I seem to remember at the beginning of all this I wrote that I would mention the music that I was listening to…
I love to listen to music while I work and think. Music has always inspired me (and musicians themselves more recently). It has the power to reflect my mood, and often change it.
Making the shed last year for Dan Whitehouse to perform in was a turning point. Music became a part of my work, the collaboration an impetus for change.
This year’s Life and Other Art exhibition sees not just Dan perform, but a variety of other musicians, singers and songwriters over the whole weekend. I’m proud that my shed can provide a small travelling venue for these talented people who deserve a much larger audience.
Come along if you can!
Please visit…
www.elenathomas.co.uk/events
for more information about the event held by The Coach House Life Drawing Group and Rebellious Quilters
www.dan-whitehouse.com
www.robertlanemusic.blogspot.com
Dan and Rob are performing at Life and Other Art in July, others I’m listening to at the moment are:
www.stylusboy.co.uk
www.wearevillagers.com
www.themiserablerich.co.uk
www.iamkloot.com
www.fleetfoxes.com
I work part time teaching art to key stage 2 in a primary school. This week is Arts Week. With an ever decreasing budget it’s tricky getting artists into school, and i’m always grateful for the swapping I can do, or the “mates rates” that i can persuade people to charge. I am only one person, and providing a week of quality art experiences for 200 children is not possible on my own. Without inviting other artists in, it will soon descend into “cutting and sticking week” if we’re not careful. I’d love to hear any suggestions or comments or experiences of other artists.
There are many threads of conversation going on in my work at the moment. So much so it feels I’m juggling. My research is following a vaguely Deleuzian hit and miss / pick ‘n’ mix approach: I’m writing poetry and prose; embroidering it onto old clothes; making clothing out of paper; cutting lino; disassembling my shed and trailing it around the county for people to perform in; life drawing, and trying to draw babies with varying degrees of failure. I’m hoping one or two of these “rhizomes” will sprout something useful.
For those readers unfamiliar with Deleuze and rhizomic thinking… how lucky you are! Try your very hardest to keep it that way.
www.elenathomas.co.uk/events
Caroline Broadhead using clothing…
www.a-n.co.uk/p/61026/
and
Tilleke Schwarz using embroidered text…
So… I seem to have many threads to tie together (hence the title) What started as an exploration of the balance point between comfort and constraint (think really comfy armchair you then can’t get out of)has become something different. I find myself fascinated by the way we keep our children closer and closer, and how instead of encouraging them to explore the world, we build in them a fear of it.
We wrap them up, keep them warm, help them physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Their every waking hour is accounted for and timetabled. Where is the thinking time?
Risk has become danger. Letting your child do things alone has become guilt ridden.
I made a comfy quilted straightjacket to start with, and a rocking chair with safety strapping. Now I’m making work with apron strings. Lots of aprons. And paper clothing.
I’m writing poetry and embroidering it on all sorts of clothing.
I’m going to make a list here of artists I’ve been looking at. If anyone can add to it, let me know!
