Encounters

Encounters

Situated objects and how we encounter them is a real interest of mine.

This is how I became interested in Spatial Design. I have written about this before in my blog, see ‘The Space between Things’.

I wrote that ‘Design is a powerful process that can be used to influence how people feel in a space. An example of this in its very basic form is to imagine a room, quite bare but at its centre on the floor lays a brown standard hard brick. Now, imagine how this would compare with the same room, again quite bare except in the centre there is a beautiful vase of colourful flowers. Each encounter would feel very different.’

Jan's colourful, busy and warm kitchen was a delight. Nothing contrived about this space.

Watching BBC 2’s ‘The Great Interior Design Challenge’ makes me squirm, I find it compelling but also very formulaic. I guess to make it appeal as entertainment, some drama must be injected into the show, but the ‘good cop/bad cop’ ‘experts’ leave me struggling to comprehend their understanding of design. In the last series they coined such phrases as ‘colour pop’, this time they are mentioning ‘colour winks’. Sigh. Still, I quite like to watch the more professional Tom Dyckhoff struggle with getting his architectural history links into the script. Maybe I am being overly critical of a show that I will want to watch the final of this evening, but it is interesting to see how the contestants contrive groupings of objects within a room’s interior decorating scheme.

So, to recognise real peoples’ choice through their small collections of objects within a space is fascinating, a true insight into their own personal interests, values and expression.

My dresser, with Mark Hearld's book open on it.

Since I wrote an entry in this blog, back in September titled ‘Collections’, I have received a few photos of other peoples dressers. 

Becky's shelves showing my card (middle shelf, off centre.)

Interestingly, one of these had a card on it, that I had made, which had a photograph of my dresser on it. It felt like looking at a form of creative infinity. Another one which was sent to me was of my blog showing the same image on an Ipad, propped up amongst someone else’s personal collection of objects.

My windowsill, another favorite place for collections.

These objects often have such importance to the owner that when gathered together they almost have the reverent feel of an altar. I remember the nature table at school, this to me had a similar feel.

A nature table as illustrated in my 'Going to School' Ladybird book of 1959.

It was a very powerful reminder of the season that we were in and the importance and beauty of natural forms.

Yes, what is it about kitchen dressers?

I am currently reading ‘Toast and Marmalade and other stories’, by Emma Bridgewater.

A kitchen dresser spread from Emma Bridgewater's book, 'Toast and Marmalade'.

As much as I suspected that I would find her writing annoying, perhaps a bit too middle class, I will admit to loving the book.

She has a chapter called, ‘Little altars everywhere’ and ‘What is it about kitchen dressers?’ She writes, ‘It seems as if these shelf arrangements really are like little altars to creative inspiration, whose regular contemplation is a fundamental part of making design.’

My fairly tasteless but lovely collection of ceramic birds.

Yes, I totally agree, as would Mark Hearld, the artist I also wrote about in September, whose abundantly creative and inspirational finds were pictured grouped together on many shelves.

One of my mantlepieces evoking an altar like quality in the limited space available.

Emma Bridgewater starts off her chapter on dressers by realising that she is more aware of everything on her dresser than she is of the contents of her wardrobe and goes on to write. ‘I think mum was using the dresser in the kitchen in Oxford as a giant collage illustrating family life. She declared on her dresser that matching sets were redundant, that you should follow your heart and that if you did, you would make harmony out of dissonance.’

The shop display dresser at 'Number Seven', Dulverton. A gem of a shop.

When we visited friends last weekend I made sure to take some photos of their dresser for use in this blog. They run ‘Number Seven’, in Dulverton, Somerset. It has to be the most exquisite and beautiful shop that I visit regularly. I love to visit so that I can spend time in there just taking in all the precious handcrafted work. This time, it felt very hard to share the space with others, as it was busy with Xmas shoppers.

Jan's dresser in the kitchen at the back of the shop.

I withdrew from the shop space into the back kitchen when it became busy and sat in the back kitchen by the log burner, drinking tea with friends until it was clear again. Here I photographed Jan’s kitchen dresser and a section of the mantelpiece above the fire.

Jan's mantlepiece over her cosy log burner.

Davina uses a large kitchen dresser in the shop as a display area too, so I was quite happy snapping these photos of other dressers, intrigued by their displays of both personal and retail artefacts. 

'Number Seven' dresser before its festive treatment, it will be even more magical this weekend.

Landscape Collections

Collections of objects in the landscape are curious forms. I am thinking of situated objects such as stones that form Stonehenge or any other stone circle. Groupings of worked timber pieces are also curious as they often have or have had a purpose.

 

Timber forms in the landscape. Looking across to Wales.

They are a reminder that we, as humans, have been able to adapt and repurpose natural resources to create solutions for many of our needs, including sacred, industrial and domestic use.

Sea worn and wind weathered timber remnants.

Over the weekend as we walked on Blue Anchor beach after a hearty breakfast at The Driftwood Café, I saw in the distance rows of timber posts. They were well worn and not in a rhythmic organised style that I recognised from the sea defences along the Kent coast, which are called ‘groynes.’

Beautifully sculptural timber.

We walked towards them; it seems to be a natural thing to do on a walk, to be drawn to objects in the landscape, especially collections. I wonder if this goes back to our basic instincts, to draw closer to other forms, so that we are less conspicuous, or maybe we are just naturally curious.

The timbers formed a long procession across the beach.

As we drew closer, I encountered a sculptural array of weathered forms. They were apparently the remains of very old fish-traps. I have seen medieval examples on Tankerton Beach, before the new sea defence work piled loads of shingle on top of them. There are some good examples, still on show to the west of Seasalter beach, but these wooden remains were approachable as the tide was out.

 

Another close up showing the smooth tide of time.

They seemed bigger and more impressive on such a wild and windy day and comforting even, to think of others out there in the past, creating and using these traps.

I shall see over the next week whilst walking, whether there is a comfort in finding man made structures in the landscape. They can be seen as landmarks and points to navigate by, but maybe by their very existence there is a reassurance in their human connection, especially in wild landscapes.

(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.)

Autumn

 Autumn

I am going to start this blog with a quote from a friend, Alison Lees, who, as a fellow artist is incredibly sensitive to her surroundings and aware of the changes that the seasons bring.

‘Yesterday as I was outside, I noticed a particular movement in the trees. We looked up and stared and it was very clear, right then and there that Autumn walked in! Amazing and beautiful.’

Autumn always brings with it mixed feelings for me. I am disappointed by the darker shorter days and the general chilliness in the air, but I am enthralled by the beautiful display of colour in the foliage of both the trees and plants.

Early morning autumn sunlight on the wibbly-wobbly walls.

Autumn sunlight is low and sharp. It glows. This morning it shone on the side of our wibbly-wobbly straw bale garden studio and it highlighted the texture of the wall, the brushstrokes of the lime-wash and the beauty of the plum tree in its shadow form.

 

Shadow plum tree on cob rendered walls.

I find this time of year is a good time to focus on the detail, the wonder of it all, as we go into a slower mode of being.

 

Detail.

Autumn slows me down. It feels like there is less time to want to fit ‘it’ all in. I look forward to the darker evenings so that I can get cosy in the house and not expect so much of myself.

Pace

Autumn is my slow down signal. I always used to try and ‘keep the pace’ up at this time, but now I tend to recognise that I need to slow down. If I don’t, I start getting the inevitable cold and cough and then things quickly start to go pear shape. That is one of the great things about walking, it is all about pace. Walking pace is, as a human, our natural speed to observe and understand our surroundings.

Last week I collected my first sweet chestnuts of the season, these were found by remembering where I saw the trees last year, walking up to and around them and looking down into the recent leaf litter and spying the bright green spiky balls. This can't be done virtually, digitally or any other way than to be present. I had to go there myself and seek them out.

One of Jo Barkers harvest mandalas, not chestnuts, but beautiful.

In making this decision to go and harvest these seasons’ gifts I was allowing myself the time and the commitment to be there, to pace myself to the season, to walk, look, recognise and gather. It could be seen as a bit trivial, but I believe the more we engage with the land around us in a seasonal way the more we begin to appreciate our connection with it and nature itself. In this time of gathering in the harvest in preparation for the colder darker days ahead it is only honest to recognise that we too are animals and will need to change our behaviour in tune with the seasons.

Process

It is with interest that I type this word and only just now, realise that that it has two meanings. I was going to write about the process of preparing a body of new work for the imminent Artists Open Studio event that starts next week. But as I wrote the word, I read it as process, as in to ‘walk in procession’. Both are about movement, the first one is a movement of thought that takes ideas through a series of changes to become something else. The ‘walk in procession’, speaks for itself, it is movement.

 

Above are two paintings reflecting the spirit of that place. Top- Canterbury Catherdral, Bottom- St. Margarets' Bay.

The project that I am working on is about how people connect to place through walking. This will involve them encountering exterior space as they walk. Trained as a spatial designer, I know the influence of how an interior space can influence the mood of someone either walking into/through it or spending some time in the space.

Detail of 'Cathedral secrets'. Playful movement.

Just imagine if we all became re-tuned in to our outside environments.

We may be able to recognise the ‘tricks’ of the trade; use of colour, finish, proportion etc that retail designers, for example use on us. We gradually lose this ability to see, the more familiar and safe we feel in that environment. Major supermarket chains use these tricks to allow us to choose our ‘favorite’ store and therefore feel safe enough to spend our money there, on a regular basis. If we were able to learn to recognise, at a walking pace, all that nature, the land and the changing seasons had to offer, we could become much richer without spending a penny!

Playing

The process that I have found to be the most successful with creating a new body of work is very playful. I have looked to my older original paintings to inspire me.

 

'I Dream', original painting.

I have always painted freely. I have never come to the canvas with a preconceived idea of what to paint, I wouldn't know what to choose for a start! I like the meditative quality of painting; the choosing of the colours, the paintbrush size, the way I mix paints together, the flow. So, in looking to my existing paintings for inspiration I came across a series of ‘motifs’ that frequently occur in my work. These are trees, birds and paths.

 

Working with motifs.

So I set out to simplify the originals by tracing over them, creating a basic line drawing from the positive and negative spaces on the canvas.I have written about this way of looking before, 'the space between'.

 

Looking at positive and negative space.

These I reduced down and then used carbon paper to transfer onto another material to colour in. The whole process has been like a form of Chinese whispers. The end result has been a joy to colour in with no overarching angst, just a playful experiment. The pace of the work has suited the season. It has transformed an older image into something simpler, quite new and fresh.

Working from my original designs.

I have started a Facebook page with a pseudonym, why? well why not? It is playful and fun. It can be found here.

Poetry

As the evenings get darker I find that I start to look for good poetry pieces to snuggle up with, as I get cosy. They can be beautiful to look at too, as the next photo shows.

 

These are Native American Lyrics; poetical verse.

I suppose that the words could be seen as processing across the page. Now that’s a thought…

I wanted to leave you with one other, a quote by Yeats but I cant find the correct words, it goes something like this ; to read a good poem in January is equal to a summers walk in June.

But in researching the correct words I came across these instead;

‘We live in a fast-paced society. Walking slows us down.’ Robert Sweetgall 

That will do, point made. I am off now for a walk.

(I completed my MA in September 2013 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.)