Hirst Wood - the people's sculpture park?

This morning I decided to walk to Hirst Wood to see what the world looked like in it's snowy cloak. It was lovely to see everything so changed; some things hidden, others highlighted for all to see.

I didn't really know how the woods would look or feel but was surprised that the overall scene did not look more dramatic. However on looking closer there were lots of lovely surprises.

    

I was delighted to find both of the nests were still intact. Picked out in white against the dark branches they became even more visible. As I was wandering about I noticed some sticks that seemed to have fallen into a star shape, then I realised this was too much of a coincidence, someone else must have been making things. As I looked around more I began to notice other shapes buried in the snow.

    

How wonderful to see that other people had been inspired to create their own ideas. Making patterns, building structures and adding to the original structures we had made, there were about 8 - 10 structures, all in the same area of the woods. I particularly love this star inside my nest. I wonder if it was intended as a giant snowflake?

In the short time I spent in this area of the wood I spotted a small boy and his Grandfather inspecting the large nest and adding some more wood to it. They had no idea what it was but just wanted to add to it. It seems that once something is started people enjoy making their own mark. I wonder if it is similar to the sandcastles and marks in the sand we make at the seaside?

I pushed a row of sticks into the ground along the edge of the path to create long shadows to mark the day. Later on my way back through the woods I came across more evidence of creative activity...

    

... fairy doors and miniature shelters. I wonder who has made all these things?

I feel today's discoveries are important to my practice. I am not sure how just yet but I hope this might become clearer soon.

Unknown paths

So much to write I don't know where to start. A lot has been happening and it all means I know less than before, which wasn't much.

It's late and I have put off working all day by finding jobs to do or just pottering. I have a feeling that blogging is also counter productive, and not 'the real work' I should be doing. I suppose then the question is what is the real work?

I just came across a lovely blog entry by Spirit Cloth called 'refining the place idea' in which she discusses the marks left on us by place. Seemed somehow apt and in tune with what I had been thinking.

That aside...

After a deeper than usual tutorial on Thursday I left feeling like I was finally starting to look for what I want to do. Having prepared with a mania of mind-mapping and list generating it soon became clear that part of this exercise was limited by the perspective of my starting point; if you don't ask the right question how can you possibly come up with any meaningful answers? So do I need to ask myself more searching, difficult questions? Can I ask useful questions at all, or is it all limited too much by my own narrow perspective?

If I want to get anything meaningful out of my practice and really push myself (which I do) then I need to allow myself to let go of everything I feel comfortable with in my practice; perhaps only holding on to a few things that are truly important to me. The exercise in 'free falling' is scary and I don't know where to start.

There was a great deal of emotional turmoil during my tutorial that is too personal to go into in such a personal arena. However this is clearly at odds with the idea of me exploring my emotional responses through my artwork. I suppose at the root of all this I am not very good at letting things out, that's my problem. (but this might surprise people that know me!)

Sorry, no nice pictures - nothing to show for all my thinking ...

Liquid lubrication

It proved to be good advise to have a drink and write a stream in consciousness. It certainly made me suspend judgement for a while and make observations based on gut instinct instead of what I think is correct or acceptable.

In the week since I did this I have reviewed the words I noted down, making further connections and observations. Here are some of my reflections:

• keep things simple
• make them beautiful
• if I can bring the images in my head into reality I may be able to communicate my ideas
• if the work has honesty & integrity it will communicate to other people
• don't worry about the format of the work
• the subject of my work is elusive, personal and spiritual
• the elusive quality of the work is interesting in it's own right.
• many of the images I have imagined have religious connections: cupped hands, washing / cleansing, dappled light. This is interesting!

• I would like to create a series of images / photos
  
• they could become a book or series of some kind
• I would like to consider larger scale collages of images building up tactile layers and surfaces.

Stuck Fast

During the last few weeks I have been feeling very lost with my practice, and maybe in general. There seemed to be more questions than answers. I have been feeling as though everything is beyond my reach; in a haze.

What do I want to say?

How can I say it?

What is the context of my work?

Where does it fit in a professional market/context?

Am I achieving what I set out to?

Everyone keeps telling me that everything will become clear when it is ready... but what if it never does?

Today I pinned up my work to reflect on what I have been doing. I hoped to find a pattern in the chaos or to have some kind of eureka moment, but it never came. I suppose what I was really wishing for was for someone else to see my work and make some helpful remarks, but I was out of luck!

Thanks to Fiona & Polly for giving me a good impromptu 'tutorial' on the train home from Manchester. They persevered and managed to squeeze out of me the gist of my subject. I also think the suggestion to get drunk and then write about my work may pay dividends - although I am currently drinking tea and entirely sober!

Any help or comments will be gratefully received. Thank you!

Ugly Beauty

I watched a BBC TV program called Ugly Beauty , which struck a chord with me.

"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it" Confucius

Beauty of textures:

Jorge Otero Pailos' piece 'The Ethics of Dust: Dog's Palace, Venice", included in the Venice Biennale, questions the nature of beauty by capturing the layers of dirt an pollution in a layer of laytex moulded from the wall of the palace. Beautiful illuminated imperfection.

Carl Andre has a love of material and surface; raw and industrial.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful we must carry it with us or we find it not" Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beauty of emptiness

James Turrell creates a space for reverie; taking time to observe the changes in light. Light as a pure media: Art as a way of finding meaning.

Ideas

Key ideas which have arisen from sorting files, re-reading notes and new suggestions by Lynne from EYES (thank you!):

PROCESS: surface of cloth / action onto cloth, mimicking surface of land or emotional state

Personal emotions : land : cloth

solitude, quietness (important aspects of experiencing place)

Wabi Sabi: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect

transience, impermanence, anomolies of construction, intimacy, natural process

Spiritual longing

Zen thinking: searching and thinking about something too much prevents us from seeing what is already there

Inspiring times

Visiting the Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrogate this weekend I was excited to see work by artists I was unfamiliar with, as well as new work by artists I know.

Tom Lundberg creates the most intricate small-scale embroideries which seem to almost glow with a spiritual power. There are hidden narratives within the works, which seem to be almost like religious icons.

I have known the work of Louise Baldwin for a while, but it was lovely to see her most recent pieces. The pieces combine beautiful colour and surfaces; intricate details and unusual juxtapositions of imagery.

Dionne Swift has developed a new body of work investigating printmaking instead of the devore that has become her hallmark. The quiet but industrial quality of the work appealed to me, especially the pieces onto industrial felt.

There are many more I could mention but I haven got the time. I will mention some graduate work at a later date, when I remember.