A New Year, but following the same themes

I have been exploring the themes of 'Coast' and 'Landscape' for several years (probably at least ten).  I still find both of them an endless source of inspiration. I live within 100 yards of the North Sea, and am surrounded by the diverse and beautiful countryside of Yorkshire. 

I took a Fine Art Diploma a few years ago, and found myself doing more painting than textiles because of it.  This means that over the last couple of years I haven’t done so much on the textile side. I now want to redress the balance.  I hope I can run the painting and the textiles alongside each other, particularly as the textile pieces I have made in the last couple of years include painting and collage.

I find it difficult to know what to call the work I do, as it can be made of anything which seems appropriate, and may not contain any fibre at all, but for want of a better title, they are textiles. 

I also make Artist books; enjoy printmaking, photography and basic digital art, and these are part of the exploration.

Time and place are important in my work.  I see history as a series of transparent layers, although some layers may be blurred; accidentally or intentionally, obscuring what lies in the past.  

It’s essential for me to have a sense of place. Although this expression is rather hackneyed, I mean it literally.  To stand on a beach; to be still, to take in with one’s sense all that is happening around you, that is what is important.  To smell the sea, hear the sound of the seagulls, to feel the touch of the wind and taste the salt.  Most important of all is that inner feeling you can only get by being there, connecting with the place.

That is a challenge.  I hope to post at least once a week, chronicling my progress.