Mapping a Sense of Place: the role of chance

On the  course with Matthew Harris 'You are Here' in Puglia ,  how we responded  to our 'space' on our fabric pieces to a series of prompts  was chosen by throwing a dice. The  order of the tasks we completed in painting, stitching and manipulation our work were selected in the same way.

An interesting , liberating ( and sometimes frustrating) approach,   it both  took  the pain out of deciding what to do  while also taking you outside your comfort zone.   It meant that everyone was doing the same activities  but in completely different  orders ( good for  seeing how others had responded and steal their ideas! ) .  Would  my cloth would have turned out differently if  it had been done in a  different order? Very probably.

The 'Space' Prompts ( and the order I did them )
1( 5th)  Shadow
2 (6th) Line
3 (1st) Repetition
4  (4th) Touch/Feel
5 (3rd) Shape (+ve/-ve)
6 ( 2nd) Construct ( build)

Repetition 

  Repetition 

Repetition 

 My first  prompt was ' Repetition'   so taking my  cloth  to my space I took rubbings   in graphite of the markings on a  metal drain cover; drew oak leaves with the prickly pear orange ink;  used drops of Paynes grey ink to represent the  black moss  ( and folded the cloth to get a print while it was still wet) 

 My second prompt  was ' Construct'  - I found a piece of wood with holes in and  referencing the  mosses and lichens ,  placed acorn cups in the hollow and stuck the( rather fragile ) stalks  of the acorn cups in the holes. Although the idea was to do it in situ, I took it back with me afterwards  to the studio and added some more  but forgot to take a photo.  It did look like  spore capsules of a moss or  ' pixie cup' of a lichen. 

Shape ( positive/negative) 

 The 3rd  Prompt  I tackled was shape ( positive / negative)  , drawing the gaps between the stones on the wall  with crayon.

Touch/Feel 

I didn't spend  long in my space for 'Touch/ Feel'  where I took a rubbing of the oak bark  as appropriately enough , I  managed  to brush past a large clump of 'Spanish Needles' ( Bidens pilosa) and had 100's of the hooked seeds attached to my trousers and socks! I went back to my room to change - it took half an hour  to remove them.  Next time I went to my space I made very sure I went nowhere near them! 

Shadow

 I used  cuts in the cloth for 'Shadow' , the 5th prompt, around the outline of the drawing of the oak leaves I'd done for 'repetition' . As well as recording the  lines cast by actual leaves, the cuts themselves cast interesting marks below . 

While I was there , I took photos  and did a drawing for the last prompt 'Lines'  as I wanted to do this on the cloth in stitch  in the comfort of the studio (  particularly as my subject - the holes in a rock that made up lines  was also where I sat  to draw while in my space!) 

Lines on cloth : paint and stitch 

 The 'Tasks'  ( and the order I did them)
1 (6th) Lay down blocks of colour ( large/small; transparent/opaque) Obliterate/ knock back different area ( a mixture of white emulsion with a hint of yellow to march the calico was used for  this )
2 ( 1st) Select a small detail and work with it on a larger scale ( and vice versa)
3 (2nd) Manipulation (stitch/cut, distort, pleat, cut into surface
4 (4th)  In one area  work  back to front, +ve to -ve,  Try wax resist and layering  colour on top , use stitch as a resist
5 (3rd) Collage with found material, cloth/paper/bundles of threads/paper in response to information already there ( attach with stitch/binding, not glue)
6 (5th) draw or mark  with pure stitch , different scales .


After the first couple of   trips to my 'space' sometimes  I combined  the activity/prompt     with the task (  saved throwing the dice, reusing the same number). As time  went on and the layers accumulated, it becomes a bit tricky to remember what I did  and when!  But then  the process  became more about responding to the cloth  itself and making changes - I'll show the evolution of some areas in another post  but meanwhile , the photos below  show some of the ways I interpreted the 'tasks'. 

T1  Add Colour

 

T1 Obliterate 

 T2  Change scale, T3 Manipulate 

T4   Wax Resist 

T5 Collage 

T6 Stitch 

' You Are Here' Mapping a sense of place with Matthew Harris in Puglia

2 weeks ago I was in sunny Italy   at the  Masseria  della Zingera  in Puglia, on course with Matthew Harris 'You are Here' : Mapping a sense of Place.   It was a fabulous stimulating experience in a lovely location in excellent company   and I'm still unravelling the processes involved in producing the piece above  and beginning to explore how I might apply them to my own developing  work.  Besides providing insightful ( and sometimes challenging)  suggestions   throughout  the week, based on our individual experiences and preferences, Matthew gave a talk about how he makes his own work. I heard him speak at FoQ  last year  ( about 'Field Notes' collaboration)   but seeing samples in the flesh  and hearing more about the thought  that goes in to them was fascinating.  

 We had an extensive list of things to bring and the outline of the workshop - that we would be beginning with drawing using a variety of media , tools and scale  to explore ways to respond to the surrounding environment  which would form the basis of  2 and 3d dimensional work that reflects a strong sense of personal and environmental place.   How it evolved I'll be revealing over a series of blogposts 

 On the first morning  we each went out on walk for an hour - in the grounds and the surrounding roads,  being mindful of the experience and collecting things as we did so ( including a large and small stick to be used as drawing implements ) . As part of the walk , we were also to find our 'space'  where we would each be working/ recording  in and from during the week . There was so much rubbish along the roads ( particularly plastics)  I collected examples of that as well as lots of plant material, doing my bit to clean up. 

 After morning coffee  we  were each given a  3m long   strip of  paper   and laying them out in the courtyard outside the studio  we  slowly drew the memory of our walk along the whole length of  it using firstly the  large stick and an  orange ink  made from prickly pear (reinforced with a small amount of procion )  and then drew from the other end  with a grey ink (  Indian ink diluted 1:8 ) with the smaller stick.   Trips to find more stones was required as they took off in the breeze!  

We then repeated the process  with the scroll of acrylic sized calico  Matthew supplied, laying it over the paper for convenience  but not tracing the marks, remembering the walk yet again . The size gave the fabric a papery feel but reacted differently. 

The next exercise  was to put  the drawing on paper  up on the design board  and choose  marks to with and make 3d drawings using some of the items we'd collected 

 I must admit  I struggled with this.  Besides  remodelling a bit of wire I'd found, my main focus was on the ink blots - finding   similarities in the  holes in walnut shells . Bethan ( fellow Cwilt Cymru exhibiter)  was much more imaginative , making a wonderful mobile from grasses based on her marks. 

 Doing blind drawings on our fabric scrolls   of objects by feel alone  was far more satisfying  - choosing different media to depict  varying textures and shapes. I used a fine Pigma  pen for a textured metal strip;  graphite for a pine cone; a very large Pitt pen marker for a crushed plant pot. I rather regretted the graphite at a later stage when layering colours as it made everything very grubby , should have bought some hairspray  as fixitive with me! 

We then listed words at the bottom of our drawing on paper about our space and objects  to act as prompts and reminders. Among my finds  were some old faded cigarette boxes and a tatty piece of cardboard  with writing on -  what is about foreign handwriting  that's so fascinating? 

First thing on the second day  we were asked to curate our objects, grouping them by type, colour, textures, shape,  and then working  on our cloth from one end , to draw some  of these groups and objects   in ink. 

The  drawings of shibori -like lines of twine, fibre and wire  remained my favourite part  and I reluctant to alter them  until  at the last minute on the last day  with Matthew's encouragement I finally plucked up the courage to obliterate the marks ( on the basis  of  being able to repeat and reinstate) . They're still there  but hidden among the layers, resulting in a much richer texture.   

 The main focus of the week however was  going to work  in  our 'space'. We paid a visit there each day , taking our fabric , responding to a series of  6 prompts , chosen by throwing a dice. Later we had the addition of  a series of 6 tasks to complete , also selected by throwing a dice, working down the cloth and back again so that you could see the development of ideas. Bethan's space  was a popular choice  with steps leading up a wall, mine wasn't too far away.I'd been there on the first morning sketching a distant church  so it selected itself and   the combination of natural and manmade features and viewpoints  worked out very well.   

On the last  afternoon after clearing up we laid the cloths on the floor and discussed the very varied approaches before draping them on the line outside in the  glow of the glorious setting sun. Difficult to believe we'd all started out with the same  paper,cloth and materials. 

Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe at Tate Modern

 Part of  my reasoning  behind doing  an afternoon painting course  in London  was that I could either take advantage of cheaper  train fares ( which I did for the first week  , going to British Museum for lunch in the members room ) or I could fit in a visit to a gallery in the morning.   So last Friday I managed to fit in a visit to Tate Modern to catch the Georgia O'Keeffe  exhibition  before it closed. 

I've always  had a soft spot for her flower paintings partly because they weren't the accurate botanical illustrations I was surrounded by  but nevertheless showing their essence. Name drop alert : when they were filming 'The Private Life of Plants' in the lab I worked in  ( I set up some of the plants they used for time-lapse shots in episode 5 ), David Attenborough had an enormous book of her paintings which they were consulting to work out interesting close-up shots.  

But this exhibition  revealed so much more. I filled pages in my sketchbook with  quick drawings to  analyse what in particular interested me about certain paintings and drawings. There's nothing like seeing them in the flesh to see the subtlety of her marks,  particularly the quality of line.

Having got all my  old sketchbooks, paintings ( mainly watercolours)  and drawings out of storage, I've been looking at them  with a fresh eye. I've shared a few here , not because they're  great paintings  but because I realise they have some of the qualities I picked up on in the exhibition and  am working on some ideas to take further .  

G O'K   East River from the Shelton No 6

G O'K Oak Leaves Pink and Grey

In the inspirational classes  with Sandra Beccarelli  in Brentford, we looked  at Georgia O'Keeffe's leaf paintings   in interpreting Autumn colour  in watercolour ( definitely an exercise I will be repeating soon )

G O'K Blue II

G O'K  New York -Night Madison Avenue

I loved these  aerial view abstracts,  from both early and later years  but sharing some of the same characteristics of space, light and line. They remind me a bit of the Peter Lanyon's Glider Paintings ( hardly surprising in the top one which was inspired by flights  and the view from planes)

G O'K Drawing III

  When I went on painting courses  at FSC Nettlecombe  in the 1990's , I frequently drew and painted the remnants of trees in the grounds, liking how the  twisted  and broken branches   framed glimpses of the landscape beyond.   I don't  think I'd seen these tree pieces by Georgia O'Keeffe  before  but I particularly like how the  thickness of the lines vary, almost disappearing into the surroundings with strong, almost dominating use of negative space.

G O'K Autumn Trees- The Maple

G 0'K Clam and Mussel

G O'K Shell no 2

  When I was sketching mussels on the train going into London, I had no idea that  she had painted quite a  few shell compositions !  Again it's given me lots of ideas to scale up my sketches.

Tomorrow it's Paul Nash at Tate Britain!