2008
The last couple of weeks have been interesting. The project refuses to be finished. All sort of follow-on bits are appearing at the moment. Some work from the project has been sold in an exhibition in the US and other pieces are being shown in Esher and at Farnham Maltings in Surrey and the ‘Storytree’ strand of work is threatening to become another project of its own. To see a follow up to some of the Papertrails work visit Littleworth Common and Arbrook Woods in July and August 2008 where a trail of Story trees will appear and disappear throughout the Summer. The stories have been contributed to the project by Elmbridge people.
This ‘Storytree’ is made up from two stories which contrast in their approach to the landscape. One is a declaration by the Diggers, (see Woods and Commons for more details) which focuses on the land as ‘a common treasury for all’ which if reclaimed by the common people would free them from the tyranny of the feudal system, the other is a list of plants and trees found today on the commons. It is probable that if the Diggers had had their way and been able to use the commons for homes and farms, that most of these plants would not now exist here.
This work appears as part of ‘Contemporary Art in the Surrey Landscape’, a project initiated by Surrey Arts.
In February 2008 the Papertrails Residency a-n Blog on Artists Talking, was featured in a publication ‘a-n Collections: The art of blogging’ in which Jane Watt explores the development of Projects unedited, a-n’s open space for artists’ blogs.
[a-n.co.uk February 2008]
19 FEBRUARY 2008
A lovely day with brilliant, bright, sunny weather so a good context for the last workshop of the Papertrails project. There were twenty-one 7 to 12 year-olds and three helpers as well as me. One was the Countryside Liaison officer and the others were from Elmbridge’s children’s holiday activity team. During the day we made sculpture and explored the West End Common at Esher. Activities included making things that responded to the environment. We made windmills, moblies and sun prints as well as having a go at papermaking.
12 FEBRUARY 2008
Coming up as part of the project are a workshop with children on the 19th February and a last showing of work (photographs this time) at the Civic Centre in Esher. Elmbridge Borough Council have been very supportive of the project despite having a small budget for art and so it is good to show some of the documentation of Papertrails in their home as it were. Several of the Councillors have been frequent visitors to the studio at St George’s Church and have been enthusiastic supporters of the project over the year
5 FEBRUARY 2008
During February I am running an art workshop for children as part of the project and also there is an exhibition of some of the photographs of local participation and of artworks, at the Civic Centre in Esher. I am really sad to leave my wonderful studio at St George’s Church although it will be good to come to some kind of conclusion about the year. I met a fellow artist a couple of days ago who asked me if it had all gone as I had planned. That, I suppose is the big question. I think that the things that one hadn’t planned or anticipated are probably the things that will ultimately seem most important. Looking back over the year it is meeting people that has made the most difference to me.
25 JANUARY 2008
Since the private view I have been at the exhibition space at St George’s Church six days a week. Partly to make the most of the last couple of weeks ‘in residence’ and partly because there isn’t anyone else to mind the space while the exhibition is on. Unfortunately, though the church is full of atmosphere, history and inspiring detail it is rather short on internet acess so I have found it difficult to update the blog. A recap then over the last few days; the private view went really well, lots of people came and I was very encouraged. I was also pleased with the way the last pieces of work looked in the space. One of them, the one with thousands of cast paper fragments on pins caught the light in the way I had hoped it would. You are more aware of the mass of cast shadows than the construction. However, worryingly, considering how long it took to make, I have a huge compulsion to make another one, a bigger one this time!
The other new piece was an echo of my ‘Storytree’ series. I hung a large branch wrapped in one of the stories high in the nave of the church. I wanted to bring something from outside into the building and I was pleased with the way that the light strips of text illuminate the form. It isdifficult to photograph though.
On Tuesday I had a visit from a troop of ‘Rainbows’ and their leaders, mums and siblings of various ages. They were a lovely lot, very interested in what it was like to be an artist and very keen on being shown everything after which we did some big drawings on the floor and some of us got very grubby indeed!
19 JANUARY
The private view of the final exhibition at St George’s was today at lunchtime. Lots of people came along and it was good to meet again so many people who in one way or another had been involved in the project either as participants and visitors or in giving good advice over the year.
10 JANUARY
Today I am assembling the last few pieces of work for the exhibition. Some of the pieces are ones that are added to daily and will only really be finished at the end of the residency. There is one in particular, a book which is growing, one page at a time over the twelve months. However, I’m a bit behind with sewing the pages together. Eventually it will be bound using coptic binding which looks a bit like blanket stitch and works with loose single sheets rather than folded ones. The pages have been coloured with sampled pigments from wherever I have been working that day so some are coloured with clay from the commons and others with dust from the church. Its an earthy version of a book of days and is a sort of opposite to one I have been making with local people. That book is white and embossed and made to catch the light. I call these peices ‘books’ however unbook-like they appear because I don’t know what else to call them but really they are sculptures whose form is being generated by the process by which they are being made.
5 DECEMBER
Well, gales and rain notwithstanding, the tree in the churchyard now sports a lexicon (though without the definitions) of words from St George’s.
4 DECEMBER
I have been working in St George’s Church over the last few days. My artist in residence role has been slightly overwhelmed by the arrival of ‘Cards for Good Causes’ at the church. I think you would have to be very determined indeed to find where I am working, tucked away in the north aisle behind abundant displays of Christmas cards. Meanwhile, I am finishing off a few strands of work and determining how best to present them for the final exhibition here in January. I am also working on a ‘Tree Dressing’ in the churchyard. This was programmed into the events but has become marooned from its accompanying workshop which has been moved to February! In the absence of community input at this point I am using words from the flagstones and gravestones to temporarily adorn a tree in the churchyard. Many of these words were picked out by participants to use at the Big Draw back in October.
People have asked me how I feel, working here surrounded by ‘dead people’. It isn’t something I have worried about; obviously the past makes itself felt here but if there is a spirit of the place I feel that it is a benevolent one. The words I am taking to use reflect this feeling. The word ‘memory’ is found on the gravestones fairly frequently and has an unintentional poignancy as it fades away but there are also phrases like ‘tender love’ and instructions to ‘follow me’, reassurances that ‘joy cometh’ and only a few admonitions to ‘repent’! On reflection, I suppose I am working with the community on this piece of work, its just a community from the past.
23 NOVEMBER
Its one of those funny weeks when things go right and things go wrong and sort of balance each other out. I had been invited to take part in a project next year which I have just discovered is not going ahead, probably because of funding and on the same day I find that a proposal for another project has been accepted. Meanwhile I am still making innumerable (or at least it feels like it!) little paper shreds on pins.
19 NOVEMBER
I’m getting a fair amount of work made. I am dividing my time between making hundreds of tiny hand-cast paper fragments and researching opportunities, meeting people, visiting exhibitions and helping other people with their projects. The paper fragments are set on pins and will end up accumulated together as part of a larger piece of work but are rather monotonous to make. I have also been finding more stories related to the commons. During the year I have been collecting stories, which seem to have a connection to the woods (either these specific woods or the idea of ‘woods’), from Elmbridge people. Some are factual accounts some are reminiscences and some are fairy stories. I have then been installing the stories back into the landscape. At first it was very difficult to find contributions from people but there is a growing theme now.
4 NOVEMBER
Another glorious day. I was out collecting soil samples for my series of pieces based on walks across the Esher Commons. Today I was on The Ledges walking towards West End. You pass through an extraordinary variety of types of habitat here. There are beech woods, silver birches, ponds, streams, gentle slopes and steep ones. The soil types vary tremendously too. Initially there are light coloured, sandy soils, changing to dark leaf mould under the trees. The texture changes too. It was hard concentrationg on what I was supposed to be doing as the autumn light made everything look so wonderful
30 OCTOBER
The fantastic weather today has made it impossible not to feel uplifted. I have been concentrating over the last few days on papermaking and although I really enjoy the physical processes of making work it felt like a real treat to just walk and look at things. Its hard to resist the simple beauty of light on the trees and I took lots of photos. Even if it doesn’t seem at the time to be connected to a specific peice of work, days like today always feed back into the work somewhere.
13 OCTOBER
‘The Big Draw’ at St George’s Church was a good experience although I did have to contend with the effects of the postal strike on my publicity mail-out. I involved a couple of other artists, Claire Rye (who will be following me as artist in residence at the church) and her friend Tom who were both brilliant and helped inspire all sorts of creativity from the people who joined us for the day.
I had decided that I wasn’t going to impose my view of ‘drawing’ on people, instead they could draw however they wanted as long as they responded to the building and the setting. We suggested some starting points and off they went! Interestingly enough a lot of people homed-in on the writing in the building and on the gravestones. In a churchyard of course, the same words appear frequently but it doesn’t stop them being evocative.
8 OCTOBER
There is so much to do at the moment that there seems little time to actually write about it. This week I am sending out the last press releases to the local papers about the ‘Big Draw’ event at St George’s Church on 13 October, ordering materials for a new landscape piece and actually assisting another artist on her community art project. Back when she asked me to help, October seemed very empty, there seemed plenty of time to just have a stint of being employed for three days!
Outside in the landscape the weather is changing and I am very much looking forward to working with the new light and new colours. Back to mud I suppose!
24 SEPTEMBER
Today being Monday is ‘admin day’. I am sorting out some of the things for ‘The Big Draw’ and emailing all the people I need to email and writing all the stuff I need to write. Hence the blog entry! However whenever it is an admin day I always really want to make something. At the moment the rolls of paper next to my table seem really interesting. I have been mulling over the idea of working with cylinder shapes and I keep finding my eyes drifting over to them!
Last week was a mix of different things, some studio work, some meetings and some organizational stuff. Thursday was overall a good day. My meeting with Bettina was great. As part of my grant application to The Arts Council back in October last year, I had asked for funding towards mentoring for the organizational side of the project. Artsagenda (www.artsagenda.co.uk) (and Bettina, specifically,) had been suggested to me, probably because they usually deal with art in relation to a particular place or setting. I would really recommend them. Bettina has been a very positive and calming influence which is handy when you are dealing with a project like this one which can be influencd by so many things entirely outside of your control. On Thursday as usual she helped me to focus and prioritize things and the chaos of conflicting and competing things to do settled into a calm and acquiescent list. However out in the real world British Rail was doing its usual thing and I was half an hour late to my meeting and the return journey took at least two hours longer than it should have.
On Friday I was ‘in residence’ and as usual had a few visitors some of whom were people who had been in before and wanted to check on progress. The church was being organized for an evening piano recital on Saturday. Chairs and tables were bing moved round and there was an air of bustle. It was enjoyable to see the preparations and to attend an event there that had nothing to do with me. I could have my glass of wine and chat to people and listen to beautiful music with no lurking thoughts about what I should have done.
19 SEPTEMBER
I am gearing up to “The Big Draw” on 13 October here at St George’s. I hope the day works as well as as it could. Its almost impossible to anticipate which events will be eagerly seized upon by people and which will find no takers. I think people just get too busy. Anyway before that I am having a talk with my mentor, Bettina, tomorrow in Brighton with the aim of looking at where this year could lead. Also I’ll be reporting back on the various events that have happened since June when we met last. In terms of work, I am becoming very interested in the route of a stream that runs through Arbrook Woods and want to do something in relation to it. I find it very difficult balancing planning ahead and working now. When I try to do both I find myself doing neither very well.
9 SEPTEMBER
Friday, Saturday and today I have been at St George’s Church. It has been a combination of ‘Heritage Weekend’, Surrey Cyclists Saturday and my usual open studio on Fridays. So lots of visitors and lots of contributions towards the Elmbridge ‘Book’. On Sunday at one point there were eight visitors at the same time, with a couple of children enthusiastically manufacturing paper. (Although they liked their paper so much that they came back later to take it home with them!) It is very interesting talking to people. You can never predict who is going to make a real connection with the work and who isn’t. I have also been thinking and making plans about what I will be working on after this project is over. There are still five months to go if one includes this month but because much of the originally planned work with local people has already happened it feels as if time is flying by.
16 AUGUST
Another good day on SHOUT with a group of slightly older children. The weather was kind again and again we were able to be outside all day. Some lovely imaginative responses to the themes of Papertrails and a nice group of people to be with. More images of the work we made are on the Work in Progress page.
15 AUGUST
Today was an encouraging one. I am working with children on the Elmbridge Borough Council holiday scheme, SHOUT, as part of the Papertrails project. With the weather we have been having I imagined that we would be stuck indoors at the base improvising, however we were out all day and had fun making trails through the woods. Much enthusiasm from the children racing to make the longest trail and pacing out the lengths. In fact the two teams tied.
10 AUGUST
Well I thought that things might go awry with the Storytrail and they have. Is it a case of too many elements involved or just that people are on holiday? Anyway there are not enough people signed up to attend so the day is being postponed. I think its better to do this now rather than panic on the day, especially as so many other people are involved. Thanks to everyone at Elmbridge Borough Council who have put in time on this.
7 AUGUST
The work and planning for the storytrail is mainly in place now. All it depends on now is good weather and people wanting to take part! Which isn’t certain at all. However, onward! I am looking forward to seeing some of the work on a bigger scale across the woods and that will be happening whatever the weather. Over the last few days I have been looking at other types of landscape as I have been visiting family. So it will also be good to return to working in the lush Surrey woodland.
14 JULY
Today was ‘Help make art day’ on Littleworth Common. After all the rain recently it was great to have some wonderful weather. In terms of work, today was good. I was able to carry out some things I had been really wanting to which the bad weather had prevented. The light was glorious and I had some good conversations, however really there wasn’t much interest from people in actually carrying out any work. Which is fair enough! I spent much of the day ‘drawing’ through the trees and along paths with lines of paper. Finally catching up with some of my earliest ideas for the project.
12 JULY
This afternoon I have been walking in Littleworth Common sorting out where the work on Saturday is going to take place exactly. It is supposed to be dry then but today the mosquitoes were out in force and I worry that we will get eaten alive at the weekend. However it helped to sort out in my mind where we will be and to a certain extent what we will be doing. I’ve got to put up some more notices before Saturday directing people to a meeting place. I want to concentrate on directly forming paper by casting it onto the ground but I am also aiming to carry out some of my original proposals; weather permitting.
6 JULY
I am working at St George’s Chuch today. After all the educational outreach I am really looking forward to just carrying out some of my work which after all is what it is supposed to be about! The weather is making me have to reconsider some of the work I had proposed. Rather than thinking that there will be a time when I can trace lacy, meandering, hovering marks across the landscape I am going to have to face up to the fact that mud and water and damage / change will have to be part of the work. Which luckily enough I am excited by. However I have a feeling of responsibility to my local funders who probably still have an image of the work that doesn’t encompass mud pies!
25TH JUNE
The paper made by children at ECS was dry today and and so I was able to put it all together to see if it had done as we intended. The plan was to make individual colourful elements which would go together to make one large piece of work.
19TH JUNE
Today was the first of two workshops with Year 6 students from Esher Church School. We looked at the work of artists and makers for inspiration and also some of my work this year and then everyone had a go themselves. I was aiming that everyone should understand the basic principles of papermaking but could also enjoy playing with colour and the materials. A good amount of discussion and investigation followed. The second session is on Thursday.
15TH JUNE
On the 15th there were two papermaking workshops which went very well. it was a very pleasant day. I have met so many lovely people through this project. In each workshop we looked at basic papermaking techniques and then made some pages for a book I am making with the help of local people. Then people experimentied with embossing and casting freeform sheets of paper. There were some lovely pieces of work. I am aiming to run some more classes in the next few weeks because these were so oversubscribed.
13TH JUNE
The exhibiion has been up for a while and has been well visited in that time. There are also a number of workshops associated with the exhibition. Today I went to Walton to work with the Wednesday art group at Elmbridge Community Link. This is an organisation supporting adults with learning difficulties in the community. This was a great afternoon. I was made to feel very welcome and the group made full use of their time making some pages for a book and also making some fabulous colourful pieces. Everyone (including me) had a good time. Later their work came to the exhibition temporarily (below).
7TH JUNE
The private view went well. Lots of people and lots of interest in the project. The remaining places on the papermaking day on June 15th were booked and now there is a reserve list. So I am organizing a day in September. The event was useful to me as it made me stand back and see what I had done so far. Often it is difficult while you are working to see how it is going. People were very encouraging and it was lovely to see the the building full of life and activity, which I suppose is part of the remit of the residency. I printed out my blog from the project website and made a timeline of it to show the development of work and ideas (not necessarily in that order!). One of my aims in embarking on this project was to open up this process and move the emphasis from the end result.
4TH JUNE
What an incredibly busy week it has been! I feel as if I havent had time to draw breath let alone write anything. The trouble with doing a project like this is that as well as ‘being’ the artist you are also everything else as well. I am learning so much about the whole process but sometimes I just long to be able to get on with the main core work. However if I had had the choice I would have got someone else to do things like the education work and I would really have lost out on a valuable and uplifting experience. It does make putting up an exhibition difficult though. An exhibition of a project like Papertrails which has a fairly large outreach and community aspect is incomplete without reflecting that work. I have sometimes envied other bloggers who are engaged on projects where they can focus on one aspect and develop it thoroughly wheras I sometimes feel as if I am being pulled in all directions. But when I look at the whole project rather than just my ‘work’ I feel rather differently. In the first three months of Papertrails I worked with 355 people and had over 125 visitors to my studio. So those elements have to be reflected in the exhibition as well as what might be more narrowly described as my ‘work’.
25TH MAY
Invitations for the private view of the ‘Work in Progress’ exhibition at St George’s on 7th June are on their way out. When I decided to put this event into the calendar some time last autumn I had no idea of course that this was going to be bung right in the middle of a period of work and therefore at a point when one could do without a hiatus but it will also be useful to take stock and assess things. I think I could do a lifetime of work here in this situation and one of the hardest things is deciding which avenues to follow and which are siren voices luring me off course.
13TH MAY
Today we went on a walk to research routes for the Story Trail in August. The walk was part of the Elmbridge Borough Coucil ‘Healthy Walks’ and led by volunteers. As it was a rainy Sunday there weren’t many on our trip, only six but it was a pleasant walk through exuberantly lush Surrey woodland. Part of the walk went to the Ledges which is one of the remnants of ancient woodland leading down to the River Mole. There is nowhere on the commons where you are out of earshot of traffic. It makes the green spaces seem doubly valuable.
10TH MAY
On Thursday I am going over to Woking to Surrey County Arts to stuff envelopes. They are helping me by letting me send out some of my flyers in one of their mailouts. So ‘Thank-you!’ Caroline. On Friday and Saturday there are open days at St George’s Church and some drop-in papermaking workshops. So I am hoping for visitors.
8TH MAY
This month so far has been filled with organizing materials for work out in the landscape. My days at St George’s have been a valuable countebalance to that and I have made some work which is based on the specific light and atmosphere of the church . Recently I went out to find more clay and sand samples on the commons to complete some paper pieces (‘The Short Walk’ series).
This is near Black Pond.
MONDAY 23RD APRIL
Working at St George’s Church today was very calming and uplifting. I find it an extremely positive place to be. There were lots of people passing through. I am finishing off some work based on shadows. And just enjoying the process of making.
WEDNESDAY 18TH APRIL
A beautiful day. Everything has grown so much since last week. I was in Arbrook Woods today looking at things and planning work. I also took lots of photographs. The colours are so intense in the Spring sunlight.
WEDNESDAY 4TH APRIL
On Wednesday I worked with Simon and Hamish, countryside officers, on a childrens activity day. We made some paper and went out pond dipping and then came back to work on some sculptures and bind their paper sheets together to make a book. It was a very full day. It seemed slightly tangental to the project despite involving papermaking I suppose because there was little time to think about why we were doing what we were doing. Note to self for next time! However, the children had a good time and we all learnt a lot. I now know a great deal more about mini-beasts!
TUESDAY 4TH APRIL
I’m catching up with the events of the last few days at the moment. The schools exhibition is up and is being visited by proud children bringing parents and grandparents and reasonably large numbers of other people. I am working on a children’s trail through the woodland at West End with Simon and Hamish on Wednesday and needing some inspiration went out there again on Saturday where we photographed ‘the perfect tree’ amongst other things.
Today I ran a papermaking workshop for a lovely group of ladies. Although we got slightly sidetracked by the arrival of tea and biscuits it reminded me of what I am enjoying about this project which is the opportunity to meet all sorts of people. The community aspect is important. The news about the cuts to Grants for the Arts made me reflect on my luck at having gained one but also made me think about all the people who are having a day out or learning something or feeling a sense of acheivement because of this grant. I hope the people who make these decisions about funding realise that art isn’t just about new buildings or blockbuster shows it’s also about small things that may change people’s ideas about things.
THURSDAY 29TH MARCH
Today I went to Brighton for an a-n magazine organized discussion. It was interesting to meet other artists involved in so many different projects on so many different scales. It was noticable that many of the projects they were involved in were ones which had been organised or initiated by artists. On my return I put the finishing touches to the exhibition of work by schoochildren. I have been so impressed by their work. Its lovely to see it in the church.
WEDNESDAY 28TH MARCH
Started on some new work today out in the woods that I have been planning for a while but have just not had the opportunity to actually put into practice. It was wonderful to make a start. When I am planning work I think about it for a long while. make endless drawings and notes but try not to look directly at it as if the idea is going to run away if it notices I am watching.
This month has been very busy. I have been working at primary schools across the borough introducing them to some of the ideas underlying my project. It has occasionally been frustrating not being able to carry out work that I have been planning but I have also found it illuminating. Its also very good to be with people who are purely enjoying the act of making.
TUESDAY 20TH MARCH
Today was very cold. I was working at Cardinal Newman School on an Art / Environmental day with Simon James, the Elmbridge Countryside Liaison Officer. Plans for the day had to be slightly altered to allow for the fact that it was too cold to be outside for long so drawings were very perfunctory. The clipboards were away on a trip with another group of children and the first group came out without pencils anyway! However, we managed and the children seemed interested in the ideas they were introduced to. One of the teachers said that it was interesting for him to see that some children who usually did not collaborate could be seen working together and pooling ideas.
MONDAY 19TH MARCH
Out on the walk through Arbrook Woods this morning with Judith and Bridget. It was good to be outside. We went on one of their usual routes and they found things to represent their walk which I aim to make casts of and then return to the places they were found. I realise that in future I have to be stricter about the size of these ‘samples’ as we cart around a heavy bag of sticks! However it is very interesting just being a passive observer. Bridget and Judith pointed out all sorts of shapes and textures that I haven’t noticed.
SATURDAY 17TH MARCH
In some indefinable way this week has been extremely busy. Yet I can’t work out what I have been so busy doing. I suppose it’s one of those periods when you do a little of many things rather a great deal of one thing. So I have been having meetings, researching things, making maquettes, having ideas, moving work, making paper, staining it, trying to remember the bookbinding knot I was using before Art Week and catching up with paperwork (the other kind of paperwork!). Looking at that list makes me feel better althogh I still have a feeling of dissatisfaction. I really want to spend some time on a peice of work and concentrate on it rather than having to flit from one thing to another.
On Monday I am going out on a walk with some friends who walk their dogs on the commons everyday. I have asked if they can follow their usual route through the woodland and pick up eight things from along the way (or make note of eight textures or sounds) to produce the first bit in a fairly large peice of work ‘sampling’ people’s experience of the commons. I want to ask all sorts of different groups to participate. If you are reading this and are from Elmbridge and want to participate, get in touch via this website.
TUESDAY 13TH MARCH
I went to London this morning to meet Kevin Graal who I am hoping to involve in the project. Kevin is a storyteller. One of my starting points for Papertrails was not just the everyday reality of the actual landscape however beautiful that is but the landscape of the imagination.’The woods’ from stories, where the journey into them can be the first step on a quest and you will never be sure what you will find.
The forest that the children made at Hurst Park school last week in response to Papertrails reminded me of these stories and made me even more interested in involving Kevin.
FRIDAY 9TH MARCH
The end of Art Week and it has been a really positive experience for me being artist in residence at Hurst Park.
After working with Year 1 in the morning we brought all the work through into the Hall to show everyone what we have been doing all week. My original aim when I discussed this week with Claire and the other teachers last year was to help everyone make something they could feel proud of and which could be part of a collaborative peice of group work. Each child could make a plant or tree, together we would make a jungle. I have to say that my hopes and expectations of the outcomes have been completely surpassed. As I said to the children when they asked me if I was the artist ‘Yes, but you are the artist too.’
I have so many photos of the work that I could have put here. The children have all done so well. It has been great working with them. One class has written poems about their sculptures and everyone has taken pride in their creations.
THURSDAY 8TH MARCH
The last couple of days have been good. It’s been a very happy experience being welcomed into the school. All the children have made things that they should feel proud of and have responded well and with interest to the project, overcoming time limitations and occasional difficulties with the materials and structures that they have chosen. There have been lots of comments showing that they have responded to the ideas and images shown to them as well as to the opportunity of making something. Two comments that I will treasure are one from a teacher who remarked how good it was for her to see the children each moving from a small planning sketch to a finished peice of work often bigger than themselves; the other from a child, ‘The best day ever!’
TUESDAY 6TH MARCH
Nursery all day today. Its lovely to work with children this age because they havent yet decided that they ‘can’t’ do art. They just love colour and glueing things together!
MONDAY 5TH MARCH
Hurst Park Primary School, the first day of Art Week. What a lovely group of children! Today I worked with Reception and Year 2 who with much excitement and enthusiasm made plant and tree inspired forms to create the start of a jungle. Tomorrow Nursery.
FRIDAY 2ND MARCH
Today I delivered some of the materials and equipment over to Hurst Park Primary School ready for Art Week. I wasn’t able to be at St George’s Church as my son was ill but Noel came over to show me some bookbinding techniques. I settled on a very simple one which I thought worked well with the paper I have stained. It works well with plain white sheets too.
TUESDAY 27TH FEBRUARY
Today I am preparing for next week’s work at a school. I like to get the organisation and logistics very well organised so that I can concentrate on the creative side of things when it comes to it. Yesterday when I met the staff again to discuss arrangements for the week we looked at images to use as starting points, things like leaves and seed pods to examine structure.
For the rest of the day I am going to work on papermaking. I am making a ‘book’ over the course of the year. One page for each day of the residency and I need to prepare some more paper. On Friday a friend, Noel is coming over to the studio at St George’s Church to show me some bookbinding techniques. A skill I never thought I would need. This year I seem to be learning new skills every week!
MONDAY 26TH FEBRUARY
This afternoon I am visiting Hurst Park School who are basing their art week on the Papertrails project. I am looking forward to the week but we need to sort out some of the practical, organisational side of the art week. Claire Barwell, the visual arts co-ordinator has seen quite a lot of my work but the other teachers will need to be shown a little more about the project.
SATURDAY 24TH FEBRUARY
The first Open Day. This was a lovely day. Lots of visitors and so many interested and positive comments. Many people have asked for papermaking workshops and have declared an interest in returning during the year to see how the project proceeds. Typical comment: ‘Lovely to see something like this happening in Elmbridge.’
THURSDAY 22ND FEBRUARY
The Official Launch event went well with lots of interest and enthusiasm. It was good to see the church full of people from the Deputy Mayor Cillr Dane, the Vicar William Albury, Teachers from Hurst Park School and many others including artists, friends of St George’s Church, curators, Trustees from R C Sherriff, John Vigar from The Churches Conservation Trust, Alison Clarke, the Visual Arts Officer for Surrey and all those who have been involved from the begining and have given such good advice. Special thanks to Loretta Howells, Maggs Latter and Veronica King.
WEDNESDAY 14 TH FEBRUARY
Off to Coronation Rec to look at a site for school Art / Environment Day with Simon James. At first there seems to be nothing ‘natural’ about the place just football pitches. It’s cold and wet and very open. Then looking closer there are some trees there like spilt ink. Twisty wonderful shapes. The bark is patterned and textured with lichen.
TUESDAY 13TH FEBRUARY
Over the last couple of days I have been collecting samples of colour from the commons. I am fascinated by the different colours of the soil. I have been using it to make pigment. My studio is full of little pots of (literally) earth colours from Arbrook Woods, Longy Down, a meandering walk to Five Ways and on to Black Pond.
WEDNESDAY 7TH FEBRUARY
I am going to spend the next few days on research, photography and drawing, And planning the course of work for the first couple of weeks.
TUESDAY 6TH FEBRUARY
Back at St George’s Church . It occurs to me that the area that I am working on in the commons is where I used to play. We would explore and make maps, navigating with a cheap compass, making trails and finding paths. More papermaking.
MONDAY 5TH FEBRUARY
It’s admin day today, but I have managed to sneak in some papermaking. I am making some very dark almost black paper to use in a piece of work at Black Pond.
FRIDAY 2ND FEBRUARY
Near Black Pond there is an area with dark lines of trees beyond long, pale, winter grass. The soil of the path in front of that is the same black as the trees. I want to make a piece of work here that responds to this pattern in some way. Although I had intended to make work that sat lightly and scattered drifts of hovering fragments across the landscape, I find that I am very attracted to the idea of working with the colours and textures of the soil and bark. Perhaps it’s the winter light.
I have been staining / painting paper with dust from the church. It is tiny fragments of the soft mortar that binds the stone and flint together. It’s like the essence of the building. I’m going to use this for my ‘book’ piece.
THURSDAY 1ST FEBRUARY
The first day. I went to the studio at St George’s Church. It’s a beautiful space in a beautiful building. My space looks very empty like a huge sheet of paper waiting for something to happen. My equipment and materials are arriving tomorrow but I felt it was important to come here to mark the start of the project. For the rest of the day I am making paper ready for the next few days.
Papertrails archive 