Experiencing awe and cultivating empathy.

Experiencing awe and cultivating empathy....

I wonder if this is why I need to go and see the sun set, to experience awe. Is this a basic need of mine?

Luckily, the sunsets here in Whitstable are stunning, we have a clear view across the sea, with the Isle of Sheppey becoming a wonderful landmark, that can be used to chart the suns movement through the changing seasons. As we approach the longest day, the sun moves across to the east of the island and sets impressively in the sea, its reflections enhancing the experience.

Sunset over Whitstable.

One of my favourite experiences during the summer months is to swim in the sea, towards the sunset. Even with my eyes closed I can see an orange glow and follow the trail of the reflected sun as it swooshes up and down in the waves. I have tried to capture this feeling of immersion, in the seawater and in the glow of the sunset by producing a dry-point print, titled 'Immersion'.

I have added text to accompany my images in the book.

This image is one of many artworks I have chosen to put into a small book, named 'People to Place- Reflections and Reminders', along with minimal but well thought out text, I hope to remind others of the simple joys of making time to go out, observe and be in the moment, connecting to the wonder of the natural world.

Find joy in the simple pleasures of life.

So, with another open studio date coming up soon, I have been busy printing a couple more books, using the fabulous Risograph machine at Intra studios in Rochester. This machine, about the same size of a large photocopier is a mechanical wonder. Simply put it can be seen as a mechanised screen-printing process. I make the original artwork, it then thermally cuts the 'master' stencils that are wrapped around the ink cylinders, then I press the button and I can choose any number of copies from 1 to 1000!

Risoprint machine in action.

I love the fact that there are many great colours of inks to choose from (and eco-friendly soy water based too). There is a wonderful 'flat gold', a deep indigo blue, my favourite Teal and about 6 more that can be used either separately or overprinted to create so many more colours. The machine can take A3 photocopier paper and thicker card so I have been able to produce many hardback covers for my books using the same process.

Printed covers drying on the rack.

Recently I tracked down Rob Hopkins, co- founder of the Transition Network, a positive global movement based in Permaculture. He is studying the power of imagination and regularly writes a blog about this subject.

Recently he wrote a blog in which he interviews Tony Whitehead of the RSPB, who during the spring months takes people out to listen to the birds dawn chorus. The interview looks at the subject of awe, which Rob had been researching. He asks Tony, 'I was reading some research recently about awe, which talked about how there's something about when people experience awe, that their brains work in a particular way that is really powerful for cultivating empathy. Maybe that's part of what you're saying people experience?

TW; 'And beauty as well....But I think awe comes into the simple every day experiences such as listening to blackbird song. And it starts at that point. That simple point of beauty and contact and everything else really devolves from that in terms of relationship. And I think people are more willing to act and advocate on behalf of wildlife and nature if they have that original experience of awe or the sublime or just that connection. Just that connection.'

'Immersion' image and text.

So my little books have a big message to spread. Which is go outside, connect with nature and enjoy the awesome natural phenomenons that we are gifted with on a regular basis.

 

So...

'Go outside everyday, into nature and feed your soul.'

My next open studio event will be soon, on Saturday the 16^th of June. It will show the new progression on from my current art project 'Hearth and Home'.

The exhibition is open to all from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio.

The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', look up www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

10% of all sales of this 'Hearth and Home' artwork will go to our local homeless charity in Canterbury, 'Porchlight'.

I love to teach others and facilitate space for them to create, so 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.

The next ones for the exciting and accessible art of Gelli-printing are on most Wednesdays and Fridays. throughout May and June. They run 11-2pm and cost £40 pp including all materials and refreshments.

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

My first Chapbook!

My first Chapbook!

Over the last couple of weeks I have enjoyed photographing some of my artwork to use in a couple of small books that I have compiled. I love to use the name chap book for this project as Chapman was my maiden name and means pedlar. I was always proud of that for some reason, so now, to have produced one is curiously wonderful! The historical definition of chapbook is 'a small pamphlet containing tales, ballads, or tracts, sold by pedlars.'

Copies of my chapbook ready to be stitched together.

The 'Spirit of Place' project that I have been working on with Alison Lees has really helped me explore other mediums, such as wood cut printing and it is good to see the overall variation and diversity of my creative output, photographed, set with text and printed.

Choosing photographs of my artwork to be included.

Finally I have a couple of small books to be proud of. It has been a long process and I have felt at times like there were too many obstacles to navigate to actually get something into print. But now, by scaling the 'writing project' down and producing something that I see now as 'just' another piece of art, I have managed to complete it at long last. Hurrah!

Finding the best layout of images to be used.

After photographing my recent work, I was able to select specific images that showed the various 'mark making' that I had been experimenting with over the last 2 years. For example, the brush-strokes of acrylic look soft compared to the oil painting and likewise the subtlety of a gelli-print contrasts well with the deep old strokes of a woodcut print. The printing system I have chosen to use picks up these tiny differences and I wanted to work with that.

The first book is titled 'Spirit of Place, Wanderings and Wonderings' and explores the basic inspiration I have had whilst walking and being in nature that has led to the production of the many images contained in its pages. It is not deep and inaccessible but light and easy to read, hopefully inspiring anyone who reads it to feel that they too could go outside and become more aware and ultimately inspired. I guess my aim was to produce a gentle reminder...

Getting the master copies of each page ready at Intra.

I printed the books as an initial batch of 50 and now have the repetitive but hugely satisfying task of putting them all together. The Risograph printing machine that I used is a wonderful thing and I like many others would like my own, but just to have the opportunity to travel up to Medway, to Intra and use theirs is good enough for now.

Part of the page layout for 'Spirit of Place' chapbook.

It's a great way to print and the best way to explain the function of the Riso machine is to compare it to mechanised screen-printing. You still have to create stencils and choose colours plus when making a booklet, pagination, layouts etc also need to be decided. But I love a process and now I just have 100 booklets to hand-stitch together! Some of them will be on sale at my next Open Studio event in June, so come and see for yourself!

My next open studio event will be on Saturday the 16^th of June. It will show the new progression on from my current art project 'Hearth and Home'.

The exhibition is open to all from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio.

The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', look up www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

10% of all sales of this 'Hearth and Home' artwork will go to our local homeless charity in Canterbury, 'Porchlight'.

I love to teach others and facilitate space for them to create, so 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.

The next ones for the exciting and accessible art of Gelli-printing are on most Wednesdays and Fridays. throughout May and June. They run 11-2pm and cost £40 pp including all materials and refreshments.

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

Recognising the spirit of place.

I believe that part and parcel of making artwork is the need to regularly be inspired. To find this, I walk, often with other artists and it goes a long way to fulfil this need. Walking in nature, throughout the year provides me with plenty of opportunities to observe the larger seasonal changes and recognise the smaller more intricate details that may be overlooked by others.

Walking upon a path covered in white petals.

Seeing the footpath coated with white blackthorn blossom petals, looking like a wedding path and remembering the same path crunching underfoot last autumn as we stepped onto a thick carpet of acorns makes me happy! I see connections, recognise the changes and their regularity gives me peace, hope and inspiration.

Making prints from found objects on a recent walk.

I have been making and teaching 'Gelli-print' mono-printing for over a year now and I find walking and picking up small reminders of that walk, the time and the place can be used directly in subsequent printing sessions. The prints can then be looked back on with affection and become a direct link to another, past experience.

Earlier spring walk in Adisham, along a holloway.

I am obviously one of many artists who obtain inspiration through walking outdoors and connecting to the place. Last Monday evening I went to a poetry reading and performance by an artist who back in 2011 had a 6 week residency in a beach hut on Tankerton Slopes, Whitstable, Kent. As a long term resident of the area and a fellow beach hut owner, I was fascinated to hear her take on the area and see if and how she had been 'affected' by the spirit of place.

Detail of moss upon a marker stone in the wood.

We had unfortunately missed her performance the previous week in Whitstable, so we travelled down to Deal to the Astor Theatre especially to see her. She performed her poetry dressed in an iridescent gossamer gown, which looked like the deep changing sea that she had watched during her residency. The poetry was totally evocative of the place. She had captured the unique essence of this wonderful limbinal space.

A couple of books by Nancy Charley inspired by her Tankerton residency,

As I sat listening I thought she notices everything, from recognising both the resident crows and visiting tourists, their colours, behaviour, their noises...and the change of light on the sea, the bounty washed up on the beach, the promenaders, the dog walkers, the skein of geese, the migration of swallows..all that and more was acknowledged. The performance was entitled 'The Water Watcher', I enjoyed her work immensely. It was well observed, articulate and inspiring. Wonderful!

The Water Watchers Blessing by Nancy Charley.

My next open studio event will be on Saturday the 16^th of June. It will show the new progression on from my current art project 'Hearth and Home'.

The exhibition is open to all from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio.

The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', look up www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

10% of all sales of this 'Hearth and Home' artwork will go to our local homeless charity in Canterbury, 'Porchlight'.

I am always inspired by the sunset. Truly wonderful.

I love to teach others and facilitate space for them to create, so 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.

The next ones for the exciting and accessible art of Gelli-printing are on most Wednesdays and Fridays. throughout May and June. They run 11-2pm and cost £40 pp including all materials and refreshments.

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

Holding Creative Space for Others.

I love to offer my studio to others to work in. It is an unusual and beautiful hand crafted building which evolved as a direct need for me to have my own space. This desperate need (I had two young sons) supplemented with a lifetimes worth of creative space building for others and a deep interest in sustainable architecture and community engagement produced a wonderful retreat which only now I feel I really 'own'. I recently read about Jo Fairley's shed love for her shed too, you can read it here.

The path we made up to it was a labour of love too.

The studio roof is 'green' too, with its own pond, marshy area and of course 2 gnomes.

Often I overlook the joy of owning such a space as it is all too easy to be busy outside of it. But since sharing it with others, teaching in it, the art of mono-printing, for instance I am really able to see its worth. It is full of supplies, inspiration and now a comfy chair, cushions and when I go down it also contains a small lap dog, cup of tea and space to breathe, hope, dream and create!

Curvy interior walls holding creative space.

Pewter elm tree form from cuttle-fish cast.

So, book yourself onto one of my courses advertised or just come and play. I aim to expand the teaching that I do soon. I have facilities in there to create cuttlefish casts and produce pewter treasures, do various printing techniques, from wood cut to lino cut, learn how to paint from the imagination, using mindfulness and walking as a meditation. The list goes on, so just let me know which creative playtime you would like or what you yearn to learn.

The light and airy side of the studio.

I, myself shall endeavour to get down to the studio most days now the weather is warming up, I shall no longer put off the urge to create and do another thing instead. These distractions will always exist and it is only with my own daily discipline and determined practice that I will create new work and enjoy being in the space with others that love doing so too!

My next open studio event will be on Saturday the 16^th of June. It will show the new progression on from my current art project 'Hearth and Home'.

The exhibition is open to all from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio.

The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', look up www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

10% of all sales of this 'Hearth and Home' artwork will go to our local homeless charity in Canterbury, 'Porchlight'.

All open and ready for another studio exhibition.

I love to teach others and facilitate space for them to create, so 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. The next ones for the exciting and accessible art of Gelli-printing are on most Wednesdays and Fridays throughout April, May and June. They run 11-2pm and cost £40 pp including all materials and refreshments.

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

Setbacks and forward motion

Setbacks and forward motion.

I believe that every cloud has a silver lining, but the positive isn't always easy to see immediately. It seems to gently ease itself out into view and we may wonder why we didn't see it in the first place but sometimes it seems we can be initially blinded by disappointment.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

It has been like this for me a few times now during my mission to write a book. The book is about how people connect to place through walking. It is a simple enough concept but every day it seems more books are published around a similar theme, as nature writing is currently one of the largest growing sectors in publishing.

Having now ruled out traditional publishing routes I have discovered another way that I can create a book to share with others. This week I went back to Intra in Rochester, Kent and learnt a new printing process that would allow me to hand produce small batches of my book. It was highly enjoyable day and I can see it being creatively more satisfying than outsourcing the work to others.

Moving forward.

The book was going to be a traditional hardback, an A5 size landscape-formatted design that would have required a higher personal financial investment from me and I believe this new idea is far better for the subject of the book: it just works.

The only potential problem I have is that the images that I carefully chose for the original format will not work in this new way. But, as we say, every cloud has a silver lining and I know in time it will be a bonus when I work out the solution.

Watch this space!

My Straw-bale studio, open on the 17th of this month.

And a reminder; my 'Hearth and Home' exhibition is open to all and will take place on Saturday the 17^th of March from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio. The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

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

Bitter weather and shorter walks.

Bitter weather and shorter walks.

The winter is certainly upon us now, this week alone we have had snow, sleet rain, dreary grey days but also wonderful bright sunshine. The weather seems to be all over the place and it can make it difficult to settle into a routine. Do we need to put the heating on constant, light a fire or de-ice the car?

Remembering warmer months and summer fires.

We acquired a dog a few months ago, so at least one thing is now constant, I know that I will be going out for a walk at least twice a day and possibly more if it's neither bitterly cold or chucking it down with rain. This has been quite a bonus as it makes me go out in all weathers and even short walks in the blustery rain and hail have been enjoyable. Well, I say that but actually the best bit of these walks is going back inside again! It truly makes me appreciate and be grateful for my home even more.

Gelli-print based on early spring last year.

I am set to start the first art project of this year next week. One which I have been thinking about and researching for a few months. I am going to create a small body of work based on 'Hearth and Home', which I will exhibit in my straw-bale studio next month. I have always been fascinated by fireplaces and their place in the home. I love how mantle-pieces are 'curated' by families and I can still nostalgically remember those of my grandparents and other elderly relatives, which were of the time when the hearth was the heart of the home, long before the introduction of a TV as a main focal point.

Fireplace installation at YSP last Summer. 

Our log burner has been lit most evenings and has become another constant this winter and I am so glad of it. The applied decoration I made last summer in the concrete hearth has worked well. When I sweep up the wood ash from it, I remember the time I collected the leaves, chosen from full and abundant gardens, pressed them into the wet concrete and looked forward to the 'reveal' when the leaves were pulled away. Their imprints are now permanently marked into the hearth and I recognises the traces of Passionflower, Hop and Grapevine leaves. Now on really grey days and darker evenings I find their subtle forms and detail are all I need to remember back to a warmer time, with more consistent bright days. These days will surely come round again, I just need to wait, patiently.

The 'Hearth and Home' exhibition is open to all and will take place on Saturday the 17^th of March from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio. The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', look up www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

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