watercolour paper gouache walk in birch woods and collage

I sampled a piece of machine, free embroidery, onto watercolour papers. After walking in birch woods in a storm the darkness showed up the quickly denuding tree branches and the showers of yellow birch leaves. I came home and painted colours and shapes with gouache. these were then cut up and machine stitched onto more watercolour paper. I wanted to catch the complexity, energy and almost chaos of the woods on that afternoon and think I made a good attempt to work spontaneously with colour, collage and stitch.

pages from the sketch book

The selection seems rather hotchpotch now I have collected them together, but a great deal of this was about my buying a selection of gouache paint tubes and trying again not to be frightened to sketch / paint with colour. I watched a dvd of Mary Fadden at work with gouache which gave me joy not least because she also used collage with pieces of former prints or paintings and that seemed apposite given this section of the course.

Colour washes of the sky and sea and the small glens around the house have made me see new colours and combinations of colour not noticed before and of course this is a never ending exploration as the light and seasons change !!

samples of furnishing fabric and collage

I was given some samples of furnishing fabrics by a local shop. These were in a very limited range of style and colour but I used them to put together some shapes and colours to reflect some images I had chosen and done some sketches for. The images range from frozen ice formations to an oil painting of the Highlands, to photos of sand and sea, an ancient egg decorated from West Africa and a block printed piece of fabric. I know on reflection I shouldn't have restricted myself to using the fabric samples I was given as the range of texture and colour didn't always capture what I was looking for. However given the context of the assignment the process got me thinking and appreciating what I will look for in the future. Sadly the samples were all off cuts from long ago so there was no clue to their fibre content or make but I have included small swatches of them for reference.

Devore and velvet

I came across some work by textile artist Dionne Swift and sent for her instructional dvd on how to use the devore technique. I wanted to explore this as part of the exploration of negative imagery / shadows/ reverse applique. Velvet is , along with silk, my favourite fabric so although I tried samples in satin and cotton, the velvet stole my heart and resulted in many sample pieces. I tried both procion dye technique and the double dye technique from Fibrecrafts which involved using 2 types of dye for silk and viscous in the same dye pan.

This exploration alongside my continuing love of geological formations led to an experiment of pleating some velvet to look like rock formation. Although it was a quick trial piece this is something I will return to. At the very least the shop now has a new line in for Christmas as several scarves emerged from the fun.

plastic bags and an art journal

I decided to use up the few remaining white plastic bags here by cutting off the shop logo and then fusing layers of them together with an iron.

Using alcohol inks the bags were coloured with autumnal tones and when dried cut up into patchwork like pieces.

The arrival of a new puppy at the croft has seen much activity as he has explored house and croft. However with all such explorations there are casualties and so it was with a hardback book. Fortunately not a great favourite, so off came the cover and I rebound it with some folded watercolour papers. These will be used as an art journal experiment.

The plastic pieces were applied to the cover, inside and out, using a gel medium. When dried I applied soft light modelling paste over the spine in the form of a tree trunk. This was coloured with inks and small embellishments attached. the final addition was a stamped image of skeleton leaves with ink over which I applied some embossing powder. The same application was made to initial the cover with the letter F. This is my first book made, first time I tried to recycle plastic bags in this way etc etc

The many layered effect and the texture and dimension of the modelling paste pleased me. All that remains is to fill the pages over the winter months and to keep the book away from the puppy !!

bibliography 2

Sandra Blow - Michael Bird Lund Humphries 2005 isbn 0 85331 921 9

Sandra Blow's scale of work - shape, colour and texture is a wonderful inspiration to me and I ended up buying a copy of this book to have with me always !

The Art of Annmieke Mein - wildlife artist in textiles Search press 2001 isbn 978 0 85532 977 8

the embroidery, attention to detail and colours are beautiful and wonderful to see how line and texture are captured and represented

Techno textiles 2 Sarah E Braddock and Marie O Mahony Thames and Hudson 2005 isbn 978 0 500 28684 5

As before a wealth of information about technological developments which is mind blowing. I became especially interested in the use of light / electricity within fabric ( being married to an electrical engineer !). Illustrations are beautiful. On the shelf alongside volume 1 !!

Matisse his art and his textiles - book to accompany exhibition Metropolitan museum New York 2004 - 2005 isbn 1 903973 47 3

A wonderful gift to me - I have had time to gaze at the details of textiles within the paintings exhibited and to link these to the collection Matisse made for himself of textiles. magical book.

Victoria Crowe - Painted insights Victoria Crowe and Michael Walton 2nd edt 2009 isbn 978 1 8511495894

A book I came across by chance and I am delighted to have found this artist. Her mixed media work - the juxtaposition of interior and exterior fragments are breathtaking.

Raoul Dufy 1877 - 1953 Arts Council of Great Britain isbn 0 7287 0381 5 Exhibition catalogue and accompanying essays. An artist I had never known and yet now whose use of line and colour I can see echoes of in interiors and fabrics I love. The way he portrays botanical subjects without them being predictable or staid is something I want to return to.

Lys Stevens – contemporary Scottish artist

Lys now lives part time in Gairloch and she very kindly gave me an interview for my OCA work and granted permission to use extracts and photos from her website. http://www.lysstevens.co.uk/

“Lyssie is happiest on a deserted Scottish beach, a field or glen, surrounded by colour and texture, finding endless inspiration in the interplay of land, sea and sky, light and weather. She is excited, calmed, always moved by a transient mood and is compelled to celebrate her involvement visually. She uses acrylics and sometimes incorporates other materials sympathetic to the work.”

Lys Stevens is an artist who captures the texture and fragility of textile structures within her landscapes.

Using her vast resource of photos, Lys often uses Adobe Photoshop facilities on the computer to begin to create her images. Changing and heightening colour and creating montages from several photos, these often become her working sketches.

Lys then creates beautiful, and arresting paintings. Working in acrylics, texture is often added using sari silk strands, sandpaper or even pebbles in her landscape work. The effect is one of vibrancy and yet intimate invitation to enter into and feel surrounded by her work.

As an artist Lys described for me the necessity of producing such personal visual imagery as a necessity of communicating her inner world through the visual medium.

During the years she dedicated to teaching art to young people with special needs, impressions and images caught her imagination and she promised herself that one day these would be painted. Here are relevant quotes from her web page which capture much of the conversation we had together:

“I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand”
Chinese Proverb

And also

"looking is not enough, to really see something I need to paint it"

“Lyssie studied drawing and painting and graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in the early seventies then qualified as an art specialist in secondary education. After working for some time in Mainstream, Lyssie spent many happy and fulfilling years teaching art in Special Education.”

I understood the following quote from the web page so clearly when I realsied the move Lys had made from teaching to being a full time artist.

“Lyssie has travelled many roads and is re-energised and enthused as she sets off on another long awaited path.............”

The quote also describes the actual ongoing process she engages in every time she begins new pieces of work. My time with her and constantly looking at her work left me feeling energized and excited and yet with a sense that no one artist truly knows where the journey of discovery and creativity will lead.

She was honest about some of the tensions an artist faces, such as having to go to galleries and promote her work. Or taking the constraints given by the organizers of exhibitions and painting to a size they specify in order to be considered for inclusion in the show.

We discussed the importance of context in work and apart from her obvious love and many returns to the Highland landscape in her art, there were also the practical concerns of what size of canvas can she transport in her car to galleries or exhibitions, the constraints of the studio space etc. All these hidden practical considerations are not things I had considered before.

I was really fortunate to see an exhibition in Gairloch of a collection of paintings inspired by the shoreline and hills of the Scottish Highlands. Seeing a body of work together which shared this theme and where the colours of Lyssie’s art danced and delighted my eyes was a memorable experience and will remain with us in a very tangible way as we were fortunate enough to buy our favourite canvas !

The interview time concluded with Lys generously showing me photos of her many works, including early art school pieces and direct textile work. Having avoided an embroidery module at art school for fear of being made to create traditional embroidery work, she expressed her surprise at seeing other students contemporary work and how she might well have enjoyed such a module after all ! Certainly her own embroidery pieces were exquisite.

It seems to me that Lyssie’s love of texture and textiles has found its rightful place in her work and I for one will return again and again to her work for inspiration and just sheer joy.

Esther Ward September 2010

manipulating fabric etc - what have I achieved ?

First and foremost I want to say that with specific comments from Sarah and a friend I am feeling more comfortable both with a design process and with experimentation.

I loved working with fabric directly - it felt like a dream I have of being able to make colour flow.

The collage work felt more uncomfortable , trying to put several techniques and ideas together, but it is something I have suprised myself with and feel I would like to try again (and again and again?..)

I suppose there is also a longing to create pieces with shape and a 3 d quality and I don't feel I achieved that as much as I would like to in either piece. Maybe the collage needs me to layer surfaces more. The folded, pleated fabric might give me that 3 d sense as part of a whole garment?

I did enjoy the drawing process far more this time but with the collage piece after drawing and cutting out the 3 seed templates I still found a need to play with the fabric and papers directly and the end piece was different from my initial sketches.

I always thought stitch and collage would not be for me as I love working with wools and want to develop a weaving technique. However I have caught a bubble of excitement over these weeks and I can't see that going away.

I was limited with access to fabric stores here and as I have been working on this section over a busy summer period in the shop and on the croft I adapted the collection of fabrics section. Instead I collected together recent furnishing fabrics I had and that friends could spare and used these instead, both to look at and group together.

folded silk

I chose to draw a bearded iris and after replicating a memory of an iris I grew many years ago, which was a shade of apricot and pale green I painted the shape using my newly acquired gouache paint set !!. Using a piece of vintage heavy silk the folds and tucks seemed to flow. i used only a very few small stab stitches to hold the design into place.

Sorry simple explanation for something I found to be flowing and fun and using folds and silk is something I would like to return to again and again !

Fashion and Interior trends and imagery

I collected together images of both fashion and interior pieces from magazines ranging from Spring to September 2010. The magazines included Interior, Country living, Coast, Red, Cosmopolitan, Home and Garden, Period Living and some others donated by friends without my being able to attribute them.

The themes of country, traditional seaside are predictable for summer magazines but the elements of retro 1950's, the best of British and romantic floral have continued into Autumn collections of both fashion and interior designs. I found the imitation or introduction of craft pieces suprising by High Street stores like Next.

John Lewis and others have gone for the elegant English look - traditional train carriages kept featuring in adverts. Camel and leather gloves, the extolling of the traditional Barbour jacket and up market wellies. I found this hard to look at after being excited by books like techno textiles 1 and 2 and The new textiles

Whilst I am aware of the bias in magazines towards Middle England I think some of the trends captured are more understandable in a socio economic way.

I can see in a year of continuing economic uncertainty and increasing numbers of servicemen killed in Afghanistan the emphasis on being "British" (and here I include another return to nostalgia for tartan !) is one way of reasserting identity and seeking comfort zones. the retro knitted goods produced on the croft - tea cosies etc have sold far more this year than last. My more edgy dyed pieces have not sold as well.

Colour palettes seem to have mixed retro yellow and browns with traditional English florals and the odd introduction of bright coastal colours - some of which dominated the 1980's.

applique - ash keys

After finishing the 2 lochs quilt I wasn't sure how I would start again ! However this is the first time I just picked up some charcoal and started sketching without thinking of the next pieceof work. Then I caught an ash seed outside after watching it twirling downfrom a blue, blue sky. These mini helicopters are such fun and very effective in their job of seed dispersal. I drew it and then researched ash trees and found myself immersed back in celtic meanings of the natural world.

More drawings of seeds and then I discovered some sculpture by Wendy Taylor which led me into this next piece of work.I knew I wanted to try and portray the movement of the falling seed and also the immense sign of hope I found the ash key to be. I back painted a plain piece of fabric blue , brown / purple and green - deliberately in quite severe horizontal bands and then appliqued on sisal fibre and papers. I deliberately chose gold silk for the seeds - golden wings of hope., which I slightly padded and embroidered some veins onto the wings.I was pleased with myself for handling the process with more confidence this time and love the orange, golden silk pieces. Beads were added at the centre of each wing to signify the seed pod - these could have done with being smaller beads but I am using what I have here as much as possible. Finally after begging furnishing fabrics off friends for the collection of fabrics and discussion of social settings for textiles (see next blog !), I cut out some lettering from one piece and appliqued this onto the middle section. It seems to be the nature of things that faith allows one to let go of one life, travel through darkness and allow new life to grow. And so it is with the process of creation in art and life.I finished the piece by mounting and surrounding it with wood - for obvious tactile reasons and because I hoped some perspective of the seed falling among trees would be given.

Below are excerpts taken from the web about ash. As you can see a great deal of mythology has been written about it in many cultures.

The Ash tree in Norse mythology is seen as the world tree Yggdrasil or Cosmic Ash. As it spans the Universe it also roots deep into the earth. "Know yourself and you will know the world." This ancient Druid phrase describes to us how we are linked to our world, and how the Ash was seen as spanning the world around us and within each of us.

The Green Man Tree Oracle by John Matthews and Will Worthington STRENGTH GROWS FROM DEEP ROOTS Strength comes in many forms and is often wrongly confused with power. It can also allude to endurance, the ability to survive in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. One of the most powerful characteristics of humanity, strength endlessly represents itself in the darker pages of our history, and is often exhibited in the desire to protect a piece of land, or to die for the needs of one's country. Such feelings arise from a sense of rootedness, of belonging to a particular place. Inner strength, the gift of a spiritual presence within each individual, also lends itself to the imagery of the tree, whose life-giving sap courses through it like blood, drawing on the energy of the earth to give it the strength to grow. Growth itself is another aspect of strength, since without inner resources we may cease to grow and may find ourselves increasingly weakened. Whatever you may be looking for, Ash instructs you to consult your roots and to be sure of your inner direction before you act. The dual powers of the ash are its strength and its rootedness in wisdom.

Ash, Oak and Hawthorn make up the triad of powerful faery trees. If you stand in the shadow of an Ash, the fae will leave you alone. Put Ash berries in a baby's crib and the fae will not steal it and leave a changeling in its place. The spiral buds of the ash are linked to the spiral of life.

Tree Magick by Gillian Kemp A Tree of Life. You are strong enough to stand alone and triumph over difficulties like the rugged Ash tolerating nothing poisonous within its strongly branched shadow. The medicinal sap within its buds and bark show that you have the power to easily remedy a situation. You firmly cling to what you know is right, just as the dense, fibrous roots of the Ash grasp the earth that holds them. You are safe from harm in the same way that when the Ash is cut down, it revives easily and springs up as a young sapling. You may soon be spreading your wings and taking flight to new pastures, like the winged Ash seeds carried by the winds of Fall. LESSON OF THE ASH fromThe Wisdom of Trees by Jane Gifford

Through their understanding of Universal Order and their appreciation of their own unique role in it, the Celts discovered a deep sense of belonging and a purpose for their existence. Our modern and hectic daily life is usually far removed from the cycles and forces of the natural world, and it can often seen empty of any real purpose. The ash is a key to healing the loneliness of the human spirit out of touch with its origins - it can provide a sense of being grounded and of belonging. The ash reminded the Celts of the interlinking of the Three Cycles of Being. Likewise we are encouraged to consider the role of the pastin creating the present, so that we can better appreciate the many ways in which positive thought and action today can help to create a brighter tomorrow. Through a constant process of balancing and marrying opposites, we, like the ash, can achieve harmony within ourselves.

Whispers from the Woods, by Sandra Kynes 19th Century England and France: If a person had fever or toothache, they buried their finger-nail and toe-nail clippings under an Ash tree because they believed it would help cure the ailment.

The Great Goddess Saga

OGHAM The Celtic Oracle by Peter Pracownik and AndyBaggott The ash tree represents the world tree or axis mundi as it is known in Latin. It has roots deep in the earth and its branches reach upwards to the heavens. It thus represents the connection between the three worlds of the underworld, middle earth, and the spiritual realm. It is also taken to represent the integration of past, present and future. You are connected to the web of life and your every thought and action reverberates on that web affecting your reality. It is important to integrate spiritual lessons into your physical life so that you "walk your talk." You may face adversity but have the strength and wisdom to overcome any situation provided you draw on all your resources. The key-like fruit of the ash signifies the unlocking of doors to new knowledge that are hidden within you, so when the going gets tough, look inside for the answers and solutions you seek. Stand firm in your beliefs and stay in the eye of the storm rather than being drawn in to the conflicts of others.

Viking ships were made of ash. Many ancient cultures believed that humans originated within the ash - for instance, souls were born in the branches of Yggdrasil. The goddess Nemesis carried an ash branch.


The Ash tree has deeply penetrating roots and sours the soil, making it difficult for other vegetation to grow beneath it. Its twigs are thick and strong. In Norse mythology, this tree spans the universe - its roots in hell, its branches supporting the heavens and with Earth at its centre. In Celtic cosmology in particular it connects the three circles of existence - past, present and future, or as confusion, balance, and creative force; there being no fell, but only continual rebirth as passage is made from circle to circle until the Land of the Blessed is finally reached. Also, the Ash can be seen as spanning both microcosm and macrocosm, the little world and the great world. In this interpretation, man and Earthly things are reflections in miniature of the universe, the cosmos being reflected in us, and thus expressing the meaning of the old expression: as above, so below.

Not only was its girth tremendous, its height was towering.Some ash trees are known to soar over 200 feet tall. Such incredible growth owes credit to a fantastic root system. It's mass, height, and deeply imbedded roots were all metaphors for the spiritually minded Celts (and us too). The ash speaks to us of growth, expansion, and higher perspective. If we think symbolically as the ancient Celts were apt to do, we can liken our own soul-growth with that of the ash. With greater (higher) attainment, the more we need to stay grounded (well rooted). This concept falls right in line with the mystic message of the ash. Indeed, certain druid accounts indicate the realm between earth and sky were connected or held together by the mighty ash. Although it is associated with the element of air, the ash is also akin to the fire element for its amazing burning qualities. The wood of the ash burns with intense heat, even when green. This surfaced ideas of resurrection and renewal for the Celts. The ash was commonly used for protective rituals because it was believed that helpful energies were contained within its great body. Specifically, the ash was thought to be the guardian of children, and was often used as a healing agent for childhood illnesses. Its association with children may come from creation myths within Celtic lore. In some accounts the ash was considered the cradle of life, so too was it considered a gentle giant and a protector of youth.

Fraxinus 
ASH Names: Nion, Nuin, Nin (pron. Nee-uhn Noo-in ) "Cosdad Sida, checking of peace, that is nin, ash n: its is the maw of the weaver's beam as applied to wood: a sign of peace is that. Achecking of peace with him is that the ash of the weaver's beam" - Word Ogams of Morann Mac Main - The Scholars Primer, Calder, 1917. Ash is a tree of interesting mythology and character with a connection to this order the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids - For the first founder Ross Nichols took the name of Nuinn, Ash. The Ash tree has always been given mystical import and character, frequently being associated with healing and enchantment. In Celtic literature, there are many references to the Ash tree, but in particular as associated with the Welsh Magician-God Gwyddion, who bears an Ash staff/wand, a symbol of healing and especially transformation and empowerment in matters of destiny. As such in the Mabinogion the magic of Gwydion is concerned with tricking Arianhrod to give the young Llew his arms which she had previous sworn never to do, having placed a Geis ( or conditional curse or fate ) upon him. Gwydion used his powers of enchantment and transformation, to create a Phantom army fleet of ships which then tricks Arianhrod into giving Llew his arms, and thus removing the Geis upon his destiny. Llew is later said in the myth to rest as an Eagle in an Ash Tree. Ash was often used for spear shafts or handles for weapons and hence also Ash can be also seen to be Checking the powers of peace as above in the Word Ogams of Morann Mac Main. In this sense, application of force to destiny may bring peace through resolution of a conflict - which would be seen as healing. The English name Ash may have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon word Asec which is the name for a ritualistic spear. The name Nuin or Nin, literally means letters inthe Celtic languages. Ash cannot be mentioned without making reference to its related symbolism as the World Tree, which spans between worlds vertically from the waters of Annwn ( the lower world ), Abred ( this world ), Gwynvid ( Upperworld ) and finally into Ceugant. In this manner it symbolises the Cosmic axis of the universe, as the central column or conduit spanning through the many levels of realms and realities. In this sense, it could be seen as the Spine or backbone of the universe, or the central column of the tree of life, with many branches leading into the upper wordly realms and many roots in the lower worlds. Symbolically, it is interesting to consider our own incarnations as individual leaves upon this tree - the leaf that falls and returns to the roots to nourish the tree, in terms of the cycles ofdeath and rebirth. The symbolism may have come about due to the height of the Ash tree - typically they grow up to one hundred and fifty feet tall and due to its large root structure is a quite well spaced out tree. It is one of the last trees in the year to come out in bloom in leaves. All these factors may have combined in the imagination of the ancients of Europe to associate this tree in particular with the Cosmic Axis. In the Norse mythology the Ash tree is known as the Yggdrasil and associated with the God Odin who is similar in some respects to the Celtic Gwydion. In order to obtain the Futhark Runes, Odin is said to have hung himself upon the Yggdrasil and received the Runes in his trance.

It is related to the ridge pole of the world, over which the beautifully embroidered star spangled sky is thrown. It is related to the world axis and is a symbol of Union" - Chetwin In the Book of Druidry, Nuinn mentions the association of the Ash and Yggdrasil. p. 38 "The ash tree, with its wide embracing form, especially as the Umbrella tree played in the North part of Europe something of the same part that the bo-tree played in India: it was the Great Mother, eventually the Cosmic World-Ash Yggdrasil." The Ash was seen as the feminine counterpart to the All-Father tree, the Oak: "In these, two trees the oak and the ash, the concepts of the All-Father and the all-embracing world mother found the widest lodging. They are still found by many to be deeply symbolic and meaningful" There have been archaeological Druid finds of Ash wands carved with spirals in Wales which evidences indeed the powers of the Ash were reverenced and employed by the Druids. A folk practice was recorded in Suffolk, England in 1834 where an Ash tree is split longitudinally and a baby was passed through the hole formed three times. The tree was then bound up and if the tree successfully healed itself - all was to be well with the child in life. The practice was also recorded in several other counties for the purpose of healing Hernias in small children and was performed either at midnight or dawn. The use of Ash Keys is generally though to be protective against negative sorceries. Ash Wands are thought to have been used for the raising and directing of healing energies and enchantments. Ash leaves placed under the pillow before sleep were thought to bring prophetic dreams or were placed in water containers since it was thought the leaves fought off illness. Another use of the tree was for the curing of lameness, swellings in cattle and general pains - which were thought to be caused by a Shrew running over them. Thus a shrew would be thrust deep into a hole bored in an Ash tree, and plugged up. It was then thought that any animal or person who was brushed or asperged with leaves from that particular tree would be cured. In Richmond park in London, in the mid 19th century such a shrew ash was widely visited with the intention of healing children of whooping cough and other ailments. It was also a folklore tradition that Snakes could not bear to be near an Ash tree or a wood cut from an Ash. In Irish folklore if shadows were cast upon crops by Ash trees, it was though the crops would be ruined. At many of the sacred wells in Ireland Ash stumps have been found which suggest its association with healing/wishing well and well dressing traditions. Ash trees were also thought in northern England to cure rickets and warts. One Celtic tradition states that Ash trees originated in the underworld Annwn or in the underworld sea realm Tethys.

There is a well known English folklore verse which predicts how much rain there will be in spring from the dates when the Oak and Ash trees bud: Oak before Ash we are in for a splash
Ash before Oak we are in for a soak. Another verse, associates Ashes with the ability to draw lightning: Avoid the Ash,
It Draws the Flash. References:

Medicinal properties: Ash bark can make an infusion that is a mild laxative and diuretic. The rood bark is the most potent with astringent properties, and was used to treat liver diseases and arthritic rheumatism. Other uses include reduce fever, treat kidney and urinary infections, expel intestinal parasites, and treating malaria. Magickal properties: The leaves attract love and prosperity. Burn Ash wood at Yule to receive prosperity. Sleep with them under your pillow and you will have psychic/prophetic dreams. Sleep with them in a bowl of water next to your bed to prevent illness. Wearing garters of green ash bark protects against the powers of magicians. Ash can heal children just by passing the child through a split in the tree's trunk. It promotes strength, harmony, and a sense of being in tune with your surroundings. In an ancient Greek creation story, humans were formed from Ash and Oak trees.

Ash Tree attracts lightening, so don't stand under one during an electric storm. 
 Greek mythographer Hesiod claimed thefirst man was born from the ash tree. This became the custom of planting an ash tree at the birth of each baby. The state of the tree served as an indicator of that person's health and strength. 
Ash is the key to healing the loneliness of the human spirit, forming a link between the gods, humans, and the dead in the spirit world. Ash holds the key to Universal Truth and Cosmic Wisdom, and it takes on the important role as a Tree of Initiation. given.Ashsize. - Nuin - he Celtic meaning of the ash tree deals with power and magnitude. The ash is an expansive specimen of the Ogham, and the ancient Celts were rightly impressed by its massive girth.

We find spiritual transformation as an important aspect of trees in many traditional accounts. The Buddha becameenlightened under a Bodhi tree (“Tree of Enlightenment”), which signifies that like the tree’s renewal through new foliage, the Buddha was spiritually reborn that day. It involves a death of the ego for a new life like shedding old leaves for new. 
Odin the chief god of Norse mythology, gained his wisdom hanging from a huge ash tree, the Yggdrasil. He spent nine nights hanging from that tree in order to find the runes, an alphabet used to write Germanic languages. Odin’s sacrifice on the tree symbolically parallels the crucifixion of Christ.

Wendy Taylor Sculptures:

Wendy Taylor has often stated that what she aims for is "bulk, form, feel, even smell". It is with this notion of textural sensuousness in mind that she has created Sycamore. 



For many years, Taylor has created detailed drawings of plants and animals alongside her sculpture. She is a member of the Royal Zoological Society and is scrupulously accurate in her depictions, researching the anatomy of her subjects. Sycamore is a continuation of this attention to detail and accuracy.

Following on from her smaller-scale Seed Series, this sculpture evokes notions of time and potential. Seeds are potential life encapsulated in species-specific casement, each of which serves a different function pertinent to the conditions it needs to start to grow. The sycamore seeds' job is to glide, to twist and turn that they may gently fall to the ground, to rest on the surface and be brushed into the soil. Wendy Taylor presents the seed at the moment of rest. Its other wing is either buried or broken off and it stands poised at an unsustainable angle, pluming up from the soil.

That she presents it to us in this position reveals it as a moment of destiny captured. We know not what will happen to the seed, or whether its potential will be realised and a tree will grow from it, only that it has fallen here and that it is beautiful. The fact she has chosen to realise such an ephemeral object in bronze, an enduring and ancient material, is to underline this association with time.

The size and position of the sculpture also encourage us to engage with it. As it thrusts into our eyeline, the enlargement of every vein means we can truly marvel at the beauty and detail of this natural form.

Bibliography for applique and manipulated fabrics

Frank Whitford - Bauhaus isbn 9780 500 20192 0 Thames and Hudson 1984

A concise history of the role and development of the Bauhaus which helped explain a few things to me about the development of design and art and certainly helped make sense of the role Itten has played . Also I was very interested in the fact that so many women had chosen weaving as their medium of expression and art

Johannes Itten Design and Form Thames and Hudson 1975 translation

I loved this book and found it more accessible that his colour theory work.

Michael Perrin - The magnificent molas - the art of the Kuna Indians Flammarion

Such a rich anthology of text and picture that I made the mistake of reading it late at night and then dreamt in technicolour !! Wonderful resource book

Connecting art to stitch Sandra Meech -Batsford 2009 isbn 978 1 9063 8810 2

Wish I had known of this book at the start. Have read it cover to cover and am now going back to work with it in a slower more considered fashion. Very helpful about drawing / recording ideas

Amish The art of the quilt Robert Hughes Pharidon Press 1994 isbn 07143 3136 0

Again can't put this down - the strength of colour and shape is mesmerising.

Textile Arts Margo Singer and Mary Spyrou A&C Black London 2003 isbn 0 7136 5716 Interesting treatment of techniques linked to cultural tradition - never thought of flounces as a fabric technique before !!

The Surface Designers Art Lark Books 1993 isbn 0 937274 67 4

Great book - illustrations inspirational and being linked to biographies of the artists was both interesting and illuminative.

The Art and craft of applique Juliet Bawden Mitchell Beazley 1991 isbn 73 855533 9217

Good job I managed to find this book before I started trying applique as I have always had a jaundiced view of the technique and this helped broaden my perspectives !!

The art of manipulating fabric Colette Wolff Krause publications 1996 isbn 0 8019 8496 3

Amazing wealth of knowledge and explanations about manipulating fabric in so many ways.

Henry Moore Textiles edt Anita Feldman Lund Humphries 2008 isbn 978 1 84822 052 2

A friend had caught the exhibition of Moore's textiles at Norwich over the summer and come back so enthused about it. I sent for the book - never even knowing he had produced textiles. I wish I had seen the book during the printing module - but next time around !! A wonderful book and it has helped me draw again.

International Textile Design Mary Schoesser Laurence King 1995 isbn 1 85660 072 5

Inspirational illustrations.

By hand - the use of cloth in contemporary art Shu Hung and Joseph Magliaro edts 2007 Princeton Architectural Press isbn 978 1 566896 942 6

A biography of artists using textiles in art installations - just wonderful to help broaden perspective and help me see and think outside my usual boxes !

The sign of the tree meditations in images and words Meinrad Craighead Mitchell Beazley 1979 isbn 0 86134 013 2

I have had this book on my shelf for years and turned to it when the sketch of the ask -key seed pod came to me and began to develop. I was delighted by the movement the artist captures in her work.

two lochs quilt

Having experimented with all the printing techniques on a piece of hand dyed cotton 1.5 m x 2.5 m I wanted to carry on working with the fabric in some way.

I knew there had been threads and images coming together from the drawings of bone and shell. The piece of bone, that looked like the drift wood horse's head from Ireland (see my photos), led me into thinking about the history of Loch Maree with its connections with the Vikings. So the Viking ship's head shape was created as a stencil for the fabric. Looking at Viking jewellery from the British Museum archive also resonated with the shapes and patterns of bone and shell. The string mounted stamp brought me closest to these images.

The neighbouring loch, beside which I live - Loch Ewe, also has much history. Ships for the Russian Convoy sailed from here during WW2 and there are many ruins of gun placements as well as cairns and ruined croft houses. Shapes from these ruins, rubbings of stone and historical photos of fishermen and crofting brought these threads together .

Finally as I was summoning up courage to cut the cloth to reconnect the shapes in a new way we were visited by one of those moons so wonderful here as the nights draw in. The reflections on the loch sent me hunting for some silver thread to do the quilting stitch with. The line of a favourite folk song "Come live by the great moon that rules the strong tide" is the title of the small quilt.

I have had , as usual, moments of pure joy and of panic !! But on the whole the journey has been a good one. I wanted to find movement and try and remember what I had read about colour, dark and light and colour related to shapes. Also I knew that this would be the only piece of dyed fabric I would submit so tried to introduce some sense of repetition into the piece.

Maybe there is too much going on but that is probably because the piece began life as a learning piece for all these new techniques.

The greatest lesson for me has been to allow initial drawings to lead me onto into a process that I didn't know the end of ,until I arrived there. I have never worked in this way before and it has been a big adventure.

I also realise that working alone here has advantages and disadvantages. I wonder whether as I start section 3 we could arrange for you - Sarah - to look at the blog entries as I go on and give the odd comment back? I don't want to expect too much from you when you are so busy with your other work commitments and life in general, but it might save me from feeling so clueless Also I think I shall ask a couple of trusted friends if they will also look at the blog and give some constructive comments to help me make progress.

printing and fabric dyes

There were so many new things in this section that I actually felt a bit overwhelmed and have had to remind myself that small acorns do grow into larger trees.

So here's an analysis of things tried out

silk painting - I bought a small child's kit just to have a go

like the fluidity of feel and tried blue and orange with gold gutta - some leakage through gutta even though I thought I had been careful.

Tried also stencilling onto silk but was unhappy with result as I had not wanted to use gutta on this occasion.

Lino cut - never done this before and my first effort with using household small chisel to make marks was fine as a bark rubbing effect but not much else. Sent for some lino cutting blades and a clearer image emerged.

Bubble wrap block to emulate seaweed and fronds - liked this and used it quite well

Transfer of photos - Once the complex cloth was underway I chose a few photos I had taken from the area around our two lochs and some historical photos and used dylon image transfer medium - pleased to see something happen !

sponge block print - fun quick effective

bark / water ripple rubbings - once I moved away from the fabric paints onto fabric oil crayons this was much more freeing in terms of rubbings and blending of colours

stencils of whelk shell and viking ship heads - yes with a mixture of the crayons and paint this went well

free hand spirals with crayon - just fun

relief print in shape of one of pieces of bone using string onto card - worked well and gave illusion of celtic jewellery patterns which was surprising.

perspex plate print - brushed paint onto plate and made wave patterns with blunt end of a brush. Laid this onto fabric. Great for building up layers of colour and texture.

Achievement in colour and movement

So what do I feel I have achieved in this section?

I can see a logical progression in the way of developing images ideas and a body of material to work from and hope

I am still struggling with trying to draw but realise a little bit each day may help me in this.

Colour theory has both helped and blown my mind but I can live with that.

The idea of creating movement in the placement of shape needs a lot more thought and work on but it is something I am very interested in.

I am pleased with the way I am looking at things in a fresh way and making connections between visual images and "ideas / themes"

image selection and representations

I chose work from four artists Matisse Klee Picasso and Van Gogh as the starting points for this exercise. Using water colour crayon and collage techniques I explored images from sections of the work through a 5cm viewer and then let my work get a little larger as I went on.

I chose Matisse because he had arrived at the start of this module when I watched the t.v programme about him. Also his vibrant colour and use of shape is wonderful. The resulting shapes kept taking me underwater to the sight of wonderful kelp beds and coral reefs I have swum amongst here and in New Zealand. Smooth texture fluidity movement are all things I wanted to capture.

The Van Gogh piece on willows is because I planted 400 willows this Spring and their colours and forms are just starting to develop and cause me great excitement ! I struggled to capture the depth of colour in my pieces

Picasso was chosen because here was a woman's figure with wonderful representation of textiles on her and I loved the colour combination - gold black and red. Again my pencils were used with too little pressure and lacked depth of colour but I liked some of the shapes which reminded me of musical notation / scores.

And finally Klee's The Goldfish. I love the colours and mysterious depths of this work and enjoyed working with it.

My own interpretations were primarily from Matisse but I suspect a lot of the emotion of Klee was there for me as my shapes became like coral and seaweed. I loved the coral like ribbons produced with coloured charcoal.

The aquarelle crayon on wet watercolour paper was a good way to explore shadowy effects and then the joy of simple shapes on dark background and the mosaic / stained glass window piece.(This is best seen up against a light source)

I am still thinking about shadow and coloured shadows so cut out the simple c shape and stuck them onto card tubes to catch a shadow underneath, which I painted in. I realise it will get squashed during postage but hope you see the effects.

Finally I wanted to think about white holes or space so chose to crayon in some coloured bands and impose white shapes onto it. Not a great effect but worth a try.

On the whole fun and I was glad to try and decide whether shape / movement or colour was most important to me as I did each piece.

drawings of bone and shell

Drawings of bone and shell came after an afternoon on the beach. the storms and rains of the last day have left everywhere looking washed out and stranded. I used charcoal because this is the only medium I feel happy drawing with. Shapes and shadows were important and colour secondarily.It was only as I gazed at the bleached out fragments that I saw a wealth of blues, mauves and ochres within the fragments.

I tried playing with my new computer photoshop facility and liked the blue shadowy image created.

As I continued to draw I went back to my Henry Moore sources and sketched some shapes from some of his works. The shape and holes in the bone fragments especially seemed to connect with these.

Finally photos I remembered taking three years ago in Connemara seemed worth looking up. One a piece of driftwood stuck up in the sand like an ancient beast and the other shell shapes whose colours I love, and marks left in the sand like shadows of seaweeds.

silk paper bowl with vanishing embroidery technique

I wanted to try the technique of machine embroidery onto a vanishing background. However after the effort of french knots and colour I yearned for neutrality and also with limited colours available in machine thread here - neutral it was !

I had been aware of not having nice papers as a basis for design so having found some long forgotten silk mawata caps in a box I decided to make paper for myself. I moulded this over a large glass bowl, interlacing it with skeletal leaves and silver threads.

When I had constructed the fabric this was applied to the outside of the paper bowl. I wish I had left well alone at that point as the piece was translucent and I was pleased.

However practical considerations such as durability and the ability to repel dust took over and I applied pva and then colourless varnish. This left the piece which had had structure and tension - ie held bowl shape well, much more pliable. Some colour change into cream / sepia took place as well.

I was left a little disappointed with the end result. However it was all an enjoyable learning process and although the piece is not an exploration of colour as such, I have enclosed it for interest.

Colour - What have I achieved?

Having completed this section of the work reviewing the samples and even looking at why I reverted to using white and neutrals for my silk paper bowl has been interesting !!


I love colour and working with it even though I realise how much I must learn, think and experiment further.


I was suprised after reading colour meditations and Itten how subconsciously my use of colour has reflected my state of mind and needs through this summer.


I just want to say again that the concept of coloured shadows is wonderful and I would like to use this sometime.


I really prefer working with oils as I like the texture they give - but the samples took weeks to dry and I have no idea what I am doing with them !! Watercolours are great to blend with but I might get lost in fuzziness if I only stuck with them. Gouache and I need more time. I struggled to get past the idea that all I produce is so child like and these paints just reinforced that worry in me.


The use of stitches and colour took me into happier places and most of all the triangular sample on black silk felt creative for me as I loved the combination of shape and colour together.

when is black not black ?

I remembered a book gifted to me about world textiles by Catherine Legrand and was delighted to see how many traditional forms of textile decoration uses black fabric then embellished with sharp bright colours. I chose the Pupeo skirt from Vietnam as inspiration for my pieces of embroidery on black silk.

I was suprised the effect the black background played in the exercise. It seems to highlight the play of one colour off another which is very pleasing. I felt some colours spaced out along the black fared better than others. I usually like blue with black but was disappointed with the effect of blue running stitch it seemed to lose its vibrancy.

I am not usually a pink person but liked the effct of pink and green very much.