doing. action. verb. l’herbe.

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I’ve been working early and late to get this done.  It is finally put together with the help of many contributers for the textuals journal writing and photographs for the  visuals. Textuals and visuals are two halves of a society split by the born right to read or not.

The grid comes into play in my work again. (Photos will be attached with my device allows me too!)

 

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Yesterday spent making my shed completely dark for cyanotype processing and collected hardened glass from glazier.  Plus found more scratch cards on evening walk.

Went on search for studio in centre of Abergavenny today and have found 3 possible places, so some follow up needed there.

Exposed the cyanotypes today. Did 3 time trials, 30, 45 & 60 minutes. Though the 30 minute one ended up as 50 minutes due to a conversation!  Will see what they look like completely dry tomorrow.

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Three more rejections for exhibitions/opportunities.  I have been carefully selecting what I go for, but so far, no luck.  I’ll be having a natural break from applying for things anyway now with the school holidays.  A time to focus solely on my current commitments; my artist in residence show at The Print Shed focussing on Bathe in ignorance, getting my Magna Carta response finished for the end of month (this is what the cyanotypes are for) and Framework Herefordshire emerging artists group baseline activity.  And, really important for my ongoing engagement is the formation of a 6 member crit group for regular sessions, most likely from September.

 

Getting the balance right between being realistic yet not limiting the ambitions I have for my work has been something I’ve been pushing against this year.  Long term planning to ensure my more ambitious ideas have time to mature and develop, yet allowing room for the spontaneous idea generating that is so energising to my practice.

 

Have been reading today with interest and the linked ‘Why have there been no great women artists?’ http://www.artnews.com/2015/05/30/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists/

http://www.artnews.com/2007/11/01/top-ten-artnews-stories-exposing-the-hidden-he/ (a little belately maybe!)

 

I’m waiting on getting some alkathene, often used in the frame for poly tunnels along with heat shrink wrap plastic to get the light projecting into a dark space version of Bathe in ignorance to its next phase.

 

Richard Taylor recently suggested recording my reading out the 257 words to see how it transforms them. I read and recorded, but as soon as I started reading I had the thought that it’d be easier to follow the words if I had an autocue  (and not create paper flapping noises when going from sheet to sheet)

 

I felt the next step was filming the reading, so I’ve put the words onto a teleprompter app and have filmed the autocue rolling words and my voice reading them out.  www.vimeo.com/133382018

 

I’m being very matter of fact and not doing a great deal of reflecting here , I have a horrible habit of allowing reflection and possibilities discovered through it sending me off in too many directions and my overall effort being watered down.  Now I’m going off to contextualise and then to a local tool workshop tomorrow to source alkathene (with luck).

I now have my bundle of scratch cards back from Ludlow.

I am in a long term planning and preparation stages (it’s all taking ages) for my Bathe in Ignorance and Magna carta projects – am waiting on equipment and all sorts to get them further along, so I’m on a spontaneous working days yesterday and today and back to the nitty gritty details Thu and Fri.  Planned and spontaneous working I now am thinking ‘fast and slow art’ – fast for me being painting and slow being the projects that need many practical elements to come together to work, but that often come from those spontaneous sessions.

Started yesterday working on a 20x20cm wooden frame and now have moved on to working on an opened out cardboard box in circles, that then formed into a Loganberry, then sent me delving into my scratch cards – I was sure the UK National lottery had fruit themed ones, but no, it Bejewelled that looks a little like fruit machines.  Just now printing out fruit machine fruit images to work back into the loosely started painting.

Went on a family evening stroll last night and one of the images here shows the discarded scratch cards found in just 45minutes walking, it adds up to £27 and I found two scratch card designs I haven’t found before– the half a long strip ‘Million RICH’ with a black background and circle motiv in the centre, with wedge 7, 8 etc visible (likely a £10 card) and the purple and blue and pink £1 game store Cash match.

Once I started collecting scratch cards (few months ago), after simply putting them in the bin from outside my front door at first, I now see them whenever I go out, no matter what I’m up to.

The juicy vectoy images of fruit on fruit machines is iconic of small (yet repeated) loss on fruit machines and other starter gambling.  I try to avoid tv late at night, but when I do watch, I am horrified by the glamorous portrayal of online gambling as it is clearly very different to the actual experience.  I am drawn to scratch cards with the thought of the frame of mind people are in when scratching to see if they have won. They way the scratching away has been done in hope.  What, beyond or through the money, are they wanting and needing?

I’ll end with a poem by Martin Evans (poet taking part in The little museum of Ludlow) – his website : http://www.hiraethog.cymru/

Scratching the void

Three hundred million
Lucky Sevens printed.
Four foot wide rolls
tall as a company
a hundred and sixty strong.

John’s last pound
bought a number three from the shop
that had been two feet deep
on roll ninety one.

Outside, guarding,
a dog with its catch
hope fell to the pavement
with each fingernailed scratch
futile scrapings
to get at those numbers below.
An artwork of despair at
this milking parlour for
the hopeless.

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