Anna resting.

Fleur Darkin and her dancers were developing ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ at Pavillion Dance in Bournemouth. A Residency was offered for artists to come alongside the dancers in their warming up and in their development of the piece. It offered a glimpse of the body tuned in a way I never have. Body awareness- body as tool – as paint medium even…

2012 began breezily and spaciously just as the last year ended with regular working time along the Charmouth and Seatown stretch of coast and more recently at the splendid coastguard lookout studio space in Studland. As some will remember from previous blogs I’m renting it from the National Trust this winter and I’ve been catching the first ferry over Poole harbour in the dark in order to be in place to witness the emerging landscape. Each time I cross that stretch of water the more the heath, cliffs and sea yield more of their complexity. I’m making work which has a sense of matter emerging out of darkness…as is often the case I’m moving from one piece to another, hopefully bringing some to maturity…whatever that may mean. As the days lengthen the world will look different no doubt.

On an utterly different note, an IPAD2 Christmas present has introduced the option to film and record weather, conversations and works in progress. I’ve long been warmed by David Hockney’s  enthusiasm for this technology. The Brushes App is such a fluent drawing tool. It has the ease of oil gliding over glass and something of the immediacy of the monoprint about it. You can trace the development of a drawing which is interesting in itself and I’m beginning to engage with the potential of this new drawing tool. I’m looking forward to seeing his large iPad pieces in the forthcoming London exhibition and getting to know a little more about a man who just loves looking at things. He has a way of slipping into conversation profound insights which arise out of a life time of drawing though curiosity and delight in the world…as he says,  it is important to involve hands, eyes and heart.  Any two of the above will not do.

My very best wishes to you all at the threshold of the year.

I went onto heathland around the edge of the ‘Little Sea’ one bright morning last week. A small holly was shining as if it’s lights were on. I decided to return the next morning with an MDF panel and acrylics. It struck me that I wanted to work with its vibrant abundance. On that second quiet morning I doubted my memory: it was no where to be seen. Then I saw it. Its lights were turned off and it ’sat’ quietly. Its limbs slowly became visible and I could the berries were  just as plentiful.

A visitor

shrew slips out from a crack in the floor

a busy snout

I reckon he has been feeding on the dead flies whose body parts and wings litter the floor since my last visit.

He runs up my drawing board and over the back

proccupied  and unafraid

drenched with rain and rainbows

 alert lichen

hills running with silver rivulets

stags bellowing

pylons marching across moorland.

I’m really writing this to say how moved I was by the commitment of the volunteer team to holding open an important art space. It was one of the most pleasurable exhibition hanging experiences I’ve ever had. There are some generous people out there doing important work- because they enjoy it – and because they know the importance of creativity in the life of a community.

Ill post some pictures of the show when I go back this weekend.

FROZEN ORCHESTRAS OF LOST SOUND

http://frozenorchestras.com

Celebrate our  participation in an ANTARCTICA CONFERENCE at The Australia National University in Canberra, Australia this summer with the launch of a DVD; ANTARCTICA ENCORE :  cross-modal improvisation in 4 movements with words, sounds and visual media to describe and evoke the spirit of the journey that I made to Antarctica in 2005. There are only three of us:

• Udo Dzierzanowski: Guitar & Computer
• Frances Hatch: Artwork & Photography
• Cathy Stevens: Violectra & Percussion

We ‘play’ our response to landscape after careful research and consideration. New terrain opens up through collaboration and improvisation- it is like treading on undisturbed snow. This project is focussed on Antarctica- but we have also ‘played’  Brotherswater in the Lake District and Charmouth along the Dorset Coast. It is another way of expressing the inexpressible uniqueness of each place. Up to now I’ve always used brush and pigment – and generally worked alone. This is like walking inside a wide shared space in good company. It enables me to dare to go where I might not go alone.

We have prepared a DVD using live footage from the debut performance of our collaboration on 18th February 2010 at Bournemouth University, UK. The Cover Design by myself involves a special Australian edition of 14 original paintings on unbleached, recycled CD sleeves. Each is signed and numbered. These are available to purchase from our website.

DVD SCREENING IN AUSTRALIA Tuesday 28th June 2011. Creative Arts & Music Conference at The Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia. More info here: http://music.anu.edu.au/node/426

DVD SCREENING IN UK: ADeC, Babylon Gallery, Waterside, Ely, Cambs CB7 4AU www.adec.org.uk on   Saturday 2nd July 2011