ARTISTS TALKING

# 17 [15 May 2010]

Both pieces made by Jude Willerton are mounted on black. She says in her accompanying note "The first attempt was very random & spontaneous with no real plan... The second (The crow) came together easily & spontaneously."

Whenever I see the crow appear it is, for me, part of a story. .... He/she may be coming, going, comic, opportunist, onlooker, harbinger of doom, admired, feared, loved or despised. What next I don't yet know but crow has entered my own work and is waiting for the idea to take shape.

Now all the pictures from the first round are uploaded it suggests a time to reflect on how the art allotments are developing. It is really interesting to see how others interpret the same material in such individual ways.

If I consider what influence this project has upon my own work so far it is to make me to open my eyes wider & wider to the possibilities of collage techniques in both the visual & non-visual world.

I am determined to welcome images that appear. If things go wrong with what I am working on - I cut it up, rearrange & look again as many times as it takes. Cutting & pasting is a much more satisfying way of changing & making corrections. Reflection comes later...at least 24 hours. This process of taking a number of given materials and quickly choosing & combining a selected few in a playful manner continues to be inspirational.

# 16 [15 May 2010]

Sue Campbell's collage was full to bursting with pieces falling out of the envelope as I opened it & the glue still tacky.

In contrast Jacs Collins' work was  economical, unmounted and held together with delicate stitching. I photographed back as well as front as that struck me as an important aspect.

# 15 [11 May 2010]

Artist Bev Horsley approached the materials completely differently using paint in the work. Her accompanying note described the process as easier when beginning with an “idea” as in the first collage “SEEDS”. The second one she describes as  "...a pure response to colour rather than concept... Once started I didn’t want to stop! Best fun I’ve had in ages."

# 14 [7 May 2010]

Alan & Estella Scholes, husband & wife, both artists, both made collages.  In Alan's work the small figures appeared ambiguously in both pieces.  Was the crow about to feed them or eat them?

Were they holding up the basket or was it about to crush them?

Estella's work was unexpected. She had made a delightful small collage bag, different on both sides & filled it with unused bits.

Note here again to myself .... "Why didn't I think of doing that?"

It struck me that this is a great example of what Graphic Designer Alan Fletcher explores in his book 'The Art of Looking Sideways'.His work has been fresh in my mind since last month when I saw the inspiring exhibition of his work in Cube: Centre for the Built Environment in Manchester. The work there was brilliant, inspiring & also fun. It is having creative fun & the chance to play that has been the core of art allotments since the start.

There are no rules here just guidelines to be stretched.

# 13 [3 May 2010]

The hardest thing about Art Allotments 2 was knowing what was in the envelope as I had made it up. I had to try & disassociate myself from the choices of contents made. It was also a challenge  to find 10 identical, or near identical, pieces of rejected work. Finding a few is usually not a problem as I take lots of proofs while making plates. This time I needed ten and luckily I had a near miss print of a long line of collograph figures of women. All were slightly different but alike enough to fit the bill. The etching proofs were mainly textural & big enough to cut up into similar sections. Angela's page of drawings was photocopied so that they were identical in each envelope

I posted the envelopes and put the one I had randomly selected for myself from the pile to one side. When the first collage arrived back I didn't open it until I had finished my own effort.

The figure and the crow were the starting points. I have always admired crows and been amused by their comical stance. My admiration grew after reading Corvus, A Life with Birds by Esther Woolfson brilliantly reviewed by Olivia Laing in an Observer article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/24/scienc...

I am aware that there is a deeper unconscious rational for my choices allied to loss & loneliness but for the moment that can wait for exploration.

Mellie's and Angela's collages, the first to arrive, also placed the woman's figure  in a central position with each collage and all three were telling different stories.

# 12 [2 May 2010]

Yesterday I sorted the collaged collographs; today I have uploaded some drawings from the exhibition by Angela as they have been important in underpinning the project from the start.

Now the focus is on the new work. Art Allotments has developed so that there are more people taking part. I just have a few more photos to take as the last pieces of work arrive through the post and the results can be displayed. 

This time there are nine of us (one dropped out as too busy). Everyone received from me an identical envelope of bits at the beginning of April. Each package included a figure from a ghost collagraph print & a failed print from saline sulphate etched plate. It was an early attempt when I pressed snowdrops into a soft ground but messed up the timings. Angela put in drawings - sketches that never made it to the final art work stage. Added to this were some pages from an altered book that was begun & abandoned, some pages from a fallen apart music manuscript, some text, assorted paper, hay & other bits. - See photo!

# 11 [1 May 2010]

When looking back at the work in the exhibition and writing this it is evident that there were five streams that evolved during the project & were represented in the exhibitio.

Narratives, of which Icarus is an example.

Experimental work with print & collage combination.

Photographed collages.

Drawings that sparked ideas & also became combined in & on the collages.

The playful aspect demonstrated in the early work, the publicity & the workshops.

# 10 [29 April 2010]

So I had to ask "Who is the figure that appeared?"

I decided fairly quickly that it was Icarus with contemporary interpretations. The possibility that people can fly like the birds to escape from difficulties has always been attractive even with the associated dangers. 

The first images began together but were separated for the exhibition. Later Icarus appeared with hands in the air. He appeared quickly as a response to Angela's cartoon drawings.

Later still he is hanging on to a ?sun ?a clock ... ? to save himself.The phrase  "Flying to close to the sun" become the title for this image & the work (the print) that I is still struggling to come into being.

I like to use myths & fairytales and Icarus could stand for both my low key anxiety & mistrust of my place in the art world and my moral & ethical concerns about the environment.

I have always held on closely to the notion that any art work I make is transient and so the practical ways we have explored in creating the collages have been liberating.

The act of cutting up old work, using material I have been given but have not chosen and then reworking and cutting up the first collages to make new collages is an exciting journey to new territory every time I begin.

It still amazes me that at some point in the process the real images to which  am connected, and which I want to develop I as an artist start to come to consciousness in this process .

# 9 [26 April 2010]

The exhibition is now down & stored for a while.

In reflecting on the work made there were themes & links which emerged. When viewed chronologically the early images were closely related to the gardening theme. We often found ourselves playing with language ... growing, weeding, nurturing and companion planting ... terminology that proved useful in helping develop the visual image. At other times shapes & colours or an odd word of text provided the starting point. Some envelopes sparked several varying approaches while others took ages for ideas to properly germinate. At times the collage images began human narratives.  Who is this figure?

# 8 [11 March 2010]

When fragments come together & become inspirational, ideas grow & new work is made.  There are, however, definitely time, space and attitude weeds that get in the way and obscure the view and access to getting on with making.

Now the exhibition is up I notice maps and figures and a lightness of touch. There are themes but no big statements, a series of sight bites.

So far the exhibition is an airing of the collages over the past year presented on walls.   It is still growing after the 50 plus people made small collages out of the seed packets. Some even came later by email – from visitors who took envelopes home with them.  It has proved very popular and the good feedback continues.   Over 30 children and parents added to this yesterday.
 The plug on Radio Shropshire website and John Davall¹s programme helped – A big ‘Thank you’ to Genevieve Tudor who came to the launch & spread the word. 

It is our turn now to review our work and decide what next. The work has fed into my work. My decision so far is to concentrate on making more landscape based mixed media work.

Back to the image of growing – growing new ideas from new collage materials. We have decided we must start anew as the old stuff is pretty well composted.

Angela