Working

Posted on July 30, 2021

Long days in the studio, punctuated by walking through the medieval flower tapestry that St Davids Airfield has become. Below is the flower I now know to be red bartsia ( thanks to knowledgable folk on instagram).

There is so much life at the airfield, bird, creatures, flowers, insects, butterflies. And the cinnabar moth caterpillars are just hatching on the ragwort.

I feel so connected to the bird book now I am becoming bird brained, which is a beautiful and rich way to be. Feathers in my dreams, flight in my mind and the shape of a bird.

I’ve a new project that has come to light this week, with Unbound. Feather, Leaf is still up for funding, and The Wild Swans and East of the Sun are available for pre-order, and you can find all my projects with Unbound here. More on the new one in a moment. As I say, it’s been a busy week….

I met Jo Sweeting for the first time. Jo is a stone carving goddess, who makes beautiful work. Below is her candle stand, which Lady S does like in a morning as this spot catches the sun.

Jo came round for supper and we talked about stone, and I painted some feathers onto beach stones, using the pin feather of a woodcock, for her to take away and carve. I also gave her a few things for a curios cabinet she has been working on for a while. And I have in mind to do something else with stones soon. And when I have finished birds I want to take time to stop. And start something else that is stone scented and sings of cutting, metal on stone, tap tap tap.

Outside my studio window the roof is becoming quite interesting. I tip the dirty paint water out of the window, and also left-over sizing…… I like it. There’s an abstract beauty to it.

And meanwhile I am having the side of the house re-rendered as the builders who worked on the house didn’t do the best job. Hoping to have the odd labyrinth placed in the wall when the lime render is added. But meanwhile, here are the bones of my house. It sounds as if the house has gone to the dentist…. I apologised to Harry who lives next door but one, and he generously said I would need to make noise for a year before I was required to apologise!

Meanwhile, a dragon took flight from Seven Fables ( who now also have small blue foxes for sale) The gold on this piece is really curious. It somehow tarnished, so must have contained impurities. But in doing so it made the painting ( of Tintaglia, from Robin Hobb’s Rainwilds) Beautiful.

I converted the sale into a beautiful piece of artwork. I do love this man’s stone work.

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This week I also paid my tax. I see tax paying as a civic duty and it’s wonderful to be able to earn enough to live on as an artist, and even better to earn enough to pay tax. However, it doesn’t fill me full of confidence knowing that our government have done their job in such a way that tax payers have been put at risk of financing loans to people during covid times who were charged with manufacturing personal protective gear, and who failed. If I did my job as badly as 1) said government and 2) said government’s friends, I would have had no tax to pay. Frustrated. Yes. It’s like being mugged by men ( and a very small handful of women) in suits.

In other, more joyous and life affirming news, Hannah and Henry have been ‘on holiday’ which has involved sailing Larry around to a marina in the Baltic. I have loved seeing their images. The voyage began with rough seas, but ended with calm and you can see more of it here.

Moving on, and back to work, this week sees the launch of a new series of work with Unbound. Part book, part art piece, part spell. To learn more, to see the full range of rewards for sponsoring the books, and to watch a small piece of peace go to the microsite on Unbound’s amazing platform. Here are a few of the things:

The film explains the work, and shows the accordion book. I’ve made a few of these, some with writing on, some just images, and most have been presents. And I thought, I wonder if other people might like them, to keep and to give as presents. They are tangled in stories. The first two are painted with materials from an old Reeves box of watercolour paints. They’ve slept a long sleep these paints, and the ink, but now are awake in the world. So, take a look. The film, made by Chris and Davina of Seven Fables is beautiful. It’s part of the work we did at Northmoor House when we couldn’t hold The Unwinding Retreat there. The music is a version of the red fox, premiered at the NHM Spellsongs gig, and adapted for accordion here by Jim Molyneaux. If you would share this for me, with anyone you think might like it that would be wonderful. There will be regular updates. I need to chase the words for the fox and the otter books, and then start on hare and owl.

In between the everything I was doing I called in on Adam Buick. His studio is so close to mine. He has work going in to the Hauser Wirth Gallery in Somerset soon. I love his studio, and his work.

Ever since I left college I have itched to learn how to cut letters in stone. I love handwriting and am drawn to letter cutting in stone. I have promised myself every year that I would give myself time to learn. And now I have promised myself that when the bird book is done I will seek out people to teach me. In the meantime I need to set myself up with a bench, a vice and the knowledge and understanding of chisel sharpening. I love the singing of stones. Meanwhile, I will keep dreaming.

One response to “Working”

  1. Bernie Bell says:

    There’s something about stone carving.
    Here’s something about stone carvings…..

    https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/04/16/something-about-stone-carving/

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