Mark making and layers of dye

FIELD 2007 - 2009
"The dream of deep ecology will never be realised on earth, but our survival as a species may be dependent on our capacity to dream it in the work of our imagination". From ‘Song of the earth’. (Jonathan Bate).

Having sought previously to create a primordial forest in central London, it seemed an appropriate next step to remove myself to a more remote location in order to further examine the human relationship with nature. At the outset of a two-year period spent in the far southwest of England I determined to restrict my attention to only that which lay within my immediate vicinity and was accessible by foot. In line with previous attempts to work within a defined space I made a field bordering my home the arena of my activities. Submerging myself within this space satisfied my desire to restrict my impact on the Earth, for in place of travel to new and exotic destinations I sought the new and exotic at home.

I found inherent in this field a powerful symbol of an historic and continuing paradigm. Upon leaving our ancient forested home, the cutting of fields marked our first attempts to colonise the wilderness and harness nature for material gain, and in our misguided use of the rainforests today we see how little our philosophies have progressed since.

Yet whilst the land carries the tale of its own destruction, it continues to present alternatives for the future. Finding little to disturb my camera work enabled a clawing back of senses from the oversaturated and over-stimulated media driven world and offered the possibility, through isolation, of being open to the transformative powers of nature.

This piece is written by Hughes really speaks to my approach and my practice.

(Sorry can't seem to rid of the underline!!)

An artist was recommended to me and that has really made me consider my practice! The wax resist I had been doing from my mark making did not take into consideration the main focus and my main interest ie a palette of colours from natural dyes where the chemicals are used to a minimum.
Ian McKeever lives in Dorset and he uses his immediate environment to inspire his work these 2 panels are titled ...and the sky dreamt it was the sea.
They made me consider layers of dye on panels that relate to each other because of subject matter, season/colour, or placement. 
So I am working on the idea of using my palette of colours with a small section designed from the mark making. There are scarves in dye vats to test colour on wool/cotton and I am working out of the sketch book!
An idea from a fellow student has proven very creative and moved me on to consider the design methods. I am working on tracing paper and clear book covering plastic. This has allowed me to work on small areas then layer and build up the composition.


Another recommendation relevant to my work was Nicholas Hughes who is a photographer.

Developments

I can't believe it has been a month since my last Blog! But it kind of reflects where I have been ie not really sure where to go and lacking confidence. It was Photoshop or the lack of which has shown me a way forward!. Having lost my access to Photoshop when my hard drive went I bought Photoshop Elements thinking that it would fit my requirements. Should have checked!!
So I was faced with my scanned images of the 'snow mark making' and how to develop them into designs. It was back to basics with photocopier, scissors and glue and in the end I am pleased. The lack of technology led to using methods which are more tactile, more direct and I think more appropriate to my practice. I'm sure Nick will disagree!.
I have been introduced to the work of photographer Nicholas Hughes and he talks about the 'reaction to media led sensory anaesthetisation, and ... an attempt to restore a sense of the natural in the cultivated, somewhat synthetic spaces'. The process of being physical involved in the process of developing repetition, scale and relating the parts to the whole seems to eliminate the 'anaesthetisation' when the technical stages interfere with immediacy and tactility. So I feel that this process is appropriate and allowed me to collage the images to scale.
I trialled the designs by grouping the images into 3 groups ie stubble, tracks and furrows with some overlaps which would be translated into wax resist.

 I enjoyed the interpretation of stubble because it related to mark making and could be treated as individual stalks or grouped. Looking closely at the joints in the stems which were originally taller to support the ears of corn, the structure began to have a bamboo look. I need to avoid this as it has already been mentioned that my piece for the Bishops Prize has a Japanese feel to it.

 The tractor tracks continue to challenge me as their order is very specific and the relation of one mark to another is strong but by placing one shape at an acute angle to another this is lost. The pattern made by tractors is particularly special as I bought a wool jacket in Ireland where the seasons are represented by the colours used to design and knit tractor marks. I also included other marks which were largely determined by the tools and the way they delivered the wax to the fabric.

The fall of snow was quite light so it tended to settle on the tops of the furrows which accentuated the 'disappearing horizon' effect. Also the photos I had taken showed the lines at angles from the middle as well as from the right and left which helped to create a patchwork affect.

I didn't use this view in the designs but think it would work instead of the 'bamboo stubble'. I would wax out the spaces between the trees ie the snow but need to trial on a piece of fabric first!