Admirable vigour

B. Jane Cowie: The collector

As someone whose making takes small movements with fingers over a long slow process I am in breathless admiration of the whole body movement and speed with which B. Jane Cowie makes her figures. Watch a video of her at work here.

A classic

In my Christmas pile of excellent books was a gem: The hare with the amber eyes by Edmund de Waal. It has been my bedtime reading for a while now, and I finished the last few pages this morning. It's a classic.

It is one of those magical books which brings together so much so well. The author is a maker of exquisite ceramics, a man with an eye and a touch ... who also is able to write, not only with authority but with approachability. He tells his story well. There are reviews here and here and here and here and here,

And what a story! Edmund de Waal not only has the fortunate circumstances of his abilities; but also the extraordinary felicity of ancestors of note with fascinating acquaintances (the buyer of the netsuke moved in the same circles as Renoir, Proust, Degas, ...) and living in interesting places through interesting times: Paris during the Drefus affair, Vienna before and during the Nazi occupation, the American occupation of Japan, ....

I like the way that de Waal's research took him to Odessa, almost the beginning, after he had brought us almost to the current day. I enjoyed his musings as to whether we should pursue the private lives of the past or leave them be as private. I am delighted that he has pursued the story of his family round the collection of netsuke - how fascinating that this narrow line following a few is so rich a vein.

Pig's ear

I wonder what the origin is of the saying 'making a pig's ear' of something. It is true that a piggie's ear is not the most attractive of its attributes, and I can quite understand wanting to make a silk purse instead, but on a pig it ain't that bad. On the other hand I have made quite a mess of the piece I have been working on.

Lack of attention. That has been it. I have been working on Canyon lands, have stitched the body to my satisfaction, and began well on the 'lands' bit of it. I am using a supplementary layer of stiffened silk, and it is awkward stitching in any case. But I have not been paying sufficient attention to placement. It is too complex to sort out without lots of time to unpick calmly and then think properly. I can't do that right now, and need something to stitch TODAY, to occupy and distract me while I spend the afternoon with my mother.

I hate the idea of giving up on being able to move forward, so I am lucky that I have an experiment which I can begin stitching straightway. I'd better prepare something else, however, in case of more plans going awry.

Quick rave

Jean (Hans) Arp: Two heads 1927

I am just over half way through another amazing catalogue for what must be a brilliant exhibition: On line: Drawing through the twentieth century at MOMA NY. There is also a great bunch of videos connected.

Depth in 2D

Yesterday I drove through the beautiful bright sunshine and hard frost to Walford Mill in Wimborne to meet a good friend and to see the work of an artist we have both admired for many years: Pat Hodson. Walford Mill is an ideal destination because it is a lovely space both inside and out, it shows high quality inspiring craft, there is a car park adjacent, and also there is a bistro for coffee and/or lunch. Indeed I have been there many times over the years, and never been disappointed. It also only takes me just over an hour and a quarter of straightforward driving to get there, and going west too, so the low winter sun was hardly ever directly in my eyes.

When I came across Pat Hodson first it was in the early years of Art in Action, and she was in the textile marquee working with batik. My friend and I were intrigued with the designs as well as the technique. I have not seen much of Pat Hodson's work over the intervening years, but she has retained the abstract, note-taking style of those days. Light and movement were strong elements even then. The above two snaps which I took show one hanging of elements with a detail of the back. Each element has been folded, stitched to the next along the fold, then the join at the back has been cut to present a triangle which brings drama not only to the back view, but also the front.

This kind of device contributes one of the wow factors from a distance, along with the vibrant colour - which also brings such delightful movement. But the closer the viewer comes, the more, and more, and more there is to delight, amaze, intrigue. The result is so pleasing either if one just lets it all amuse the eye as it darts to each previously unseen item, or if the mind seeks to answer 'what is that?' and of course the inevitable 'how did she do that?'

Is this the front? Is it the back? Does it matter? The friendly chaos she presents has an extraordinary depth to it created within the work. It is fused, layered, with additional elements through those layers, but also surface work deceives the eye. The effect is to believe that you are gazing at marks caught in mid movement, as if Hodson had caught traces of thoughts as they spun in the ether.

Below are some general views of the exhibition. Walford Mill very kindly permits photography, but requests a donation of £1 - too little in my view.

Pat Hodson makes work for the wall as well as the larger hangings. She also explores book forms. One interesting form is the hanging book rather like a roman blind. This is too vague a description. Below are three snaps of three such book forms hanging in one of the gallery windows.

Hodson also employs more familiar book forms, and one of the delights of the exhibition is a table of work which can be handled gently. Here it is that we found that the texural lure of the visual was satisfied with pages of waxy finish, with the rub of silk, and the merest dips and rises of the shapes trapped within the sandwich of her pages. More obvious lines of machine stitching add thread and holes, but added shapes can sometimes be felt, as if a distant memory, and sometimes not - although seen as if they should be.

Apologies for the snap above being out of focus. The book below opens from the middle, the pages folding out to each side, uneven in size so that a right page can spread under a left, and vice versa - so engaging to delve into. I also apologise that I paid absolutely no attention to the names of pieces, nor to their prices. It was the work itself which wholly engaged me. More information can be found on her website.

So inspired

Distant dancers

I have found myself so inspired by Thomas Houseago's work that my back burner has been working overtime. Yesterday evening I had an idea which I wanted to scribble down, using the computer. I knew it had to be black/grey and red, and that it involved a figure at the edge. That's all I started with. Once the figure was done I saw that there should be figures in the distance - and so I added them. And now this seems to be complete as a design. I'm happy enough with it to send it off for printing onto cotton.

The title Distant dancers is one which has popped up in my mind before, a long time ago - last century even! It was attached to that 'frieze' of dancers that now appear in the above design - they were a quick scribble really. Nothing came of them, although I have tried using them in other forms, most recently as templates for the figures made on soluble film in an experimental piece. Nothing really came of them because they were never before linked to visualising my emotions.

It is becoming clearer to me that I do not come up with designs or work which satisfies me wholly unless it is an expression of my emotional state. And it is the power of the emotion in Houseago's work, for instance, that I respond to - so powerfully. The inspiration that that sets up in me helps to propel my work further along the road.

Which road, and to where? Well, I don't know. All I know is that I like moving forward, and it has taken me a long time to find where forward is, so I'm happy with that for now.

A closer look, and an interesting context

Thomas Houseago: Giant giant - bronze, outside the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

My head is full of Houseago, and it is great luck that Oxford has two venues showing his work at the same time. Last week we went to Modern Art Oxford, where the sculptures sit with each other and the wondrous architecture of the building as companions. This week we went to another splendid building, with its fascinating collections - and the newly rearranged displays - to see Houseago's sculptures in a historic context. I found that they stand up well.

Outside the great door of the museum is Giant Giant, an imposing but friendly creature, putting up with messy scaffolding nearby, and with a steady drizzle. Since seeing the work close to last week I was fascinated to find that what I thought was drawing direct onto the plaster finish is in fact a 'cast' of drawing.

In the interview with Rachel Rosenfield Lafo in the November 2010 issue of Sculpture magazine Houseago describes his casting technique. "I also make a kind of 'cast' of a drawing where I pour liquid plaster over a drawing made flat and full size on a board on the floor, then strengthen the pack of this plane, wait until it dries, and then lift it. Thus the drawing is cast/printed and can become a physical form as part of a sculpture." How I would love to see this done, because the drawing on the forms looks like just that: direct drawing.

Of course in the case of Giant giant it will be different again, because the whole is cast in bronze and then painted, graphite being listed as one of the ingredients. I am glad to say that I have arranged to meet a friend at the museum in a couple of weeks' time, and so will be able to look again.

Inside the museum there are four more pieces. One is a pair of walking legs in the Human Figure section where there are also Assyrian, Roman, Greek, many other figures. I did not take a photo of these - perhaps next time. The remaining three pieces are in the Cast Gallery, and again I found that they fit in so well. I managed to take a photo of yet another pair of walking legs and a white head.

There is something powerfull: both primitive and sophisticated about Houseago's work. They engage the eye, drawing the curiosity, but also draw the spirit. They are animate in the same way that the glorious Helenistic and Roman sculptures are so animate.

I have not been moved by a new artist like this for some considerable time.

Instant attraction

Thomas Houseago: Baby 2009 - 10

It was the cover of Sculpture magazine in November that more than usually made me want to know more about the artist. I had never then heard of the sculptor Thomas Houseago, and yet now, having seen both of the works above, I am thinking about his work more than anything else.

From Sculpture magazine I learned that my luck was in: Thomas Houseago was to have an exhibition at Modern Art Oxford. And yesterday that's where we were. It is always a joy to go to that gallery building, and we have seen extraordinary shows there, and this was certainly one of them. There is some art the quality of which simply sings with truth, and there are some venues which enhance the viewing of that art. What a start to a new year!

Houseago seems to be popular at present. He had an exhibition recently in Berlin, and this link shows a range of his work. He also took part in the Whitney 2010 biennial. And he is on show with Amy Bessone in Vancouver at present.

There is that extra something that comes about when not only does the work fill the spirit with joy, but also the mind with a positive buzz which has a direct influence on thinking about one's own work. I have been spending a long time mulling over aspects of 3D and how they would be appropriate in my own expressions. I can take a long time to make appropriately personal connections that result in movements, changes, or developments in my work, but sometimes I am helped with great leaps forward. I knew as soon as I read the Sculpture magazine article on Houseago and saw the photographs of the work that this was potentially one such leap.

I love the way the sculptures are put together. This link shows how aspects of Baby are constructed. I am so drawn to the mixture of 2D drawing with more conventional 3D construction. I am excited by the beauty of 'showing the workings'. The heads in particular set off ideas for me to explore with practical experiment.

Of course I now want to dedicate all my time to trying out various ideas and questions bumping into each other in my imagination. I shall have to pace myself to my time available, and just hope that this auspicious beginning to 2011 augurs well for the months to come.