A Travelling Sketchbook

A Travelling Sketchbook

This is one of a pair of books that Linda Chilton and I exchange every couple of months.

Actually - the books themselves are so heavy and precious now - that we just exchange four pages at a time.

Linda and I have been friends, and artist colleagues for the past 20 + + years. However in July 2005 as we were both moving away from the area that we lived - we decided to keep in touch via sketchbooks.

Linda is the person I turned too whenever I was having artist "collie-wobbles" and these books have been a wonderful way to explore new directions, and still get frank feedback from a trusted friend.

Experiments with Tyvek

Walking Man

Not the greatest day in the studio - I definitely had a bit of a monkey mind - and mentally I was all over the place and could not stay focused.

I am having a table at a small craft fair here in the village in September - I guess it will be very different from the Fairs I used to attend in the South - which were very expensive to attend as an exhibitor and highly competitive - in that there were a large amount of very talented crafts people with fantastic work.

I used to love the "Craft Fair Circuit" as I felt part of a wonderful, multi-coloured, tribe of designer makers.

I am sure that at the village fair - there will also be very talented crafts people with wonderful work - but as it will not have cost me hundreds of pounds to have a stand it feels slightly different.

The bottom line, however, is that I am there to sell my work, and today I felt that I was slipping back into my old way of working - as it is "safe" When confronted with deadlines or pressure - I often fall back to a safe place making the "known" as it might sell, on the grounds that it has sold before. I am berating myself - for not doing some daring pieces for the craft fair - because it really does not matter if I sell very little as the stand will only cost a fraction of what I paid in the past - and all I am using up is some of my time

One joy of keeping a blog - is that visually my work is up here on a day to day basis and there are changes and developments from piece to piece I just forget to note them for my self!

It is something about this piece "Walking Man" that makes me feel that I have not developed - because I have used this image in other work, and used a similar arch shape as well.

The way I layer fabrics is the way I enjoy working - I am forgetting that I have extended this to include layers of papers that I have dyed, printed, and transferred onto to make a "fabric" that is unique to me.

Background of layered and coloured ink-jet prints

In this piece the background is made of ink-jet transfers onto tissue paper; built up in layers, including the music from the "Magnificat" and a map - which I altered in Photoshop.

New Picture Started

Guess what? ..... it rained today! Got completely washed out gardening this morning - and was not very settled in the studio this afternoon.

However I have made a start on a new piece - and got a working title for it - currently "Beyond the Stars"

It is based on a section of Sacred Mysteries - the sailing boat section.

Background

The background is a rough sunset/water painted onto vylene - I always rough out the background colours - even though they wont show in the finished piece as it gives me a starting point for the fabric, papers and stitching - and it is far easier to make a first stitch into colour than untouched white - rather like its hard (sometimes) to draw on the first page of a new sketchbook - I always start a couple of pages into the book.

Starting the layers

For the sea I wanted words in the background. I have transferred a letter onto tissue paper which I have ripped up and placed on the background.

Building up the fabric layers

I am now starting to build up the fabric layers of the sea - that's all I had time for today - but when I next get time in the studio - hopefully tomorrow - I will continue to build up the fabric layers in the sky. At this point they are only pinned down - Giving scope for tweaking when all the fabrics are in place, prior to stitching

What's in a Name?

The naming of a piece of work is always something I find thought provoking and interesting.

Sometimes the name comes first - I will hear or read a phrase and immediately it invokes the idea of a piece of art. Other times - as in this case - I was working to a brief "In a country churchyard" and the name of the piece is still undecided.

While working on the big piece - in my mind I was calling it "Fabric of Life" - however I like this title so much that I really want to do a series of work with this title - or use it as the theme for an exhibition.

I have been toying with variations on journeys and songs - as the piece has a "journey line" in it - which is a theme I enjoy but nothing I thought about was really right.

Friends came around this evening to have a look at the art before I submit it for selection tomorrow. We were all playing with thoughts and ideas - what the piece was saying to us as individuals. Trying to find the appropriate name.

One of the group said "Sacred Mysteries" and I knew that was right - Again for me it is an internal click - I suppose like putting in the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle; Click the jigsaw is finished; Click the piece is named "Sacred Mysteries". The title says everything I want the piece to express, and I am happy.

The Gift for a Friend
This piece is now finished, and it is called "The Gift" (Size 20cm x 20cm)
below is the finished piece, and some details.

THE GIFT

The embroidery has been mounted onto a board which has been covered with a copy of the service sheet. I have aged this by washing it over with a wet tea bag. Then when this was dry I washed it over with a mix of Gesso and Parchment coloured acrylic paint.

Detail showing ExtravOrganza scroll

The scroll was made by printing a quotation onto ExtravOrganza with an inkjet printer.

Detail showing the service sheet background
(in Welsh)