A time of Sparkly Transformation

The Winter Solstice is coming up so at long last the evenings will stop getting dark so early and hopefully we will start to feel literally enlightened, a bit brighter and full of hope for the new year.

Personally, I find it very hard to slow down as the dark evenings close in. I am still surprised when its dark at 4 this time of year for if I cast my mind back to the summer I remember that on most days I was out and about until late, sometimes even having a swim in the sea at ten at night. That seems just ludicrous now.

My painting of the sea at Tankerton, a bit chilly now for a swim.

The wonderful thing about living in the UK is that I know that time will come around once again due to the cyclical pattern of our seasons. Perhaps our lives will have changed immeasurably over the year with births, deaths and other momentous events but it is a comfort to realise the world keeps turning and the seasons roll on.

I try and see this time as a sparkly transformation. Festive invitations and obligations keep me busy now but I am inside at home more in the evening and I am enjoying the log burner on most of them, as there does seem to be something very basic and special about congregating around a fire. Before we had the fire I would burn a candle or two in the room that we were sitting in, that would be our bright flame and like moths we would be drawn to the light.

Glass pieces catching the precious sunlight on my windowsill.

There are many sparkly festive lights which are brightening up most windows in town and suburbia at the moment, there have been momentous 'switching on' of lights, even some trees outside houses in gardens are bedecked with their own. Places are transformed by these decorations and it is magical.

I have a plan that between now and Christmas I will spend a bit of time walking outside in the dark, both appreciating the domestic twinkly lights in peoples homes and the ancient star light from above in the deep clear sky. Then to be snug back inside the house I will gaze at the fire and candlelight and feel a basic sense of happiness and contentment that no form of Christmas gift could give me. At this time of year such simple pleasures cannot be bought.

Making by the fireside, at a friends house.

I end this blog with a quote from a previous entry written at this time of year. I know this is well worth remembering too as we become busier and busier towards the 'target date' of the 25 th of December.

'At this time of year, it is not your Christmas presents that are needed so much as your presence.'

Wishing you all my best over this festive period.

I run art and design workshops throughout the year. These can be either 1:1 or for a small group and I charge from £15 per hour.

My own personal art page can be found at www.facebook.com/RoseClarityArtist

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

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

Inspiring Collections

 

I have already written in this blog, about my love of collecting things as I walk, (see the entry dated 16/09/14.) This Spring I have, unbeknown to myself at the time used this 'habit' to inspire a new working process. The collection has become a way to further connect myself to place through walking, creating art to share with others to allow them to see the spirit of place.

 

Collecting the forms, colours and textures of the local coast.

'Dancing' trees of the Bluebell wood.

I have been walking a lot over the last two weeks, in woods full of Bluebells on the North Kent Downs, and along the very chilly and windy coast where I live in Whitstable. The two environments are a beautiful reminder of the contrast of landscape that we have in Kent, in close proximity of each other.




Big skies over crashing waves.

At this time of year the differences are stark. The beach is made up of pebbles that are seen, at least from a distance, in neutral tones of grey, beige, and white. The woods in contrast are carpeted with bright jewel colours of mainly sapphire, opal and emerald.

A tiny Violet.

When I am walking along the beach, the neutral colours create a wonderful edge to the pounding grey waves crashing on the beach. It has to be noted that April showers in the UK produce amazing rolling layers of clouds in the bright blue skies, (when the rain stops!) and being on the coast, the vistas of both the wide open sea and the dramatic skies can create a sense of immense wonder. It is truly elemental and the sunsets are breath taking.

Solitary stone pebble.

Experiencing an English woodland at this time of year feels very different. Entering the woods, the sense of growth is staggering, sometimes I think I can hear the sap rising in the trees and the beautiful bright green leaf buds unfurling. The birds are singing; all is alive. The woods are full of the season, the energy pushing, coming up from the earth, gently yet urgently springing into life once more and the scent of the Bluebells fills the air.

Sheep grazing on the downs under a big sky.

Photographs can't capture the immensity of the experience of either place, so on each walk in these areas I have actually collected the colours of the season, sticking my small scale collection down, in order of discovery, onto an adhesive strip. I thought that working with the distinct colours of this time of year, in each contrasting environment, I could work through a process that connected me closer to the real experience. As an artist I know that just starting to open up and play with an idea can create valuable observation and insights later on. I trust in this creative process and I am always amazed at what it produces.

Recording a collection on an adhesive strip.

So far I have been inspired to write poetry, create colour charts for future projects, sketch, photograph, paint, print.... and as my knowledge of processes go, that is just the start, it is a path to follow, that will instinctively will take me to the finished work, the destination I could never have planned.

Sunlight on bright green growth.

For your information, my next Netwalking event is on the 20th of May 2016.

 Please call or text me on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk