I in no way claim to be a film-maker - I had to hold the camera in my left hand while steering my chair with my right - so I am limited by the functioning of my chair which you will also hear the sound of in operation! Added to this, I wanted to show the main cloth in its length in the video but have just succeeded in having it on its side! Far from perfect but I hope you might enjoy going on this tiny tour of the exhibition!
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Short video of 'A Sense of Longing'
I have given images for my MOMA exhibition and talked about them in my last post but I thought I'd publish this little video of the exhibition, which I took with my digital camera, just for fun!
I in no way claim to be a film-maker - I had to hold the camera in my left hand while steering my chair with my right - so I am limited by the functioning of my chair which you will also hear the sound of in operation! Added to this, I wanted to show the main cloth in its length in the video but have just succeeded in having it on its side! Far from perfect but I hope you might enjoy going on this tiny tour of the exhibition!
I in no way claim to be a film-maker - I had to hold the camera in my left hand while steering my chair with my right - so I am limited by the functioning of my chair which you will also hear the sound of in operation! Added to this, I wanted to show the main cloth in its length in the video but have just succeeded in having it on its side! Far from perfect but I hope you might enjoy going on this tiny tour of the exhibition!
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Exhibition 'A Sense of Longing' (Hiraeth)
Things have been very busy for a while now, as I was getting ready for my solo exhibition in MOMA Wales, Machynlleth and going forward with my PhD work.
I also gave a talk to the N. Wales Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild in December and shared a Christmas lunch with them and I enjoyed both of these things very much. The lunch was very convivial and Arthur and I were made very welcome. I gave my talk after lunch and was really touched by how closely everyone listened and by comments made by those who came up to me afterwards. I appreciate very much all those who said how much my words resonated with them - when I have the difficult days, it is always a great consolation and encouragement to recall that my work does speak to at least some people! It was also my duty and pleasure to judge the Christmas competition. This wasn't easy, as there was a high standard in the works entered. These ranged from the small to the really quite large and they embraced a variety of styles and techniques but, as I said to the winner, it was the sense of mystery she instilled which drew me to choose her delicate piece.
'A Sense of Longing' (Hiraeth)
My exhibition for MOMA, 'Hiraeth' in Welsh, was inspired initially by 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' by W B Yeats. I came across this beautiful poem in my teens and loved it from the very first reading! The longing here has two aspects to it, the first the yearning to give everything and beyond to a loved one, expressed in the beauty of the heavens, celestial and theological and the second, the longing to have peace and compassion in today's world where violence so often rips lives apart. I also extended the longing of the poem to embrace a yearning for people themselves, for loved ones whose mortal lives have ended. Guided by the 'blue and the dim and the dark cloths', I centred my main piece on the night skies and gave it a fall to the gallery floor.
The rhythms of the poetic word, allied to their meaning, often inspire me to music as did this beautiful work and the exhibition is accompanied by a sound track of the music I wrote for the poem. My son, Ed, took the melody I had written and composed lovely harmonies for strings so that the sound track has myself on voice and guitar with Ed on cello and double bass and his friend and colleague, Daniel Galbreath, on viola.
The gallery required the sound to be heard via headphones this time, so this would be the best way to listen to it.
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/189035003&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false"></iframe>
This link works to hear the sound for this exhibition but it does not appear in the same way as links to SoundCloud in my other posts, nor does it link to my other pieces on SoundCloud, as have other entries - am looking into how to correct this!
The exhibition was hung on 5th January and it was exciting seeing the pieces I had planned and worked on for a number of months going up on the walls! Arthur and I put up 'Cloth for Night and the Half-Light' and the 'falling book' ourselves, as we usually do, with help from gallery worker Robert.
On the initial hanging, it had seemed that three of the pieces were not needed but then Peter asked if I could bring them back again as he wanted to hang them after all! My piece 'Embrace of Light and Land, Moel Offrwm' was already placed in the window to one side of the gallery entrance and Peter now wanted to place 'Dance Softly into the Night' in the window to the other side of the front door.
The work 'For They Shall be Comforted', was hung behind the front desk and the third piece to be recalled, a one-off digital framed print, was placed beside 'Carried on the East Wind'.
Section of wall showing 'Carried on the East Wind' with one-off framed print 'Field of Conflict, Garden of Healing' and below these a selection of cards and mounted prints.
The image below shows the piece, 'Requiem: les fleurs du mal', a detail from which was used by the gallery in a publicity poster and for the gallery exhibitions leaflet. The piece itself was hung beside 'Continuum' and the two connect in the reflections engendered by the suffering that the first world war came so tragically to stand for and in their silent pleas for compassion. The model for the figure here is my son, Ed.
I also gave a talk to the N. Wales Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild in December and shared a Christmas lunch with them and I enjoyed both of these things very much. The lunch was very convivial and Arthur and I were made very welcome. I gave my talk after lunch and was really touched by how closely everyone listened and by comments made by those who came up to me afterwards. I appreciate very much all those who said how much my words resonated with them - when I have the difficult days, it is always a great consolation and encouragement to recall that my work does speak to at least some people! It was also my duty and pleasure to judge the Christmas competition. This wasn't easy, as there was a high standard in the works entered. These ranged from the small to the really quite large and they embraced a variety of styles and techniques but, as I said to the winner, it was the sense of mystery she instilled which drew me to choose her delicate piece.
'A Sense of Longing' (Hiraeth)
My exhibition for MOMA, 'Hiraeth' in Welsh, was inspired initially by 'He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven' by W B Yeats. I came across this beautiful poem in my teens and loved it from the very first reading! The longing here has two aspects to it, the first the yearning to give everything and beyond to a loved one, expressed in the beauty of the heavens, celestial and theological and the second, the longing to have peace and compassion in today's world where violence so often rips lives apart. I also extended the longing of the poem to embrace a yearning for people themselves, for loved ones whose mortal lives have ended. Guided by the 'blue and the dim and the dark cloths', I centred my main piece on the night skies and gave it a fall to the gallery floor.
Section of the top of 'Cloth for Night and the Half-Night'
Full view of the cloth on the gallery wall.
The rhythms of the poetic word, allied to their meaning, often inspire me to music as did this beautiful work and the exhibition is accompanied by a sound track of the music I wrote for the poem. My son, Ed, took the melody I had written and composed lovely harmonies for strings so that the sound track has myself on voice and guitar with Ed on cello and double bass and his friend and colleague, Daniel Galbreath, on viola.
The gallery required the sound to be heard via headphones this time, so this would be the best way to listen to it.
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/189035003&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false"></iframe>
This link works to hear the sound for this exhibition but it does not appear in the same way as links to SoundCloud in my other posts, nor does it link to my other pieces on SoundCloud, as have other entries - am looking into how to correct this!
The exhibition was hung on 5th January and it was exciting seeing the pieces I had planned and worked on for a number of months going up on the walls! Arthur and I put up 'Cloth for Night and the Half-Light' and the 'falling book' ourselves, as we usually do, with help from gallery worker Robert.
Falling book 'In the Pages of Dreams' during hanging in the gallery.
Self beside falling book at the exhibition Preview with 'Eurydice Dreams of Heaven' in the foreground and behind me 'Cloth for Night and the Half-Light'.
The framed pieces were hung by Peter, who is in charge of hanging works in the gallery, one of which is the tall piece visible here beyond the main hanging and it is called 'Sleep Softly because You Live in my Dreams'. This is where I side-step a little from where the poet says 'Tread softly because you tread on my dreams' to think about those who come alive again in dreams. There is a longing to see again those we have lost, to hear their voice, and when you dream, they can come vividly alive in the inner world, so I made a piece stitched with figures of those I love and miss so much, painted with the light into which, I believe, they have been welcomed. My hope now is, one day, to see them and be with them again.
This image shows 'Sleep Softly because You Live in my Dreams' on the right with three smaller pieces, from the top, 'Midnight Wave' then 'Crossing the Void' and A Depth of Water'. The blues in the poem led me to think not just about the blues of a night sky but also those of the sea washing the shore, images of which come to me in my thoughts and in times of meditation and prayer.
Details from the lower part of 'Sleep Softly . .'
I stitched this image from a grainy photograph of my Mum and Dad on their honeymoon in 1950 and I have homed in on it particularly because, when I was a baby, Mum rode pillion to my Dad on the bike while I was held in my grandmother's arms in the sidecar. Sounds fun, just a shame that I was too young to remember it! The motorbike was a BSA Golden Flash, my Dad's pride and joy and it came to him as the second such model in N.Ireland - he told me how he was actually supposed to have had the first one but that bike was sent to the wrong address!
'Embrace of Light and Land, Moel Offrwm' seen in the window.
Close-up of the picture
'Dance Softly . .' in the other window.
The work 'For They Shall be Comforted', was hung behind the front desk and the third piece to be recalled, a one-off digital framed print, was placed beside 'Carried on the East Wind'.
Section of wall showing 'Carried on the East Wind' with one-off framed print 'Field of Conflict, Garden of Healing' and below these a selection of cards and mounted prints.
Carried on the East Wind.
I made cards from some of the pieces in the exhibition and this image was one of them. The hills are around my home in beautiful Snowdonia.
The end wall in the gallery was given to pieces which reflect on the violence which so often erupts in our world. With these pieces, I wanted to express a longing for mercy and compassion and in the central piece, 'Continuum', as well as including images which reflect the world wars, I also visualise experiences of The Troubles in N. Ireland and explosions on the streets of Belfast when I worked there in the late 1970s and beginning of the 1980s.
Two images from the large work 'Continuum'
The first world war had come to my mind particularly because my exhibition was going up almost 100 years to the day since the death of my grandmother's brother in that conflict. My maternal grandmother had lost her brother, Thomas Alexander Keith, when, on Thursday 22nd March 1915, he was one of the first Allied soldiers to be gassed during the second battle of Ypres. He was actually fighting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force because, along with his older brother William, who survived the war, he had emigrated to Canada a few months before war broke out. My grandmother was only a small child when Tommy was killed but he had meant a lot to her and, as with so many other families, she had a lovely sepia photograph of him in uniform. I was not able to include Tommy himself in the piece but I stitched the image of a World War 1 soldier from a photograph of a member of Arthur's family.
Soldier and poppies
I also used an image of my dad in his RAF uniform along with members of his squadron. He was stationed at Penrhos near Pwllheli on the Lleyn Peninsula during his last posting when he was invalided out of the air force with the illness which he suffered from for the rest of his life. He had wanted very much to stay with the RAF and always missed the companionship he had found there and which he never found again in civilian life. The title of the piece, 'Continuum', refers to the tragic persistence of violence in the world and the figure of the crying child calls out for mercy and compassion; so often, it is the innocent and helpless who suffer so cruelly at the hands of others.
The image below shows the piece, 'Requiem: les fleurs du mal', a detail from which was used by the gallery in a publicity poster and for the gallery exhibitions leaflet. The piece itself was hung beside 'Continuum' and the two connect in the reflections engendered by the suffering that the first world war came so tragically to stand for and in their silent pleas for compassion. The model for the figure here is my son, Ed.
'Requiem: les fleurs du mal'
Monday, 17 November 2014
News and views
Ever so long since I did anything to my poor blog - my excuse, I've been ever so busy!!
It really has been a very exciting year and I have taken part in more exhibitions over a short space of time than ever before. As well as the exhibitions, there was, of course, my graduation and not only mine but my son's, too. Just a couple of months after my ceremony, Ed graduated with a Masters in Music from Birmingham Conservatoire, with the ceremony held in the beautiful building of the city's Symphony Hall. As to be expected, there was some very good music at the ceremony and we all enjoyed the occasion very much, including the delicious meal in Carluccio's that evening.
Ed in his smart gown outside the Hall It was good that Ed suggested going outside to take our pictures, as this little bridge over the canal was very pretty with the flowers tumbling over it.
Ed with Arthur and myself.
Ed with Arthur and Juliette and those lovely flowers again.
In between my graduation and Ed's, I was taking part in more exhibitions, the Open Competition Exhibition in MOMA Wales, Machynlleth and as guest artist with ArtWorks, Aberdyfi. The theme in MOMA this year was 'Myself' and for this, I did a piece based around lines from the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, namely 'Each mortal thing . . . selves, goes itself - myself it speaks and spells'. These words had stayed in my head ever since I first discovered them in my teens, so it seemed only natural to interpret them in art and express something of how they related to me in my life as the years had come and gone. I see myself in relation to those around me and to what has happened in my life over the years, to the changes that have taken place, with these words echoing in my head all the while, so the piece I created travelled from myself in my father's arms to how I am here and now. The piece haunted my dreams as I worked on it, in paint and stitch, as I love to do, and I put a lot into it visually and as regards the work it entailed but, somehow, I felt compelled to do it. Below are a few images from the finished piece which I called 'Leitmotif'.
A detail from 'Leitmotif' showing myself as mother with Juliette as a baby and along with Ed as growing children. The sea and shore also stand as recurring leitmotifs in my life.
A section of the work showing myself as an undergrad student in Aberystwyth in the 1970s, progressing to marriage and my family.
This exhibition was seen by many and my own piece was popular with the viewing public, young and old!
A little after the MOMA exhibition opened and going up while it was still on, I exhibited as guest artist with ArtWorks in Aberdyfi and was delighted to sell five original pieces here as well as a number of prints, cards and postcards. I was fortunate to be in the gallery when pieces sold and it was so enjoyable to meet those buying my work and talk with them. Below is an image of one of the pieces I said goodbye to!
Myself with my sister, Joyce and her husband, Alastair by Howth Head, Dublin - the sea draws us both like a magnet! Beautifully bright and such lovely colours but it was SO COLD!!
Work is now drawing together for my exhibition in MOMA and exciting developments are happening with my PhD, so life is full and I am so grateful to be living it!
Until the next time!
It really has been a very exciting year and I have taken part in more exhibitions over a short space of time than ever before. As well as the exhibitions, there was, of course, my graduation and not only mine but my son's, too. Just a couple of months after my ceremony, Ed graduated with a Masters in Music from Birmingham Conservatoire, with the ceremony held in the beautiful building of the city's Symphony Hall. As to be expected, there was some very good music at the ceremony and we all enjoyed the occasion very much, including the delicious meal in Carluccio's that evening.
Ed in his smart gown outside the Hall It was good that Ed suggested going outside to take our pictures, as this little bridge over the canal was very pretty with the flowers tumbling over it.
Ed with Arthur and myself.
Ed with Arthur and Juliette and those lovely flowers again.
In between my graduation and Ed's, I was taking part in more exhibitions, the Open Competition Exhibition in MOMA Wales, Machynlleth and as guest artist with ArtWorks, Aberdyfi. The theme in MOMA this year was 'Myself' and for this, I did a piece based around lines from the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, namely 'Each mortal thing . . . selves, goes itself - myself it speaks and spells'. These words had stayed in my head ever since I first discovered them in my teens, so it seemed only natural to interpret them in art and express something of how they related to me in my life as the years had come and gone. I see myself in relation to those around me and to what has happened in my life over the years, to the changes that have taken place, with these words echoing in my head all the while, so the piece I created travelled from myself in my father's arms to how I am here and now. The piece haunted my dreams as I worked on it, in paint and stitch, as I love to do, and I put a lot into it visually and as regards the work it entailed but, somehow, I felt compelled to do it. Below are a few images from the finished piece which I called 'Leitmotif'.
A detail from 'Leitmotif' showing myself as mother with Juliette as a baby and along with Ed as growing children. The sea and shore also stand as recurring leitmotifs in my life.
Myself as a baby held in my father's arms by the shores of Bangor, Co. Down becomes myself as the person I am now, looking at my grown children with the line of music beneath my image representing another path my life is taking at present. The spectral lines of beach umbrellas come from a drawing I made, alone, on a beach in N. Italy some years ago while Ed and Juliette are by the waves at Barmouth, N. Wales near to where my home is now.
A section of the work showing myself as an undergrad student in Aberystwyth in the 1970s, progressing to marriage and my family.
This exhibition was seen by many and my own piece was popular with the viewing public, young and old!
A little after the MOMA exhibition opened and going up while it was still on, I exhibited as guest artist with ArtWorks in Aberdyfi and was delighted to sell five original pieces here as well as a number of prints, cards and postcards. I was fortunate to be in the gallery when pieces sold and it was so enjoyable to meet those buying my work and talk with them. Below is an image of one of the pieces I said goodbye to!
This piece is called 'Swirl of Bright Water' and was inspired by watching how the sea flowed and swirled round the posts of the pier at Aberdyfi.
More recently, I have had my work, 'In the Garden, Secretly,' shown in Ireland, the first time my stitched pieces have been shown here. Arthur and I went over to steward a little at the exhibition which was 'Coded: Decoded Part 2', Prism's exhibition as guest artists at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin and while there, I also met up with my sister, which was great!
Myself with my sister, Joyce and her husband, Alastair by Howth Head, Dublin - the sea draws us both like a magnet! Beautifully bright and such lovely colours but it was SO COLD!!
Work is now drawing together for my exhibition in MOMA and exciting developments are happening with my PhD, so life is full and I am so grateful to be living it!
Until the next time!
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Of poems and graduations . . .
It has been a very exciting month of July for me this year! After an interlude of many years, in 2009, I was finally able to return to Aberystwyth University to study for my MA part-time and on Wednesday 16th I attended the degree ceremony to collect my certificate for the MA in Fine Art and Art History. Arthur, Juliette and Ed were with me and it was a fantastic day - I didn't realise just how happy it would make me feel and I will cherish the memory of it as long as I live!
Last September, I embarked on my part-time PhD in Fine Art and am now enjoying it enormously - it is such a wonderful opportunity to delve deep and explore both the micro and the macro of my subject and I will continue with it just as long as I can and hopefully bring it to fruition sometime around 2020 - seems an unreal date!
Meanwhile, my creative investigations revolve around stitch, paint, word and sound and within this, I have been recording readings/performances of my poetry, four of which I now have here within SoundCloud. I really enjoyed doing these readings both as recordings in the sound studio at the university and before this, at the Chinwag evening on 18th June in the Arts Centre in Aber. My readings were very well received, which is great, and I will perform more work as time goes on, hopefully live at more Chinwag evenings and also as recordings which can be accessed via SoundCloud.
The recordings of the poems follow and the image is of me in the recording studio. I am pictured during recordings made of the stitching process and I recorded the poems at the end of the session.
This first poem is Belfast Swan
Sedge and bulrush fall away in
of city’s trickle;
wind-whipped lough and lilac-blue
hills a cloud-wisped backdrop.
splashed marshes hold a
gleam of
grace-filled form.
the swan,
I watch
it
creamily
uncurl
sinuous neck
out from
amber
brownness;
regally gaze,
piece of tangled
weed clings to
orange beak, proud pulse of life
The following short poem entitled After, tells about the atmosphere of an explosion just after the event. This is one incident among those I experienced in Belfast in the late 1970s and beginning of the eighties. It seems such a crime against humanity that not only adults but so many children in troubled countries today still find their lives blighted, scarred and tragically ended by the actions of those who seek to impose their will on others through violence, groups and individuals who seem blind to the suffering they cause and deaf to the pleas of the innocent victims.
The next poem Belfast: Lagan Revisited speaks of the city at the height of The Troubles but it does not end there. This is a city and country which walked a painful path out of the violence and destruction and which, despite dark acts perpetrated by a few individuals, works to preserve a much-needed peace. Differences of thought and opinion still exist but the bond of shared humanity and compassion unites where the confines of sectarianism had bloodied and shattered.
The final poem Cormorant is a short song of the sea and shore where I spent all my growing years, a place of consolation and inspiration, a harbour for the body and the soul.
Last September, I embarked on my part-time PhD in Fine Art and am now enjoying it enormously - it is such a wonderful opportunity to delve deep and explore both the micro and the macro of my subject and I will continue with it just as long as I can and hopefully bring it to fruition sometime around 2020 - seems an unreal date!
Gowned up and at lunch!
With Arthur and Juliette
With Arthur and Ed
At the ceremony in the Great Hall
Getting ready for the group photo of all of us in the School of Art
Group photo by the steps - thankfully, it didn't rain!
Hats go in the air!
We enjoyed a lovely meal in the Cross Foxes afterwards!
Meanwhile, my creative investigations revolve around stitch, paint, word and sound and within this, I have been recording readings/performances of my poetry, four of which I now have here within SoundCloud. I really enjoyed doing these readings both as recordings in the sound studio at the university and before this, at the Chinwag evening on 18th June in the Arts Centre in Aber. My readings were very well received, which is great, and I will perform more work as time goes on, hopefully live at more Chinwag evenings and also as recordings which can be accessed via SoundCloud.
The recordings of the poems follow and the image is of me in the recording studio. I am pictured during recordings made of the stitching process and I recorded the poems at the end of the session.
This first poem is Belfast Swan
Sedge and bulrush fall away in
of city’s trickle;
wind-whipped lough and lilac-blue
hills a cloud-wisped backdrop.
Beyond streaked glass,
brackish stretches of pool-splashed marshes hold a
gleam of
grace-filled form.
Caught
bythe swan,
I watch
it
creamily
uncurl
sinuous neck
out from
amber
brownness;
regally gaze,
piece of tangled
weed clings to
orange beak, proud pulse of life
pulse of life, proud,
proud life proud
pulse
on the
ruffled water, ruffled
water
on the ruffled water ripple-sheen
water- shiver wind-mirror
.retaw delffur
eht, retaw delffur no efil
I hctaw
naws eht cream gleam on the ruffled water
Train come,
train gone,
but I still
see
the bright
swan.
The following short poem entitled After, tells about the atmosphere of an explosion just after the event. This is one incident among those I experienced in Belfast in the late 1970s and beginning of the eighties. It seems such a crime against humanity that not only adults but so many children in troubled countries today still find their lives blighted, scarred and tragically ended by the actions of those who seek to impose their will on others through violence, groups and individuals who seem blind to the suffering they cause and deaf to the pleas of the innocent victims.
The next poem Belfast: Lagan Revisited speaks of the city at the height of The Troubles but it does not end there. This is a city and country which walked a painful path out of the violence and destruction and which, despite dark acts perpetrated by a few individuals, works to preserve a much-needed peace. Differences of thought and opinion still exist but the bond of shared humanity and compassion unites where the confines of sectarianism had bloodied and shattered.
The final poem Cormorant is a short song of the sea and shore where I spent all my growing years, a place of consolation and inspiration, a harbour for the body and the soul.
Sunday, 1 June 2014
'Silent Polyphonies' - live reading with music!
My 'Silent Polyphonies' installation has been exhibited several times now in various galleries, both with and without sound and in its two most recent outings, the Cloisters Gallery, St Davids Cathedral, St Davids, Pembrokeshire and the Minerva Arts Centre, Llanidloes, I have been fortunate in being able to show the piece with its soundtrack. I think that it works in both guises but, at the same time, feel that without its sound, the visitor is not able to experience the piece in its entirety. I am now correcting this situation on my blog where the work has also been totally silent!
On exhibition, the soundtrack is designed to loop with a short interval between repeats, the interval inserted because, unlike the soundtrack for 'The Invitation' where the music is in the nature of a short phrase repeated in the manner of a chant, the sound for 'Silent Polyphonies' features myself performing a reading of my poem 'Of Silence and Butterflies'. This poem forms the words in the 'falling book' which is part of the installation.
In the exhibition in Llanidloes, which finished on 26th May, I was showing with artists' group CRYD (Art Between the Waters) and the particular gallery space where we were in the Centre is also used for various workshops, so the sound could not be present at all times.
The piano music heard with the poem is a simple cadence which I composed and play myself, soft notes from Ed's double bass sounding very quietly in the background. To enhance the atmosphere and create an environment calling to mind the natural world, the sound of softly plashing water also plays during the reading. These 'watery' sounds are recordings of gentle waves breaking to the shore at Llandudno. Various attempts were made to record the sound of waves, including by the harbour at Aberystwyth, but here the wind was blowing so strongly that even sizeable waves could scarcely be heard above the buffeting of the gusts! Arthur's able-bodied ability to get right to the shore's edge was invaluable and now the acquisition of a microphone designed to pick up atmospheric sounds should aid in future recordings!
I do hope very much that you enjoy listening to the recording as I enjoyed making it! Investigations into further use of sound, musical and otherwise, in relation to stitch and word continue within my PhD at Aber.
May has been a very busy month for me and. as well as the exhibition in the Minerva Centre, I have also been exhibiting in the Willow Gallery, Oswestry, in Maesmawr Gallery, Mid Wales Arts Centre, Caersws and with PRISM in the Mall Galleries, London. Work is still on exhibition in Oriel Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor and prints continue to be on sale in the Willow Gallery and in the Mid Wales Arts Centre with cards also on sale in the Willow Gallery and prints available from my Sales Page on my website.
My son, Ed, was the model for this image and the frightening thing is that but for the accident of time and birth, if our time had been in the previous century, it could indeed have been Ed in just such a uniform going off to war - we are so very grateful to be alive in this century with, despite the ongoing threat of world terrorism, at least the majority of the world's nations at peace, old enmities fought over on the stage of the United Nations rather than the slaughter of the battlefield.
Off now to go on with the work - joy and peace to all!
On exhibition, the soundtrack is designed to loop with a short interval between repeats, the interval inserted because, unlike the soundtrack for 'The Invitation' where the music is in the nature of a short phrase repeated in the manner of a chant, the sound for 'Silent Polyphonies' features myself performing a reading of my poem 'Of Silence and Butterflies'. This poem forms the words in the 'falling book' which is part of the installation.
'Silent Polyphonies' in the Minerva Arts Centre, Llanidloes, showing both panel and 'falling book' with beside it 'In the Garden, Secretly' and 'Through a Glass Softly'.
Close-up of pages in the book.
In the exhibition in Llanidloes, which finished on 26th May, I was showing with artists' group CRYD (Art Between the Waters) and the particular gallery space where we were in the Centre is also used for various workshops, so the sound could not be present at all times.
I do hope very much that you enjoy listening to the recording as I enjoyed making it! Investigations into further use of sound, musical and otherwise, in relation to stitch and word continue within my PhD at Aber.
May has been a very busy month for me and. as well as the exhibition in the Minerva Centre, I have also been exhibiting in the Willow Gallery, Oswestry, in Maesmawr Gallery, Mid Wales Arts Centre, Caersws and with PRISM in the Mall Galleries, London. Work is still on exhibition in Oriel Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor and prints continue to be on sale in the Willow Gallery and in the Mid Wales Arts Centre with cards also on sale in the Willow Gallery and prints available from my Sales Page on my website.
A corner of the Minerva Arts Centre showing my work during hanging.
A view of my piece 'Carried on the East Wind'.
I also had two pieces selected for this year's exhibition 'Coded: Decoded' with PRISM at the Mall Galleries, London. The exhibition, which has just finished, ran during this past week. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there in person this year but it was great to be showing with everybody. I do, however, hope to be with everyone at least some of the time when we exhibit in the Knitting and Stitching Shows in Alexandra Palace, London and also in Dublin and Harrogate. These shows always have stands of contemporary art stitch and are extremely popular with the public, so it's great that PRISM have been invited to show with them. Space at the Knitting and Stitching shows is limited, so we are all showing just one or two comparatively small pieces each and mine will be 'In the Garden, Secretly'.
This is 'De Profundis' which was in the Mall Galleries.
Showing a detail from 'De Profundis'.
This piece, 'Requiem: les fleurs du mal' has also just come back from The Mall Galleries.
It is impossible to ignore the significance of date just now and this image shows my sadness at the terrible futility of war. The loss of life in the First World War has come to stand as a metaphor for the suffering mankind inflicts on one another, a suffering that flares up and goes on in various parts of the world, seemingly without end. After the further tragedy of the Second World War, I do hope that the 'war to end all wars' has, indeed, ended war on a global scale with the added hope that, one day, war between any nation will be a thing consigned to history.
Detail from 'Requiem: les fleurs du mal'
My son, Ed, was the model for this image and the frightening thing is that but for the accident of time and birth, if our time had been in the previous century, it could indeed have been Ed in just such a uniform going off to war - we are so very grateful to be alive in this century with, despite the ongoing threat of world terrorism, at least the majority of the world's nations at peace, old enmities fought over on the stage of the United Nations rather than the slaughter of the battlefield.
Off now to go on with the work - joy and peace to all!
Saturday, 10 May 2014
A Night at the Opera
Arthur, Juls and I had a fantastic time a couple of weeks ago when we went to see and hear Ed perform with the Birmingham Opera Company in their latest amazing production! The piece, directed by Graham Vick, was by Modest Mussorsky and was given the title 'Khovanskygate: A National Inquiry'.
It all took place in the 'Freedom Tent' in Cannonhill Park in Birmingham and was quite an experience! The audience were guided and moved around by opera members during the performance, making us feel that we, too, were part of the action and, very fortunately, we were almost always near Ed, partly out of sheer luck and partly by design!
Ed's first guise - as a revolutionary.
I was especially pleased to be very close to Ed during his solo - he had told me roughly the pattern of where he would be placed for his solo part as 'Golitsyn's messenger' and then, asked by Juls, one of the company kindly told me exactly where Ed would be, so I was right by the platform Ed was on at this time! His voice rang out so well - he was ever so good!
As 'Golitsyn's messenger''.
A couple of shots of Ed in his policeman's role.
This is Ed in the final scene of the opera - a rather terrifying one in which lots of the characters - the 'believers' and this included Ed - committed mass suicide. To show this, the cast actually put plastic bags over their heads - a risky business, being an opera singer!
I'll look forward to seeing more of Ed in opera and more of Birmingham Opera Company's fascinating productions!
It all took place in the 'Freedom Tent' in Cannonhill Park in Birmingham and was quite an experience! The audience were guided and moved around by opera members during the performance, making us feel that we, too, were part of the action and, very fortunately, we were almost always near Ed, partly out of sheer luck and partly by design!
Ed's first guise - as a revolutionary.
I was especially pleased to be very close to Ed during his solo - he had told me roughly the pattern of where he would be placed for his solo part as 'Golitsyn's messenger' and then, asked by Juls, one of the company kindly told me exactly where Ed would be, so I was right by the platform Ed was on at this time! His voice rang out so well - he was ever so good!
As 'Golitsyn's messenger''.
A couple of shots of Ed in his policeman's role.
This is Ed in the final scene of the opera - a rather terrifying one in which lots of the characters - the 'believers' and this included Ed - committed mass suicide. To show this, the cast actually put plastic bags over their heads - a risky business, being an opera singer!
I'll look forward to seeing more of Ed in opera and more of Birmingham Opera Company's fascinating productions!
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Hospital exhibition and painting
My solo exhibition in Oriel Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor was set up at the beginning of this month and, as a former Art Therapist who believes in the therapeutic value of art, it is a great pleasure for me to have my work available for patients, visitors and staff alike.
The gallery is situated in the main entrance foyer of the hospital and, as with the Cloisters Gallery by the refectory in St Davids Cathedral, these spaces are open to members of the public, including while exhibitions are being hung.
A view across the foyer - people coming to and fro had lessened considerably by the time this photo was taken approaching mid morning.
Hanging an exhibition alongside members of the public changes the dynamic of the empty gallery space and of the relationship between exhibitor and spectator. Early morning in the hospital is a busy time and many people were coming and going as the exhibitor before us, jeweller Karen Williams, took down her work and we started to unpack mine. It was a pleasure to meet Karen and then, as we began to get my work in place, passers-by took a moment or two to look on with interest. In the cathedral, whole conversations had taken place while pieces were being hung but the nature of visitors to the hospital environment reduced these interactions to smiles and a few words.
Another difference between this and my cathedral exhibition was that, this time, Arthur and I were not alone in hanging the work but turned out to have the assistance of not one but two people! I had put forward my proposal for the hospital exhibition through Gwynedd Arts Forum and we met up with Gwawr Wyn Roberts, Forum Community Arts Development Officer, when we arrived at the hospital. Shortly afterwards, we were joined by a member of the hospital's technical staff who had come to help hang the exhibition and, with Gwawr also lending a hand, everything was achieved surprisingly quickly despite the fact that the display area included five boards and two cabinets, so many thanks to both!
An early visitor - finishing touches were being put to the exhibition and it was already attracting attention! I have also now been contacted by visitors who have said how much they enjoyed the exhibition - this is much appreciated!
Self by another of the display boards with my piece, 'Light and Shadow on the Mountain, Moel Offrwm'.
The gallery is situated in the main entrance foyer of the hospital and, as with the Cloisters Gallery by the refectory in St Davids Cathedral, these spaces are open to members of the public, including while exhibitions are being hung.
Hanging an exhibition alongside members of the public changes the dynamic of the empty gallery space and of the relationship between exhibitor and spectator. Early morning in the hospital is a busy time and many people were coming and going as the exhibitor before us, jeweller Karen Williams, took down her work and we started to unpack mine. It was a pleasure to meet Karen and then, as we began to get my work in place, passers-by took a moment or two to look on with interest. In the cathedral, whole conversations had taken place while pieces were being hung but the nature of visitors to the hospital environment reduced these interactions to smiles and a few words.
Another difference between this and my cathedral exhibition was that, this time, Arthur and I were not alone in hanging the work but turned out to have the assistance of not one but two people! I had put forward my proposal for the hospital exhibition through Gwynedd Arts Forum and we met up with Gwawr Wyn Roberts, Forum Community Arts Development Officer, when we arrived at the hospital. Shortly afterwards, we were joined by a member of the hospital's technical staff who had come to help hang the exhibition and, with Gwawr also lending a hand, everything was achieved surprisingly quickly despite the fact that the display area included five boards and two cabinets, so many thanks to both!
An early visitor - finishing touches were being put to the exhibition and it was already attracting attention! I have also now been contacted by visitors who have said how much they enjoyed the exhibition - this is much appreciated!
Self by another of the display boards with my piece, 'Light and Shadow on the Mountain, Moel Offrwm'.
Two views of the main cabinet.
This is a detail of the smaller of the cabinets. It was quite difficult to photograph this cabinet because of all the reflections on the glass doors but I thought that myself captured in the mirror tiles whilst taking the photo was rather amusing! The little concertina book was made particularly with this cabinet in mind and the mirror tiles placed under and behind the book worked really well in allowing all aspects to be seen by spectators.
Finally, I had a very enjoyable day yesterday in my studio painting in acrylics on a linen canvas. I love my stitching but I also love painting, writing music, writing poetry . . . in short, I enjoy many aspects of the creative process!
Now I need to go to do some admin - this needs to be done, too!
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