I know it's been a while since I last blogged but a lot has been happening here in my Blue Shed Studio. The piece above is made from a book about coping with depression and cut and sewn to imply a brain. The white wiggly lines are text I wrote about having a muddled mind and then these are threaded on to red threads and partly concertina-d up so they are like brainwaves and highlight the chaotic nature of the thoughts. I am looking into making some work about mental health.
Working with another artist, Vlasta Shevchenko, we have been writing a proposal for a piece of public art that there was an open call for. We based our ideas on the areas local history of weaving and dyeing using woad to create blue cloth, the rural environment and the need to weave new inhabitants into the community fabric. Now we just have to wait and see if we get a chance to actually make it!
I have been drawing in my garden quite a lot and enjoying being outside....
some of my drawing has been looking at grief and loss and its associated emotional states, now that I feel able to stand back and look at it without being back down into it.
Finally I must recommend the book "Learning by Heart: teachings to free the creative spirit" by Corita Kent and Jan Steward, I was having a very bad time, feeling lost for inspiration but using this book and listening to documentaries and lectures about Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Liza Lou and Helen Chadwick I've really got going again.
