PLAY / GROUND

During a chat about creativity and its nemesis, the inner critical voice, Siobhan Davis and Karen Logan spoke of childhood play and exploration, of becoming absorbed in process rather than focused on outcome - and the idea for PLAY / GROUND was born. The artists have created two outdoor workshops that compliment each other and consider playfulness, with a sprinkling of mischievousness and a desire to connect with kin.

Part of the Leytonstone Arts Trail our workshops take place on Sunday 3rd and Sunday 10th of July, they are FREE! Join us! 

hepworth wakefield

My two recent workshops at The Hepworth Wakefield with young people and families. An exploration of the Kettle's Yard exhibition culminating in painted stones, and felt making inspired by Yorkshire: Hepworth, Moore and The Landscape.

 Acrylic paint & sharpie pen on stone

 Balance

 Acrylic paint wash

 Protective eye

 Learning studios

 Felting table

 Nail varnish kid

Press

summer term - years 2 & 4 at drew primary

Another half term has flown and four classes at Drew have created AMAZING art. Y2 inspiration was provided by One Night, Far From Here, a beautifully poetic book about creatures and their habitats, the children were fascinated as we traveled the world from the Russian Tiaga to the Amazon rainforest. We drew, painted, learned basic colour theory, printed onto paper and acetate, laminated sparkly collages and created animal masks. 

One Night, Far From Here contains cleverly printed transparent pages which layer to reveal and create depth - so (of course!) the idea of the art sandwich was born! The children's final piece layered a painted fabric background, a printed acetate sheet and a laminated drawing decorated with sparkles, paper clipped together to form a book-like artwork that the children loved. 

Sometimes, at the beginning of our lessons children would quietly tell me they remembered words like acrylic, acetate, laminate, words as poetic as the book itself.

I took a deep breath before challenging the y4 classes to sew! I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers is a book with an old-fashioned feel, of unkind treatment of children, dubious Victorian Sideshows and fairytales... Children's faces were transformed using school photographs and collage cut from images of rats, we created posters to advertise these fearsome rat children - studying vintage fonts, experimenting with line and ink and finally mastering running stitch, button stitch and blanket stitch to produce rat embroideries.

What I asked of the y4 children wasn't easy, especially sewing, but they tried and persevered, the more able stitchers assisting their classmates. The lessons were chaotic but embroideries emerged and some children surprised themselves with new found skills, a couple of children who had previously struggled shone and achieved. The teachers also got to brush up on their sewing skills!!!

Lynx mask and careful hands

Ocelot in the Amazon

Laminated layer for our art sandwiches!

 Year 2 zoo - roar!

Beware - Rat Girl!

 Capturing a nostalgic feel using ink and tooth picks

 Beautifully executed blanket stitch - well done!

 Even running stitch & perfectly attached button from a boy who had never sewn before

girlhood - spring

Just in from the woods and gathering seasonal photographs of my work Girlhood. It's a puzzle, repositioning arms, mimicking the previous photograph, back and forth, tweaking. The woods are peaceful with bird chatter as undetectably, tiny leaves unfurl their promise of the forest canopy. Teaming life, connected, precious. 

 Spring

 Summer

Autumn

whys and wherefores

I'm considering knitting a gravestone cosy for a long deceased stranger. My local church is St John's Leytonstone and I spent a contented hour discovering the treasures within the graveyard this week. The church was built in 1833, the same year slavery was abolished and people who campaigned for this cause are buried here. Making a cosy for an unknown person is a new departure and a very different act from making for my family. I'm untangling the whys and wherefores, allowing the idea to hang in the ether while I make up my mind.

 Leytonstone folk

Did a relative plant a sapling?

Entanglement  

Tiny stone marking four burials

spring term - years 1 & 3 at drew primary

Lots to fit into a short term... the y1 and y3 classes drew, painted, printed, formed, folded and constructed at Drew Primary School. Project inspiration was gathered from the pages of Grace and Family and The Pebble in my Pocket: A History of our Earth. When asked to share their thoughts the y1 classes surprised me with the range of favourite activities - they loved drawing their families, creating designs for crocodile stamps, looking at Dutch wax fabrics and creating patterns, printing and cutting out their colourful card crocodiles - their responses were sweet and thoughtful. Some y3's were a little disappointed by the chemical eruptions created inside their volcano models, I think they were expecting real lava!!! I'll be working with the y2 & y4 classes after Easter... watch this space!

 2D to 3D - fast sculpture

 Volcanos taking shape - busy hands!

 Team work

Water + washing-up liquid + baking soda + food colouring + vinegar = eruption!

Careful, thoughtful patterns

 Energy

 Beautiful repeat print by a y1 pupil

Printed crocodile

Googly eyes + 5 year old = pure happiness!

sandy

Last week I traveled to Scotland to site and photograph the latest gravestone cosy for my Uncle Sandy. Close Knit began in 2009 and I have three more graves to find to finish this body of work. My intention is to complete the project this year.

Work in progress

Sandy, 2016