Exhibition response and conversations

Feedback so far has been good from people ready to engage with the finished and interactive work. A few overheard conversations have proved that the term Fair Trade is powerful and has possibly confused a few. I heard one visitor say 'It wasn't what I was expecting - not sure what is Fair Trade about that". I think they were anticipating work made in the third world by artisan craftspeople, not artists from East Anglia needing their work to be valued on a par with other professionals.

On the other hand some Polish agricultural workers spent a considerable time looking at the work and did very good self portraits. They wanted to know much more than any other visitor so far about the process and people involved. They were surprised when shown the website that there was no fee to take part and gave generously into the donations box.

Visitors from West Yorkshire were intrigued with the use of blankets they had been involved in weaving in the 1950's. The conversations were about an area that used to be fully employed, with two or three generations of families well occupied in the textile industry. Like the Polish workers, they had a depth of understanding about the value and type of work involved.
I get a sense that Slow Making is being added to, while I have conversations and work on archiving the finished work I am beginning to plan a new phase of Slow.

Walking Matters and changes things.

I have spent the last few days developing a way to record the events and exhibition that Fair Trade: Material Matters has been shown at and the people involved. Archiving has now become the focus for the work already made, so that the next stage will be easier to make. There at least fifty more faces to stitch and scan to include in the online work, so having a system in place is now crucial.

Response to the exhibition this week has been interesting, mixed and somewhat different to other venues, probably because it is not used solely for contemporary visual arts. Meeting with other artist and makers have been good.

Tomorrow a walk is planned, with Liz McGowan and myself. We will respond and play with the place and people we find using all our senses to experience the riverside walk.

images from previous walk in Bergapton, Norfolk.

Material Matters

I have been thinking about writing more on the blog for months but not had time. My time has been completely taken up with working on a Story Quilt project and preparing work for exhibition, and of course in the summer the allotment and garden take up any time that is left. Being involved with the slow physical processes of making has been good.

The Story Quilt was made in collaboration with Eastfield Infant School and Rheola Care Home, in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. The best so far I think, and the largest. It took a long time to put together, many more hours than  I had estimated. It was completed at the end of last term it spent the summer in the freezer, to make sure no moth larvae were hiding anywhere in the wool. This one is so special because one grandma is a felt-maker, and provided some beautiful hand-made felts. Now I have to write it up and add to FrostArt projects page. Meantime a few images.

 





Exhibition preparation always includes admin, sorting out diaries and materials, making sure people are able to help, because of lack of funds it is always a question of help and favours, finding out how generous people are! Fair Trade: Material Matters opened at the Babylon Gallery this weekend and will be there until 23rd October, with a range of events planned.

I am booked to work there as artist in residence three days a week. It feels a bit strange to have a routine in place, but it is good because on the other days I intend to give the studio a really good clean out. What will I find?

Slow progression, willow, work and gardening

Another slow progression, overlapping work and home life. I was asked to write an article for my local village magazine, Littleport Life, because I advertise workshops there, and now it is also online so the link to that is here.

For workshop calendar go here. and for online bookings go here

I wonder where this will lead, and am intrigued to find myself exploring how my garden has developed and changed over the years. This year the garden has changed more dramatically; with greenhouse and new pathways it takes on a different feel. The slightly wild and unkempt areas are less, these are now on the allotment where there is more space to be wildlife friendly.

For the first time in years I have cut the hedgerow drastically, almost laying it in places. The birds are a bit phased, trying to find places to hide and start making nests, but it will not take long to produce cover again.

The willow fedge is now six years old, and has produced a good crop of poles for garden structures and plant supports. The effect of willow and yew is intriguing every year, and I still wish we had more space for a pathway between.

I am now a facilitator for Learning Through Landscapes, and find myself looking at outdoor spaces in a different way all the time. The use of materials and techniques, largely self taught, is now relevant to more of the work I am able to offer. Weaving is building and community, weaving my walk is also weaving my life with and for others.

New points of reference

A whole new direction. This summer it felt like I was made to look at a map or compass to find out exactly where I am in relation the the world and people in my life. I am now carrying a compass, almost subconsciously referring to it more often and thinking about place, community, and time.
How to value a person's life, whether young or old. Somehow the end of a life lived to the full, for several decades, it does not seem so hard to comprehend. But one cut short that has potential, with promises of a future full of action and positive contribution to the community. I have found almost impossible to take in that it is gone.
Learning about 'Slow Making' and all it implies, the energy and value of a life and how resources are used in living still takes me by surprise.
Working on Wind Mapping on West Runton beach with Liz McGowan was akin to steering an unknown course in a well known boat. Exhilarating and reassuring at the same time.

More colourful stories

The Story Quilt project in Reading proved to be a really inspiring and colourful project all the way through.It demonstrated how inter-generational learning is almost impossible to restrict or restrain in boxes. and preconceptions. Community learning at it's best.

While working on it a friend staying needed to be distracted from everyday and mundane. Stitching colourful, tactile materials and images was exactly the right activity.

Summer and willow acitivities

I have been doing more making, being in the physical and not using my blog to record or comment on work. The result is a gap to be acknowledged or filled. In the time since May I have become more aware of the multiple activities that FrostArt is involved with, they overlap and often take too much time, which does not fit into the Slow Making approach. How to resolve this is always an issue. The glut of fruit and vegetables at this time of year is a bit similar, they take time and energy to tender and maintain during the dry spring and summer, then they are all at once demanding attention!
Images are of willow activities over the last few months, in schools and for the The National Trust's Angelsey Abbey story telling space. 
For willow workshops this season go to this link for the Google calendar and online bookings

Drawing with willow

Aiming for local projects, I had not expected a commission 50 yards from home. The logo of the local school is a heron, and they have new buildings and grounds to renovate. After spending a few weeks making the large heron, I worked with the whole school over two days, drawing birds using one piece of willow. So at the end there were about 400 birds stitched onto a background and displayed on the boundary fence. This proved to be a surprising demonstration of Slow Making, combining fast learning and experience. Using a material both local and traditional for centuries, it is a new experience to these children.

Waterways: Walking: Stitching and conversations

At High Tide Mersey the Waterways Work was really examined and extended by being placed alongside other work addressing climate change, the social and environmental challenges that places on areas like the Mersey Basin. 'Weaving a Walk' Mersey produced responses and opened doors to more events, in June the work went on show in North Yorkshire as part of Chrysalis Arts 'Slow Art' project
 There are more images on Flickr.

A more colourful spring

In this really cold and belated spring, the daffodils are only just coming out and the wind is freezing today. Helpfully I am starting on a project with RISC and have been dyeing recycled blankets a whole range of colours. Colour always cheers me up and seems to provide an energy that nothing else can.
After what seems like months of planning this is the first practical phase of a Generations Together project.
More to follow very soon I hope.