Thursday Thoughts...

“The aim of art is to embody the secret essence of things, not to copy their appearance.” 

Aristotle

I'm not exactly sure what the word for a perfect copy or replica of something is; but I know that art attempts to capture something else, and Aristotle all that time ago talks about the essence of things. Capturing this, expressing this, giving people the feel of it and the sense of it is so much more that replication.

For this I am grateful. I am grateful that artists continue to seek ways to express things that aren't obvious; to show us or make us feel something other than what we might see just by looking.

The more I grow as an artist, the more I realise I don’t want to be copying someone else’s works; matching my calligraphy to somebody’s version of perfect. I find I want to have a contemporary expression of calligraphy; not always trying to replicate the writing of a 10th century monk; or a scribe in far away places...

So I don't tend to copy the old hands and use them, I often find a way of making words read as if they are current, contemporary. I feel that all art should be reflective of it's time, while honouring it's past and it's traditions, it doesn't need to simply copy and repeat the past.


My desire not simply to replicate the past is making my work far more personal and meaningful to me. I’m not sure if it makes a difference for others who view it; I just know it is more meaningful to me. Perhaps at times I am even capturing the essence of something!

This is a recent piece of play - believe it or not, there are words here; with a script I developed then exploded (a la Massimo Pollelo) and then overwrote with different size pens, walnut ink and white gouache.  There is meaning in this for me - I know the words I wrote and what I am trying to say...

Treasures from our travels...

One of the best things about travelling is going to flea markets and op-shops, thrift stores and garage sales (or lawn sales) in different places and checking out the trash and the treasures.

We have a favourite market in New York - the Antiques Garage Flea Market at 112 W 25th St. In fact we visited it three times during our stay!

I have been unpacking bits and piece and popping them on shelves in the studio or just sorting through them.

Here are some of my favourite finds…

A child's box with beautiful pens and things…

Some bakerlite Q-cubes in their original leather pouch, letters to play with!

Tins of old watch faces and parts…

And just to prove you don't have to go away to find precious things, here are some magic bits from  here in Maleny!

Some of these bits and pieces will find their way into work; some might get used and some are just gorgeous to look at and make me smile!

Snippets from the studio

I often find at the beginning of a new year that I have lots of things ahead of me, lots of things I can begin, lots of things to plan for and lots of things to explore.

And in my own way, I am not good at parking several of them whilst I focus on only one. Especially when the deadlines are not that close, when the due dates are all a bit out there in the future sometime...  I find I work best by progressing a bit of this and a bit of that.

In line with my approach to slowness this year, I am also trying to build in time just for play - with no goal or end in sight, just the chance to do, play, explore, discover and delight!

So there are no finished works or complete pieces in my studio yet. There are lots of little bits and pieces, bibs and bobs all taking tentative steps forward; some being delved into in great detail and ideas thrashed about, tested and re-tested.

My journey in the studio is very iterative - one things happens, another thought appears, a new possibility emerges. It is always slow.

So here are a few snippets from my week.

Playing with printing fabrics, and gauze and silk cocoons...

Little bits of collage…

Colourful swatches for a maybe book…

Playing with water-soluble graphite pencils…

mmm embossing….

White marks on creamy white paper, preparations for a book I hope…

Burning pages, another book in preparation…

Sketching feathers…a gentle book in mind

Playing with folds and envelopes and places to keep treasures…

There are three serious projects in there as well as lots of play which is a fine balance so far.

I have spent quite a long time trying to resolve a binding - poring over books to see if anybody has down what I think I need to do; or if I will have to create my own approach. Which I think I will.

Sometimes just being able to spend time in the studio, mulling things over, leads you to the unexpected place, but the right place.  I did pages and pages of calligraphy and colour swatches and washes and designs for this one book and then out of the blue the brush marks came and solved it all. For now at least!

Hopefully soon there will be something fuller, more resolved, more real, to show you. Just looking at the above reminds me how eclectic I am and how much I jump around from this to that!

Thursday Thoughts...

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” 

Anna Quindlen, “Enough Bookshelves,” New York Times, August 7, 1991

Oh so true. I think making sure one has enough bookshelves is an important part of working out how to decorate a home. Where the bookshelves should be? What sorts of books will be held in each area?

As we go about living in our home, we regularly re-assess whether we need another book shelf; whether the coffee table is still OK to use as a place for holding books; if the bookshelves in the office are not beginning to overflow just a wee bit; and whether the art inspiration books should be in the house or in the studio.

So many decisions! Laugh.

It really is one of those indelicate things but don't you love checking out other people's bookshelves when you visit?  Having books around a house makes it feel like a home to me; gives me comfort in the knowledge that I can pick up one of anything and have a look, a read, a flick through…learn something, discover something or just escape.

Studiolo from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio 1478-82.

This magnificent room is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The room is made of stunning wood inlay, representing cupboards and book shelves, all around. It is so clever in the way that it makes things appear three-dimensional even tho they are flat. One of my favourites from our day at the Met recently!

Travelling stitches...

Whilst we were away over Christmas I had figured I wouldn't do much calligraphy nor much book making, but I thought I should have something with me that would let me do something with my hands if I got tired of reading…

I signed up for one of Jude Hill's online courses (Spirit Cloth 101)and grabbed a few scraps of fabric, a needle and some thread and hoped!

I have found the course material really interesting and easy to use - and despite me having no idea what I was doing to start with, I have enjoyed letting my fingers find their way through the fabric and respond to what is happening.

Hand-stitching is such a lovely way to spend time and to sit quietly with needle in hand taking little steps, repeating…is all very calming and meditative.

I haven't gotten far through the course and am just testing out my own ideas and thoughts as I go - nothing really planned - but that too is good for me. I am fine with everything being loose, unstructured and not perfect.

Here are some shots from my travel stitches…

We have just had a few days away, and I took the stitching with me. I think it will become my story of travelling stitches...

A Letter a Week begins again...

I missed doing my second alphabet for A Letter a Week last year, but have started on time this year and am looking forward to the challenge.

This alphabet is a little bit odd, but I have been wanting to play with the idea for ages, so here I go!

The story begins with our visit to Japan last year, where on our first day our friend and interpreter Hiro Kato san offered me a gift surprise. He wasn't sure  I would like them and he hoped it would all be OK and I was sure it would be.

He gave me 500 coloured pencils in beautiful boxes of 25.  Whilst it made packing to come home a bit interesting, I was pretty excited to have so many colours!

I kept wondering what sort of installation I could make with them, and Barry suggested letters…so after a fair bit of pondering I decided to make my letters for the first alphabet out of the coloured pencils.

Not that you'd know it from these shots…

But maybe now you can see what I was doing…

A - with an Amethyst theme…

B - with a Burgundy theme…

C - with a Crimson theme…

D - with a Denim theme…

I must say I have had some fun with these! Altho I am not sure just how I will go making some of the bigger/wider letters, I'm pretty sure I'll keep having fun trying!

Thursday Thoughts...

"Take a moment from time to time to remember that you are alive. I know this sounds a trifle obvious, but it is amazing how little time we take to remark upon this singular and gratifying fact. By the most astounding stroke of luck an infinitesimal portion of all the matter in the universe came together to create you and for the tiniest moment in the great span of eternity you have the incomparable privilege to exist." 

Bill Bryson 

Bill Bryson has written some very funny travel books - I have enjoyed a few, especially the one about Australia. Sometimes I get all hoity toity if I think he's being unfair in his assessment; at other times I laugh out loud and think he's got us in one!

This quote is one of those notions that I need to remind myself of every now and again.  How truly wonderful it is to be alive, to be here, to share this earth with fabulous people and wonderful friends; to be able to experience and learn so much.  I like the way in which he suggests it is an incomparable privilege.

I certainly acknowledge that I am fortunate to be born in this country, to have had the opportunities I have had, the education I have had and the love and support I have had.

There is something about the manner in which he places us within this vast eternity of time and as a small gathering of matter given the size of the universe that is also very helpful to me. One of the reasons I love our mountain top is that it helps me remember how small and insignificant me and my worries or problems really are. The sense of scale and breadth and majesty keeps me thinking that the world is a big place and I am but a small inhabitant.  But it also offers breadth of opportunity and possibility...

I like the ocean as well - gazing over the vastness of an ocean reminds me how small we all are in the grand scheme of things; and the sense of the tide going in and going out, relentless in its continuity, also helps me know that life goes on, it's rhythms continue, no matter what might be happening to me.

A shop revival

One of the things I have wanted to do for a while, but for the last six months of last year was too busy, is to revamp my website shop.

I was thrilled and excited when I managed to launch it and have it go live; and then didn't do much else; just occasionally took a piece off if it sold.

I have been thinking a bit about what sort of work sells where and decide that my larger or more expensive books probably feel like a real gamble for folk to purchase online. When people see them and can hold them, they might have the chance for a heart-sell, but I do wonder if there is a limit to the amount of money we are willing to spend with on-line art-type purchases.

Anyhow, I put it in the diary that I wanted to do this by the end January and am feeling a wee bit chuffed that I managed to do it.  I have refreshed the site, put in a variety of my smaller works as well as a downloadable exemplar of my heartbeat script.

I think we have worked out that if you purchase more than one item, you only pay once for shipping which is a good thing I hope!

So if you click here or on the shop box in the sidebar, you will be taken off to see the things I have decided to sell on-line.

If you click here, you'll get see Barry's revamped shop as well!

Any feedback is welcome as I expect I will be tweaking things a bit this way and that for a while.

I have also updated my portfolio page to keep things current and up to date.

I am hopeful that I will manage to be more regular in updating and refreshing my website this year - a bit of a commitment to investing in myself and my work in a way...

The story of Conversations

Having shared the get-together of our two books on Wednesday, I thought I'd take the time to show you through my book "Conversations".

These prints were never made to be seen together and I worried, no doubt as Susan did, about how to tell a cohesive story; how to make them seem as if they belonged in the same book.

I spent time pairing them up and finding ones which I felt spoke to each other, and could begin a conversation.

Then I had to work out how to present them, how to link them somehow to stop them looking they were just two prints stuck next to each other.  I know how important words are to me, and this notion just gets regularly re-enforced. It is natural for me to turn to words when trying to find a way through an artistic or design dilemma.

I am also quite regular and structured in my work - I am not a free-flowing organic shape kind of gal. I wondered about writing haiku that drifted across the pages, I wondered about words just dropped into pages…in the end I chose to write a few words about different conversations in a square, centred on the opposite page to the prints.

Detail of a conversation...

One of the warmer pages...

Print and embossing detail…

Each of the written conversations reflect a conversation type I have with friends or family, and which for me could be linked somehow to the imagery.

The end result, was too much structure even for me; staid, a bit sterile, a bit blocky.

I wanted to link the pages, to bring the words and the prints together as if they were conversing, to make them seem joined and connected.  I thought about marks, I thought about stitching and in the end I just chopped some squares and rectangles into embossing plates and hand embossed them in a free-flowing manner across the two pages, linking the imagery and the words. Ahh, now we're talking!

Some more pages…

Having done the pages, the next thing to sort was the cover - how much of the inside to reflect? More embossing? Prints? Free-flowing or structured? 

This is a detail of the cover - wee scraps of prints, both Susan's and mine. These are the same size as the embossed shapes inside the book; yet are structured into a square the same size as the calligraphy block. Somehow this holds...

The quiet 'title' page introduces the conversation, without actually stating a conversation…

So finally, I had a look I was happy with - simple, uncluttered, yet gently conversing across the pages...