And moving on..
I’m still basking in a bit of glory, it is wise to do so I think, when the occasion calls for it, and will be doing so at least until the presentation of my new full membership certificate later this month. In the meantime, work continues…
I had a lovely couple of days with Wendy Williams in Liverpool at the beginning of the week. I’ve been wanting to revisit the city for ages, and Wendy’s Exhibition Reshaping the Past with Catherine Harrison and Sufea Mohamad Noor at Elevator Studios was the perfect excuse to just get on with it. Really enjoyed the exhibition… I’m used to Wendy’s paper installations, and I’m very keen on them, but had not seen any of her paintings… abstracted landscapes and brightly coloured blank buildings… I always love a shed! Catherine’s careful and precise drawings using rust and old tools and keys really grabbed me, worth getting up close to. Sufea’s textiles were ethereal… they grabbed the light in a sparsely lit space and moved as the people did through the space. A good combination of styles and materials here. I managed to do a Mersey ferry tour, have a trip to a pared down Tate at the RIBA building, and a bit of time in the Walker, seeing Johnny Vegas’ and Emma Rodgers’ ceramics and other 3D pieces. Loved Johnny’s nods to angels and Icarus and wings. I’d have like more time with them (and the Walker in general really) but time and the state of my knees prevented too much walking. I have to select my targets and head straight for them these days. I wonder if they are touring these pieces?
After a few days of anniversary celebration, meetings, ceramics class and a couple of gigs, I am really exhausted and needed some down time, as well as feeling the need to get back into the studio. So yesterday and today that’s what I have done. Yesterday really I was just reacquainting myself with the space, tidying up as I’d left it in a bit of a pickle after getting the work organised for the RBSA Candidates exhibition, and there were paper trimmings and bits of fabric all over the place. Once tidy and with a cleaned table I started thinking about what I was going to work on next. I’ve not yet finished with the sticks and stones. There are many aspects of that left to explore. I’ve also just recently written three essays about my thinking and the work… too long and detailed for blog posts… which are already probably too long.
The wrapped twigs are calling out for another re-setting and so I got a few out to play with – maybe 200 ish – and have started to think about attaching them to a selection of garments.
This is definitely the mad in-between period, where I am trying out loads of things. I’m also working with Helen Garbett on a collaborative project concerning collecting things in a series of pouches or pods… this stems from my work with lichens, and pockets, and Helen’s work with Limpets and gathering. We have both just read and re-read The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction and find ourselves drawn to the collecting of the real and the metaphorical… watch this space…
The band have been doing more gigs lately, which has been really good to get new songs out there into the world.
I feel I have some more lyrics bubbling under, but Andy and Ian have said to keep them to myself, or find someone else to write the music with, so I think I will have to book a day or so with Mike Clarke again!
At some point, while doing all of these things, happily immersing myself in the stress reduced period of exploration, a little nugget of loveliness will arrive, and I will dive deep again!
