Durisdeer

Easter Sunday started with the annual Easter egg hunt in the garden followed by home-made pancakes with a selection of toppings.Judith one of my best friends arrived late morning and first stop was the Spring Fling taster exhibition at Gracefield. It is just great to go around an exhibition with someone who shares the same interests and passions .You may be  prompted to look at a piece of work in a different way, notice some small detail which may have escaped your notice and take interest in what appeals to another person. 

We then drove up to a tiny village called Durisdeer,Upper Nithsdale-about 30 minutes from Dumfries.After meeting Victor Henderson,fellow Spring Fling participant at the launch event he had mentioned a weekend gallery opening which he and 3 other artists participate in annually.

Anne Butler,Alison Proudlock,Ali Brown and Victor show their work in a lovely light filled room.It was more worthwhile going with Judith as we shared ideas & opinions-and some of the work was just stunning.Its on until Monday evening -well worth a trip....

It was then time for a dog-walk up into the snow-covered hills behind the village.Absolutely beautiful....

Before we headed back down into the village where we came across a breaking wave shaped snowdrift....

We unfortunately had to miss the popular cream teas in the local village hall & headed home for delicious lentil lasagne & garlic bread.For dessert,hot chocolate fudge cake & ice cream-thank-you Judith!Tomorrow I'm just inspired to resume where I'd left off in the studio...and enjoy having the children at home for their Easter break.

 

Cutting the Mustard.....

It has been a busy and exciting few days.Firstly the Spring Fling launch event on Thursday night at Gracefield Arts Centre,Dumfries was very successful .It was really exciting to meet fellow artists and makers from across the region  who are involved this year-especially with it being my first time participating in the event. What I find particularly interesting is that certain conversations can trigger thoughts and feelings -about my work and  development as an artist,really just clarifying what I've been trying to achieve.

Friday night was equally as busy. A fantastic new gallery opened on Friday morning in  Langholm,to the east of the region with the grand opening being held in the evening. The drive over itself was wonderful with the evening sun hitting the Lakeland fells across the Solway Firth. Unfortunately as snowdrifts were still banked by the road I was unable to stop and capture the vista.

The gallery is wonderful-sanded wooden floors and  pale walls which really shows off the artwork on offer.Lisa ,Barry,Zoe and Pete ( jewellery maker,photographer,artist & furniture maker)have done a fantastic job,the evening was great and they deserve every success.

Cut the Mustard Gallery

52 High Street 

Langholm

013873 81180

Driving home I listened to excerpts from Handel's Messiah on Radio 2 with narrative by Penelope Keith.This was unplanned   but served to  remind me of what Easter weekend is all about-not just the chocolate eggs but unfortunately  in todays commercial world is  sometimes forgotten.

On  a lighter note   tomorrow I have some cheeky wee plans which involve my friend Judith and a trip to Upper Nithsdale-to visit more artists and take afternoon tea which sounds once again, cultured and sophisticated!Happy Easter to you all ..........

Song of the Sybil

'I know an ash-tree,named Yggdrasil:
Sparkling showers are shed on its leaves
That drip dew into the dales below.
By Urd's Well it waves evergreen,
Stands over that still pool,
Near it a bower whence now there come
The Fate Maidens,first Urd,
Skuld second,scorer of runes,
Then Verdandi,third of the Norns:
The laws that determine the lives of men
They fixed forever and their fate sealed.'

From Song of the Sybil.

This is from a bookI found in the local library-Norse Poems by W.H.Auden & Paul B.Taylor(Faber & Faber).The poetry was translated from  Icelandic poetry written in the 13th century.

I'm repeatedly drawn to the Three Norns weaving the fate,destiny and thoughts of men.They also use water from the fountain to revive Yggdrasil,the tree.The tree provides a symbol of the cosmos,associated with growth and decay.

I developed a triptych entitled 'Urd,Skuld and Verdandi'.Each canvas measures 20 x 20cm.Although the image shows them placed horizontally,I feel that they could also be presented vertically. They are lightly textured and layers of colour built.At present they are hidden away as I think and reflect on presentation....

'Urd,Skuld and Verdande'

20 x20cm per canvas

Mixed media

'Duneyr'

 The idea of a tree(Yggdrasil) marking the centre of the world is a symbol found far beyond Scandinavia.It was a dominating thought of a large part of Asia and Europe way before the Viking age. It's function was to join heaven and earth with an eagle in its branches being a bird of the sky & the serpent at its foot being a creature of the underworld.Middle Earth,where mankind live was created around the middle of the tree.

The tree is continually being destroyed and continually being renewed. The destruction is in part caused by the serpent which gnaws at its roots and the harts and goats which feed on its leaves & branches.

A series of work I've been developing is based on the 4 harts/stags who feed on the leaves.Their names are Dain,Dvalin,Duneyr and Durathror.

The deer can be symbolic for teaching us to tread our path being aware of the seen and unseen. Its renewed antlers are symbols of fertility,rejuvenation,rebirth,spiritual growth and the passage of time(Book of Symbols:Reflections on Archetypal Images.2012.Ed. A.Ronnberg.)

Here is Duneyr....

Layers of gesso,sand,acrylic paint,acrylic ink,silver leaf...built up,removed and layered again.It measures 40 x 40cm and will be on show at the Spring Fling launch and pop-up exhibition starting tomorrow at Gracefield Arts Centre,Dumfries.... 

Spring clean

It's still bitterly cold and as I finished pegging the washing on the line it started snowing.With Easter this weekend and a poor weather forecast,Spring is definately being kept at bay.

In the meantime I'm busy making lists of jobs to do in preparation for Spring Fling-as well as delivering the beautiful glossy brochures across venues in and around Dumfries.The pocket-sized maps are also being well- received.

Priority is preparing a body of work -however this  takes place in the studio...which is also the dining room.Working in mixed media means that I have accumulated piles of 'stuff'-fabrics,images,papers,buttons,shells,pastels,paints,crayons,glue,sand......Of course it will be used at some point but in the meantime it needs organising into accessible locations...

 So despite Spring not being in the air I'm spring-cleaning for Spring Fling.Cupboards emptied,'stuff' boxed and labelled and a general de-cluttering.

With under 60 days to go I'll be able to welcome visitors to a welcoming  homely space to see my work and enjoy  the refreshments on offer-cakes,biscuits, buns etc.That however, is on my daughter's list!

  

'Verdandi'

With snow and drifts causing disruption across Dumfries & Galloway, cabin fever was beginning to set in.Luckily today I headed east to Langholm where bizarrely there was no snow. Julie Dumbarton had an open studio event celebrating 20 years as an artist. With vibrant colours covering canvases,prints and cards,there certainly was a Spring feel in the air. Check out Julie's website to see her wonderful work.

www.juliedumbarton.com

Meanwhile the Spring Fling launch event is on Thursday 28th March at Gracefield Arts Centre,Dumfries. I'm really looking forward to meeting fellow artists & makers from across the region who will be participating in this year's event in May.

One work I have handed in for the pop-up taster exhibition (29th-31st March)is 'Verdandi', a box-work which is a new way of presenting my work. I'm pleased with the result and have now a sketchbook of new designs for boxes of varying sizes.....  

'Verdandi'

36 x 36cm

Mixed media

Lemons and lists.....

This time last year it was 24 degrees-we were getting the garden prepared ,having early barbeques,generally enjoying the outdoors. This year signs of spring are here but it's constantly being delayed....

Snow has once again caused major disruption to travel,schools, services and events across the region.The children were roped into tidying bedrooms ,making lunch and generally making use of their time off. A batch of lemons were transformed into lemon surprise pudding & lemon drizzle cake.The Rocky Road is setting in the fridge......

It's now only 63 days until the Spring Fling Open Door Arts Event so it's time for lists....I live by them.Check something off...then add something on.It's  endless but gives me a sense of achievement,helps with my time management & means that I'm hopefully far less inclined to forget something.Let's face it,I'm not just remembering for one person here!

So on my current list are various birthday, anniversary, school,  swimming,appointments etc .In my art journal I have my art-related work - preparation,making,creating,admin.And so it goes on.....

Near the top of the list is revisiting the blog.It's quite strange putting what I'm thinking and doing 'out there'-but,like my lists it helps me keep track & reflect on what I'm doing. So thanks to you all that have been visiting...it's very much appreciated.So I have a number of ideas...I think that means another list.....   

'Muspellsheim'

'You can invent mythologies,but for them to work,they have to come from someplace deeper inside you'. 
Anne Rice,Memnoch the Devil.

The body of work I'm currently putting together is for Spring Fling,the open doors arts event that takes place on the  Bank Holiday weekend of the 25-27th May,2013.93 artists & makers are involved across Dumfries & Galloway,SW Scotland.

I find that having a narrative underpinning my work gives it meaning and adds extra dimension.Norse mythology, as in many other cultures is concerned with the birth of the world,of Gods and  of men.At the dawn of time there was neither sand nor sea.In the South lay the land of fire,Muspellsheim. From there, rivers poured whose water contained a bitter poison which slowly set and became solid....    

                'Muspellsheim'
                 50 x 50cm
                 Mixed media on canvas

Firstly I build texture & layers on the canvas using a variety of media-gesso,sand,paper,modelling paste etc.Washes of paint are then built up ,eventually using thick paint daubed on.Ink and gold leaf add the finishing touches.....

Weaving and Spinning...

'In the ebb & flow,
In warp & weft,
Cradle & grave,
An eternal sea,
A changing patchwork,
A glowing life.
At the whirring loom of time I weave
The living clothes of the Deity'

Goethe,'Faust'.
 
In all mythologies,the art of weaving is originally found in the divine world. Some small mistake must always be woven into the pattern to remind us of imperfection in all created life.

In spinning our own lives,intertwined threads woven together become our own tapestry of life...and we have the ability to create,and make something using those threads of fate.....

This is one of the panels in my completed box-work 'Verdandi'.I've used mod roc on hessian mounted on plyboard. The relief shape is made of sand and modelling paste with Egyptian paste beads.Acrylic paint and inks were then layered...The image is based on a Viking calendar stick which marks important dates and events but is also symbolic for the passing of time... 

'Verdandi'

'All begins with a single thread,wound on the spindle of a revolving cosmos held in the lap of women,spinning the destiny of the world into being...'   Plato.

I've been really busy completing two pieces for the Spring Fling Pop-Up Taster weekend (29-31 March) with the Launch Event on the 28th March,all at at Gracefield Arts Centre ,Dumfries.All pre-cursors to the Open Studio event which takes place across Dumfries & Galloway on the late May Bank holiday weekend of 25-27 May.

Urd,Skuld & Verdandi are the Three Norns ( or Fates)who live by the Well of Urdr at the base of Yggdrasil.
In the Norse poem Voluspa,a seeress sings the story of the world using poetry in weaving,spinning,lacing & binding the stories.....These are the activities of the Norns,spinners of destiny.

My new work entitled 'Verdandi'is a box-work incorporating 4 panels.The above is a detail of 2 of the smaller panels.

 This panel is mod roc adhered to hessian & mounted on plywood.The spirals symbolize the threads of destiny & are here yet to be painted.The beads are Egyptian paste.
I'll put up an image of the completed piece  soon....when the Taster Exhibition opens.....  

Thread

According to The Book of Symbols( 2010: Ed. A. Ronnberg,)thread denotes everything from lines of narrative to filaments of being. A slender thread can become a whole fabric.Although it appears thin & delicate,threads of spider silk have greater proportionate tensile strength than steel.

The solar spider of the Brahma Upanishad weaves his universal web with a single thread. Silk is a beautiful fabric to work with. Back in my college days we experimented with silk painting & printmaking.This was the result....

                 "Anemone"
                 
Linocut print on silk with seed beads & Egyptian paste beads.              
My current work is based on the mythic Norns who sit at Urdr's Well by one of the roots of Yggdrasil.They spin,measure and cut the threads of life....

'Yggdrasil'

A visit to the Orkney Islands encouraged a fascination with Norse mythology . The Axis Mundi or world axis is the vertical structure connecting all 3 cosmic levels & is often conceived as a pillar,tree,cross,mountain or even human body.

The tree Yggdrasil is the Norse 'World Tree', a gigantic ash or yew tree which holds the worlds:

• Asgard-where the Gods dwell
• Midgard-where humankind dwells
• Utgard-where the giants dwell
• Hel-where the dead dwell....

Continuing my exploration of plaster & 3D work, I produced my own 'Yggdrasil',which is  central  to many of the tales  in Norse mythology....  

'Yggdrasil'

Height:132 cm

Mixed media

From slabs to books...

The beauty of plaster is it's flexibility of use. From plaster slabs and relief work I started experimenting with making pages for an artists book. A strip of modroc ( plaster-impregnated fabric)was folded over a piece of wire and this process repeated until I had the number of pages necessary.It's messy,dusty and great fun!

Pages were then worked on while wet eg laying a feather into the wet plaster or used as a support when dry. I then bound them together using the wire to form a spine. The images I incorporated relate to Norse mythology and Yggdrasil, the world tree......

                 'Book of Yggdrasil"



The book itself is not very large,about 8 x 8cm but from this a whole series of new work is emerging...exciting ,happy days.....

Plastered.....

At university I enjoyed delving into different areas of exploration. Each module followed a pathway but the encouragement to digress led to some interesting outcomes.

Initially I'd looked at memory then changed direction to freemasonry-after a visit to Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh & it's Apprentice Pillar & masons marks.

I began to experiment and a new pathway emerged-leading me into the world of 3D. For this,new media was necessary-working with plaster for starters.I made small frames & made plaster tablets -trying to incorporate different materials such as ink,slate dust,hessian,clay etc.

In my mind I was going to build my own pillar-made of plaster slabs.In the end I made a starting point but took another path.

  
                 Plaster slab 30 x 45cm
                 Slate dust,acrylic ink,clay,hessian

Mosaic on Monday

Both my children used to attend St Michael's Primary School in Dumfries.It's a lovely small Victorian red sandstone building & in the 2011-2012 school year I was asked to help with a mosaic project. The brief was to make a 'Welcome' mosaic to go by the entrance door that would also brighten a dark corner of the playground.One worry was that I'd never done mosaic....
With a small group of Primary 7 pupils we planned,designed  & organised a project that resulted in a mosaic that included:

• Welcome to St Michael's
• Hands representing the 7 year classes
• A sparkly star in the middle for the school motto-'Reach for the stars'
• Faces representing the year classes&an extra one for symmetry
• 4 colours to represent the 4 House colours
• Wheel symbolising the Titanic ship's wheel with which the  school has historic links.

Kate Anderson,the fabulous mosaic artist based near Kirkcudbright was a brilliant resource for advice on materials and techniques. I worked out a system whereby virtually all the children in the school(approximately 180) laid some tiles...

Last year there was a grand opening ceremony with unveiling-published in the November issue of Dumfries & Galloway Life.Credit to the pupils & staff-an achievement that outweighed the challenges...

 Ross,my son at the opening ceremony.He was a member of  the project group and his hand was used as the template !

• Kate Anderson can be found at: www.AndersonsArt.co.uk. 
• D&G Life at:www.dumfriesandgallowaylife.co.uk.  

'..a hollow of silences...'

I often find that a quote articulates what I'm feeling,thinking or trying to say. Joan Walsh Anglund, an author & illustrator wrote

"Thoughts ,rest your wings,
Here is a hollow of silences,
a nest of stillness,
in which to hatch your dreams".

So true with  our busy lives.. 

Saturday 'Sonata'

Tomorrow is Mothers' Day. Our  first module at University required us to produce a piece of work in response to a piece of art,literature,sculpture or music.I chose music firstly because of links to childhood memories and also because of how art & music are entwined ...

I really didn't have a clue where to start.A tutorial revealed that no-one had ever chosen music.Childhood memories were of me playing the piano for my grandparents when they visited.

'Moonlight Sonata' by Beethoven was in my repertoire back then so this became my starting point. Research into Beethoven & his music & experimentation with different techniques led to a piece that has not only many layers of media but layers of memory and emotion...

The little girl is my Grandma sat on her Dad's knee.The images to the right are my Mum in her pram, with her Dad & on the beach.

                 

                 'Sonata'
                  80 x 60cm
                  Mixed media on canvas
                  Dedicated to the mothers in my family x

Friday Feelings

Nearly at the weekend with Mothers Day on Sunday.Reflecting on being  a mother(having a tweenager &  teenager)I  think of my own mother who will soon celebrate 50 years of marriage & her mother who died many years ago but remains in my thoughts everyday-she was just so wonderful.

'No.7'

Mixed media 

80 x 60cm

A mixed media piece I completed at college in 2009 was based on the Aberfan disaster of Friday,October 21st ,1966. The collapse of Colliery Waste Tip No.7 above the village resulted in tonnes of slurry engulfing Pantglas Junior School,a farm and 20 terraced houses.116 children and 28 adults died with the official enquiry blaming the National Coal Board.The piece is based on a plan view of the extent of the slip.

For Mothers Day to all that have children to love, wherever they may be.....
     

HOTP 3.....

Well it's all a bit damp and grey this morning so the plan is to de-clutter the studio-again....a clear space allows for more headspace to think about what I'm doing....it works every time for me!
I collected two pieces from Phil's Frames this week-here is the second.Thor,the god of sky & thunder was one of the most popular of the Norse gods.He carries a hammer 'Mjollnir',a deadly weapon flung through the sky as lightning & thunder. And these are the marks it makes.....

"Mjollnir'

Triptych 58 x23cm

Mixed media on canvas

Hot off the Press 2...

Reflecting.... 

Having had time to think about what to call my new work,I revisited my research on Norse mythology.In the skaldic poetry that recounts these tales,compound metaphorical substitutions were used for the names of things.This piece has become'Whale-Road' meaning 'Sea'.

Detail of "Whale-Road'

The sea was vital to the Vikings for their wide-scale raids,colonization and as a source of food.And in mythology,the sea was traversed between worlds.... 

Hot off the Press...

'Make your work.Make your work constantly.Love it.And hate it.But make it.' Stephanie Diamond,artist,New York.

I often make work,leave it a while and revisit it. In the case of this triptych of small box canvases,the question then arose of how to present them.I had the idea of presenting them as one....

Apologies for the images,they were taken in the back garden on my ancient Olympus.....The size was awkward too-65x23cm.And I'm still working on the title......

Thanks to Phil's Frames ,43 Buccleugh St,Dumfries,Scotland(01387 266426/phils.frames@btconnect.com.His service is fantastic!

Onwards...

" I am seeking,I am striving,I am in it with all my heart'
Van Gogh


College afforded me the opportunity to experiment and explore-new techniques,2D and 3D,surface,form and texture....
University however,allowed me to push boundaries and, encouraged by my tutor, take paths I would never have even dreamed of...

          
                     'Yggdrasil'
                      Mixed media sculpture
                      Height 132cm 

Beginnings

'We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us'.
 Joseph Campbell

Art was initially used as a therapy after a long career in the NHS.Now it is a part of my life that is beginning to open new doors,new directions and endless possibilities.

Welcome...

Welcome to my new blog where I hope to share my creative experiences......