Transient: Prism at Hoxton Arches

Mary Gray ' River Ripples' 

After sketching  at the Museum of London , Margaret, Jo and I  continued by bus to Hoxton Arches to see the latest 'Prism' exhibition 'Transient'. I last saw an exhibition of their work in 2014  at the Mall Galleries and then at Knit and Stitch  and before that in 2011   and  in comparison to the excitement I've felt before about their work I was  a bit underwhelmed.   The  combination of the exhibiting space which felt a bit gloomy and being away from the centre  of town  and therefore   few people  didn't help  but it was  probably more to do with my own tastes having changed and developed. 

Having said that there were some pieces of work I really liked, no surprise that these were mainly ones that  chimed with my own work and interests.  

I loved  how Mary Gray had captured the watery qualities in her piece ( and the  shibori gathering added an extra dimension, definitely something to  experiment with ) 

Ali Brown 'Amulet' 

Ali Brown has recently graduated from an MA in ceramics ( having switched from a textile course)  and her work was stunning, the textures imprinted from fabrics, the use of unusual materials. Amulets are  something that interests me a lot and  having done ceramics in the past ( I have a box full of tiny thumb pots in the garage beside those that Ian has chosen to put in the lounge) so these pieces really resonated with me.  I look forward to seeing what she does next. 

Julianne Long 'Erosion'

 I had a chat with Julianne about her work based on long term observations of weathering of a large piece of timber on a beach. I can relate to that  with my work on breakwaters! Her sister had sent her small shards of  timber as they disintegrated  and she'd  displayed them with embroidered rubbings of the larger timber.   Having  been reminded of the joys of 'frottage'  when at Lund Studios , it makes me want to rush back to Birchington armed with crayons and colour catchers ! 

Jeryl Church 

With more of an interest in 'artists books' and book structures , I was intrigued  by this 'Tunnel' in dyed and burnt organdie ( reminding me of the telescopic  paper mode of the Thames Tunnel  in the Museum of London (Docklands )

This sculptural 'hat'  made of electric cables combined  with  a much larger drawing of the sculpture was interesting, the  change of scale  and medium making you look more  closely  

Katherine Paton- King 

Anita Bruce 'Loss' 

My favourite and the exhibit with most meaning for me was 'Loss' by Anita Bruce. Based on the IUCN Red list of extinct  and Critically Endangered birds, she had embroidered the names of these on varying weights of  black and grey  fabrics ( including organza). What made it for me is that ,for once, the 'unconscious side' of the back of the stitching was integral to  the work, text  losing meaning, turning into marks. 

 During my botanical career I worked mainly on threatened species and was  a member  of several specialist groups of the IUCN  so this work carries even more significance for me.  

Going to Pauline Burbidge Open Studios

Members News in QGBI 'The Quilter"

 While I was up at  Lund Studios,  some of us had a lovely evening meal at the George  with some very interesting discussions. Pauline Burbidge  has exhibited at Lund  Studios and both Gizella  and Debbie Loane  had visited Pauline's open studio events and urged me to  do the same, particularly as Dorothy Caldwell  would be  joining Pauline and Charlie  this year. I've long wanted to go but thought it was too remote  as I don't drive  but they explained it was quite straight forward getting the train to Berwick and then getting a taxi. 

My heart sank when I saw the dates as we've booked for Proms 29 and 30  at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 5 August . But when I received  my copy of 'The Quilter' and saw it started on Friday 3rd, realised it was just about do-able, travelling up on the Thursday and coming back on the Saturday.

So I've booked my train tickets to Berwick-Upon -Tweed  and  a room at No 11B  for 2 nights (  all that  was available  was  a 'family suite'  so there's a couple of spare bunk beds …)

So excited to be going there at last (both Pauline and Dorothy have been hugely influential in the development of  my own work) and  also considering  it as a 'recce' trip for Ian and I to go to Bamburgh  at a later date . I  had several idyllic holidays there as a child ( my aunt lived in Newcastle) and it formed the basis of  my 'Childhood Memories' suitcase quilt.

It's going to be an expensive trip but  what  an  appropriate  way  to  spend some of the money from winning Fine Art Quilt Masters. !!
   

Drawing Tuesday at Museum of London

 Tuesday's drawing session    was at the Museum of London. I was starting a new sketchbook ( the 3rd devoted to museums) , always scary, so I'd been looking through the previous 2 as inspiration for what I might draw ( and therefore  what materials  to take).  Ancient pots and tools, ' the hand of the maker'  evident   still continue to fascinate me  so it was no surprise I headed to the Neolithic gallery and  after a bit of wandering round, settled on the other side of the case I drew from last time!

It's surprisingly difficult to  capture  wonkiness accurately! I had several attempts with lots of rubbing out then concentrated on the marks and textures  combining different media ( watersoluble pencils; Pitt pens in varying thicknesses in sanguine and sepia; 0.1 and 0.3 Unipens: pencils and graphite) . The items made of antler horn were particularly difficult.

At lunchtime  when doing 'show and tell' of our sketches ( as ever, widely diverse subjects) , the others wanted to know how I  got the effects on the black pot.  I first developed this technique drawing at the Petrie Museum : scoring lines with a leadless propelling pencil then rubbing over with 6B graphite . The inner part was graphite partially erased with tombow eraser, another of my essential tools  

Colour , Mark and Composition with Gizella K Warburton

A week since inspirational  3 day course with Gizella K Warburton  at  wonderful Lund Studios.

Travelling up by train and bus, it was the white time with hawthorn and cow parsley everywhere

Stayed in Easingwold at the very comfortable George Inn ( can recommend the coley with spring vegetable broth )  and delicious lunches were supplied by 'Tea Hee's' 

 We started with drawings  and rubbings of the local surroundings, collecting marks and textures

Collecting and making sequences of objects for shape and colour ( who knew I'd get so excited by an old dog lead...)

Colour references 

Drawings from drawings  and then in colour, (loved using cardboard, inspired by Peter Sacks) 

Printing ,painting, drawing and stitching on fabrics and papers 

 Creating colour/tone sequences with those  painted and printed  fabrics and papers

Mini compositions ( background, 2 elements/accents and a line) , best balanced and favourites not necessarily the same thing 

At home, pinning up some of the outcomes of these exercises in my own 'habitat'  finding linkages , mulling over  how  I might incorporate  some of these  approaches into my own practice.

Drawing Tuesday: Large Scale Sketchbook Homework

I was up in Yorkshire when the Large Scale Sketchbook  course had their site visit  to the V&A   cast courts   but as its an essential part of gathering information  to be developed later , I made sure I went at the earliest opportunity. I've been  a few times before , mainly interested in the exhibits in room 46a (including Trajan's Column)  which is currently closed for renovations (although you can see glimpses of them shrouded from the sculpture room )   At least it was  relatively peaceful  given it was half term , with lots of sketching stools available, 2 people already hard at work on intricate detailed drawings  and  a helpful steward/guide

My heart sank rather at all the figurative busts and statues, not my thing at all, but as instructed I made a number of brief sketches  and notes of things that interested me , mainly of the different depictions of folds in cloth of the  various virgin and child reliefs. 

I then went via the sculpture galleries to the Cafe for an early lunch to cogitate on what I might draw in greater depth.  On the walk back, I was struck by how much more I preferred the rough, raw,  back of this terracotta sculpture , the 'unconscious side', but then I do have 'previous' in this regard, drawing the backs of Greek sculptures at the BM ! 

 Initially attracted by the curves of his helmet, I ended up drawing the rear view of these 2 busts: 'Bart and Massa" and is often the case, the more I drew, the more I saw. 

As I used the surrounding architecture  and larger sculptures as references for measuring proportions, the more I got interested in how the lines and forms of the  busts   were echoed in the shapes around them. 

I drew 'Bart' from different angles and viewpoints  until I realised I was not looking anymore  but repeating myself  ( and distracted  by the spectacular thunderstorms overhead-  the cast courts have glass roofs) 

Only then, as per instructions,  did I start taking photos. I'll be missing the  next session too as Ian has a hospital appointment  so I've started playing around in Photoshop to simplify the structures so that hopefully I'll have lots of material to play with in  week 5 of the course. Already I can see so much potential in what initially seemed a pretty uninteresting subject.  

 After such a lovely day out, I had a horrendous  journey home. I got to St Pancras  after 3, in time for the 15.25  train, to find that trains had been cancelled and or delayed due to bad weather and lightening strikes . Stood for 2 hours on the platform, Ian joining me for supposed 16.25, couldn't physically get on the train when it arrived , thrown off the second as all trains from St Pancras cancelled due to trespasser on line at Ebbsfleet.  As it was now after 6pm  we went for  a meal ( and glass of wine) at Pizza Express  before heading off to Victoria station where train only 45 minutes late . Arrived home at 10pm, still recovering, at least Ian was working from home today!  I did have my train stitching with me but funnily enough none was done!