Developing the on-line quilt with Josh's help, he is such a good teacher and I am learning to be creative with the web-site.
The unexpected bonus of making this has been the web-sites and interest of other artists who have done their self portraits, I am creating an artificial community which will have links and relationships. It will be fascinating to see what happens as a result.
The extension of physical to virtual community, and reading Tim Ingolds work about lines and links at the same time seems to have strengthened each part of the work, both in my mind and when I share it with others.
Putting together complex work, I have enjoyed looking at references, reading and collecting a wider variety of material to find context of my work in a broader field.
The freedom and obvious involvement in development of ideas through drawing by Kounellis encouraged me to use my sketch book both more personally and moe infomatively. The whole book, material used and tactile qualities became integral to thinking process, much more satisfactory and so more infomative to both me and others.
Organisation of collaborative projects has to be the most frustrating way of working when they are in the early stages, and the most rewarding in the later stages. Working in sketchbook has to be the absolute opposite, instantly ideas can be realised and discarded if they seem non-viable
Focussing and maintaining energy to finish work, I had to spend time out side whenever the weather allowed to get the light, working on all the elements of Fair Trade Art has meant too many hours inside. I took the sketch book with me a lot of the time, and when coming in form the allotment one day saw this image - which also reminded me of William Nicholson's painting of Gertrude Jekyll's boots. I liked the physicalltiy of the leather and the 
potential of both boots and sketch book.
These images have some of the feeling and pre-occupation about lines, links and traces, thinking while walking and working and on the allotment. Drawing lines by planting and harvesting, patterns in the soil in relation to working on the loom.
The New year started as usual with our Open House party. A wide variety of people and ages come, this year included an old school friend Clare Anderson, from Woldingham who I had not seen since 1978 at our wedding until one cold early morning on the train from Littleport to London at the end of last year, 2006. I was on my way to the Royal Society's Art and Ecology conference 'No Way Back'. She was on her way to work, having lived in Cambridge since 1990 it seemed strange that our paths had not overlapped ever before., but it is great to renew a friendship.
The willow growth has not been consistent over the last few months, it has been in new bud and branching and now it is cold, really cold for the first time in more than 12 months. First there was ice on the trees and bright sunshine, then icy fog where plants started to look like they really were dormant. It felt healthy to have the cold and a chance for new growth to happen without being infected by old diseases.
Looking again at the long term, for when I am not writing so much and start being outside and making more - not just because of the seasons but because I will have to to be in the air and sun light for health reasons. I have been installing work into the allotment space - making it more of a studio for reference and archive; a record of decay visually not scientifically. Using old seats as containers for leaf mould and recording the changes makes them more than just bits of discarded weaving and old seats and turns them into potential pieces of work.
Looking at other websites and blogs, I am even more certain that my idea of having a combination of blog and web site is right. Susan Bowman's combination of open access site and passworded journal is really efficient and looks good, though it is a bit prone to lists. I will be developing FrostArt to include this, using all the new toys - Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks. Sounds too strange at the moment - for those who all understand and use them already you will know how long it takes. Have I taken on more than I can cope with for 2007?
To many words not enough images - this will be remedied in the next posting
