Over the last few days it’s just been great being able to get out and about-bright sunny days but chill Easterly winds. Living in Dumfries means that it doesn’t take long to be out in the surrounding countryside or on the beach.So my son and I took a trip to Powillhimont Beach on the Solway Coast […]
When I had completed the mixed media piece from yesterday’s post I was keen to try the same idea but with different techniques. I liked the composition so transferred it to a large canvas. I added gesso to certain parts of the canvas-when layers of colour were added ,the surface texture added interest. A different […]
I had one of those interesting conversations last week which basically revolved around the use of texture in my work.How had it happened,where had it come from? And it really made me think …The last few pieces of artwork have followed a similar vein-layering gesso,using modelling paste and additional materials such as sand or textiles […]
I was just looking over some of my sketchbooks when I came across this:‘Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.Who looks outside,dreams;Who looks inside,awakes.’Carl Jung
Easter Sunday started with the annual Easter egg hunt in the garden followed by home-made pancakes with a selection of toppings.Judith one of my best friends arrived late morning and first stop was the Spring Fling taster exhibition at Gracefield. It is just great to go around an exhibition with someone who shares the same […]
It has been a busy and exciting few days.Firstly the Spring Fling launch event on Thursday night at Gracefield Arts Centre,Dumfries was very successful .It was really exciting to meet fellow artists and makers from across the region who are involved this year-especially with it being my first time participating in the event. What I […]
‘I know an ash-tree,named Yggdrasil:Sparkling showers are shed on its leavesThat drip dew into the dales below.By Urd’s Well it waves evergreen,Stands over that still pool,Near it a bower whence now there comeThe Fate Maidens,first Urd,Skuld second,scorer of runes,Then Verdandi,third of the Norns:The laws that determine the lives of menThey fixed forever and their fate […]
The idea of a tree(Yggdrasil) marking the centre of the world is a symbol found far beyond Scandinavia.It was a dominating thought of a large part of Asia and Europe way before the Viking age. It’s function was to join heaven and earth with an eagle in its branches being a bird of the sky […]
It’s still bitterly cold and as I finished pegging the washing on the line it started snowing.With Easter this weekend and a poor weather forecast,Spring is definately being kept at bay.In the meantime I’m busy making lists of jobs to do in preparation for Spring Fling-as well as delivering the beautiful glossy brochures across venues […]
With snow and drifts causing disruption across Dumfries & Galloway, cabin fever was beginning to set in.Luckily today I headed east to Langholm where bizarrely there was no snow. Julie Dumbarton had an open studio event celebrating 20 years as an artist. With vibrant colours covering canvases,prints and cards,there certainly was a Spring feel in […]
This time last year it was 24 degrees-we were getting the garden prepared ,having early barbeques,generally enjoying the outdoors. This year signs of spring are here but it’s constantly being delayed….Snow has once again caused major disruption to travel,schools, services and events across the region.The children were roped into tidying bedrooms ,making lunch and generally making […]
‘You can invent mythologies,but for them to work,they have to come from someplace deeper inside you’. Anne Rice,Memnoch the Devil.The body of work I’m currently putting together is for Spring Fling,the open doors arts event that takes place on the Bank Holiday weekend of the 25-27th May,2013.93 artists & makers are involved across Dumfries & Galloway,SW […]
‘In the ebb & flow,In warp & weft,Cradle & grave,An eternal sea,A changing patchwork,A glowing life.At the whirring loom of time I weaveThe living clothes of the Deity’Goethe,’Faust’. In all mythologies,the art of weaving is originally found in the divine world. Some small mistake must always be woven into the pattern to remind us of imperfection […]
‘All begins with a single thread,wound on the spindle of a revolving cosmos held in the lap of women,spinning the destiny of the world into being…’ Plato.I’ve been really busy completing two pieces for the Spring Fling Pop-Up Taster weekend (29-31 March) with the Launch Event on the 28th March,all at at Gracefield Arts […]
According to The Book of Symbols( 2010: Ed. A. Ronnberg,)thread denotes everything from lines of narrative to filaments of being. A slender thread can become a whole fabric.Although it appears thin & delicate,threads of spider silk have greater proportionate tensile strength than steel.The solar spider of the Brahma Upanishad weaves his universal web with a single […]
A visit to the Orkney Islands encouraged a fascination with Norse mythology . The Axis Mundi or world axis is the vertical structure connecting all 3 cosmic levels & is often conceived as a pillar,tree,cross,mountain or even human body.The tree Yggdrasil is the Norse ‘World Tree’, a gigantic ash or yew tree which holds the […]
The beauty of plaster is it’s flexibility of use. From plaster slabs and relief work I started experimenting with making pages for an artists book. A strip of modroc ( plaster-impregnated fabric)was folded over a piece of wire and this process repeated until I had the number of pages necessary.It’s messy,dusty and great fun!Pages were […]
At university I enjoyed delving into different areas of exploration. Each module followed a pathway but the encouragement to digress led to some interesting outcomes.Initially I’d looked at memory then changed direction to freemasonry-after a visit to Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh & it’s Apprentice Pillar & masons marks.I began to experiment and a new pathway […]
Both my children used to attend St Michael’s Primary School in Dumfries.It’s a lovely small Victorian red sandstone building & in the 2011-2012 school year I was asked to help with a mosaic project. The brief was to make a ‘Welcome’ mosaic to go by the entrance door that would also brighten a dark corner […]
I often find that a quote articulates what I’m feeling,thinking or trying to say. Joan Walsh Anglund, an author & illustrator wrote “Thoughts ,rest your wings,Here is a hollow of silences,a nest of stillness,in which to hatch your dreams”. So true with our busy lives..
Tomorrow is Mothers’ Day. Our first module at University required us to produce a piece of work in response to a piece of art,literature,sculpture or music.I chose music firstly because of links to childhood memories and also because of how art & music are entwined …I really didn’t have a clue where to start.A tutorial […]
Nearly at the weekend with Mothers Day on Sunday.Reflecting on being a mother(having a tweenager & teenager)I think of my own mother who will soon celebrate 50 years of marriage & her mother who died many years ago but remains in my thoughts everyday-she was just so wonderful. ‘No.7’ Mixed media 80 x 60cm A […]
Well it’s all a bit damp and grey this morning so the plan is to de-clutter the studio-again….a clear space allows for more headspace to think about what I’m doing….it works every time for me!I collected two pieces from Phil’s Frames this week-here is the second.Thor,the god of sky & thunder was one of the […]
Reflecting…. Having had time to think about what to call my new work,I revisited my research on Norse mythology.In the skaldic poetry that recounts these tales,compound metaphorical substitutions were used for the names of things.This piece has become’Whale-Road’ meaning ‘Sea’. Detail of “Whale-Road’ The sea was vital to the Vikings for their wide-scale raids,colonization and as […]
‘Make your work.Make your work constantly.Love it.And hate it.But make it.’ Stephanie Diamond,artist,New York.I often make work,leave it a while and revisit it. In the case of this triptych of small box canvases,the question then arose of how to present them.I had the idea of presenting them as one…. Apologies for the images,they were taken […]