The museum of broken things

It wasn't until yesterday that I realised I hadn't walked along the riverbank since before the flooding. Perhaps that meant I hadn't fully come to terms with the scale of events, the power of the river and the effect on us all. It's been a tiring, stressful period and I think I needed to see the river again.

I love to collect. The act of beachcombing or mudlarking slows me down. It makes me focus. It makes my brain work at things in a very primative (in a good way) manner. I think there is something about the act of sorting and searching that helps me settle and regain my composure.

Yesterday I enjoyed findng the usual 19th century pottery fragments in and amongst the horrible 21st century filth, washed up on the riverbank. But the other thing I have previously observed in numbers are shoe and leather parts. Never before have I found a whole shoe though, which made me think I wonder how old these are? The sheer numbers suggest this is the rubbish from a cobblers. I know there was a tannery just upstream until around 1900/1908; I wonder if there was a leatherworker there too?

If anyone has any thoughts let me know.

A funny old year

It really has been a funny old year, especially the last few weeks and months.

On Boxing Day morning we received notification to leave our house due to severe flood risk and while the road and our garage were under water, thankfully our home was left unscathed. My heart goes out to all those who have had homes and businesses ruined by flooding, especially artists and small business owners. All in all it has been a very stressful time in my adopted town of Bingley, but it has as made me all the more grateful for what I have. The support of the local community, friends and family is truly astonishing.

I am sending out the old year helping with Bingley Flood Support group and then resting next to the fire. Here's to a calmer, dryer 2016!

Walk 8 - early morning walk

Very early morning walk

insomnia

restless

whirring mind

Blasted by sound and scent

Birdsong erupting from the riverbank

Bats still flying over the rooftops

 Wish I could capture the heady scent of early morning

Heightened senses

Walk 7 - just a little walk

a little walk

from home along the riverbank

chocolate brown water

fast flowing and higher than normal (for the time year)

muddy underfoot

collecting yellow flowers;

buttercup

oil seed rape

yellow flag iris

and others

bundled into silk

along the river

collected reflections

an underwater world

light and shade

down to the waters edge

foaming water

evening light and soothing, lapping water

falling away

lightness

air

on my skin

collecting yellowed ivy leaves on my way home

Walk 5

A river walk

from home along the river Aire and meandering

birds darting overhead and into the riverbank

beautiful sound of birdsong

bright sunlight catching the water

lush green

butterflies

silk soaked in the orange spring

wrapped with plants from the woods there

beech leaves

bluebells

bracken

ivy & ramsons

not expecting any marks but a pleasing bundle

everything here 'greened'

last of the bluebells

a new path by the walled walk

a way down to the river

a shiny green beetle

sitting with my boots in the river

connections between land and water *** to be explored

fluidity

up to the woods

playing with(in) shadows

painting with light

past the castle and down the hill

homeward

Walk 4

From home to Hirst Wood via cemetery and rope swing.

Huge birdsong.

Curling, flowery notes.

Sparkling and layered, competing to be heard.

Walking along the riverbank, ducklings and blue speckles of speedwell.

Leaf shapes - similarity, variety.

Vibrant green

Textures

Wild garlic; to look at, to smell, to touch and taste!

Bluebells. Endless drifting blue

A found bottle 'POISONOUS NOT TO BE TAKEN'

Ankle deep, then knee deep on nettles.

Names in the cemetery, some broken, forgotten? Tears of my own.

A rope swing with glee.

Slightly lost.

Fly tipping and a waiting cat

Across the railway and into blue carpeted woods.

A low-lying mist, scented with hyacinth

Walk 3

From home to studio.

Bingley to Saltaire.

Along the river, through the woods and by the canal.

New green leaves, yellow buds and pottery shards.

An elderly man told me about finding stickleback in the slow water between river and spring 'when we were younger' and told me about the big round marsh marigolds further along the path.

Loosing track

It seems like ages since I have really engaged with my practice, written in my journal or my blog, probably because it is ages. Today I finally took myself off for a walk, along the river and through the woods. The river was extremely swollen and flowing as fast, reeds and grasses bleached and flaxen. The ground of course was sodden and it was cold;  not everyones idea of an ideal walk, but beautiful to me.

It was good to get out and feel the sun on my face and the bitter cold on my fingers; clearing the cobwebs away.

Found blue

From the river...

...some of these little treasures may make their way to Saturday's Stitch with Found Objects workshop. I still have two places available for last minute booking.

Specimens

Representing hope and new life.

If you would like to have a go at creating cyanotypes like these I will be running a taster session on 27th April. Or to learn the full process and experimental techniques the Cyanotype Weekend course runs 8th-9th June 2013. Book online or contact me direct.

Things with holes in

Leather, wood and pottery

Worn and river washed

From function to form

Holes for stitching into?