On my walk this week I went exploring a footpath I have passed on top of The Mawr on many occasions but never stopped for a closer look – until now.
Looking across to the Gower Peninsula in the distance, I stood and enjoyed the wind as it gently swirled around me and brought the sound of skylarks to my ears. Setting off down an old moss covered farm track, it wasn’t longContinue reading
You will find sheep on virtually any mountainside in Wales. There have been a few dotted about in the distance in my photos of my walk this week and one or two, along with their bleats, looming out of the mist. In reality there were plenty of them about and the photo below provides some evidence of this.
Evidence of Sheep
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The sheep and their lambs (and a goat) have a good view over the landscape from their vantage point near the top of the hill I’ve been climbing in my walk this week.
Whether looking north with the scene framed by ruins or south across the Loughor Estuary towards the Gower Peninsula, the animals here probably don’t care a jot for any view other than that of the grass on the other side of the fence.
Goppa Lamb and Sheep
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This is not the first photograph I have posted of sheep wool caught on a fence but I find it strangely attractive, at least in the sense that whenever I see it, I have the urge to take a photograph. I suspect the slimy green drapery is the result of the stream in the woods behind the fence being in spate at another time of year, or perhaps it, too, came off the sheep’s back.
Sticking with the theme of conflict, this piece has, perhaps, become more personal again (see previous posts this week for context). The patterns from printed DNA are still there but the barbed wire is also becoming more personal. StillWalks development is not far off!
Woven from the back – as a tapestry artist, I have usually woven my designs from the front. Design development continues, for me, throughout the weaving process and working from the front obviously facilitated this. However, “Now and Then” had to be woven from behind and I think the reason is obvious – perhaps this piece, more than others, has indeed got my personal DNA within it!
This work is available for sale – anyone interested should contact me.
“Now and Then” – 78 x 69 x 20 cms
“Now and Then” – detail
The theme of “Conflict” in my work began to broaden over the years. My two previous posts (Dialogue and The Conflict of Working with Metal) illustrated my work as it related to a specific situation, that of the troubles and peace talks in Northern Ireland at the turn of the century.
The conflict in this piece is more personal and more general. The barbs still represent conflict but relate more now to the world stage rather than just Northern Ireland.
By now I have also become more interested in the physically contrasting textures of the two materials, metal and wool, and how they interact. The pattern in the weave relates to the paper prints you sometimes see of DNA and it is this that relates to the personal element of conflict.
People often ask whether the barbs were inserted during the process of weaving or pushed through afterwards . . . it was the former. The barbs would significantly have damaged the weave if they had been inserted afterwards and, yes, there is blood as well as “sweat and tears” in this as well as other tapestries I have made. Don’t be concerned though, they were only minor scratches (for the most part) and a few rips in clothing!
This work is available for sale – anyone interested should contact me.
“Conflicting Arguments” 85 x 120 x 10 cms
“Conflicting Arguments” 85 x 120 x 10 cms
“Conflicting Arguments” – detail
Dialogue is essential – no argument an ever be resolved without it. No matter how much fighting goes on, the argument will always be resolved through dialogue.
The peace talks in Northern Ireland 14 or 15 years ago were the original inspiration for my work with barbed wire in weave (see yesterday’s post).
“Dialogue” is another piece of work I made using the contrasting textures of wool and steel. The rods on which the weaving and barbs are suspended, wobble and waver if touched, and represented for me, the delicate, no, precarious nature of the situation in Northern Ireland at the time. It could be said that that precarious situation has continued to exist there, albeit to a lesser extent.
This work is available for sale – anyone interested should contact me.
“Dialogue” 215 x 211 x 45 cms
“Dialogue” detail 1
“Dialogue” – detail 2
I used to use tufting in my tapestry weaving – the long tufts of wool would hang down over the surface of the weaving. Sometimes I would wrap them with bright, lustrous cotton.
The textures I have used in my more recent weaving are rather different! Barbed wire is often the main textural feature of my weaving and although the reason for using it lies in the theme of “conflict”, we see it in many places around us.
The photos I take for StillWalks are often informed by my interest in texture. The images below illustrate different kinds of tuft and barb to those I have used in my tapestries.
You can see my tapestries at Design Fibre ICT and the StillWalk these images are from in the Old Churchyard Walk.
Tufted
Wool and Barbs