I could.

Helping Barry out by transferring type between trays when I had some spare time at the studio. It is often a thankless task, but there is also a sense of achievement at the end. It is most definitely time consuming!

Back to my covered-cube and trying to work out how to make marks upon the surface.  I painted some gesso on a couple of the faces - full coverage and sparse coverage - and then played with acrylic inks to see how well they took. It all seems to be possible so I now need to do a few more experiments, and also think hard about the colours (all a bit toooooo blue here!).

I also got a few minutes to do some stitching on this third scroll..slow work but lovely and meditative.

Last weekend somebody bought six sets of my pebble letters spelling LOVE, so I really needed to do soem replacement letter! The beginning.

And one of the ends...

When being at the studio and showing people around, talking about the exhibition I really have to write myself lists so that I can remember the things I hoped or planned to do because it is soooo easy to get distracted and forgetful and not get back to your cup of tea, let alone the task you were doing, for a couple of hours. So lots of little tasks have been the go, and I am getting through a few of them.

Grief is a Stone in sandstone

 I have had two of my Grief is a Stone metal calligraphy pieces cut into Corten steel, which should weather and rust.

My plan is for them to be outdoor sculptures that might sit in a garden, tucked away and folk might come upon them quietly.

So I have popped them outside to get the rusting action happening a bit more quickly - we have had a fair bit of rain! I got one of each style cut.

And they are beginning to rust nicely on the front.

But I have had to turn them over to get a bit more happening on the back.

 Barry cut the groove for me in a couple of small pieces of sandstone we had set aside for another project.

Broadly speaking, I think they are going to work well, they just need little bit more time weathering.

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.

The Emigrants

The Emigrants is the name of a statue at Helmsdale, on the east coast of the Highlands, created by Gerald Laing and unveiled in 2007. 

It is a statue in bronze, of a family leaving Scotland, setting out for Canada after having been cleared from their home in the Kildonan area.

It is a reminder of the horror of the Highland Clearances, but also a reminder that many families left and created new lives in other countries, and contributed enormously to the growth, development and culture of those places.

But I find it achingly sad.

The father/husband is looking out, bravely facing the future, setting out for anew life full of bold hope. His holds tight to him, following his father on this venture, whilst the mother/wife cradles her baby, looking back. Her head is turned, her foot pointed backwards, as she surveys all that she is leaving. All the support  for her children and all that she knows, as she heads to an unfamiliar land. I think of just how hard that must have been.

We visited it again recently and it moves me still. This photo was taken in the morning when the sun was out, the rest of them were taken the evening before as the grey cloud covered everything and the mist was coming in.

Her face is so thoughtful, so considered. That baby, so tiny.

The sculptor has done such a good job of creating a sense of movement, and of the wind. The wind howls and blows there I can confirm.

This angle I think shows the disconnect between his potential experience and hers...

And I love how the sculptor paid attention to her dress, and made it interesting and lovely. She wasn't dressed in rags, meant to be grateful that she was getting an opportunity to move somewhere else. She was a  woman with good clothes and was leaving all that that meant behind.

 

And that foot. Anchored to her place, her home. Not wanting to leave yet knowing she must.

It is a beautiful and poignant piece and each time we visit I notice something different. This time it was her dress. But each time, I am moved, and feel achingly sad for her and so many women like her, being forced from their homes and leaving so much behind.

Charred III and a Fair

 On Friday Barry and I decided that after all the chores we had both been doing, it was time to play and make some art, so we got together and brought Charred III into being.

We worked together to select the bits of rust that we would choose from to put on the cube; and Barry spent time preparing them - drilling holes, grinding bits off, cutting out the interesting bits we might want. And then we began the selection and placement process.

And then we got to pop it in the front garden and let it just be lovely.

And a few days later, I managed to get this photograph of the Charred series I, II & III alongside Barry's Cove Post.

As the sun shone this morning, I came upon my earlier post, sitting in the fireplace now and looking warm and very much at home. Our cottage is a place of posts!

And just quickly, we attended the Watten Craft Fair yesterday and had a grand day out, met some lovely people and made some sales as well. Our table looked very quiet, calm and soft.

And again, the sun shone and we got orem lovely angles and shadows...

We head to Murkle Market next Saturday to meet more folk and hopefully sell some more things.