My daughter was home for a few days during the week ......
The first thing she asked was that we head home to our hills via the beach, she wanted to get her feet in the sand and smell the salt, have that wind brush away the urban grit. We live so close to the beach and yet I am so often reluctant to head down amongst the crowds. During the week however, with the wind blowing and the sky overcast, many of the beaches along our coast are almost empty. I love those times best. Sea foam and silverlight. Tide marks. Times shared and remembered along the shore.
This is a book I made a couple of years ago - a large 60cm x 24cm book, embossed and framing some of the work I have done with shells and beach debris. For me, the process of letting go of the drawings and working with the marks has been something I have been learning, and trusting more often. The gesture, the mark ..... rather than revealing all the details.
mmmmm yummy pics
ReplyDeleteExquisite. Simply exquisite.
ReplyDeleteDid you rust those pages? If so, would you mind sharing how you did it? I know how to rust using rusty bits, but not like that...it's beautiful.
Hello Jennifer. Yes - I began rusting papers back in 1998 - lots of recipes out there on google but basically you are using caustic soda, ferrous sulphate and optionally tea! Different effects are made depending on what order to soak your papers. I tend to use rusting as a starting point and draw into it with pencil, or use ink.
DeleteDelicious images - hints of tides in and out, flotsam, jetsam, and trademarks...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful book Susan! I haven't been to the beach since we moved to the middle of the country from the coast almost seven years ago! I wholeheartedly agree with the notion of moving toward the gesture and the mark....it's hard to let go of the image and the details though. I think the communication is on a much deeper level though when the familiar signs aren't there....enjoy the journey! Have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ronnnie, Fiona and Patti. I do think there is more communication when the viewer is asked to participate more in a work - lean in and take a closer look. If an image is realised in its immediacy there is less likelihood that someone will pause to take a closer look. Guess this is why I like the intimacy of the book format so much!
ReplyDeleteI have just found your blog and I just LOVE your work.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to follow and feel inspired to keep working hard on ' getting there ' with new work I'm doing - its hard getting there isn't it ?
Diane.
Hello Diane and welcome. It is always lovely to have new visitors to my blog. I only began blogging a coupleof months ago and have found that as you look around other blogs you come across Artist's whose work draws you in and others that grab you by the throat. It is all very exciting. I have been involved in art most of my life but find that 'my' timeis now.
DeleteIt is hard getting there but I am certain it is worth the effort.
S-love the fact that P's visit not only took you to the sea but to remember how you captured your sense of it and how it is held in beauty in your book - funny how these things happen. B
ReplyDeletethanks Barry - you are right. Just being back down on the beach makes me want to work some more with that place where water meets our land surfaces - sand, rocks, river banks etc .... wherever the two collide holds an incredible fascination for me.
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