Progress report

As my exhibition at the Crown Gallery,Carlisle starts on October 26th I reckon that with the summer holidays starting here in Scotland next week then I have to remain focused -otherwise time is going to drift on by ....
Wimbledon too is a huge distraction but with Nadal going out then I'm not so interested!

I've had a quiet few days where I've been looking at ideas,jotting things down,researching .This piece is a work in progress which I actually started pre Spring Fling and is gradually becoming into the idea I had in my head at the start.  

Using gesso,sand and modelling paste I crafted two panels or windows on the canvas.I am trying to achieve an aged,archival look. Where I feel the surrounding area is complete I am searching for the central idea. It won't be much-maybe a small collage or further painting.Something that will grab the attention and draw the viewer in.....

Tomorrow I am taking a new painting down to New Abbey to Abbey Cottage where my work is on show until Sunday. I may even treat myself to a pot of tea and a scone as they are delicious there and the tea award-winning....and then delivery of a painting to a lovely new customer....Oh,Djokovic is now playing....happy days indeed

And detail...

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...