The Art of Pain

   

I am up to over 80 hours of sewing and I still have a long way to go. I am loving it but I can only manage a couple of hours a day. The sheer difficulty of sewing this long hanging is tiring, my arms ache. I have managed to do a fair amount sitting down but I just can't get a feel of the whole thing when it is screwed up on my lap. I need to stand back from the design and see how I am using colour, just as I would when I am painting.

I doubt most people even consider, when they look at large scale art works (and mine aren't that big !) how difficult they are to produce. The physical energy that is used to actualy reach the top/middle/bottom of a large painting is massive, up and down the ladder or scaffolding to asses progress or having to reach a canvas at an awkward angle is slow and tiring. Michelangelo lay on his back to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, it must have been exausting. Starting a canvas the size Mark Rothko uses would be daunting. Even Andy Goldworthy's large scale structures take a massive amount of effort or Richard Long's walks are no mean feat.

The joy comes in the achievement of overcoming the difficulty and the finished product.  Can we measure happiness by the amount of work and struggle we put into getting to where we want to be ?

I am a stress avoider by nature and will always take the path of least resistance but there is something satisfyingly compelling about overcoming difficulty in one's art. 

So next time you look at an art work, what ever the size, and mutter under your breath 'How much ?' just give a little thought to the pain, effort and time that went into creating it !

Excited ....

Well that's it for another year. A visit to Blighty, tick, spend quality time with the family, tick, rush around like a headless chicken, tick, tie up loose ends, tick, return to gozo exhausted, tick.  Just enough time to catch my breath before the start of a great adventure in 2016. I love the beginning of a New Year, I love the expectation of what is to come. I love that time to reflect on what went by in the last year and what we can learn from all of that. A time for renewed optimism and a rush of energy. 
Being back on Gozo is a joy, despite January and February being the worst months weatherwise. We still get those fabulous blue skies more often than not and the people look happy and less strained than in the UK. The colour of the stone is sunny and not grey and it won't be long until the fields are filled with the wild flowers of an early spring again. We have carnivale to look forward to in early Feb, which is the culmination of 12 months hard work for all the costume makers and troop chroegraphers. What a spectacle that is. 
So... I must make plans and prepare, lots to do during the dark evenings. All the hard work of last year, I hope will now come to fruition. 

So......

... and a nice little thought for us all to start a new chapter. xx

 If I want to be accepted as I am, then I need to be willing to accept others as they are. It is arrogant to set standards for others.
- Louise Hay

Open Studio weekend

OPEN STUDIO

   December Weekends

      Fri 11^th Sat 12^th Sun 13^th

      Fri 18^th Sat 19^th Sun 20^th

10am – 3pm

Paintings.. Art to Wear

Turned Wood Items .

Carved Stone . Cards

Painted furniture

@

TRIQ IT TORRI. XLENDINDI

UP THE HILL OUT OF XLENDI TOWARDS MUNXAR

Go to my facebook page to see photos of artist's work

CLICK HERE FOR A MAP

    

Cabinet of curiosities

I have long been inspired by the work and collections of American artist Mark Dion. Having seen his 'Tate Thames dig' at the Tate Modern, beautifully displayed in a Victorian collectors cabinet, I have wanted a similar collection myself. I along with all mudlarks and beach combers have one thing in common, the need to scavenge on a river's edge or along the coast line for curiosities. Looking for the unusual, beautiful or just something useful.

Living by the sea and indeed on a small island, my daily dog walks are always spent scrambling over the rocks (if not in the sea) looking for bits and pieces. The weather is changing and finally in November I think we can say good bye to Summer and are due the first of the winter storms and high winds this week, which should produce some big seas. In turn the big waves should wash up a whole treasure trove of driftwood, shells, stones and all manner of things to be gleaned.

My collection is growing fast and is already taking up too much space on my small shelf. I need to make a special display case (probably out of driftwood) to show them off, all lined up neatly. To add to the bits I have found I have also been given some beautiful and unusual pieces that add interest to the collection.

 I have a whale bone, a dragon fly, sea urchin shells, cowrie shells, stones with holes in, heart shaped stones, egg shells dyed with plant dye, a fossil cockle, a sharks tooth, a mother of pearl fish, a manilla (slave currency  in the form of a bronze bangle) and 3 buddha's, one ivory (old), one jade and one sandlewood.

My textile hanging is coming along. I have been working on it for nearly a month now. Every day I spend a couple of hours sewing. I love it. Very medatative ! I am not rushing to finish. I have now sewn down all the edges and will soon begin to work on the detailing. A little gold silk has crept into the gaps, I guess in the style of  Kintsukuroi - mending with gold-

Time

I have used scraps of vintage linen, embroidered cotton, silk, handmade gozitan lace and many other collected textiles. I love the way there is no order to it, it's very intuitive and very wabi-sabi.

Next project, I have some suitable china to use for this !

It's a boro (ed) thing

I can feel a winter of sewing coming on. I have a desire to make a textile panel using the ancient Japanese folk cloth idea of patching and mending old textiles called boro. You can read a bit about boro here. Shabby textiles became works of art, the more stiched and mended it became the more interesting the fabric. Sashiko stitching on the antique boro fabrics became an art form and in true wabi sabi style these old textiles became precious.
Anyway I am going to have a go myself. The backing is an old fine egyptian cotton sheet and the patches are scraps of linen and cotton. Some with embroidery and old lace pieces made here on Gozo. It may take months to finish but the winter here is just the time to do this.

First day's work

Some of my boro skirts can now be found in my Etsy Shop

I will be adding some of my small paintings on here soon too.

It's been a while !

It's been a busy few weeks. A change in the weather has brought cooler air, but with that come the flies ! My family and other animals have been out to stay with me. A lovely week catching up on all the news and just generally enjoying some 'old times'. More to come this month !
A day in Malta ended up at Ghar Lapsi, a picturesque cove where the water is as clear as glass and the marine life abundant. A lovely morning's snorkeling.

Petra and I spent some time holding day intuitive painting and collage workshops. Apart from our 'Art holidays' we facilitate individual tuition. A pared down version of our residential weeks and held in our studio. Check out Studio 38 website for details.

Workshop dates

Inspire

Intutive Painting & Collage.

Art orientated self discovery.

Forthcoming dates for this Autum:

1 week stay hosted in a comfortable traditional 400 year old farmhouse set on the idyllic and inspiring Mediterranean island of Gozo. Four days of art and soul exploration,

October 5th arrive for welcome supper 

Workshop starts 9.30am 6th October

or

November 9th arrive for welcome supper

Workshop starts 9.30 10th November 

Click on the link for details.