Approx. 15cm x 20cm (6″ x 8″). Rotring Rapidograph pens on cartridge paper with watercolours, metallic inks and paints applied. It’s rather sparkly/glittery … which the camera doesn’t really pick up.
I own the copyright to this image and it may not be used or altered in any way without my written permission.
8″x 6″. Rotring Rapidograph pen and black ink on heavy cartridge paper.
I’m not quite sure yet what I’m going to do with this outline – colour or not to colour, texture or not to texture.
Last night I had friends visiting and a look for the drawing that I did when visiting Tewkesbury Abbey a couple of years ago led they and I to looking through some of my old sketchbooks. Suddenly, seeing all that had inspired me in the past, showed where my ‘visual vocabulary’ for my abstract art ‘doodles’ has come from. Prehistoric art, Romanesque and Gothic architecture and sculpture, La Tene art, ammonites and other fossils, microscopic formanifera, microscopic images of cells, stained glass windows, insects, shells, flowers, ‘Celtic’ manuscripts and Anglo-Saxon art to name but a few. I’d also picked up a copy of the BBC’s History magazine whilst out shopping as it had images of Anglo-Saxon artefacts which reminded me of patterns I use in my art. Yesterday seems to have been a day of making links between all the work I’ve done in the past and how it flows out of me now, and a reminder of the things that inspire me as well as giving me a sense of validation with the way that I create art.
I think subtle colours for this one, with textures added in places, and just the hints of metallic highlights perhaps – after all, my inner raven demands the sparkle!
Approx. 16cm x 12cm
Rotring pen, Sakura Glaze pen, Derwent Inktense pencils with water wash on heavy watercolour paper.
Small, intricate, full of spirals and swirls. Typically me when in a fussy, detailed mood.
Many of the patterns and shapes are inspired by ammonites, nature, cells, Romanesque architecture, Prehistoric pottery and rock art.
Synchronicity because there have been a lot of ‘coincidences’ noted in my life recently.
Oh the joys of teaching! There is an element of sarcasm there. The lack of respect, manners and cooperation seems to have increased over the summer – either that or I’m getting old, having passed the 49 year mark during the long holidays.
I find myself emotionally drained at the end of each day after the constant hard work to get pupils to stop making assorted weird noises, disrupting the lesson in a myriad of ways, and just trying to bet them to be polite. I feel ‘battle weary’. Yet, teaching should not be such a battle.
The worst thing for me, however, is the effect this has on my creativity and the time to create. I miss the hours I could spend creating art during the break. If only I could earn enough from art reliably and sustainably to become a full-time artist…or writer…or or or…
Well, yesterday, the Autumnal Equinox, saw the end of the hypnotherapy course. I have an extension to complete the case studies, so the work isn’t quite over for me. I managed, finally, to get a merit in one essay – hurrah!
Not sure if I’ll be able to start a hypnotherapy practice up for a few years for various reasons, but I’d like to keep my hand in and practice the skills I have learned until I’m ready to take that plunge.
Yesterday, in fact the past week or so, have been rather weird. I’ve found myself very emotional, on the point of tears or past the point of holding them back on a number of occasions, including today. I have no idea exactly what is the problem. I thought it was hormonal, but I’m not too sure about that now.
Anyway, the hypnotherapy wasn’t the only ending this week.
I resigned from a committee that I perhaps have stayed on for a few months too long.
I’ve had various bits of a jigsaw puzzle about a friendship that ended a few months ago. I’ve spent most of this time blaming myself as I was made to feel it was my fault. However, the jigsaw pieces show that it isn’t my fault at all!
All this is quite apt for the equinox I think.
4″ x 3″. Rotring pens, watercolours, metallic gold paint and pens on Bristol Board.
Just playing really with the Bristol Board; it’s very white and very smooth and will take a bit of a colour wash. The design is very much influenced by early Celtic art and prehistoric rock art, though the hearts have crept in unconsciously. In fact, most of my art is created while in a meditative kind of state, the lines, shapes, textures and colours flow from my unconscious, from my inner being. Perhaps the hearts represent the self-love starting to bloom within me, or maybe the artwork symbolises the start of love being sent out and shared. I’m sticking with the title ‘Growing Love’ for now.
I was a happy bunny on arriving home after a long day at work, including a meeting at the end of the teaching day.
I found two of my hypnotherapy books had arrived, and also my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2012! My chosen theme is ‘Prehistoric’ (no surprises there, eh?).
I have one piece of art to finish off, and then I will make a start on this project … it should be fun!
Yesterday I attended the opening night of the Aber Valley Arts Festival. I had entered three pieces of work into the competition, including ‘Moments after the big bang’. I won first prize in the textile section of the competition!
Dimensions – 23x30cm, approx. Silk fibre needle felt on a black felt background. Embellishement with beads, metallic and Japan threads, and custom-made sequins.
Photographs never seem to do my work justice, simply because I’m not a photographer. There is no idea of the shimmery nature of the work, the way that the gold Japan threads used to outline various parts of the needle felt define the shapes and provide a channel along which the colours seem to flow like oil on water. There is no sense of the texture and heights/depths that the needle felt has brought to the work, nor to the patterns and textures the beads give. The colours still look garish in the photograph, yet in the actual piece they are more subtle and muted.
I have spent many hours on this so far – around 30 I would guess. Every moment has been a pleasure, and I’ve even caught myself looking at it and smiling at how well it is working out – unusual for me as I’m my own worst critic, and it’s a step forward that I can appreciate the beauty in my creative work.
It’s finally arrived. Today marks the end of my freedom to a degree. Tomorrow I return to work, to a structured day and all the ups and downs that go with the job that teaching is. My time for art and other pursuits will become very limited.
I had a list of things to do over the Summer, and I’ve achieved few of them, however I have achieved other things, and that is good. What is better is I’m not beating myself up about the tasks undone. There’ll be time to do them…
I will miss the slow starts to the day, the spontaneity of trips and visits and time with friends. Friday afternoon I spent with a friend in a local cafe-bar, drinking, talking about art and other things, working on art, having nice food and laughing before going to take the weekly meditation class I lead. I will miss the opportunity to do those kinds of things.
On the positive side, it won’t be long until the next school break, and there are the weekends too…
There’s definitely a coolness in the air in the mornings and evenings. It’s a feeling I associate with the coming of autumn, the return to school, the start of the new academic year and a sense of hope of better things to come, a hope that was usually misplaced, and still is. However, I still hope that a new school year and a new term will bring new attitudes, opportunities and good achievements.
This year, the new attitudes must be towards myself and my expectations of me and how I react to the poor attitude/behaviour of others. The Summer break has allowed me to relax, to become who I am meant to be. I like this person, I like the contentment within me, I like the confidence that comes with it. What I don’t want is to lose this with the stresses and strains of teaching. There’s a challenge!
One of the tasks left mostly undone over the Summer was too look for an alternative career/job, one that will allow me to use all my personal skills/talents/gifts in a positive manner. I’ve been stumped as to what to do, and looking around at available jobs there is nothing that seems to fit me, well not yet.
So that’s another task for the coming weeks – to keep looking at available jobs, to seek advice, suggestions, to continue the audit of my personal skills to help me focus on what I could do.
I have been thinking about training as a hypnotherapist. The biggest stumbling block for me is finding the money to pay the fees. I’m making enquiries about that…so finger’s crossed!
The incipient return to work has been causing some anxiety and worry with me. My meditation this morning was filled with thoughts of things that need to be done, ideas as to what to do, worries about things that cause me emotional pain …
Just finished applying the needle felting to the black felt ground. I have to admit the colours are a bit garish, even for my likes! It is all a learning process, however, and as this is something new to me, I’m exploring how it works, or doesn’t, for me, including the use of colours and so on. The ‘space dyed’ felting fibres (silk in this case) really don’t lend themselves to this kind of work…
The piece is approx 23cm x 30cm, so it’s a biggie for me! Now the fun begins, with the stitching, beads, sequins and wires that will be added for more embellishment, and perhaps these garish colours will fade into the background …
Patterns inspired by prehistoric rock art once again…
15×23 cm, around 12 to 15 hours of work/pleasure.
Needle felting in silk fibres, embellishments done with various metallic fibres, beads and custom made sequins.
Patterns inspired by British Prehistoric rock art and Neolithic/Bronze Age pottery.
I had my doubts part-way through whether this was going to work out, but I’m really now quite pleased with it. When friends saw it, they thought it was like cells expanding and reproducing – hence the ‘Fertility’ part of it’s title!
When I mount it for display, I’d like to put it onto a piece of slate, an old slate tile maybe; however, I have my doubts about the sensibility of that with the damage dust and fingers could do to it … I’ll work on the idea!
Watercolours, pen and ink on cartridge paper. 24cm x 18cm.
I completed this picture as a kind of experiment. A dear friend of mine suggested that instead of filling the curlicues of my current very spiral art with more curlicues and spirals that I should add words instead. I have lots of ideas of what to do with this, perhaps, eventually. But this was the first of it’s kind.
I wanted to put together a painting that had words and symbols and images that go with the esoteric element of earth, but the words I chose haven’t quite worked out. However, I am pleased with the apple/wheat/leaf border and the ivy border too. I’m also pleased that I left empty space, not because I got fed up of this, but because I felt it was all finished and balanced.
This will be an idea I come back to, that of the four elements I mean. Words have been important in creating my latest pieces of art.
Watercolours, metallic watercolours, Zig Art and Graphic pens, Rotring pens with black ink on watercolour paper. 9cm x 18cm.
Last weekend, I gave a talk entitled ‘Death and disposal in the Bronze Age’. In the talk, I concentrated, it turned out, on how the landscape in which the monuments are set can and other factors such as time of day, season or weather have an effect upon how people experience the site. I drew on the work of archaeologists such as George Nash and Ann Woodward’s book ‘British Barrows‘ who discuss such things. I have found it a fascinating, if a little brief study by myself, but I already have books on order for when I have the time to dig deeper into such matters.
I mention this because it may be that the barrows could have acted as ‘mnemonics’ for reciting the history of the clan who were the barrow-wrights. Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson, in ‘The Folklore of Discworld’ write:
“The landscape is full of stories.”
What I set out to do in this particular painting was to put words in that act as memories of the weekend, especially the ‘bardic circle round the camp fire’ in the evening, where there were songs and stories and friendly banter and chatter. This is something I have never done, the camp fire thing that is. I loved it and want to take part in one again. I may even be able to take my flute and play something, or tell a story; I think the informal and non-judgemental nature of such a gathering would allow me to do this.
I wander off topic here. The colours and shapes I chose to represent the flow of ideas, talk, music as well as an opening of the mind and an igniting of certain things for me. I am really quite pleased with how it has turned out, and it was another experiment as I used Zig Art and Graphic Pens to draw the design with; they are water soluble and bled into the watercolour paints. It has turned out to be a happy accident, as I’m pleased with the colours in places which give an aged feel to the work, kind of like an old, hand coloured etching. This is how a lot of my work tends to be, but I really want more vibrant colours so that black doesn’t swamp them.
Watercolour, Zig pens and Rotring pens with black ink on cartridge paper. 7.5cm x 15cm.
This was an experiment, again. I started it last week and left it for a few days to ponder what to do with it. The colours I had used seemed quite insipid and I wasn’t at all sure where it was going. The purchase and subsequent playing with the Zig pens a couple of days ago gave me another technique to use in my art, and in this case it’s worked out well, I think. Things aren’t as irritatingly perfect as my work has been in the past, but I think that adds something to the work. I like the way the Zig pens add depth and intensity of colour, while being able to be washed out with a damp to wet brush to very subtle shades. I feel I’m going to love using them in this way!
The adage ‘Time heals all wounds’ is, of course, not entirely true. There are some wounds that never heal, unless it’s the final journey to whatever awaits us after this earthly existence. I do think the words are particularly pertinent to me at this point in my personal progress. I have been having counselling for a number of years now to help me heal the emotional wounds of the past and the damage it has done to my self-image. It’s a long, slow process it seems. I often feel guilty for talking so long, to be going round and round in circles, and there have been moments when we almost believed it was time for me to cut loose, then something happens to knock me back a few steps. As I’ve been told, you can’t heal the damage done over 40-something years overnight, it takes time to undo the learned concepts and to replace them with new ones. I am getting there, though, even though some days, or weeks, I feel I’m back to where I was. Art helps me to relax, de-stress to bring joy into my life, and it’s a great re-balancer for me. I am so grateful I have discovered this gift, and that I have people who encourage me to explore new ways, as I’m still not able to be self-motivating or to find the inspiration that sometimes I lack.
Angela Porter 