Spurn Cloth 2 (extended)

Textures of Spurn opened last Friday at The Bowery, Leeds.  This exhibition sees Spurn Cloth #2 hung in a new way.  Rather than hanging the 10 metre long cloth vertically as before, it has been hung horizontally round the gallery to form a band of texture or a horizon that surrounds the viewer.  The installation has then been completed by continuing that band of texture and marks round the room to form a circle, only interrupted by doorway and window.

The new section has been made from rusted paper and print using the same beach-combed items from Spurn as were used on the fabric.  I've collaged the layers of paper straight onto the gallery wall - something that was scary but satisfying to do!  

More detail can be found here.  The exhibition is on until 5th July.

spurn cloth #2

I started constructing Spurn Cloth #2 today.  Again, this was a case of laying things out along the floor of the studio and playing about with things until they looked right.

It was good finally to be able to see how all the textures and patterns I've been collecting on these pieces of linen will work together and how they relate to cloth #1.

Joining all these strips together is a quicker process as I'm using the machine for this one.  This cloth will hang in a very tall space in the lighthouse where the light levels are relatively low, therefore the detail isn't as important on this one.  I've concentrated on creating a cloth with bands of texture that will give an overall effect rather than be viewed up close.  There will be time to add more detail before it is shown elsewhere (with better lighting!) after the show at Spurn if needed.

 It's been a quieter day at the Mill today with fewer visitors.  The weather is still damp and grey, but there was an hour or two of sunshine this afternoon to throw some good light into my studio.  I'm also preparing for my talk here tomorrow afternoon, picking out the key images to tell the story of my project.

painting sea and sky

I was joined in the lighthouse this weekend by Mary, another of Spurn's artists.  It was lovely to finally meet her, having shared the lamp room with a couple of her paintings.  

I took no photos yesterday at all, just painted sketches of the subtle changes in tone on the 360 degree horizon.

 

sorting textures

I've been sorting through some of the textures and ideas I collected at Spurn last weekend.  One of the main things that strikes me about the place are the bands of texture and line: linear arrangements and almost always horizontal. 

As the tide comes up and goes down there is this constant change of the bands: 

patterns in the sand, 

the strips of salt marsh on the estuary side, 

never-ending sequence of waves rolling in on the seaward side, 

lines of groynes.

As a way of focusing myself I sorted the images that I'd had printed into three groups of textures:
ripples and wave patterns in the sand;

the waves themselves and the marks left when the water sorts and drops the material it is moving;

  

bold textures of the rusty, weathered groynes, the saltmarsh and other debris on the beach.