Following the Ancient Scent

I've mentioned the project Ancient Scent very briefly in a couple of posts now. but I felt it was time to explore it in a little more depth (given that I'm spending a lot of time on it currently!) The project is a year long artist led series of sessions that will culminate in an exhibition in October. The sessions explore the methodology and surrealist techniques of the artist Ithell Colquhoun. In particular the methods that she mentioned in her 1949 essay Mantic Stain. Colquhoun lived in Cornwall from the 1950s until her death in 1988, first at Vow Cave in Lamorna and then later on in Stone Cross Cottage in Paul. Our project sessions all take place in Lamorna Village Hall, a mere 5 minutes from her little hut (which is now rather fancy....)

Ithell is/was an enormously intriguing character. I first encountered her work through her psychogeographical book The Living Stones - where she takes the reader on a walk through the Cornwall. Her writing is extremely evocative, she writes nature in the most enticing way, after reading it I was convinced I just wanted to give up modern life and step into a caravan buried somewhere in Lamorna Valley, wash in a stream and paint everyday (to be honest it still sounds pretty great...) If you can get your hands on it, and you are so inclined to read such things, definitely do - it was an extremely formative read for me (and I've subsequently re-read it twice). It's a fantastic picture of a very particular period but she was also extremely forward-thinking and I found myself nodding in agreement to many of the ideas she was putting forward, particularly note-worthy are her remarks on fox hunting in the chapter 'Hound-Voice' in which she follows a hunt through the valley:

If I can explain my feeling on the subject of 'blood sports' without priggishness, I would say that the human race can never enjoy the freedom of the cosmos until it ceases to exploit the other races with which it must share it's life. In other words, you cannot count on benevolence in your surroundings unless you practice harmlessness yourself. (The Living Stones, 1957, p.119)

I have to admit that her painting is much much less interesting to me. I find it a little clumsy and although I can completely admire and find interest in the place it was coming from, I don't generally like the final outcome. However, that is not to say I am not interested in it! I think she was enormously talented in so many ways, and another example of a woman who was quashed by her male contemporaries so really, to me at least, it doesn't matter if I don't like her work visually. I feel I've connected with her in so many other senses, she almost feels like a dear friend.

Lamorna, for those of you who don't know it, is the most magical place. It's been home to countless artist's colonies beginning with Alfred Munnings, Laura and Harold Knight, and of course Lamorna Birch in the early 20th century. Since then it has been host to a revolving selection of painters/writers/poets & sculptors. The valley certainly has a mysterious draw, it's wonderfully wild, I love it. It's full to the brim with intriguing characters and the most breathtakingly beautiful scenery, and being in it's mists it's easy to see why it has pulled so many people in.

This weekend marked our second session for the project. This time we took a walk through the valley to experiment with Frottage - The Technique of taking of a rubbing from an uneven surface to provide random forms which can be interpreted and developed, and then worked with Collage.

We stopped along the way to take a few snaps. Again I'm wearing my new shirt/coat/dress, I haven't really taken it off since my last post! I was originally wearing turquoise jelly shoes but some sensible part of my brain decided I should change shoes incase it was muddy (this was the first sunny day in Cornwall for some time). It wasn't at all muddy and I really wish I'd not listened to the very small sensible bit of my brain as I'd of liked to paddle in the stream.

On our wander we stumbled on this free chair, shortly before this we had encountered a elf-like man who appeared from behind a bush. He was intrigued as to what we were doing (frottage!) and we explained. He was delightful, explaining that he was tending a garden, hacking at the brambles that appeared without fail each year. It wasn't until the end of our conversation that we realised he was holding an axe in his hand. That's Lamorna for you, wonderfully bizarre. 

After such a glorious day I felt extremely full of ideas and excitement to get started on some new work. I mentioned in my last post that I, along with the rest of the group, have taken an alter ego so below are some pictures of a piece Hector Nit is working on called Cryptic Colouration. Keep an eye on my instagram for more pictures/ videos of what Hector is up to.

 Outfit Details

Turquoise cotton shirt dress - Phool via a charity shop

Floral cotton trousers - Petticoat Lane Market

Cotton top - Buffalo Exchange Williamsburg

1960s cotton neckerchief - Vintage Kilo Sale

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A Room of One's Own

'A woman must have money & a room of her own in order to write fiction' (or create anything at all)

I've been musing over this Virginia Woolf quote for a couple of weeks now. Creating, making, bringing anything to fruition seems to require space; both mental and physical. I find it near impossible to create under the eye of others, I also love to spread out. It can be hard for other members of the household- I'm messy when I work (isn't it impossible not to be?), I don't like to talk and I like to work into the night.

As it is I work at a tiny desk underneath my staircase in my living room. I love my space, and feel lucky to have one at all. However, there are times when working in the living room can be rife with distractions: chatter on the street outside, my boyfriend wanting to chat, housemates with questions. All of these things are perfectly reasonable, of course, but when trying to paint they can be enormously frustrating! Making does not lend itself to idle chatter, and the tendency to snap is strong. I crave uninterrupted time and for that there is only one solution; a room of one's own. Sadly I am definitely not at the stage in my career where that is affordable but it is what I strive towards. I long for the moment when I have enough space to work big (one of the funniest questions artists get asked is about scale, it is nearly always dependent on how much space they have) and I don't have to clean up straight away.  I am lucky in that my mum offers me her studio (a lovely big space at the end of her garden) on a regular basis so I get a taste of what it's like! 

I was recently interviewed by Bibelot Magazine about my studio space. It was amusing to think about how to portray my 'space'; sometimes honesty is the best policy. Here are the photographs (plus a few extra) from the article and you can read the interview here. 

What do you think? Is a room of one's own necessary?

In other news I'm putting together a zine on Adulthood for an art show at the end of June. What does being an adult mean to you? are you one or have you spent a lifetime avoiding it? Is anyone really an adult or is it all just a pretence? I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can also submit poetry, illustration, essays or what ever other medium you feel compelled to work in to my email.

Collection of Intro magazine that belonged to my dad

A monk & a Suffragette watch over me (the Suffragette is saying 'DOWN WITH THE TROUSERS' which I couldn't agree with more!)

Outfit Details

1970s folk patterned silk dress - Vintage sale

1990s Hobbs shoes - belonged to my mum

Floral headdress - Penny MacBeth

Eye choker - Penny MacBeth

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Everything I Have Ever Lost

Hello! I spent all of last week putting the finishing touches to my installation for our family exhibition that opened at The Glorious on Saturday. I spent a lot of time knitting a very small jumper and even longer labelling everything. Here are the pictures of Everything I Have Ever Lost. 

The theme and title for the exhibition is Horror Vacui. Originally a Latin phrase, meaning fear of the void, it is the act of filling of every possible surface. My mum, brother and I all explored our own fear of the void; producing completely different results. My own fear of the void was to do with loss of objects/places/people. You can see my statement above but for slightly easier viewing here it is in plain text:

I face my fear of the void by imaging everything that I have ever lost, reunited. My greatest hope is that on reaching the void familiar faces, clothes, homes and hats, will greet me; no longer will they be left on trains, owned by someone else or lying in the gutter but instead clustered together just waiting to be found. Loss is a feeling many have experienced. It can be extremely frustrating, sometimes life-changing and 

sometimes it can pass by with little consequence. Mostly though it is sad, one can often worry ‘what has become of that poor lost thing?’ 

I have spent many hours wondering this and here are the results; my lost things reimagined, 

all safe and sound and remembered as they were the last time that I saw them.

Most things are trivial and have left little impression on my life: loose change, hats or pot plants. However, other things have left greater voids: my Dad, homes, Arty the Scottish Deerhound. Remembering lost things offers a solace in the darkest moments; losing something no longer feels sad but instead a joy, in that I know it will join the other lost things and one day I too shall join them. All these things may be lost but they are not forgotten.

I re-created my lost things in a variety of mediums. Here's a list of all the lost things:

Moyne Park

Trennick Row

Zanzig

Stuart the Caravan

Owls House

Bohermore 

Arty the Scottish Deerhound

My Granny

My Aunty Bar

Harriet, Henrietta and Henry the Goldfish

Loose change

£100

Every photograph I took from 2008-2013

My Irish Accent

Cacti

The Gremlin

Faux fur hat

Straw boater

Blankie

Fisherman’s Jumper

My Marbles

My Dad

Capri the Cacti

Red lipstick x 2

Dizzy the Canary

Easter eggs

Gruffalo mug

Candy watch

Jade plant

The Chickens 

Blue glass vase

Pink floral mug

My passport

Socks

Green glass

Smelly donkey

Joni Mitchell record

Foliage plant

Edward the Rat

Flat Ted's red trousers

Claddagh ring

Lapis Lazuli ring

Blue ring

Pink horn rimmed glasses

Round glasses

My treasure box

Debs Bear's suitcase

Harry Potter book

Valley of the Dolls book

Floral mug

Iphone

Marz badge

Mobile phone

Graphite pencil set

Pentel pen

Orange wine glass

Blue embroidered wedges

 There are certainly more things to be added to this list but it's a work in progress. I'd love to know about your lost things (good and bad). Making this work has prompted me to take stock of the things/people/places in my life now and appreciate everything that I haven't lost, I hope that it might do the same for the viewer. 

You can visit the exhibition, Horror Vacui, at The Glorious from 8-6 Monday-Saturday and 10-4 on Sundays. 

On another note I recently did two interviews. The first for The Glorious' blog about Horror Vacui which you can read here and another more general one about my practise for Om Pom Happy which you can read here. Look out for my home which will also make an appearance later in the week on Om Pom Happy.

You can also read a review of our exhibition here.

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