Mapping on …

Thinking about the practicalities of making a large piece of work to hang high above a communal space … it needs to be big enough to make an impact; it needs to be robust enough to hang in moving air without ripping or falling onto someone’s head. OK., the air is barely moving, but the principle still applies. It needs to be able to move gently without ripping, etcetera; the image needs to have an impact from a distance of several metres. Close inspection of the details will be impossible without a telescope or a very long ladder.

During the recent tidying-up session in the studio I came across this maquette hanging from a beam. It has probably been there for ten years, overlooked and consequently invisible.  I think it may date from my “imaginary bones” phase, and was never developed any further. It might serve as a template for the new piece, but will need to be scaled up a wee bit.

I was back at Bwlch y Ddeufaen last week in the sunshine and bitterly cold wind.  I remembered to make a video, but forgot to take the furry microphone cover thingy (baffle? muff?) so the results are much as you might expect.  Very, very noisy.  Also, I don’t seem to be able to upload it from the iPad. Need to work on this.

On the other hand, making a panorama drawing on partly pre-prepared paper was definitely more satisfying. I usually find it distracting to work over a ready made background, but this seems to have turned out alright. Didn’t prepare enough pages of course.

Photographing it has been a challenge, but I’m not convinced that using the panorama function on the camera is really a breakthrough. The artefact is interesting and a bit reminiscent of those polaroid collages which were fashionable a long time ago.

It really is ten months since I looked at this page properly.  I have written nothing whatsoever since May 2024.

I have just wrapped up (in all senses) a considerable body of work for “Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries” in preparation for our exhibition at Hay Castle next month i.e. next week.  I must tidy up the living room, where I’ve been working over the winter because the studio/shed is a) too cold, b) too dark and overshadowed by trees and c) too full of dead leaves and spiders’ webs to be habitable.  Once the living room is a bit tidier I can start on the studio, which needs mucking out with a shovel.

But in between bursts of housework I shall be back up to Bwlch y Ddeufaen because – fanfare – the project has finally found a home.  I have been asked to display work from it in Galeri Caernarfon, a major arts hub in Gwynedd (North Wales).  Quite a challenge, as it will hang from a gantry high above the meeting space “Ar y Ffram”.  So there are constructional details to consider as well as the appearance of the work.    Onwards and upwards.

I tell myself (and anyone who might listen) that I’m not a natural blogger and that I find writing about myself very difficult.  True.  However … social media have taken over the world and

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I hate to say how long it has taken me to finish this post. So I will just get on with the work and continue walking and mapping on my own and with friends. The “Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries” group are wandering around the Welsh/English borders, with the next exhibition (Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury) just over a week away. I’m returning to Bwlch y Ddeufaen to gather visual information to revive the Big Project. Summer is on the way. Which wasn’t the case the last time I was up in the mountains in the sleet and snow.