Perspectives

Perspectives

I thought this week I could write about perspectives, how we view something from another place. I was going to walk in a familiar place but come at it from a different direction.

Seasalter beach looking East.

I thought that Seasalter beach would give me the opportunity to walk out towards the sea on the vast expanse of mussel beds and muddy shingle, not skirting the coast but striding out, northwards, towards the Isle of Sheppey.

 

Seasalter Beach heading West.

But, I hadn’t taken account of what the tide was doing. It was fully in and on the turn but going out very slowly due to the ferocious chilly wind blowing in from the heavy grey expanse of sky to our North.

Birds perching out at sea

So the perspective of the walk that I was looking forward to, one of contemplation, with a feeling of possession, looking inland from out on the mussel beds, didn’t happen. I could have checked my tide table, it is an essential tool in the summer months to know when I can easily either swim in the sea or go out on the mud, looking for fossils or clay to make pots etc. But I didn’t, I don’t tend to look at it so much as the weather gets colder, so instead we had went around the coast again, towards Faversham, walking close against the seawall, watching the brown rough waves slop onto the exposed thin strip of beach.

Timber, old, exposed and weathered.

We didn’t see any Brent Geese, I should think they have ventured further up the coast, towards the Thames estuary; they will be more protected there for the coming wintery months ahead.

Weathered detail of timber.

Looking at a familiar place from a different perspective could be seen as a metaphor for life itself. We all have our favourite, tried and tested routes, ways to do something which we are comfortable with and familiar, but it can be liberating to go against the flow and walk in another direction.

 

Seeing the familiar, close up.

This is what creativity thrives on, as seeing the familiar from another place can spark a curiosity that feeds and nurtures an open creative mind. 

Light

 As we approach the shortest day of the year, the 21^st of December, I am reminded how much I love sunlight, especially this precious low glow of sun that can be enjoyed now.

Brilliant dazzling sunlight on a clear December day.

A couple of weekends ago I went to a day long event held in a friend’s studio. We had lunch outside and basked in the sun, which now holds just a little warmth.

 

Sunlit exterior space.

But it is the sunlight itself that we all enjoyed, the brightness, the way it made the colours of the remaining summer flowers deeply glow.

Beautiful Geranium flower, glowing in the sun.

That is how I feel in this precious sun, I feel I glow, it illuminates me, it lifts my soul and I feel good. As the day progressed it quickly became more evident in the studio that the daylight was waning and we appreciated the low glow of the candles which were lit.

The candles glowed more brightly as the day became darker.

Every year I try to spend at least one evening around this time, just in candlelight. I think it will be romantic, festive and allow me to go to bed early! But every year, I realise that the reality is that I still need those dark hours illuminated by electric light to do all the chores that need doing such as cooking, clearing up, homework etc.

 

'Bunny Ears' capturing the setting sun on their soft surfaces.

Our lives are regulated not by the natural timely element of daylight hours but by the invention of clocks, electric light and routine. We tend to have a daily routine that overrides the seasonal changes taking place. We must be the only animal on the planet that actively works against seasonal changes that are happening. The Brent Geese that I had seen at Seasalter and on Whitstable beach earlier in the season had known it was time to fly 2500 miles from Siberia to our warmer shores. My bantams will not start laying eggs until the daylight hours become longer again and the leaves will not start to grow on the trees until the sap rises in the spring.

 

Brilliant Spring Green foliage on the beach shingle, above the tide line.

Yet we carry on regardless. No wonder we feel exhausted.

Seasonal Experience

Walking and being outside as much as possible throughout the year does give me a healthy awareness of the changing of the seasons. I think we need this to understand where we are in the yearly cycle. As the days grow shorter I have really tried this year to take things a bit easier, to not push myself so much, to enjoy the moment, to just be. I see winter as a time for introspection, a time to contemplate the past year and reflect on its gifts.

Precious flowers.

I heard a wonderful quote last week which took the (self-induced) stress out of this season, which has already been taken over by the spirit of mass consumption. Black Friday, Cyber Monday etc, all these ‘shopping’ opportunities named and marketed at a fragile, recession hit population makes this quote even more relevant.

‘At this time of year it is your presence that is needed, not your presents.’

As I have to leave writing now to go and see my youngest son in a school production, this seems even more important. I have decided to spend my precious time before the children break up from school, meeting up and being with a lot of my favourite people as well as being outside and enjoying the season. Yes, there will be presents, but there will also be a lot of presence. 

View from inland, looking towards Seasalter Beach, a different perspective.

 

 (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.)

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.)