Monday 18 May 2015

growing a story .....

Another busy week in the studio and though the wall is growing and the story of 'here' expanding, it is not moving along as quickly as I hoped.

You learn such a great deal each time you make a book.  Maybe because I am primarily a 2D artist and see images in my head all the time as singles, I find it hard then to make multiples of very different images belong together.  Not sure that made sense ..... if I was just doing a series of artworks which spoke about our land I would be finding this way more easy than working it as a book - even though it will be an unbound book.  Within the book no one image can completely dominate the other and there needs to be a thread which ties the book together.  I am using numerous techniques as well which makes this quite a difficult story to tell but I do hope in the end the tale has a sense of belonging.  For most of course the underlying story will be completely obscure, but for those who are interested and ask me to lead them through the story, I will happily do so.

This first image is the one that was heading for the bin ... and the reason for that was twofold.  Firstly as an image it drowned all the other work and secondly, there was too much information in the one 'page'.  One of the things I love about artists' book work is the slow reveal, the fragments of stories.  Not reading the ending before one has passed through all the pages ... and even then wondering if it has finished, or if indeed you need to read the book again to find more of the story.

One tiny corner of our property.
A for avocado tree and all the circles are there because our next door neighbour has built his garden out of old tyres.


The mountain line over our site plan places us up here near the Glass House Mountains - anchors our land.
I still have a little more to add on this image.

My story board.

I want to bring back my magpie but am searching for the right way to work into the negative space - marks are needed!



Lots of work on the go ...

And another layer on the wall.

A few things I brought here from my parents home were these pots - four incredibly heavy rusted/metal looking pots that were used for pouring molten metal into shapes ..... can't think of their name for the moment.  One is over a metre tall.  They will be sitting at the middle level of our land as an installation - near the picnic shed.

Still working on the top layer here - over our house and shed.  



Finding ways to show all our trees and boulders.  

In a very strange way my book reminds me of 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' though mine is more like 'the contemporary markings of a bush block dweller'!

Still needing lots more images - rope, some of the bush orchids, more steps perhaps and certainly crows, maybe even their nest.  I gave myself May to break the back of this work and I think that will happen but it certainly will not be near completion.  Over the next few months I will be able to refine images and add others.  Once I have an overgrown storyboard, I will ask Fiona to help me decide how this books reads best.

17 comments:

  1. The vessels are crucibles I think.
    So interesting to follow your thoughts and work.
    Diane. x

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    1. Thanks Diane. I think I am going to have to write a 'blurb' about this piece as no one but me will know what is going on!
      That is the word I was looking for - thank you. Crucibles. The tallest is about a metre, and narrow and all four are full of such character. Mum had plants in them. I am using them as an installation as I use these vessel hopes in so much of my work. They represent my 'women'.

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    1. Thank you for coming by and looking at my blog - and for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment.

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  3. So many delicious images and marks to play with. I love the underlying energy and processes!

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    1. Thanks Jack. I do hope the underlying energy is what holds this piece together in the end as there are so many different threads and processes. Not the normal way for me to make a book.

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  4. such an intriguing layering of thoughts and process

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    1. Thanks Mo. As I said to Diane in an earlier comment - I think I am going to have to explain this one ..... or people will just walk by.

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  5. Wow - the complexity of these inter-woven images is so fascinating...

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    1. Thanks Sharmon - I hope you are right. I hope that when this is up and 'showing' people will be fascinated enough to want to pause and look, and wonder what I am trying to say or reveal.

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  6. Hi SB - a whole lot of thinking and working going on over your way; and as SD says a lot of layers and complexity. Go well. B

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    1. Yes indeed - lots of thinking about what to put in, what to leave out. At the end of the day there will be way too many images and from them I will choose my storyline.

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  7. The process unfolding is such an amazing thing isn't it? I will be honoured to look at your storyboard and the books as it unveils itself...

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    1. The unfolding is so exciting - I love the idea of bending with the story and not being too rigid. Recognising when things are working and when they are not ..... sure is a process. Lovely thing is that Steve came home from his trip and was really able to give the the beinnings of the idea of how to present the work and make it look professional and yet still have that storylike feel. Exciting. Have shelved the project for a while. x

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  8. this working has many layers of interest for me. of course yours is exactly your "country diary" but you've put me to thinking about this concept is a richer way. thank you, and do keep pushing the images. you are really dancing.

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  9. Thank you for taking time to comment Velma - I regard your comments highly, this one especially. I thank you for your seeing what I am trying to reach and encouraging me to keep pushing - because that is what it is at the moment. I don't want a series of pretty images to tell my story - but somehow have had to find a way to tell the same story in the manner in which I currently work! Twenty years ago I may have indeed made something more resembling the 'Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' - nothing near as large or enigmatic in imagery. I will keep pushing .... am now quite excited as I am closer to an understanding of how I will present the book at the exhibition.

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  10. What richness in all you have gathered for this book so far, Susan! I would love to hear the full "story" once this piece is finished, yet I think I would also be content to simply enjoy the pages on their own. I just love the layering, and the intense beauty that the layers create through the marks, from the mountain line to the pots, the trees, the boulders and the rest. It's wonderful to read your comments on the process and to see the "materials" you are using to grow your story...

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I appreciate your comments - thank you!