Our place; in time, location and nature.

I need art. I think we all do. Art in its widest description: that is creative writing, film making, poetry, dance, performing arts and visual arts such as photography, painting and printing, land art, sculpture...the list could go on and does.

Peacock butterfly basking in last Octobers sunshine.

 With the horrors that have been in the news recently it can be difficult to know what to do, think or behave. But society has always had a place for art and if you have a think about other cultures and their perception of art, this could include the fascinating Wabi Sabi of Japan, delicately illuminated Celtic texts or the raw songwriting and performance art of Icelandic Bjork.

Dandelion clock covered in morning dew.

A sample of last years Artists Open studio work on display

But one way I have been keeping sane amongst the chaos over the last year has been to produce more art, attend more workshops and share my knowledge and skills with others. Art can allow you to be in the moment, to achieve something in the time given and encourage you to see a clearer, brighter picture of the world.

Last October I exhibited my artwork as part of the Canterbury Festivals', East Kent Open Houses trail. Lots of people came to view the work, with only one person this time asking if it was a hobby.(!)

I had many different types of artworks on display, from pewter casts to printing and painting as for the last year I had been working hard, in collaboration with another artist, Alison Lees on a project entitled 'Spirit of Place'. This had led us to explore more deeply the places in which we live in Kent.

Tiny feather underfoot.

Alison lives inland in a rural area with the undulating downs and ancient woodlands on her doorstep. In contrast I live on the coast, by the pebbly beach that is endlessly shaped and reshaped by the tides. The subtle changes in the seasons are less conspicuous here. I am possibly more likely to recognise the build up of tourists visiting the coast at certain bank holidays, than I am to notice the Seakale sprouting through the pebbles or see the first Swallows of the season.

Flint, Chestnut and leaf collection from a seasonal walk.

Creating a Cuttlefish mould for a Pewter cast.

Alison is surrounded by the endless physical changes that our agrarian calendar enforces onto nature as well as the consistent pattern of growth and decline that is nature itself. A walk up the path through the field opposite her home cannot be achieved without understanding exactly which season we are in and even what part of that season; asking ourselves questions like 'are the Skylarks rising yet?', a walk in the woods can indicate exactly the timing, speed and quantity of seasonal growth. As we walk we comment on the abundance of delicate little Wood Anemones, the deep violet blueness of the Bluebells, the birdsong and our amazement at the sheer force of nature that powers the plants up and through the deep leaf litter that covers the floor of the wood.

My exhibits included an 'Cabinet of Curiousity'

What I wanted to achieve in the October exhibition was a contrast of work, to show the difference of the places. I did this by consciously walking the land, picking up and collecting 'treasures' from the walks, which I used to create new artworks that allowed other people to share my insights and hopefully get them out there seeing with an artists eye and appreciating our place in time, location and nature.

A linocut print entitled 'Blue Coast'

I will be opening the doors of my beautiful straw bale studio once again this year to exhibit my own and Alison’s work as part of the Canterbury Festival, the theme is still 'The Spirit of Place' and is an ongoing art project based in Kent. You can keep up to date with our explorations and discoveries by looking at our facebook page

Open times are 11-5 daily on the weekends from 14-29^th of October. We can be found at house number 25 on the Whitstable trail. Please see the webpage www.ekoh.org.uk for more information.

 I can be contacted on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk

On Show

 

On Show

The first time I had a solo art exhibition, I felt that I had allowed a part of my soul to be on show. I was more nervous than I had felt on my wedding day. To show your art in a public place has to be an exercise in trust.

'I Dream', one of my artworks on display at the moment.

Therefore to be asked whether you do this for a hobby is a very hard question to reply to. I suppose that if I wanted to produce artwork that was guaranteed to sell in my home town of Whitstable, I would be creating images of beach huts, fishing boats and sunsets. These would then be bought as mementoes of peoples visits here, accessible and easy to live with. But I don’t feel any artistic urge to create these images. I create art from a deep place within me, I feel driven to respond to this urge by ‘doing art’.

Detail from 'Cathedral secrets'.

Art for me can be felt as a meditation. I understand that we all express ourselves in different ways, but for me, it is through creativity that I feel connected to the real world, not the world that is portrayed in the news, but the physical and emotional world around me. I wonder whether art is seen as a pleasurable activity that you don’t have to earn an income from, therefore, not real work but a hobby.

My Painted plank of wood, on show in the studio.

Personally I have yet to hear of any other professions that are so expected to give their time for free. As an artist I have been asked to run free workshops, give work for auctions etc. Yet, never have I seen a barrister, accountant or other professional asked to do the same. In fact, it is interesting to note that I have never been asked to do any work voluntarily as a designer. It would be unprofessional, at the very least to do so. Perhaps that is it, as long as artists are expected to do things for free and willing to do so, then they can expect the hobby reference. Art is all powerful and anyone can create art. Good art takes practice, lots of it, to master the skills required of observation, recognition, application etc. It will take a change of attitude to art in general for this to be appreciated. As long as we fall into the segregation of art either as hobby or big money art, such as Saatchi’s collection with work by Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst etc, then I believe artists may remain generally meek and willing to give their time and products, often one off artefacts for free. Either that or its revolution time!

Disquiet Beauty

I went to Rochester yesterday to see an exhibition in which a friend is exhibiting. The exhibition is called ‘Disquiet Beauty’ and it explores the ‘notions of beauty and alienation, attraction and repulsion and the otherworldly in their use of materials and form.’

Now I would be surprised if anyone suggested that these artists are doing this for a hobby, but I bet there is someone who will. The work is highly crafted and exquisite in its detail. Cormac McManigan, a college friend, had created jewellery pieces of bronze cast into the shape of Stag Beetles, there were works from Kate McGwire and Tessa Farmer there too.

 

 A Kate McQuire piece, made from many pigeon feathers lined up alongside eachother.

Tessa’s work I had seen before in Ashford, at the Stour Valley Arts gallery a year or two ago. I was fascinated by it then and in this exhibition she still has her intricate, tiny fairies flying on bumble bees and attacking wasps, but they also are seen grooming some of the Victorian curiosity exhibits from the nearby Guildhall Museum.

A drawer of moths from the Rochester Guildhall collection.

Kate McGwire has exhibited in the last year in Canterbury at the Beaney Museum. I was disappointed to have missed that, but very glad to see her work for real in this exhibition. She is a sculptor who uses bird feathers.

I loved this piece, by Kate McQuire, it reminded me of a horizon line, with dawn approaching.

She lays them out in a very fluid way, so that they look like they are moving en masse. The framed wall pieces are just beautiful, but it is a shame to have that wonderful iridescence of colour on the feather behind glass, but I expect that protects them, from light, dust and curious fingers too.

Framed feather formation by Kate McGuire.

The pigeon feathers that seem to powerfully rise out of the drain/soil pipe into the gallery is a great piece.

 

Kate's largest feather installation piece, in this exhibition.

I have seen this installation in photographic images in other settings. She must be extremely patient and have real artistic vision to reinstall her work in different areas. But it is the contrast that makes each piece so special and site specific. There is two other artists work on display, but I will leave their work a mystery for anyone reading this to discover for themselves. The exhibition is on until the 3^rd of January 2015 at Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case.

Display

Rochester was a good place to visit over the half term; it was where I had spent my time at college for 4 years from 1987-1991 and more recently for another 2 years, working part-time on my MA.

 

Rochester Castle and wall silhouette, with sun setting.

Rochester has a castle and a cathedral, city walls and a great history. It was built on the main route through from Dover to London at an important crossing of the river Medway. It has the feel of a transitory place, people pass through; there are many gatehouses, avenues of trees and other significant thresholds and ways. The main Rochester Bridge that crosses the Medway from the London Road is beautifully decorative and has large metal reclining lions on it, similar to those at Trafalgar square and also some much smaller standing lions holding shields, high up among the metalwork.

The decorative detail on the bridge is quite something; I wonder whether such symbolic forms would be added to a new construction, I don’t remember seeing anything on the newer river crossing; the bridge carrying the M2. I recognise the form of both bridges, just as I recognise the silhouette of the castle keep and the castle walls but sometimes the detail gets overlooked with familiarity.

 

Setting sun, glowing through fallen leaves in the castle grounds.

That is why I appreciate visiting exhibitions and seeing work on display. It is a reminder to look again, ‘Disquiet Beauty’ certainly allowed me to do this. I had always been fascinated to see stag beetles, we often see them in our garden and they are a bit frightening when they ‘buzz you’. As Mac said in his TV interview they are prehistoric creatures and his beautiful bronze casts replicate that strangeness that is recognisable, almost familiar, but also very, very odd. 

Mac's stag bronze cast jewellery pieces: brooch and pendant.

 

We have been visiting other artists on the East Kent Open Houses trail. Last weekend we drove to Conyer to see Hugh Ribbans’ creek-side studio and wonderful work. He was allowing visitors to have a go at printing on his large press.

Having a go at printing using the magnificent press.

Similar to Rochester Bridge, it was ornate in its decoration. The metal had been cast, not just to do the job in hand, but it had fierce looking dolphins across its top, snake and arrow forms on its front panels and a curious looking gold coloured crescent moon holding a lever in place.

The 'Reveal', very exciting, a joy for all printmakers.

This was not a machine to be used by a man making art for a hobby, this press meant business. Hugh has, in the past used a steam roller to roll over his lino-cuts and create prints. This perhaps is the stuff of revolutions! Watch this space, and if you see me, please don’t mention the ‘h’ word.   

(I completed my MA in September 2014 and recorded the last two months of it in another blog called www.thesaltwayfarer.blogspot.co.uk

Please feel free to look at that anytime, as it is from that, that I am where I am now.)

Collections

 

Collections

When I walk I pick up things. It’s a habit, a deeply engrained one that is difficult to break. My home is full of many things which I have collected on my walks. These are as varied as my walks; one day it may include a beautiful feather from a magpie and another walk may include finding a super smooth small pebble. I write ‘include’, as I have never been able to just pick up one thing.

one collection on top of the piano

There are many which combine to become a visual reminder of the walk. I have collections of natural objects all over my house; they start off on flat surfaces, such as table tops and shelves, in groupings, as they were found, then over a period of time they may be put into a pot or other empty’ish’ vessel, still within the home. As time goes by I note that they get ‘tidied’ and they seem to seek the great outdoors again. There are many pots of found objects by the back doors of the house; they are gradually creeping into their natural habitat.

 

Older collection trying to escape back into the wild.

I do wonder what any archaeologist who may dig up our land in the future would make of it. Our garden is full of found fragments of pretty Victorian glass and crockery, which were discovered on a walk out at Conyer in the old dumps. Ok, not really just discovered on a path, but dug for with great enthusiasm. We also have wonderful piles of ammonites and fossilised ‘Devils Toenails’ from walks on the windswept Redcar beach, beautiful large pink and purple smooth pebbles from Dunster beach in Somerset, where we have had many wild windy walks and of course many, many special shells, pebbles and rocks from our own beaches, here on the Kent coast. Thinking about it, even our car has pockets full of the precious glittery finds that we picked up on our walks around Loch Sunart earlier this year.

Recording

One way that I thought I could restrain myself from bringing home so many things was to photograph what I see.

 

Found objects from walk on Seasalter beach.

But that has now just become another way of collecting. I collect views, landscapes, still lives of plants, the atmospheric effect of the seasons etc. So I have tried over the last week to just take just a few mementoes from the walks and photograph them when I come home. In doing so I hope that that will be enough of a visual reminder and I can move the pieces out sooner into the garden. But the fact of the matter is I love the things I choose on my walks. They speak to me of the season, the place and remind me of whom I was walking with or if I was alone. Once in the home they become even more beautiful or unusual as they are seen out of context. I see that they are no longer competing for my attention but being seen almost as art pieces.

My Dresser

I have a dresser that is full too. It has some useful crockery on it, but it is also full of things that I have found whilst out walking.

 

Detail of my dresser.

These walks take me into charity shops, junk shops, boot fairs etc. I used to feel pretty guilty about this collecting until I read a book by the artist Mark Hearld.

‘Mark Hearld’s Workbook’ charts his inspiration and is a collection of his wonderful work, so far. He lives in a house that makes mine look tame. He also has every surface covered in things, but refers to them as his inspiration.

My dresser with Mark Hearld's book on it showing his dresser...

In describing his work, Simon Martin writes that ‘he sees the act of collecting such items, at flea markets and junk shops, as creative, an activity akin to making a collage.’So I think perhaps my act of collecting, recording and displaying my walking treasures is also artistically acceptable and I could perhaps even become proud of it!

Inspiring Environments

Last Friday I went on a workshop held in Kings Wood, near Ashford in Kent, run by Stour Valley Arts. It was titled ‘Inspiring Environments’ and was run to encourage group leaders to use the natural setting of Kings Wood as a classroom in which people could be inspired to create artwork together and therefore positively engage with each other.

 

Found objects from Kings Wood.

We were given a demonstration by a couple of artists on how a number of useful tools could be used, encouraged to explore the area we were to make our art in and then started collecting useful things to create our own artwork. We worked in small groups and by lunchtime all of us had created wonderful large art works in the wood. They were all very different, but all had a story to go with them. It seemed that the imagination was inspired by the very act of creation. My group collected feathers, twigs, silvered with fungi and dried bluebell stalks. We found a natural depression in the ground and created a nest like structure that we then put fir cones in and a random bright red gladioli flower that we found on the ground. It had its own story, but I am sure you can make one up yourself that would be just as interesting.

Nature Connection

Over the weekend I went with my family to the Permaculture Convergenge. It was a wonderful weekend. The food was great and we were surrounded by lovely like minded people.

Leaf, left on ground (not picked up and kept) at Gilwell Park.

One workshop that I attended was led by Klaudia van Gool. She encouraged us to take our shoes off and connect with nature. We stood barefoot in a large circle under the huge Oak at Gilwell Park and became mindful of ourselves, the ground beneath our feet, the roots of the tree under them and the canopy of leaves above our heads. We learnt how to see with ‘owl’ eyes, hear with ‘deer’ ears and walk barefoot like ‘fox’. It was a beautiful educational and meditative experience. For once I was actually being animal, being not doing. I have planned a barefoot walk with a friend early next week. I shall practice these experiential nature connections while walking and see just how much difference it can make, perhaps I will be fully sated by this and not be tempted to pick up things and bring them home, or record the journey in photographs. As the walking artist Hamish Fulton has said about his work, ‘The walk is the work.’

Physical nature connection, spiders webs this morning.

 

(I completed my MA last September and recorded the last two months of it in another blog called www.thesaltwayfarer.blogspot.co.uk

Please feel free to look at that anytime, as it is from that, that I am where I am now.)