Drawing to music

A flicker of actual drawing, a few moments spent concentrating ... as the result of the coincidence of looking at "Drawing Projects" over breakfast, reading about different ways of holding a pencil - and then Smetana's Ma Vlast came on the radio - so, quickly get the notebook and do a bit of drawing, eyes shut, mark-making to music -

Holding the pencil in various ways - at its end, in a loose fist, even like a dagger.

Eyes closed, you make one mark after another without the distraction of looking at how they relate to each other. That analysis of relation comes later.

The response to music, for me, doesn't free the marks - I'm still thinking "is this the right shape for that bit? does it have to be a faint mark just because the music is quiet? what different mark can I make now?"

I envisage repeating this with different media, different music. Maybe even adding some "rules" for myself. Or maybe not.

Poetry Thursday - Greek Antiquities: First Floor by Lauris Edmonds

Sculpted ... but not running (via)

Greek Antiquities: First Floor

Little sculptured animals, young deer
still stiffly running,still with bright
and frightened eyes, my fingers touch
the tiny perforations that mark
the spots upon your coats of clay
and find them rough and hard. Will any
dream of mine so run, wakeful
through more than twenty centuries?

Lauris Edmond (1924-2000)


Lauris Edmond was born in New Zealand and raised a family before publishing the poetry she had written all her life. Her first book, In Middle Air (1975), was awarded the PEN Best First Book Award for that year.

"She was friend to several generations of women, especially writers, who admired her as a pioneer for breaking with social convention and carving out a successful literary life at a time when this seemed risky" said her obituary in the Guardian. A biennial poetry award was established in her name, and her poetry continues to influence New Zealand writers.

"Edge" gets edgier

Amid a flurry of worry, on the CQ discussion list, that very few entries to the "on the edge" challenge had yet been received - with a full month to go before the deadline! - it's heartening to hear that many people, or at least several who have poked their heads over the parapet, are hard at work on their entries.

Mine too has made some progress.

At last writing (here) I had done a bit of experimentation with weaving the strips of folded pages. Then it was time to take a big breath and Go For It, the full 100x60cm format.

Fortunately my pinboard was slightly larger. I used map pins along the edges and in the intersections to align the strips and hold them in place.

The long straight strips were easy ... and then it was time for the tricky stiff, those corners. I decided not to have "wavy" bits surrounding the "void" - so it looks rather like a doorway.

So it looks like a doorway - or maybe a prayer mat? Time to think about what this piece is actually saying...

I started with the idea of making a quilt that was "just" an edge, with nothing in the middle. The thought behind this (apart from the chance to exercise my subversive streak) was that the format - edge - fit perfectly with the theme - on the edge. I'd thought to draw a jagged edge for the inside, rather like the edge of a cliff or a coastline, and cut it up and paper-piece.

Meanwhile other parts of my life took a serious turn and I needed a less laborious method. Thinking about this in those wakeful reaches of the night was a good diversion, and I hit on the idea of using paper itself, rather than covering it with fabric - using the paper as fabric.

The process of weaving automatically results in the "two layers" needed to fulfil (part of) the definition of a quilt;  when it comes to "joining with stitch", that would be evidenced by the machine stitch joining the pages into strips, and some hand stitch (at the outer edge for instance) to hold this "fabric" together.

The strips are now in place and only need that embellishment of the extra stitching. Somewhere along the way I decided not to leave the centre blank - who knows what sort of wall it might be hanging against - but to back it with a plain piece of fabric.

My first thought, while in the grip of the idea of "a void" was to use black, perhaps with a bit of black hand stitch (aka embroidery) to break up the vast expanse, but something better emerged from my stash - a piece of ££ hand dye bought years ago. Time to cut it up! The purple areas are complementary to the yellowish discolouration of the old book pages and the variations in colour "add interest".

In the next photo I'm auditioning a few threads to use for a bit of hand stitch: this background will float free from the top of the quilt (and provide a firm base for the sleeve) and it too will be two layers - lined with some purple flimsy cotton that turned up in the stash.

Once the back is layered up, all that needs doing is that "little bit of hand stitch" and attaching the sleeve - which is a job that can wait - if the quilt isn't juried in to the show, there'll be no need for the sleeve. Last year's entry didn't make it in, but that hasn't stopped me from trying again ... even though I know this method is a bit "off the wall" and risky. And at the moment it definitely looks incomplete!

And then there's the statement - oh, and the title of course! What is this piece about? At the outset it was about the  edge itself, being near the edge, being pushed over the edge, falling into the void, having to confront the void ... now that I'm using lists of words (pages from a thesaurus) it's about how language is the safe ground and "the void" is silence, the things that language can't say ... the place where we have to confront the unknown. (Heavy stuff!)

I enjoy having these "abstract" topics to work with - they take me to surprising places!

(linking this to Off the Wall Friday, http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk)

Drawing Tuesday - Museum of London

First, an overview of the cafe area where we meet to lunch and share sketchbooks - you can see the prevailing lighting conditions -

In the "prehistory" gallery we found relative quiet, bright lighting that aids ageing eyes, and even a tape loop of birdsong, very restful.

Non-human prehistory, found in or near the Thames - 

Foot of a 200,000 year old elephant, by Joyce

Rhinocerous skull, by Jo

"Old stuff" -

Tools, mostly hand axes; I tried to observe the relative tones.
The bronze age pot was decorated by someone with long fingernails and
slender fingers (note the deep indentations), "probably a woman"

Facial reconstruction of Shepperton woman, drawn by Janet B
"one of the oldest people to have been found in the London region. The 
skeleton is between 5,640 and 5,100 years old"

Nearby in the Roman galleries Janet K focused on a group of funerary urns, finally tackling the glass urn with pen -

 and Sue found a marble river god from the mid 2nd century - note the thick stem of bulrush extending along his upper arm; he symbolises the Thames and Styx rivers -

"Tool of the week" (an occasional feature) arose from an earlier discussion of white charcoal. Jo found a set of these among her supplies (the wipes are useful when using these!) -

and had used the range on a piece of dark green card -

A display that intrigued me was this conjunction of modern and ancient - under Heathrow airport is the remains of a neolithic settlement; a bit of trick photography captures both at once -

In 2003, as part of preparations for Terminal 5, this was announced to be the single largest dig in the UK; some 80,000 objects were found during 15 months.

Finally, these old bits of wood. On the left is a club made of alder; on the right, one of the representations of the Dagenham Idol, so-called on account of being found in the peat in 1922, during an excavation for sewer plants on the site that became the huge Ford plant. The original now belongs to Colchester Museum and is on indefinite loan to Valence House Museum in Dagenham, but the Museum of London has two copies, both on view near each other.

"The statue is made of Scots pine and stands 18 inches (46 cm) high. It has two legs but no arms; hips and buttocks narrowing to a waist and then broadening to shoulders; and a rounded head. There are straight markings cut across both legs. A hole in the pubic region can be interpreted as indicating a female, but with the insertion of a phallic peg (now lost) would indicate a male. There appears to be damage to the left eye, recalling Odin's sacrifice of an eye at Mímir's Well in return for wisdom in Norse myth."

Bathroom nostalgia?

Recently I saw an avocado bathtub in a skip outside a house that was being renovated, and this sight brought on a twinge of nostalgia for my "old" bathroom, which dated back to the time the house was made into flats, in the 1970s. (Those were the days!) On moving in, in the 90s, I disguised - or would the right word be overwhelmed? - the avocado suite with red and gold and a bit of purple ... lots of mirrors ... we called it the Turkish Bordello look.

 January 2012 - new year, old bathroom

Squirrels got into the ceiling space round about 2005 and until evicted could be heard gnawing the electrical wires when you were lying in the bath. And those floral tiles, oh dear... I'd intended to paint them gold but perhaps it's just as well that they escaped. Making the pale pink, heavily textured walls that deeply satisfying red was enough.

The photo was taken just before everything was ripped out, including the ceiling (gaining a good two feet, so that tall people can use the shower), and all was replaced by gleaming whiteness and chrome and a few tasteful accents of soft grey, pale turquoise, deep yellow. The job took twice as long as expected (of course) and even with careful shopping it cost a bomb - but worth it; four years on, the room is still a delight. We kept the idea of mirror above the bath and on the opposite wall - the infinite reflections make a small room look very spacious.

The renovation fulfilled another small desire - I'd always hankered after underfloor heating, and the bathroom has it. But it's expensive to run, so we indulge in this luxury only when the temperature really, really drops.

Mid-February 2012 - all new

Two "life lessons" arise from this musing on that bathroom. First, if you have to make the best of it (what to do with pale pink textured walls?), do something extraordinary, something enjoyable, something unexpected. Second, don't put off doing big things, even if they seem to be out of reach when you get the big idea.

Rock map

Found in a book ... in August 2013. After all that time, I have no idea which book!

"Everywhere I look I see maps, out of habit."

Little zoo

The petting zoo at Queens Park is open daily from 11am till 5.15. It's nice to see a few "domestic" animals...

Cocky cockatiels

Speckled hens

Milo the (basking) goat, whose birthday it was on the day we visited

Sunny bunnies

Getting going on the CQ challenge quilt

The quilt in its current format is a variation on "the void" - the idea is still to have an empty centre ... after all, the theme is "on the edge" so why not focus on the edges? 

Gradually the idea of using paper instead of fabric has developed - I was thinking about all of human knowledge (written down) and yet how we are totally clueless about some really important things, things that can't be caught in words. 

Looking for books I could bear to cut up, I found only a Polish-English business dictionary, a technical drawing manual (computers do that now), and an old copy of Roget.

My focus switched a bit, toward how we can say things in such subtle ways but when it comes to some of the strong emotions, words aren't all that useful. So there's a silence in the centre of things. Then I happened to read in Saturday's paper that someone (George Eliot?) had written about "the roar that lies behind the silence", which fits in with my thinking on "the void". 

Anyway, Roget - word lists and index - got cut up and folded (two layers, though the weaving will make two layers of another sort) -

And pages machined together into long strips, to satisfy the "joined by stitch" criterion.

Some tangible thoughts about weaving those edges -

Next decision - what to use in, or rather behind, the middle? My "void" drawings suggest there has to be something there, not an entirely plain bit of fabric ... some sort of disruption.

Past exhibitions

For the record ... working from a little heap of exhibition leaflets that's built itself up on the corner of the desk.

Contemporary Visions VI at Beers - (till 19 March) - it included a few pieces that felt like textiles, albeit stretched both literally and metaphorically -

Colleen Heslin, 3 works described as "dye on sewn canvas"

Gijs Van Lith's work used sewn canvas too, stained and marked by oil and acrylic

Struan Teague

Sergej Jensen's "Moneybags" at White Cube Bermondsey - (till 17 April) - interesting to see what uses a "textile" source can be put to in a fine-art context -

(via)

Park Seo-Bo at White Cube Mason's Yard - finished 12 March - he's been working in a serene, minimal way for decades -

Maps of Persia at Brunei Gallery (till 21 March) - maps are always fascinating -

(via)

And one from last year - "Guides to Elsewhere,"book art by Linda Toigo at Westminster Reference Library - this is "Maelstrom" in progress; other works are on her blog (March and April 2015)

(via)

Poetry Thursday - a song from the 1970s

(via)

Don McLean's manuscript of "American Pie" sold last year for $1.2million. A Washington Post article puts the song in context (1950s and 1970s); this video makes the lyrics take on a new meaning.

McLean says on his website: "I thought it would be interesting as I reach age 70 to release this work product on the song American Pie so that anyone who might be interested will learn that this song was not a parlor game. It was an indescribable photograph of America that I tried to capture in words and music and then was fortunate enough through the help of others to make a successful recording."

Here are the words of “American Pie” as transcribed by azlyrics.com, the savior of cover bands everywhere. (Note: AZ creatively transcribes what many hear as “whiskey and rye” as “whiskey in Rye.”)

[Intro]
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while

But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

[Chorus]
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

[Verse 1]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

[Chorus]
I started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

[Verse 2]
Now for 10 years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned

And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

[Chorus]
We were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

[Chorus]
We started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

[Verse 4]
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

[Outro]
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play

And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

And they were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

[Chorus]
They were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey in Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die”

It's not what you look at that matters...

"It's not what you look at that matters," said Henry David Thoreau, "it's what you see." Hence ... slow art day.

Coming up at the Ashmolean, Oxford - Slow Art Day, Sat 9 April, 2-4 pm. Sounds good - 

Discover the pleasures of taking your time to appreciate a work of art. Look at five works of art for 10 minutes each and discuss what you have seen over afternoon tea. 

This session will include works by Bassano, Canaletto, Claude Lorrain, Mark Gertler, and Bernini. 

Slow Art Day is an international event encouraging people to discover the joy of taking time to look at art.

 Perhaps these will be the paintings....

By Bassano (c1510-1592) - Christ among the doctors

By Canaletto (1697-1768) - A view of Dolo on the Brenta Canal

By Claude Lorrain (1604/5-1682) - Landscape with a goatherd

By Mark Gertler (1891-1939) - Thomas Balston

By Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) - Self Portrait

BTW the Ashmolean has an amazing number of online collections - browse them here.

But back to Slow Art - when I first heard about this, there were no events listed in London. Now the National Gallery has one.

Slow Art Day Basics?

Here are some basic options for how Slow Art Day works around the globe.

Sign-up at a local museum or art gallery

Click on the list of 2016 venues, find one near you and register online (it's free).

Attend and look at 5 pieces of art slowly

Show up on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at your venue, pay the admission fee (if there is one) and then look slowly - 5-10 minutes - at each piece of pre-assigned art.

Some museums pick 5 pieces of art, others may concentrate on 1 or 2 - while yet others will give more options.

Discuss your experience

In some cases, you can meet up with your volunteer host and the other participants at a pre-assigned lunch spot.

In other cases, museums will facilitate discussions in front of each piece of art.

Whatever the design is - what all the events share is the focus on slow looking and its transformative power.