Cloisters Exhibition, St Davids Cathedral

Time has gone so quickly lately! It is a few weeks now since we returned from St Davids and my Cloisters Exhibition. It was really good to show there again -  also good in that I sold my 'Towards the Light' abstract as well as several prints and cards. We stayed in 'Ysgubor', a lovely disabled-friendly cottage at Tretio where we had stayed during my 2012 exhibition. It was a pleasure to talk to Rob and Honey again, who run the cottages on their farm and we had another greeting from the little hen who had also come to say ‘hello’ in 2012! Honey welcomed us with a delicious sponge cake - despite my intolerances, I couldn't resist having just a little bit! - and also six beautiful fresh eggs. We’ll hope to return for a third time!

Below is a link to their Facebook page where Rob and Honey have posted lots of pictures and many snippets of info about the cottages, the area etc. They have even included a couple of shots of my exhibition!

tretio cottages facebook page

A few pictures of the exhibition.

 

 

 

 

The following show images of my 'Silent Polyphonies' installation. I was able to exhibit it with the sound this time, in which I read my poem to a piano accompaniment which I also play, then finish with a short sung cadence. As with 'The Invitation', the sound loops round, with a short interval between tracks, to accompany the visual images of panel and 'falling' book. At one point, a spectator who had also been listening while she was in the refectory, came over to me to say how much she had enjoyed the music and how relaxed it had made her feel!

 

Arthur and panel during set-up, looking toward the refectory.

A closer view of panel with side 'a' and also some wall pieces.

Looking away from the refectory this time and also showing the beautiful 'shelf' the book had to rest on! I love the stones of the cathedral wall and I thought that the pattern formed by some of the exposed stonework was an ideal place for the pages of the 'falling book'.

A little visitor was on the stones and it seemed so appropriate to have it there  -  sadly, no longer alive but still very beautiful!

The other side of the exhibition with sunlight spilling in through the tall, clear windows and just catching a couple of the pieces. The sun arrived in the gallery in the afternoon but was not a problem as it only shone on the work for a short time and it was so lovely to have the warm, bright light come streaming in.

The picture in the upper left is 'Towards the Light' which sold during the exhibition.

 

 

'Vigil' - the recording!

 

Just wanted to say what a fantastic day I had at the recording for 'Vigil's' music in St Chad's Cathedral on Saturday 15th! I found it very moving to hear a piece of music which I had written, along with Ed, performed by professional musicians.

I have a lifelong love of music and have, on various occasions, started to study or perform it. Unfortunately, circumstances arose which meant that I had to turn again to other things and the music had to wait. When my illness hit and I had to give up the musical studies I was undertaking at the time and which I was so enjoying, Ed was just a small child and I had no idea that, one day, we would work together on the melodies which have haunted me for so long and I am so thrilled by the results!

Pictured below are Ed, Penelope and the Beorma Ensemble at the recording session in St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham

Reading from left to right, the singers are:-

		Penelope Appleyard		soprano solo
		Richard West		baritone
		Richard Paterson		bass
		Alex Aldren		first tenor
		Lewis Jones		basso profundo (oktavist)
		David Wynne		bass
		Andrew Fellowes		basso profundo (oktavist)
		Oliver Martin-Smith		second tenor
		Ed Harrisson		tenor solo and director

The Beorma is a flexible group and these particular singers were gathered together in view of the piece to be performed. I was interested in having the sound as of Russian Orthodox music, as I felt would this suit the style and ethos of the work, so the body of the choir are the seven male singers, with Penelope Appleyard taking on the part of solo soprano and Ed as solo tenor and also director.

 Within the piece, Ed and Penny sing a short duet, as I feel this reflects the situation whereby a man and woman together keep vigil for a lost or sick child, the age of any such child irrelevant to the process of grieving or loss involved. One verse is also given for the main body of the choir to sing and within this, they reach a powerful and swelling crescendo.

The singers in action I am very grateful to St Chad's Cathedral for giving us permission to record in their beautiful building, which was chosen for its excellent acoustics and qualities of its reverberation. The location worked very well, the only drawback being traffic noise from the nearby road network which, now and again, became a little intrusive! However, with today's technology, audio producers Ben Bass and David Armstrong have worked the magic of removing the traffic hum from the track, to leave the sound of the singers' voices clearly heard

Ed with David (on left) and Ben (on right), Beorma members in background

 

I am really delighted with how the sound has worked out and have so enjoyed working with Ed, coming to the rehearsal and recording in the cathedral and then being present at the final editing session afterwards. All of this has been a new experience for me, including seeing how professional singers approach their work.

There are other pieces of music which I have in the pipeline and Ed and I are discussing how we might bring these to fruition. It has, therefore, been very useful for me to have been present while the singers worked so that I can bear this in mind when considering phrasing and harmony in another piece of music. As well as this, working with Ed is, of course, invaluable because of his knowledge and experience of writing music and of the character of melodies and what is required in a piece of choral music. I am very grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for giving me the award of funding and thereby the opportunity to develop this exciting new avenue within my work.

Below, a few more pictures taken on the day of the recording session.

Early in rehearsal

Lewis and Ed

 Ed singing and conducting

Self with Penelope, the Beorma and Ed

The music is an important part of 'Vigil' but, as the complete installation will not be realised for some time, I am at present looking into possibilities of releasing the sound ahead of the final work  -  watch this space!

 

'Vigil' (the music)

I am now working with Ed on my project 'Vigil' and it's such a pleasure! The impetus for this new work was thinking about how Christ, in his suffering during the watching in the Garden of Gethsemane, reaches out to all those today who keep vigil in various ways, awaiting news of loved ones missing from home or serving in the Armed Forces abroad, or who watch by the bedside of a suffering relative or friend.
Arts Council Wales have awarded me funding to develop the musical element of the planned installation and professional singers will perform something I have written for the first time! This is my melody which Ed has harmonised in the style of the Russian Orthodox. The full installation is planned to include textile hangings, mirrors, music and accompanying book.

This Saturday, all being well, we are due to record the piece in St Chad's Cathedral and I'm ever so excited! To have the award of the funding is such an endorsement of my work and such an encouragement for me and it's great working with Ed  -  I'm so grateful!

More info about the installation and about Ed and his music can be seen on my website.

Hopefully, next time I return, a recording will exist!

Snowy interlude

We have had so much rain lately, though we have not suffered nearly as much as some have, that it was lovely to look out the other day and see the mountain slopes garmented in snow. I have been captivated since childhood by the sheer beauty of snow, how it transforms surfaces wherever it falls, how light sparkles and gleams on it, the muffled quiet of sounds in its muted atmosphere and the colours of shadows on its pristine surface.

I can never resist sketching and stitching it, so now include a fragment in progress, one of the nature-based pieces I am working on at present. I like to work on different pieces concurrently and, as at present, often run more figurative and abstract works alongside one another. This stitched piece photographed has become even 'snowier' as it has evolved and I am also working on a new installation 'Vigil', involving abstract pieces and music  -  more about this in my next blog, coming very soon!

Poetically speaking

When I looked out on Sunday morning, the hillside seemed mournfully quiet, sad in sunless colours. I lit a candle to bring a little warmth and light into the room and wrote down a few words. Today, I looked again at those words and set them down like this :-

                         Silent slopes sit,
                                                   dark with a
                         grey foreboding,
                                              sunless,
                           still,
                                      waiting for the next
                                storm to
                                                unleash its
                                  f       r       
                                       y
                          u 

                           sodden ground
                                                     plays in
                                           no dancing shadows    -


                          quiet tension of
                                                     the                     space
                                                              between      -

                           invasions of water
                                                               p  o  u   r         in

                                                                       p a t  h    s
                            multiplied by  days and
                                                                     nights    of
                                      dr e n  ch  ing
                                                                  un  -  cea  -  sing
                                                           r  a  I   n

                             a  n  gry     BLASTS   of   

                                                                       W i N D  s

                             s h ak  e         homes

                                                                    cr   ack   trunks
                                                     like twigs   -

                               fragile beauty    to  ss ed   aside
                                                                                  and mourned;


                                 we seem    trapped,
                                                                   not in a Narnian wonderLand
                                        white with ice and snow    but 

                            peer toward remembered  hillsides
                                                  l o s t   in veil  after   veil   of
                                                                           unending     w e t ne ss;
                                                                              
                               until today;
                                                       now   fresh snow  g lea  ms
                                      on  slopes       in
                                                    sudden      br  u  sh  -  stroke
                                                                                                 of
                                                                      pale sun    - 

     brief     in- ter-lude    of  calm      -

                        then  clouds    s  l in  g      icy     pellets

                                                         hail   against    windows,

                                        a      r u s h    of     wind    in
                                                                              the colder air;


                                           we wait for what
                                                                              may come.


                         
                                                             
                                       
                                   
                                               


                                                                    

New year begins

It has been a dramatic end of the year for Aberystwyth, the seafront and prom so devastated by the storms and spectacular tides! I was here at home in Dolgellau when most of this happened. We lost our lovely pear tree when it was broken in the high winds but some of the trunk and branches remain, so we're hoping very much that these might continue to survive and grow. Also broken away were several pretty trellises along the back fence and although this damage might seem minor compared with the seafront and other parts of the country, we're still sad because the tree had grown so well and was so pretty!

Artwise, I'm so excited because I've been awarded Arts Council funding for the first part of 'Vigil'  and I've just begun working on it. I'll be meeting now with Ed to hear his first take on the music  -  more on this and the project generally next time! It was also great to have two pieces selected for the Gas Gallery Open in Aberystwyth in December  -  very fortunate in being able to go in for this, as my university studio made me eligible as working, at least some of the time, in Ceredigion!

This image, 'Swirl of Bright Water', shows one of the pieces selected.

 

I have also included a couple of pictures of Aber seafront before the storms and high tides hit.

 

 

 

 

The prom on a lovely afternoon this autumn.

 

 

 

Years ago, in my undergraduate days at Aber, I stayed for a while on the seafront in Alexandra Hall Annexe, in a super room right at the top of the building.  Now I walk along the prom (well, trundle in the wheelchair!) and look up at where I used to be, that is, I did until just the other week! It was so exciting living there, when the tide was running high, if my door wasn't locked, it would open and close when a large wave broke against the seawall and small pebbles would be tossed right over the roof to scuffle down over the tiles! Of course, this was the excitement without the damage, which is so sad and such a shame  -  hopefully the council will be given enough money to have the necessary repairs done.

My daughter took the following photo of me from my collection of slides from the 70s and got it onto computer, so I include it for fun! It was taken during my undergraduate days while I was on my year abroad in Italy. The time of year is early springtime, 1974, and I was visiting the Tuscan hills near a little town called Rocca San Casciano. I used to love knitting back then, mostly jumpers and cardis, and this pink jumper is one of my creations. As the image shows, seventies' flower-power had not passed me by!

 

What a strange thing time is, in some ways this seems as if it is a photo of someone else, in another lifetime; in other ways, I'm still the person looking out of this picture; I still love art and music and poetry, still have my dreams  -  perhaps foolishly! Life has also brought me many riches I had never dreamed could be possible  -  nothing whatsoever to do with finances! I feel even more aware now of how short life is, of how time races by. On several occasions, I have faced mortal dangers and survived but there will be an end, that is only natural and the separation from loved ones will be the hardest thing. The date and time for this mortal chapter to finish are, of course, known only to God and that's fine by me. My deepest prayer is that it will be my time to go and Juls and Ed will still have many years of joy-filled, fulfilling lives. How many of these I may see is not up to me to say, I just treasure every second of knowing how they are, how they're doing, and hope to be given strength to finish a little more before I go. And who will go first, me? Arthur?  -  something to be acknowledged now and faced only when it comes.

 

Our poor pear tree has faced its mortality and we don't know whether the part that is left will still grow. The following images show the garden with the broken pear tree lying on the grassy ground and the gap in the corner which the tree's lovely branches used to fill  -  the back fence is also without the trellises. But we have been lucky, no terrible floods pouring in and ruining the house!

 

 

 

 

 

Until the next time!

 

 

Happy Christmas!

Weather outside sounds atrocious but Christmas is nearly here, so safe journey to all travelling in the next few days and a Very Happy Christmas and Joy in the coming year to all!

 

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!