Creativity with Collage

With the holidays over it was back to work for me today which is good because I love my job. It seems to be the holidays that I have the problem with - I always overestimate the amount of artistic work that I intend to do and then feel guilty when it doesn't happen. Anyway I shouldn't beat myself up too much; the days when I can sit and feel the grass between my toes are very few and so deserve to be savoured.

My embroidery work is moving along, just incredibly slowly, partly due to my brain being in holiday mode and partly because this is the nature of it. So I felt the urge to undertake something a bit more immediate, where I could see some results and shake myself up a bit: collage was the answer. It's a great way to work, using images from my files, to give myself the beginning of a new series of work.

Of  the artists that use the collage technique my favourites at the moment have to be Lauren Child, Peter Blake and Blaise Drummond.

Lauren's work is used to illustrate her children's books which is fitting as it's usually as children that we first try out collage for ourselves. An ability to connect with the childlike aspect of our personalities is vital to creativity - to a child, anything is possible.


What Are You Like by Lauren Child

 

At the moment I'm preoccupied with the notion of home. We all want a place we can call home, a refuge we know we can always return to. I've been in my current home for two years now and I'm gradually shaping it in my style, adding pieces and making plans, considering what pictures to put on my walls. So I collaged a series of interior works. They are interiors that appealed to me, peopled with images that I felt drawn to. I didn't think too much about it, but instead worked fast and intuitively so that the work I produced is honest and spontaneous. Here are a few examples:-

 

It's incredibly liberating to work like this. My embroideries require a much slower process, from the sketching out of the initial work to the actual hand-stitched piece itself. Hopefully I will have something to show very soon but for now I'm very happy with my collages which may well form the basis for future work.

Amanda x

'Wave'

To get the week off to a good start me and my sister decided to go to Yorkshire Sculpture Park yesterday. There are a couple of exhibitions in their final weeks at the park and I wanted to catch them before they moved on - 'Henry Moore: Back To A Land' and 'Laura De Santillana and Alessandro Diaz De Santillana'.

I found the Santillana's glass work beautiful and calming helped along by the serene setting of the refurbished 18th century chapel. It was a very warm day and we chose a secluded little window seat in the balcony to rest and do a little people-watching.



HS-YSP, 2011-15

As we walked down towards the river we had a surprise that made the trip extra special - the installation was underway for a brand new exhibit. 'Wave' is from the original installation 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' which could be seen at the Tower of London in Autumn 2014. This act of memorial, created to mark the centenary of the outbreak of war, is to be preserved for the nation at the Imperial War Museums but until then we are incredibly privileged to have it on show here in Yorkshire.

Men at work
 

Poppies cascading down to the river
 



Planting poppies

 

 

This huge crane was used to lower the poppies over the bridge and was ideally placed for a spot of bungee jumping but the workmen were very focused on the task in hand. The exhibition opens officially on 5th September. As we walked further on up the hill, the sun burst through the clouds, outer layers of clothing were shed, and we were treated to a field full of red poppies.

 

I often bemoan the fact that I don't live closer to London and all the amazing galleries there are to visit, but I am so incredibly lucky to have the ysp just down the road. It's a wonderful blend of two of the great passions in my life - nature and art.

A Space Of My Own

As Summer's end approaches it's good to take some free time and appreciate natures display in the garden. The days can be so busy that it's easy to miss the changing seasons.

I treasure my garden - more so because it's really the first proper one that I've had. I'm actually lucky enough to have two - a front and a back one; and they have both helped at various times when I've felt bogged down by emotions. Getting divorced was a painful experience but being in the fresh air, digging in the soil, getting dirty hands, and watching plants grow and bloom is incredibly therapeutic.

There are two small lawns so I had to invest in a lawnmower as I'd never owned one. When I mowed the grass in the Spring of last year it was a first for me - a momentous occasion indeed!

Pink Lacecap Hydrangea and White Astilbe
 

I'm learning as I go along and loving seeing my garden slowly take shape. It's such an amazing thing to see the transformation from Winter to Summer in this tiny space that is mine. From dark earth such wonderful colours and shapes appear.

 

a snoozing bee on my Caryopteris

Amanda xxx

Once Upon a Time...

So, I promised in my last post that I would tell you the story behind the first image from "Maps, Series1" which is a collection of work in ten parts - I love books and stories and felt inspired to tell aspects of my own story with the narrative thread being told in actual thread.

This first image is called 'I Never Thought I'd Find You' and can be read in several ways - we journey through life and take certain paths often searching or striving for something or someone, but life is a continuous journey and not always neat and tidy. The best we can do is stay true to ourselves and set our own course through life. So as to what you find along the way - it could be an ambition fulfilled; it could be a person to share your life with; it could simply be discovering yourself.



The path here is depicted with sparkling sequins and continues, through the other nine pieces, represented with silver thread which links each image.

Woods and forests were in many stories from my childhood and were an actual physical part of the landscape of my childhood - they never fail to capture my imagination, conjuring up magical images, so they had to feature in my story as the path winds its way through woodland trees; they are part of an ancient connection to the land and I think it's vital that more trees are planted. The Woodland Trust are doing fantastic work.

Amanda xxx

Embroidering The Truth

Art is right up there at the top of my happy list, be it other peoples art or creating my own. I have drawn and coloured and cut and stuck and sewn all my life. The type of art I have found myself doing most recently is embroidery; as a child I grew up very aware of textiles, living in a town that prospered in the industry and having a mother who was always sewing, making clothes for us all.

As I got older I turned away from a medium that felt too traditional and uninspiring, but then as I grew older still I found myself drawn back to the possibilities of fabric and threads when I decided to study fashion design at college.

 

My current work is rooted in traditional embroidery techniques but I have found a way of working that feels modern, expressive and inspiring; I am often surprised by my finished pieces.

The series of work I will show you over the next few months is called 'Maps, Series1'  and is informed by my own personal narrative as is all of my work - born out of the desire to map, record and detail my own history.




'I Thought I'd Never Find You' work in progress



This is a work in progress image of the first piece in the series and is hand-stitched on linen using threads and fabric that I already had in my box of supplies. It felt important for this project to use what I already had, and create from limited resources.

It's getting late now so I'll save the story of this piece until another time.

Goodnight. Amanda x