Ragnarok Revisited....

 Another busy week gone by catching up,delivering work,sorting out new plans and making connections. I've also had feedback from a customer who took one of the largest pieces on show in Spring Fling-Ragnarok....

The work is watercolour,gouache,acrylic ink,pencil& fineliner pen.They were initially drawn to it because of the colour and appearance of depth .

 They now go into the room and just look at the picture which changes as the light changes....

It's lovely to see the work in it's new home as it looks completely different to when it hung on my wall. It's so rewarding to hear how much pleasure they are getting from it already.....I just need to write to them with the story behind Ragnarok...... 

  

Spring Flung...

 Today has been a quiet day getting the house back to normal, catching up with friends,delivering a piece of work and admiring its new home.It's also been a chance to reflect on the last three days of Spring Fling.The weekend far exceeded my expectations.I was overwhelmed by the fact that people had made the time and effort to visit my studio. People have travelled from all over the UK and other  countries. We've had interesting discussions, exchanges of ideas and knowledge,discussions on sketchbooks,materials and techniques, books to read ...the list is endless.

Family and friends have been very supportive-from donations of baking for my daughter Bea's Bakery,Judith my friend helping out to Mum and Dad doing the gardening!Thank goodness it was dry and sunny for two days!

Of course I was so busy talking that I forgot to take photos but here is an image that Tonia from Spring Fling took as she worked her way around the Orange route....

   The balloons were great as people felt welcomed and it was an eye-catching way for people to notice the studio as we are on a busy main road. Huge thanks to Stuart Houston the butcher-allowing use of his car park for three days made our house accessible to visitors.
 So thank -you to everyone who has supported me-I couldn't have done it without you and it really is appreciated. I'm now going to take time to recover and then will start exploring the new pathways that are beginning to open up.....exciting times ahead ....  

Spring Fling so far

It's the end of Day 2 of Spring Fling, the open studio event across Dumfries and Galloway.I didn't know what to expect but the experience has been wonderful if not exhausting. So many people have come to see my work,my sketchbooks,interested by the narrative of the Orkney islands and Norse mythology.Comments and feedback have been exceptionally positive .I'm just so appreciative of the fact that people have selected my studio to visit and we have had people visit from many different places and countries which has been fascinating.

This is an image of the work that hangs in the hallway.....

 

I'm also fortunate to have a body of work up in Abbey Cottage tearoom at New Abbey. With the sun shining I've been able to direct people to the tearoom as they follow the Orange route out to the coast.

These are images of work up at Abbey Cottage...where the food is just delicious ,staff are lovely ,they've won awards for the tea ...and the location is out of this world...

Well it will be an early night and hopefully the sun will shine on the final day of the Fling.Looking forward to meeting and greeting folk tomorrow...in fact it will be  strange when it is all over as so much planning and preparation has gone into the weekend.But new doors are opening which is very exciting....  

  

Muspelheim

 The largest work on show at studio 70  this weekend in Spring Fling is 'Muspelheim',measuring 63 x 63 cm in its floating frame. In Norse mythology Muspelheim is the realm of fire, home of the fire gods and is one of the nine worlds of Yggdrasil.It features in both the creation and downfall of the world.

The piece is highly textured from using gesso,modelling paste and sand ,thick acrylic paint,acrylic inks and gold leaf.

'Muspelheim'

Just the baking for Bea's Bakery to do tomorrow as my daughter is having a pop-up cafe serving fresh coffee/tea and cake!Signage is also going up and my first visitors for a preview arrive tomorrow afternoon.The excitement is building.....and the nerves just beginning to jangle....  

Almost there....

In three days time I'll open my doors along with 93 other participants in this year's Spring Fling across Dumfries and Galloway. This last week has been a bit hectic with being away for the weekend and the day to day activities that seem to eat into what little time is left.

I was at Abbey Cottage tearoom at New Abbey on Monday morning hanging work in their gallery . As my studio is in my dining room then Abbey Cottage has allowed  me a bit of extra space which is great.

I had a huge clear-out and clean of my studio  today.Tomorrow I'll collect the last of my work from Phil's Frames so I can finish hanging my work ...and the tricky pricing.....
I've had some cards printed which I'm really pleased with  and daughter Bea is preparing her pop-up bakery for the weekend.She practiced with a Victoria sponge for my birthday and the results as ever ,were delicious.....

This piece is a detail of Orkney cliff- face:watercolour,Inktense pencils ,watersoluble graphite pencil,pen,coloured fine tip pens,silver leaf...A time consuming piece but looks really effective in its frame ....It's on show at Abbey Cottage .....

Settlements....

Another busy weekend-we're just back from Sunderland where the children were competing in a big swimming competition.Lovely hubby has in the meantime painted the hallway which means I can start hanging my work for Spring Fling.The event is next weekend so there isn't much time left for all the little jobs that need doing.

I'm also preparing and packing my work to exhibit at Abbey Cottage tearooms at New Abbey tomorrow so I need to get organised! I'm intrigued by old settlements-where people used to live and how they used to live.

This little watercolour, gouache,  acrylic ink,pen and watersoluble graphite pencil is based on a plan view of one  such place......

Echoes of existence.....

My sketchbooks that are full of experiments hold a number of collages as part of the mark-making process.There is something about developing relationships between colours,edges,textures and shapes.

I decided to revisit collage using really thick watercolour paper as the support .This piece is symbolic with the dot that I have used on canvas reappearing ,the burnt pages of a book that refers to the bible. This signifies when Christianity came to Scandinavia  and  pagan worship and Norse mythology fell from favour.The layers of paper and fabric ,slightly obscuring some of the images reflects the passing of time and the echoes of existence of people from another age.  

The piece is folded like an accordian however for presentation I am going to separate the three pieces into a triptych.I feel I shall be doing more of these and working them into box works....

'Echoes of existence'

Collage on watercolour paper

Cup & rings and runes.....

I read this yesterday and it stayed in my mind.....

'But listen to me.For one moment
quit being sad. Hear blessings
 dropping their blossoms around you'......

Rumi


Back in the studio I continue to be mesmerised by the rock carvings and the runes.I needed to try and work something together and this was the result.On canvas it measures 20 x 20cm.....

Niddhog

It is now only two weeks until Spring Fling,our open studio event across Dumfries and Galloway.Though if I take off next weekend as we're away for a swimming competition in Sunderland, the afternoon at the hairdressers to make myself look presentable for visitors!!!,a visit to the Spring Fling Taster exhibition at Annan on Friday 18th with a friend and various other family activities then time is short.

My lists are helping in keeping me organised and jobs/chores prioritised.My  studio is in my house,the dining room to be exact,so  there is plenty to do and stuff to move so I can welcome visitors. 

One piece that will be on show is a canvas that I recently revisited and reworked . It's entitled Niddhog. Nidhogg is  the serpent who lives at the base of Yggdrasil, the Norse world tree and gnaws away at its roots. In this piece however, I've used him in the form of a rock carving and placed him in a landscape. My landscape emerges from plaster, hessian,gesso,modelling paste,soft pastel and acrylic paint.This image gives an idea of how it looks however in real life it appears dynamic and 3-dimensional.....

 

The Four Stags

Many creatures live in Yggdrasil, the tree in Norse mythology which links the worlds of the giants,men and hell.Four stags live among the branches nibbling its leaves.....

 
This work was originally lighter however I decided it required some changes.It's a canvas measuring 40 x 40cm layered with gesso and sand. Layers of acrylic paint were added in a variety of ways then acrylic ink dripped and dribbled.Soft pastel and silver leaf were used to highlight and finally wax was run down for added texture and depth. It now sits in a floating frame and looks three-dimensional-one of my favourites...... 

Sketchbooks & Scribbles....

We managed to squeeze in a couple of days away in Yorkshire over the Bank Holiday-helped by the fact that Scottish schools had 2 days off....
The sun shone-yes,on a Bank Holiday-two words not normally mentioned in the same sentence!The children played down by the river and it was just great to be able to relax in the warmth for a change....Breakfast and lunch out on the decking...and chance to reflect on my sketchbooks.

I keep a growing collection of sketchbooks in which I capture ideas,thoughts,techniques,quotes,experiments etc. One journal I use primarily for writing in-and others for mark-making. What I've done over the last couple of days is go through a pile of my written journals and some sketchbooks -capturing ideas that continue to interest me and may appear in some format in new work. This time those ideas have been put into thumbnail sketches in an A4 sketchbook....

 
These sketches are from my Orkney sketchbook.....

These pages are slightly more chaotic and include quotes,rock art ,symbols and ideas......They'll be used as a concise reference and also as a reminder of ideas for pieces that come ...and go if they are not captured........ 

Cup-and- ring carvings....

I'm particularly intrigued by rock art in all its shape and forms -from cave paintings to carvings. They give us a glimpse into the past and how our ancestors lived. Sometimes you read a book and somebody has articulated your thoughts in a way that lingers in the memory.

 This passage is by David Malouf...An Imaginary Life...written in 'Rock Art & Prehistory of Atlantic Europe.( Routledge,New York).

"How can I give you any notion....of what earth was in its original bleakness,before we brought to it the order of industry, the terraces,fields,orchards,pastures, the irrigated gardens of the world we are making in  our own image?

Do you think of ...(the) land you now inhabit...as a place given you by the gods ready-made in all its placid beauty? It is not. It is a created place. If the gods are with you there,glowing out of a tree in some pasture or shaking their spirit over the pebbles of a brook in clear sunlight, in wells, in springs, in a stone that marks the edge of your legal right over a hillside; if the gods are there, it is because you have discovered them there, drawn them up out of your soul's need for them and dreamed them into the landscape to make it shine".

I've revisited spirals -inspired by the cup- and- ring carvings often found on passage graves and henge monuments.

It's a box canvas,layered with gesso, modelling paste and sand to add relief and texture. Layer upon layer of acrylic paint & ink was added,finishing with silver leaf to highlight.

Standing Stones....

It's only three weeks until Spring Fling so I'm busy making lists and more lists of jobs that need doing.Phil the Framer on Buccleugh St ,Dumfries is doing a fantastic job on framing some of my pieces. They can really finish a piece of work and show something off to it's full potential. There will be some pieces unframed as it is preferable for some people to frame a piece to their own taste and surroundings.

I've been enjoying working with watercolours,gouache ,acrylic inks and watersoluble graphite  pencils.A key subject are the standing stones on Orkney......

    

sea stacks and geos

The coastline around the Orkney islands is spectacular to say the least.From sandstone cliffs to white sandy beaches,varying habitats provide a haven for flora and fauna.Geological features include  sea stacks such as the Old Man of Hoy and geos which are long narrow slots carved along fault lines by the sea.
Inspirational ......

This is a small work on watercolour paper including watercolour paints,acrylic inks ,watersoluble graphite pencils,Inktense pencils and a touch of silver leaf to highlight.