.......and Curiouser..........I have recently been doubting my contribution to the 'Connections' collaboration with my artist friend Coreen.....we discussed it and agreed to wait until my exhibition at Malt was up and running. That was 4 days ago.
At the same time 15 of us at Bury Collective are involved in a Bookmaking Project. During a Workshop at Bury Archives, a large leatherbound book inspired me.....and this influenced the design of the book I have made. My book is made from 'found' objects .... the lid of a box I found thrown under a bush near my house, an embroidered Tea Cloth from a broken teatray found in a skip, my old drawing board, the beautiful old printing blocks presently on loan to the Archives, the pages of a hardback exercise book that had been bound by my Dad, Keith, when he worked for a book-binding company; Morris and Yeamans and an old leather belt from when I was teenager. Whilst we were viewing the treasures in the Archives, small fragments were left behind because of the age and fragility and Bury Archives kindly agreed to gather all the bits of dust and debris and save them for me to incorporate into a painting. Today, I called in to pick up the fragments gathered so far and to my delight there was an envelope containing larger fragments than anticipated due to the fact they are having a 'Spring Clean' - serendipity! Whilst I was there I had a fascinating conversation with Gillian Paxton the Borough Archivist. Her passion for history and her tender 'guardianship' of the archives was moving and inspiring and she told me about a film that had inspired HER to become an Archivist - Stephen Poliakoff's 'Shooting The Past'. Tonight I watched it on YouTube.....and OMG! ....apart from it being a a fantastic piece of storytelling....I was blown away by its significance to my present doubts ...... there is a constant reference to connections being made!! I am still unsure where all this is leading, but it feels like there is a mystery to be solved and, like Oswald in the film ............I am going to follow the trail ..............x
At the same time 15 of us at Bury Collective are involved in a Bookmaking Project. During a Workshop at Bury Archives, a large leatherbound book inspired me.....and this influenced the design of the book I have made. My book is made from 'found' objects .... the lid of a box I found thrown under a bush near my house, an embroidered Tea Cloth from a broken teatray found in a skip, my old drawing board, the beautiful old printing blocks presently on loan to the Archives, the pages of a hardback exercise book that had been bound by my Dad, Keith, when he worked for a book-binding company; Morris and Yeamans and an old leather belt from when I was teenager. Whilst we were viewing the treasures in the Archives, small fragments were left behind because of the age and fragility and Bury Archives kindly agreed to gather all the bits of dust and debris and save them for me to incorporate into a painting. Today, I called in to pick up the fragments gathered so far and to my delight there was an envelope containing larger fragments than anticipated due to the fact they are having a 'Spring Clean' - serendipity! Whilst I was there I had a fascinating conversation with Gillian Paxton the Borough Archivist. Her passion for history and her tender 'guardianship' of the archives was moving and inspiring and she told me about a film that had inspired HER to become an Archivist - Stephen Poliakoff's 'Shooting The Past'. Tonight I watched it on YouTube.....and OMG! ....apart from it being a a fantastic piece of storytelling....I was blown away by its significance to my present doubts ...... there is a constant reference to connections being made!! I am still unsure where all this is leading, but it feels like there is a mystery to be solved and, like Oswald in the film ............I am going to follow the trail ..............x
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