Small steps

I begin by saying thank you to all those who have hung around with me on my blog for so long, and who have persisted in particular over the past months, where the blog has been in a fallow creative time.

Many of you know that my gorgeous mum died unexpectedly in December and I have been struggling to focus, and to settle since.  I have hardly dared to create.

In the creative space I have found myself attending a workshop; delivering a workshop; preparing for more; organising events; printing cards; buying more type; cleaning and sorting all my type; helping Barry with name tags and other projects, but I have barely let my head think about "What do I do, what do I make now?"

So I finished sorting my type on Friday. I now have 45 trays of lead type waiting for me to do something with them. It was all organised, sorted and put away, clearing beach top spaces that haven't seen the light of day since mid-December. And then on Saturday I collected five more trays of type and another press which kind of put paid to my senses of task completion; but that is yet another story.

Sunday was the day I said. I will go to the studio and try to do something, anything.  I will pick up paper and decide what to do. I will take the first small steps...

And so I did. There wasn't a lot of time in between commitments and appointments, but I made time. A good sign.

And I turned to the gentlest of things - the techniques I had learned with my friend Gemma back in February last year. And I decide to make some small journals, wiht watercolour covers.

 I dreamed up a peace symbol in my head, and was planning to use a variety of colours, when I thought no, go back to nature like Gemma did and choose your palette that way.

There were two tiny violets outside the studio door. Ta-da.

I played with my watercolour pencils to see what matched, and made a selection.

And got down to business - that most popular of adult pastimes these days - I coloured in.

All good so far.

I went and picked a red crucifix orchid flower from the book wall, and decided to keep going.

I used a dinner plate as a template and moved it to create an arch. Hi-tech stuff indeed.

And I made a couple of small books.

And then another one, using some left over printing trials.

They are such small steps, but I feel like I have re-acquainted myself with my studio, with the movements and feeling of making, and my head is almost ready to begin to dream bit bigger.

It is a busy week ahead with delivering work, openings, studio visits, panel presentations and more; but I hope I find somewhere in there a few more minute for making. Thanks for hanging in there.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.” 

Edgar Degas

There is a strange turnabout logic to these words I think. At first they seem counter-intuitive; but yet their truth is borne out by life and experience I think.

As I have developed some skills over the years, it has become apparent to me that the more you know the more questions you have, or the more there is to learn.

Oftentimes once you have mastered the basic skill, you might think "there you go I can paint/sketch/print/solder/carve/do calligraphy" and yet the further you go along you realise the more there is to learn and that you have managed to learn the skill, but you are a long way from mastering it.  Years and years of practice and doing and you are still learning.

Perhaps its about knowing more and perhaps its about being a better critic of your own work, or perhaps its about having looked at the heroes of the genre you operate in and realising just how good they are, and why, and where your work differs.

Still, I'm happy to be trundling along the path, realising how much more there is to learn and to do.

One of Degas' ballerinas at Musee d'Orsay, Paris. (Small dancer aged 14).

Print happenings

I have been fortunate to be working with a small bunch of talented, fearless and hardworking women helping to build an exciting Year of Print in regional Queensland.

Our major exhibition opens next week and it is going to be one stunning show.

The University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery is the venue, and the gallery there is such a beautiful space. It lifts your spirits just walking in.

Opening night is Thursday 19 May at 6.30pm. If you want to attend - do RSVP to the gallery and I hope to see you there!

 Susan has created the most beautiful catalogue for the show, and so everybody should buy a copy I think!! They are only $5 so if anybody overseas (or in Australia) wants me to get one for them, just leave a message and I'll work out how much postage is (probably $5 in Australia and $10 overseas but I will confirm) and I can send it to you.

I am planning to hang my three long "A Place Among the Clouds I" pieces from the ceiling, partially offset, so that they appear to hang in the air like clouds do, and you get the chance to move through them a bit.  Plan A.

I really hope that works out - they would feel a bit too tethered if they were attached to the wall.

The smaller set "A Place Among the Clouds III" will hopefully simply be pinned top left and top right with their bottom edge unattached so a little bit light and wavy like a cloud as well. Once again, Plan A.

I wrote the words for each of my 'poems' describing what it is like to:

live below the clouds -

Eyes up
Beneath the biggest of blue skies
Clouds meander, dash, swirl
The natural order holds
Me below
Clouds above

within the clouds -

Open doors invite the clouds
To join us
Surrounded by mist
Echoing softness
White and grey; noises muffled
I join the clouds
Dancing around me

and above the clouds -

Vapourised sighs
Awakening exhalations
From the valley's nightly slumber
Cloud puddles rising into light
Finding paths to eternity
Lifting and moving
Beyond my sight

I then reduced each of these poems down to three lines on a page (A Place Among the Clouds II which wasn't selected from the show) and then reduced these further down to single lines on a page for APATC III.

The sequence for the nine small pieces is this:

eyes up                        clouds meander                natural order

        open doors                  echoing softness               noises muffled

                   vapourised sighs         awakening exhalations     cloud puddles

There are a couple of associated events that I think will be great, including a panel discussion on Saturday 21 May again at the Uni. It is titled "What is Print" and we have several leading printmaking from around the country discussing the topic and taking us through the arguments for and against this and that. Should be fascinating...

On 8 June from 6pm-7pm at Caloundra Regional Gallery I am taking part in a panel discussion called "Making Your Mark" as printmaker and artist. I will talking about my love of letterpress.

On 11 June I am giving a one hour letterpress demonstration at the University from 10.30am - 11.30am and then at 11.30am I am taking part in the "Meet the Artist" session for Regional Marks.

Phew.

So much print magic ahead!

Black Beauty

I am home on the mountain after a wonderful day teaching a bunch of talented and enthusiastic calligraphers down in Brisbane.

I had the most delightful day and really enjoyed watching them experiment and explore and develop their books.

Black Beauty was all about exploring the beauty of working wth black paper; seeing how different colours, different mediums (media?) worked on black; and then developing a sample book for future reference.

Surprisingly for us all, it was a day of hard work; but the results were more than worth it.

The title page in my sample book.

Everybody worked with different mediums/media - these are Graphitint pencils, and Desma chose circles for her swatches. I almost swooned when I saw these - so gorgeous and gentle.

Everybody did a page of swatches/samples and on the opposite page of the opening did an example using the medium; and they had 40 fabulous 6th - 16th century ampersands to choose from. Such fun.

Here are some of Helen I's ampersands.

And here are some of Jo's ampersands.

We used watercolour pencils and such; and therefore most people did two swatches for each colour: one dry and one wet. Here Donnie had blended them into a single swatch - very nifty.

Carla was well into the spirit of it all and made lots of swatches. We named or numbered the colours so we could repeat them in future.

I must admit, the brilliant purple in this sample by Barb almost took my breath away - stunning!

Jenni had a grand time with some of her metallics - her large circles here looked like every sort of moon I thought.

At lunchtime I did a quick demonstration of how gelli plate printing can work on black paper, and then how you can add calligraphy to it.

And after lunch we tried to complete our samples and examples, and then stitch a book. Phew.

I forgot to take more photos of everybody else's work so that was bit sad, I seem to have gotten carried away in the moment...

My demo book in preparation for stitching.

My sample book and demo book at home. It involved a basic 4 hole Japanese Stab binding with a little bit of extra decoration.

A display of all the books we made together today. What an astounding effort!

 Thanks once again to the Calligraphers of South East Queensland for inviting me, for their hospitality and their enthusiastic participation on Mother's Day.

We got through so much in that short time, and I hope everybody loves their sample book.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Books taught me to how to live. In their pages lived a complex language of emotion that felt absent from my childhood home, where my parents were too busy working and getting by to have what some might call “intellectual discussion.” Whether knowledge was gleaned via one of my grandmother’s romance novels, through Oliver Twist, or an illustrated edition of D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, in reading I adopted a psychological filter, through which I learned to interpret myself, the world, and my place in the world.” 

Julia Fierro, on how reading makes us human.

I was a fortunate child who got to love books as part of a family for whom trips to the library were treats; where books were key to any gift-giving; and where reading and discussing was encouraged.  Sadly that may not necessarily have been so for Julie Fierro it seems.

I imagine that within the absence of guided conversations, discussions and instructions, that books could indeed teach you how to live. From her words I imagine the eclectic education she received from whichever books were available and accessible, and I smile.

When you consider the breadth of subjects in books, from romance to sic-fi to biography to textbook; what an amazing world view you could develop; as well as sense of self within it.

I smiled too when she spoke about her grandmother's romance novels.  In amongst all her reading my mum was a Georgette Heyer fan and I became a devotee of her Regency Romances and still turn to them as my trashy novels whenever I am laid low or ill. Funnily enough I have learned loads about that era of history in England from the books and my favourite part indeed is the fact that every lead female character is strong and independent and generally bucks the system. Those female characters were in fact great role models!

I have collected a stash over the years and I think I might even own the whole series...

Inspiration

Unpacking continues and it all takes time, particularly because as I come across the stash of books and cards and artists' books I bought along the way I get side-tracked and distracted and turn the pegs, read the pages, and then its dinner time!

Here are some of my favourites so far.

At Craft in the Bay in Cardiff, I saw a few of Shirley Jones' beautiful and sophisticated artists' books. She writes poetry and prose, creates exquisite etchings and uses letterpress to print the poetry alongside the images. She also binds the books and I'm not sure if she makes the cases as well or not.

In this book she describes the work of her Press - The Red Hen Press - and also gives detailed information on pieces. I have enjoyed delving into process detail and gaining an understanding of what she does and how.

She says "I named my press after the Little Red Hen, who did it all herself".  I know that feeling!

At the Scottish Poetry Library, I came across lots of little books that offered me many things. This is a beautiful simple book - debossed lettering on the velvetiest paper I have ever felt for the cover. And simple poems within, edited by Luke Allan. I have learned the poems are presented in the manner of the dicotyledon as a poetic form...so many things to learn.

A dicotyledon poem typically comprises two words that differ by one letter. For example

tone
note

(Alec Finlay)

Another book I want to read deeply is this book about typesetting poetry - The Printed Snow by Gerry Cambridge. I have a rather large commission to do around poetry and am working my way through how best to present it using letterpress, so this felt very timely.

Inside this unassuming book I found these other bibs and bobs. All rather lovely and interesting.

Still at the Scottish Poetry Library I came across this. A beautiful letterpress book of poems of bereavement, a bookmark instead of a card, and an envelope to post it away in.  It struck me as a rather precious gift - a number of bereavement poems and a book mark.

The Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy introduces the book, and it s produced by Candlestick Press.

It was part of a series with others for critical moments in our lives, or for things we enjoy such as gardens. If you enjoy poetry I think receiving a gift like this would be grand.

And finally a simple, reproduced accordion book from Iona. It speaks of rock, sea, air and sky and is called White Strand of the Monks, Iona based on water-colour originals by Susan Harvey.

The world is a circle

We are home here on our mountain top - surrounded by mist and drizzle and clouds dancing by. Unpacking, washing clothes, tidying up, replying to emails and phone calls...the transition to real life list is underway.

As I uploaded photos and saved some to show our elderly neighbours, I was intrigued by how often circles appeared - on different days, and in different places - and so I went and had a look more closely...

An Andy Goldsworthy circle used as part of a display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. I loved this museum and was intrigued by how Andy's work was incorporated into the display of ancient works and treasures.

A rusty tethering circle on a demolished pier at Carsaig on the Isloe of Mull. 

Almost a circle - a beautiful graphic pebble on beach on the Isle of Harris.

At the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness on Orkney, details of a work by Ben Nicholson. Aptly titled 3 Circles.  This was the most spectacular gallery - a special and rare find and we spent an unexpected couple of hours absorbed in the stunning work in the permanent collection.

Alongside the official captioning, they often had a description by a school child this one read "at night, a moon, lots of moons" Rohan Crichton, Class 4, Stromness Primary.

Perfect.

Further up the way on Orkney, by the Brough of Birsay, we came across an old mill and all of its wheels. This is one of them.

Back in Edinburgh this 'ball' was one of many decorations atop a wall outside the Sheraton Hotel.

 In Cardiff, by the Bay was the most magnificent sculptural memorial to Merchant Seafarers who died in times of war, by Brian Fell. A set of small interior circles.

Back to Edinburgh again, a circle on the patina-ed surface of a sculpture in the garden at the Scottish National Modern Art Gallery.

 Back home on the mountain, the circles I find are those that bring me full circle to my home...

 A bowl by Mary Jane.

Thursday Thoughts...

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper” 

W.B. Yeats

The truth well spoken.

Perhaps magical things are also waiting for us to pay attention, to slow down long enough to see them. Perhaps that is the same as heightening or sharpening our senses in a way, but it seems as much to me to be about honouring things by giving them attention as i s  about enhancing our skills.

I think one of the ways artists go through the world is by looking and seeing differently. By seeing beauty in the light, in the shadow, in the old, in the small, in the hidden. Those moments one experiences when a gorgeous trio of birds gather on a wire - two pure black, one pure white.

Taking nothing for granted is another way of discovering magical things isn't it?

I'm not sure what these watch faces are waiting for, something Barry will make with them; but I just thought they looked beautiful sitting there on their stands of sticky tac waiting.  The world is full of beauty and wonder when we stop to look.

Catching up

I have mentioned before how fortunate I have been to meet some blog friends face to face.  It always seems to me that I am meeting friends, even tho we've never really met and I sometimes have no idea of what they look like.

And so it was last week in Pembrokeshire Wales.  Barry and I headed south to catch up with Lesley from the blog Printed Material (apologies once more for the inability to link, but her blog should be in my sidebar).

We had the most fabulous of times, chatting and nattering as if we were long lost friends who hadn't seen each other in a while. It was special.

The weather was magnificent and we visited lots of delightful places together. You know somebody gets you when every suggestion for a visit is pitch perfect, and it was!

We visited St David's together - the cathedral is stunning - and Lesley knew where to find the age old graffiti which of course appealed!

As we wandered Lesley was patient as we stopped to photograph those things that artist folk stop and photograph - like the vapour trails that end up looking like abstract calligraphy or asemic writing of sorts.

The geographically named Goat St Gallery in St David's is one of those spaces you walk into and just melt like warm caramel when you look around you. Every piece speaks to you quietly and gently and you can imagine them all heading home with you one way or another. It was a real treat.

We headed off to lunch at Porthgain and the tide was well and truly out.

We carried on further to Nevern Church which had some Ogham script along the window sill, and we then enjoyed a wander through the church graveyard. 

I found more lettering of interest and exclaimed in wonder at much of it.

I loved the variant of "w"

And again how the carver had to squeeze a letter in to finish the line. Vault I think...

and then I loved the dot above the capital I and was thrilled to see the faintest of score marks for the guidelines across the stone. Somehow makes the links to the work I still do today.

Outside the church was this fabulous set of mounting steps, used to allow the ladies to enter their horse-drawn coach without having to do a big inelegant scramble!

And we finished our day together at the Neolithic burial chamber Pentre Ifan. An amazing structure and like every other time I wondered how on earth they got those massive stones up there and could work out how to balance them so perfectly.

A full and beautiful day with time spent with a kindred spirit. Until next time!