I received the amendments required for my essay. I was astonished at how few there were! A couple of typos, and page numbers to be added for the list of illustrations. Oh My Word! No re-writing at all. Hurrah! This led to a considerable increase in satisfaction with my essay, and a huge increase in self-esteem.
I find it odd that my self-esteem is so dependent on the assessed outcome of my essay. I wish I could have the self-belief to be confident of the value of my work, without needing external verification. But that's how I am.
So I went to the swimming pool and had a productive thinking session while doing my 74 lengths.
1. Jim finds me easier to live with when I am studying. Even when I am tetchy while writing my essay. He prefers to live with someone who is thinking, visiting, drawing, looking, making, then thinking some more, rather than live with someone (ie me!) who is a nightmare when she is bored.
2. We have no issues with funding more education.
3. Jim wants to support me in my studies while he is able. We are both aware that our/my ability to travel may be curtailed in the future, most likely by care requirements for him. Mobility restrictions are not apparent now, but we both look to the future and can see we are as able now as we will ever be, and this can only reduce with time.
4. I've been thinking about what I'm interested in. I'd categorise it as Art & Politics, because I'm interested in who gets represented and why. I've had a good look at Women, but now want to move on to manual workers and skills. I'm still interested in museums and galleries and who they choose to represent in their collections. I'm still reflecting on the NPG Collections policy that said they were aware of an over-representation of white men, in oil on canvas, and an under-representation of women and ethnic minorities, and other art forms. They ran the Who Am I? exhibition by Grayson Perry showing art about diverse people in under-represented media ... but nothing since! This policy also defined what they thought were 'significant' achievements - all of which were more likely to be masculine! My experience (to quote Matt Smith) is that 'the museum is not neutral'!
5. I'm interested in 'lesser' art forms. I went to the Cartoon Museum and found their reflection of social events, simple drawings, simple captions/uncaptioned works led to a different way of understanding - which might be an entree to a less stuffy form of art. I'm still thinking about narrative art, concertina sketchbooks and how to make art that is accessible to ordinary people (those who don't see themselves as artists). I'm not making art for artists. I'm making art that is insightful to an ordinary viewer. I'm interested in making work that can be understood by particular audiences - without a scripted narrative.
6. I know I am reacting against STEM subjects with all their thinking/computer/ deskbound attributes. I'm interested in what people actually do - the roles in our society that are essential but seem not to be respectable or desirable - shop work; field/farm work; care work; night work; building/labouring; delivery work. I think my liking for and desire to represent these largely manual workers indicates my work has a political element.
7. I'd still like to do a body of work with Finch's Gravel Quarry. I'm into linocuts at present. There is a resonance between carving a Lino and how gravel extraction carves a landscape. Driving a gravel lorry is a skilled job that I'd like to represent.
8. I've wondered about talking to Mary Schoeser (textile historian) and Kate Wigley (former Curator Warners Textile Archive) about running a Local Workers art exhibition at Braintree Museum. They would have the contacts at the council to make this successful. This could be done by a call for artworks put out to all local art groups, with selection by museum professionals/council staff, hopefully with my work being included. I think the council would buy into this as it would positively promote employers/employment in the Braintree area and support many policies about 'local'.
9. I've had a brief look at places that might do a higher level Art & Politics qualification. Places to consider include: Coventry; Goldsmiths; UEA. I'm not clear yet what the most appropriate next qualification might be. It needs to be practice based, rather than essay based.
Coventry: Pros - I know and like Jill & Imogen. Jill's enthusiasm (the look on her face!) for my stitch verified that my samplers really were art - hugely important for my self-belief. Imogen's editorial skills were what got my essay into line. I would not have written anything like as well without her.
Cons - the 3 hour each-way journey wore me down, and led to me being isolated because I was so far from student peers.
Goldsmiths - Pros - only 1-hour journey - at New Cross. Possibility of funding for tuition fees. Interesting one day taster https://www.gold.ac.uk/short-courses/art-propaganda/. Or https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/mphil-phd-visual-culture/
UEA - Pros ? Cons - poor journey - 2.5 hours.
Not sure where else to consider.
Tuesday 10 December 2019
Sunday 17 November 2019
Viva at Coventry
I had my final assessment - my viva - at Coventry on Monday 11 November.
I arrived at Elm Bank really early, and Heather Sears allowed me to access the room to stage my work. Heather was intrigued by my sampler box, and asked to see the work. I showed the first couple, and she asked to photograph them. I suggested I stage them, and she could photograph them all together.
I staged my sketchbooks, and the samplers, and stashed all my detritus and posh shoes under the corner table. When Heather came down to Sparrow Room, she brought Rebekah Smith McGloin, the Director of the Doctoral College too. As soon as Rebekah saw my work, she asked whether I was going on to a PhD. I said I found the writing too difficult - my forte was the artwork. To which she replied a practice based PhD was only 15,000 words. While I'm not planning to go to a higher level, I found it considerably confidence-boosting, prior to my Viva, to be told this. Heather took some photos of me and my samplers (I must remember to contact Heather and give permission for her to use them for publicity if this helps the doctoral college).
I was waiting in the cafeteria, when I realised I had left my posh shoes in Sparrow Room, and the Viva panel had assembled. This meant I ended up wearing my trainers with my artist dress during my assessment! At least they were a matching petrel blue!
The panel chairman was an engineer (missed his name), along with Kollette Super, and David Vaughan. Imogen Racz, my Director of Studies, was present as observer.
I gave my presentation. I talked a bit about standpoint theory - probably rattled on a bit too much about it seeing some things from somewhere and it being partial, with examples from my workplace such as managing a payroll to see what happens with the embodied nature of performance related pay - but Kollette was nodding sagely!
They started by asking what my background was - which surprised me a bit. Apparently my background for an artist is unusual! I explained I had worked for London Underground - clerical and secretarial roles, followed by all the HR roles, with lots of employee relations. Then I decided to earn some serious money so started shift work - I explained more about standpoint being partial, with the example of night shift being worth more than days, and management consultants consolidating shift rates of pay to makes Payroll cheaper to run, without realising this led to some workers trying to wriggle out of their share of night shifts because a consolidated rate meant they did not lose money.
Kollette wanted to know how I got into art. I had always stitched, then did C&G Embroidery which led me to art - I needed to get the artwork right before going into stitch, and I discovered that I was a hand worker, not a machine operator. Then I was working part-time as I was a carer for my Father (with Alzheimers), and decided to start a part-time degree. Fairly quickly my Dad died; the university offered study abroad to Curtin University, Perth; and London Underground offered severance. It was because of my work at Curtin, that I achieved a 1st at University of Herts. I took a year out, then started at London Met. Great first year with Linden Reilly (David Vaughan said he knew her), then a financial crisis led to many highly experienced staff being sacked (Kollette and David rolled their eyes!) and the course became shambolic in the second year so I walked out (I thought this was an accurate but restrained description!). However when Linden found out, she recommended I apply to Coventry - and Jill had been the verifier at London Met, so knew my work. This information had both Kollette and David nodding sagely.
David asked whether as a retired member of London Underground staff, I still got free travel on the tube. Which I do, and quarter rate on Network Rail - £17.90 return every time I go to Coventry!
I said a bit about using sketchbooks as research - using my Status and Values sketchbooks as an example when I had gone up a blind alley. Status sketchbook actually was about my Mother's values not mine!!
Kollette asked what order the samplers were made in. This was the order they were displayed in - Mrs Konieczny; me; Aunt Joan; Gifti, Mavis and Sarpong; and Aunt Daisy. She asked what response they got - I said homemaking women liked Aunt Joan, social campaigners liked Gifti, Mavis and Sarpong, and artist/embroiderers liked Aunt Daisy. I said the samplers were selected for exhibitions, typically Women's History Month, and that selection was very important to me - it validated my work, more so than self-publicity. Kollette liked the colours of Gifti, Mavis and Sarpong, and I said these were the colours of the Ghanaian flag. I added that it was very important to me that the samplers inspired discussion and triggered memory of viewers' (in)significant women. David said he had overheard conversations about these other women at the exhibition. Hurrah! My work was effective in triggering memory!
They asked whether I wished I had done an art degree earlier. I answered honestly that the Underground had paid me a good living, with a good pension and that, with my family history, I would live until I was 90, giving 40 years to be an artist! Also friends who are artists have lived in poverty all their working lives.
They were interested in what I wanted to do next. I described my idea about working with Finches gravel quarry to explore manual skills in a local environment. David was surprised that it was not about women - but I've moved on to anyone with an under-valued skill base. I wanted to say 'I'm not anti-men' but restrained this. I said something about manual skills needing to be valued, and me reacting against STEM subjects, as not everyone can manage academic subjects and as a society we need people who do manual work.
Kollette and David observed that I enjoyed talking about my work. This surprised me a bit, but most of my jobs have involved a lot of talking to staff and customers, and talking is one of my much practiced skills. They made the interview much easier than I had anticipated.
Kollette told me I had passed with minor amendments. (I was relieved more than joyful!) The amendments would be about how I need to clarify the attributes of my inspiring artists, and how my work is influenced by them. The panel were confused by when I was writing about those artists and my own work. And there were a few typos. I said I had spotted 'moths' instead of 'months'. Also there were some missing spaces between words.
I came out, feeling like an exhausted, hyper-active hamster!
I arrived at Elm Bank really early, and Heather Sears allowed me to access the room to stage my work. Heather was intrigued by my sampler box, and asked to see the work. I showed the first couple, and she asked to photograph them. I suggested I stage them, and she could photograph them all together.
I staged my sketchbooks, and the samplers, and stashed all my detritus and posh shoes under the corner table. When Heather came down to Sparrow Room, she brought Rebekah Smith McGloin, the Director of the Doctoral College too. As soon as Rebekah saw my work, she asked whether I was going on to a PhD. I said I found the writing too difficult - my forte was the artwork. To which she replied a practice based PhD was only 15,000 words. While I'm not planning to go to a higher level, I found it considerably confidence-boosting, prior to my Viva, to be told this. Heather took some photos of me and my samplers (I must remember to contact Heather and give permission for her to use them for publicity if this helps the doctoral college).
I was waiting in the cafeteria, when I realised I had left my posh shoes in Sparrow Room, and the Viva panel had assembled. This meant I ended up wearing my trainers with my artist dress during my assessment! At least they were a matching petrel blue!
The panel chairman was an engineer (missed his name), along with Kollette Super, and David Vaughan. Imogen Racz, my Director of Studies, was present as observer.
I gave my presentation. I talked a bit about standpoint theory - probably rattled on a bit too much about it seeing some things from somewhere and it being partial, with examples from my workplace such as managing a payroll to see what happens with the embodied nature of performance related pay - but Kollette was nodding sagely!
They started by asking what my background was - which surprised me a bit. Apparently my background for an artist is unusual! I explained I had worked for London Underground - clerical and secretarial roles, followed by all the HR roles, with lots of employee relations. Then I decided to earn some serious money so started shift work - I explained more about standpoint being partial, with the example of night shift being worth more than days, and management consultants consolidating shift rates of pay to makes Payroll cheaper to run, without realising this led to some workers trying to wriggle out of their share of night shifts because a consolidated rate meant they did not lose money.
Kollette wanted to know how I got into art. I had always stitched, then did C&G Embroidery which led me to art - I needed to get the artwork right before going into stitch, and I discovered that I was a hand worker, not a machine operator. Then I was working part-time as I was a carer for my Father (with Alzheimers), and decided to start a part-time degree. Fairly quickly my Dad died; the university offered study abroad to Curtin University, Perth; and London Underground offered severance. It was because of my work at Curtin, that I achieved a 1st at University of Herts. I took a year out, then started at London Met. Great first year with Linden Reilly (David Vaughan said he knew her), then a financial crisis led to many highly experienced staff being sacked (Kollette and David rolled their eyes!) and the course became shambolic in the second year so I walked out (I thought this was an accurate but restrained description!). However when Linden found out, she recommended I apply to Coventry - and Jill had been the verifier at London Met, so knew my work. This information had both Kollette and David nodding sagely.
David asked whether as a retired member of London Underground staff, I still got free travel on the tube. Which I do, and quarter rate on Network Rail - £17.90 return every time I go to Coventry!
I said a bit about using sketchbooks as research - using my Status and Values sketchbooks as an example when I had gone up a blind alley. Status sketchbook actually was about my Mother's values not mine!!
Kollette asked what order the samplers were made in. This was the order they were displayed in - Mrs Konieczny; me; Aunt Joan; Gifti, Mavis and Sarpong; and Aunt Daisy. She asked what response they got - I said homemaking women liked Aunt Joan, social campaigners liked Gifti, Mavis and Sarpong, and artist/embroiderers liked Aunt Daisy. I said the samplers were selected for exhibitions, typically Women's History Month, and that selection was very important to me - it validated my work, more so than self-publicity. Kollette liked the colours of Gifti, Mavis and Sarpong, and I said these were the colours of the Ghanaian flag. I added that it was very important to me that the samplers inspired discussion and triggered memory of viewers' (in)significant women. David said he had overheard conversations about these other women at the exhibition. Hurrah! My work was effective in triggering memory!
They asked whether I wished I had done an art degree earlier. I answered honestly that the Underground had paid me a good living, with a good pension and that, with my family history, I would live until I was 90, giving 40 years to be an artist! Also friends who are artists have lived in poverty all their working lives.
Kollette and David observed that I enjoyed talking about my work. This surprised me a bit, but most of my jobs have involved a lot of talking to staff and customers, and talking is one of my much practiced skills. They made the interview much easier than I had anticipated.
Kollette told me I had passed with minor amendments. (I was relieved more than joyful!) The amendments would be about how I need to clarify the attributes of my inspiring artists, and how my work is influenced by them. The panel were confused by when I was writing about those artists and my own work. And there were a few typos. I said I had spotted 'moths' instead of 'months'. Also there were some missing spaces between words.
I came out, feeling like an exhausted, hyper-active hamster!
Thursday 10 October 2019
Art class with Vanda
We're into a new term at art class. This term's focus is on each of us creating a sketchbook to contribute to the Brooklyn Sketchbook Library. Vanda had a recent holiday in NY and went to the Brooklyn Sketchbook Library, and anyone can contribute a sketchbook to be held there for posterity. It is a crowd funded project, run by volunteers. You buy a sketchbook (provided by them 5" x 7"), complete it and return it to them. No acrylic, glitter or gesso (pages will stick together). Any subject you like, but themes are suggested each year. The BKL has 140,000 sketchbooks so far.
I'm thinking about the gesture of stitch, and blackwork embroidery, which I love. Today's class, drawing the gesture of stitch did not go particularly well, but I'm sufficiently experienced not to get upset about it. It will come together in due course.
Tomorrow I might try writing some poetry about it to see if this helps.
I'm thinking about the gesture of stitch, and blackwork embroidery, which I love. Today's class, drawing the gesture of stitch did not go particularly well, but I'm sufficiently experienced not to get upset about it. It will come together in due course.
Tomorrow I might try writing some poetry about it to see if this helps.
Exhibitions at Edinburgh
I went to see Cut & Paste at Modern Two (Scottish National Galleries) and Audrey Grant (Scottish Portrait Gallery).
Cut & Paste was ok, but not as good as I had hoped. Collage exhibitions are rare, and this made me make the journey north. The history of the technique was excellent, with very diverse items on display, from etchings that were sectioned with pasted amendments, to heavily layered fabric collages. Apparently the first collage made from travel tickets, was made from the railway tickets retrieved from the victims of the Tay Bridge disaster! There were also elaborate valentine cards dating from the start of the postage stamp (c1840) made from up to 200(!) pasted collaged pieces made from printed kits. And the breadth of interpretation of collage included botanical specimens books where the adhesive qualities of seaweed meant they stuck themselves to the pages of documentation.
However the modern section was a total disappointment. Far too much stuff of large pieces of crumpled brown paper just stuck as a lump to a support paper.
Then I went on to the Scottish Portrait Gallery and looked at Audrey Grant's The Long Look. This is repeated drawings of Val McDermid and Norman McBeath. She had drawn in charcoal. I love charcoal drawings, and they are rarely shown in this type of venue. Repeated sittings (up to 36) had resulted in her drawing on the same sheet of paper, setting aside for a week, then erasing this drawing and creating another on top. Each drawing was photographed, leading to a succession of digital images, but only one remaining charcoal drawing. The drawings varied in their tonal value, and the variation was intriguing.
AND ...! I met the artist! Audrey Grant was at the gallery with a companion and they were debating the drawing process. I overheard Audrey saying the difficult part was the mouth and chin. Not the eyes. Once she had the mouth and chin right, the rest of each drawing followed.
A thoroughly enjoyable morning.
Cut & Paste was ok, but not as good as I had hoped. Collage exhibitions are rare, and this made me make the journey north. The history of the technique was excellent, with very diverse items on display, from etchings that were sectioned with pasted amendments, to heavily layered fabric collages. Apparently the first collage made from travel tickets, was made from the railway tickets retrieved from the victims of the Tay Bridge disaster! There were also elaborate valentine cards dating from the start of the postage stamp (c1840) made from up to 200(!) pasted collaged pieces made from printed kits. And the breadth of interpretation of collage included botanical specimens books where the adhesive qualities of seaweed meant they stuck themselves to the pages of documentation.
However the modern section was a total disappointment. Far too much stuff of large pieces of crumpled brown paper just stuck as a lump to a support paper.
Then I went on to the Scottish Portrait Gallery and looked at Audrey Grant's The Long Look. This is repeated drawings of Val McDermid and Norman McBeath. She had drawn in charcoal. I love charcoal drawings, and they are rarely shown in this type of venue. Repeated sittings (up to 36) had resulted in her drawing on the same sheet of paper, setting aside for a week, then erasing this drawing and creating another on top. Each drawing was photographed, leading to a succession of digital images, but only one remaining charcoal drawing. The drawings varied in their tonal value, and the variation was intriguing.
AND ...! I met the artist! Audrey Grant was at the gallery with a companion and they were debating the drawing process. I overheard Audrey saying the difficult part was the mouth and chin. Not the eyes. Once she had the mouth and chin right, the rest of each drawing followed.
A thoroughly enjoyable morning.
Monday 7 October 2019
Poetry class
Another great day at poetry class.
We read and gave feedback on our poems. This is a really good collection of people, all highly skilled, and Sarah Westcott, our tutor said all(!) our poems were of publishable quality, and encouraged us to participate in the monthly poetry reading at City Lit, and reminded us to submit our poems to the annual City Lit poetry anthology.
My poem was about an object - Lino
Lino
I remember Lino cutting at school.
The blunt tools and crumbly Lino put me off for years.
Lino for schools has changed.
Soft, pliable, blue and easy cut.
A 5 inch by 4 inch slab.
I have my design. Anxious.
I carve my first line.
A smooth glide. I don't remember this!
My lack of skill is apparent.
My lines wobble.
I dig too deep and too shallow.
The Lino is chewed.
I remember 'cut away from you',
I remember 'cut with a careful sweep',
I remember 'don't cut too deep'.
Only after I've done it wrong.
This Lino has been cut by an amateur.
Wobbly lines. Uneven surface.
Disappointed with the proofs.
"Reduce the image
Chop out more
Line up accurately and overprint. "
Not great quality.
But I'm delighted.
It's mine and it's original.
A simple manual technique creates a thing of joy
from a slab of Lino, when executed with skill.
I want those skills.
My feedback was that I had successfully linked the present and past. I had rediscovered youth. It had narrative and was immediate. Class suggested it might look good as an artwork, if printed on Lino.
We spent time reading poems. Great poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, with her speaking on a Youtube video. Had a rap metre, and was about teenagers from her community in the US. Looking at line endings. Enjambment means the lines run on.
1959. Gwendolyn Brooks
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
We had a go at haiku (5-7-5 syllables) and Cinquain (2-4-6-8-2 syllables), working from postcards as inspiration. My postcard was of beach huts. When responding to a piece of art, it is Ekphrasis.
Seaside at Walton
Beach huts at Walton
Shelter from the elements
Blue sky of summer.
Playing on the beach
Brilliant sun, wind and sunburn
Seaside and freedom.
Walk to sea to swim
Picking my way over stones
Cold water, quick dip.
I hate gritty towels.
Stickness from salt water.
Can't dress easily!
Sand in sandwiches
Tepid tea and sun cream smell
Fast melting ice cream.
Beach huts
Beach huts
Rainbow colours
The height of the summer
Each one uniform but different.
So bright
Lime green
Cerulean blue
Colours of the seaside
Scarlet and fluorescent orange
Sun bleach.
For homework, we blind-picked a title from a bag - we have to write a letter poem. I chose "write a letter to a toy you once owned". This suits me. Tom, sitting next to me, chose "write a letter to the moon". He liked it but I was glad I did not get that one.
Sympathy Letter
Dear Dolls Cot
I look back now with regret for how I ignored you.
My Mum had put so much effort
into choosing you. My Mum
had put so much effort into making the cot sheets.
The cot sheets matched the dress I had that Christmas.
I was astonished that Father Christmas
had chosen cot sheets in the same fabric as my dress.
My Mum expected me to play the little Mother.
Through you, I disappointed her.
I'm so sorry you weren't my thing.
With regret.
Cathy
We read and gave feedback on our poems. This is a really good collection of people, all highly skilled, and Sarah Westcott, our tutor said all(!) our poems were of publishable quality, and encouraged us to participate in the monthly poetry reading at City Lit, and reminded us to submit our poems to the annual City Lit poetry anthology.
My poem was about an object - Lino
Lino
I remember Lino cutting at school.
The blunt tools and crumbly Lino put me off for years.
Lino for schools has changed.
Soft, pliable, blue and easy cut.
A 5 inch by 4 inch slab.
I have my design. Anxious.
I carve my first line.
A smooth glide. I don't remember this!
My lack of skill is apparent.
My lines wobble.
I dig too deep and too shallow.
The Lino is chewed.
I remember 'cut away from you',
I remember 'cut with a careful sweep',
I remember 'don't cut too deep'.
Only after I've done it wrong.
This Lino has been cut by an amateur.
Wobbly lines. Uneven surface.
Disappointed with the proofs.
"Reduce the image
Chop out more
Line up accurately and overprint. "
Not great quality.
But I'm delighted.
It's mine and it's original.
A simple manual technique creates a thing of joy
from a slab of Lino, when executed with skill.
I want those skills.
My feedback was that I had successfully linked the present and past. I had rediscovered youth. It had narrative and was immediate. Class suggested it might look good as an artwork, if printed on Lino.
We spent time reading poems. Great poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, with her speaking on a Youtube video. Had a rap metre, and was about teenagers from her community in the US. Looking at line endings. Enjambment means the lines run on.
1959. Gwendolyn Brooks
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
We had a go at haiku (5-7-5 syllables) and Cinquain (2-4-6-8-2 syllables), working from postcards as inspiration. My postcard was of beach huts. When responding to a piece of art, it is Ekphrasis.
Seaside at Walton
Beach huts at Walton
Shelter from the elements
Blue sky of summer.
Playing on the beach
Brilliant sun, wind and sunburn
Seaside and freedom.
Walk to sea to swim
Picking my way over stones
Cold water, quick dip.
I hate gritty towels.
Stickness from salt water.
Can't dress easily!
Sand in sandwiches
Tepid tea and sun cream smell
Fast melting ice cream.
Beach huts
Beach huts
Rainbow colours
The height of the summer
Each one uniform but different.
So bright
Lime green
Cerulean blue
Colours of the seaside
Scarlet and fluorescent orange
Sun bleach.
For homework, we blind-picked a title from a bag - we have to write a letter poem. I chose "write a letter to a toy you once owned". This suits me. Tom, sitting next to me, chose "write a letter to the moon". He liked it but I was glad I did not get that one.
Sympathy Letter
Dear Dolls Cot
I look back now with regret for how I ignored you.
My Mum had put so much effort
into choosing you. My Mum
had put so much effort into making the cot sheets.
The cot sheets matched the dress I had that Christmas.
I was astonished that Father Christmas
had chosen cot sheets in the same fabric as my dress.
My Mum expected me to play the little Mother.
Through you, I disappointed her.
I'm so sorry you weren't my thing.
With regret.
Cathy
Saturday 5 October 2019
Linocut class at Great Slamseys Farm
This class is very local to me - hurrah - I was so much less tired than usual when I got back home after class - because I'd only spent 7 minutes each way travelling!
5 in the class - all women, some with children who'd just started school, so were able to do something during the day, other than childcare. Class was in a large barn (listed building) set up with 3 sets of tables that would seat 8. Plenty of space. Ruth is a daughter of the farm, who lives nearby offsite, whereas the rest of the family live on site.
We started by cutting a trial plate, using blue linocut (the grade that is used in schools). Easy to cut, but not great for fine detail. But useful to try out different carving tools.
Then we carved 3 inch blocks with a positive image, and negative, plus a black line drawing and a white line drawing. I chose a beetle. And we printed using different types of ink. My linocutting was rather clumsy, and I need more practice to develop better skills.
The second day we found an image we liked (one of my drawings of flowers in a milk bottle), in order to do reduction printing. More difficult that it seems! It was good advice to draw out the image twice, and colour in the areas to be cut away. This limits how likely you are to cut out the wrong area. I was constantly referring to my colouring. Proofs were done, then small amendments to cut away areas creating print noise. I decided to do a shaded bottom layer, with light blue on the left, and darker on the right.
Then decisions were made about how much to cut back on the Lino, for the second layer of print. Once again, more skills in cutting are required. But when printed in dark blue, it was good enough to show I had mastered the principles.
Two fun days.
5 in the class - all women, some with children who'd just started school, so were able to do something during the day, other than childcare. Class was in a large barn (listed building) set up with 3 sets of tables that would seat 8. Plenty of space. Ruth is a daughter of the farm, who lives nearby offsite, whereas the rest of the family live on site.
We started by cutting a trial plate, using blue linocut (the grade that is used in schools). Easy to cut, but not great for fine detail. But useful to try out different carving tools.
Then we carved 3 inch blocks with a positive image, and negative, plus a black line drawing and a white line drawing. I chose a beetle. And we printed using different types of ink. My linocutting was rather clumsy, and I need more practice to develop better skills.
The second day we found an image we liked (one of my drawings of flowers in a milk bottle), in order to do reduction printing. More difficult that it seems! It was good advice to draw out the image twice, and colour in the areas to be cut away. This limits how likely you are to cut out the wrong area. I was constantly referring to my colouring. Proofs were done, then small amendments to cut away areas creating print noise. I decided to do a shaded bottom layer, with light blue on the left, and darker on the right.
Then decisions were made about how much to cut back on the Lino, for the second layer of print. Once again, more skills in cutting are required. But when printed in dark blue, it was good enough to show I had mastered the principles.
Two fun days.
Ways into Poetry at City Lit
I'm booked in for a 3 Sunday class at City on poetry. Last Sunday we started - class tutor Sarah Westcott. The class is diverse - 4 men, 7 women, various ethnicities and working roles, mostly 30s-50s. We had a great time working with memory (I made the class laugh!), and simile and metaphor.
We debated words that we liked because of the sound or meaning - mine were fun, kind, crackle, sparkle, cartridge paper (for its meaning - the grade of paper used to make cartridges to hold shot for a gun!). Different people's words were categorised into visual, descriptive, beautiful, simple, memories, frequency. We were advised to take time to look - then the descriptive words come.
We looked at Joe Brainard's poem I Remember. It uses a lot of anaphora (repetition of a word or phrase), uses lists and repeats. Class had to write a poem of their own inspired by repeated phrases. I focussed the 'I remember'.
Teenage Angst
I remember the green and white tweed trousers my Mother bought me.
I remember I wanted to be like my mates.
I wanted tight blue jeans.
She’d spent my clothing allowance -
in the Sale -
on these hideous, bottle green and white, tweed, baggy trousers.
I remember the angst of wearing those hated trousers.
I wanted to be trendy.
But I wore frumpy, scratchy, baggy, hideous trousers.
I wanted to be trendy.
I remember the embarrassment.
I remember my Mother’s pride.
“They were such a bargain”.
“You’ll look ever so nice!"
I hated those trousers.
Who chose bottle green and white?
I remember her puzzlement at me not wanting to wear them.
“But you look ever so nice in them”.
We debated words that we liked because of the sound or meaning - mine were fun, kind, crackle, sparkle, cartridge paper (for its meaning - the grade of paper used to make cartridges to hold shot for a gun!). Different people's words were categorised into visual, descriptive, beautiful, simple, memories, frequency. We were advised to take time to look - then the descriptive words come.
We looked at Joe Brainard's poem I Remember. It uses a lot of anaphora (repetition of a word or phrase), uses lists and repeats. Class had to write a poem of their own inspired by repeated phrases. I focussed the 'I remember'.
Teenage Angst
I remember the green and white tweed trousers my Mother bought me.
I remember I wanted to be like my mates.
I wanted tight blue jeans.
She’d spent my clothing allowance -
in the Sale -
on these hideous, bottle green and white, tweed, baggy trousers.
I remember the angst of wearing those hated trousers.
I wanted to be trendy.
But I wore frumpy, scratchy, baggy, hideous trousers.
I wanted to be trendy.
I remember the embarrassment.
I remember my Mother’s pride.
“They were such a bargain”.
“You’ll look ever so nice!"
I hated those trousers.
Who chose bottle green and white?
I remember her puzzlement at me not wanting to wear them.
“But you look ever so nice in them”.
Then we passed round a bag containing objects, and chose one blind. I got a necklace - wooden spiral motif. We had to write a poem using simile or metaphor. (Ironing by Vicky Feaver, and You're by Sylvia Plath)
Necklace
Worn around the neck
as a sign of significance
Multiple laces like black liquorice
but inedible as electrical wiring
A coil of carved wood
as solid as a rock
Twisted, spiralled like an ammonite
Simple fastening - wooden button,
fixed with a string tangle,
as secure as a glover's knot.
Great class. Throughly enjoyed it. Roll on next Sunday.
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