sofa as studio

slow, quiet note no.63

Since coming home from Cornwall, I’ve been thinking about where, how and when I make work.

last night’s sofa stitching

I made a pretty comprehensive list of ‘what i’m going to do now I’m home’ in last week’s post and am making shorter than hoped for strides.

I can confirm that I’ve cleared my desk and gathered together the latest batch of works in progress. Having nearly finished pieces to hand is a good strategy for me and last year led to me submitting more work for exhibition and to being able to participate in our local arts trail. I’m hoping the same strategy works again.

I have made time to work (by which I mean stitch, write, teach or plan classes) every day this week. I have not, as yet, been able to block out whole mornings or a regular time of day to focus on making without distraction. I am not sure if this is a problem or not.

I tend to stitch most evenings, usually on the sofa, after dinner. This may not be the most efficient way to work. It probably isn’t great for my eyesight but I feel comfortable stitching whilst watching (or not) whatever’s on the telly. It is a comfortable way of working for me and lends itself to simpler, repetitive stitching especially edging, binding and quilting. It’s also a good way of ensuring I make or do something every day even if I’ve been out and about or occupied with other things.

There has been a change of direction (if not location) this week as I’ve continued the lean into books after the residential in Cornwall. Instead of needle and thread, I’ve been working with pens, pencils and markers and on a charity shop copy of ‘The Aesthetic Adventure’ by art-historian William Gaunt.

Having seen a couple of examples of altered books at the residential, I wanted to source an old but new-to-me book to work on. It needed to be something that I hadn’t read or picked up in the past because I was interested in the subject or the author. It also needed to be something that I was happy to draw and write on and the pages needed to be strong enough to take paint as well as marker pens, possibly collage materials and glue. I got lucky, initially attracted by the title of the book.

For the princely sum of one whole pound, I now have 218 densely printed, sturdyish pages to work with. I’ve purposefully started in the middle of the book to avoid getting too attached to the topic and theme of each chapter and have begun picking out words and phrases, using markers to block out the rest of the text.

I don’t have a particular purpose or objective in mind for this but I’ve learned along the way that I am making blackout poetry, a genre popularised by Austin Kleon in his book ‘Newspaper Blackout’ around fifteen years ago and a kind of ‘found poetry’ - poems constructed from elements of other poems, writing or imagery.

The link to my stitch practice felt a little tenuous to begin with but whilst circling and layering text, it became clear that there is a clear connection, especially when I look at the piece I recently submitted for an exhibition being organised by Jill Denton and artist/makers associated with Curtains to Couture.

word association

I’ll write more about the exhibition and other artists involved sometime in April but I can also see a clear connection with the stitched scrolls I’ve been compiling and which are becoming a sketchbook practice incorporating handwriting, drawings and stitched marks.

What I’ve learned this week and whilst packing (and unpacking) for the residential is that I need far less than I think I do to make and stitch and also I can work pretty much anywhere. My version of a studio expands and contracts depending on what I am working on. It can fill a room, spread out across a desk or kitchen table, it can be contained within an embroidery hoop or a page or be condensed into a folder or a bag.

And now I’m writing about my own ways of working, I remember seeing ‘A Century of the Artist Studio: 1920-2020’ at Whitechapel Gallery a few years ago. I must go back through the cameral roll and find any notes I took, perhaps for a future post…

I leave you this week with a recommendation to see Kith and Kin at the American Museum in Bath which I visited this week with my very good friend (and mending-guru) Tricia.

I am never quite sure how much to share after museum or gallery visits. I think it must be tricky for venues - I imagine there is a precarious balance between promoting an exhibition by encouraging visitors to post images and share their enthusiasm for the show and then so many images becoming available that people can almost ‘visit’ without leaving their armchair.

Personally, as with films, I prefer to see exhibitions (geography permitting) in-person and without too much prior information. I also appreciate the opportunity we now have to see online gallery views, artists talks and films from around the world at the touch of a screen. I took an online tour here a couple of weeks ago and shared some links to artists and exhibitions I’ve listened to and enjoyed from afar. If you have any recommendations, please share.

You can hop over to my Instagram if you’d like to see a few close up images and detail from some of the incredible quilts that have been brought to Bath with support from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation and Alison Jaques gallery.

The show runs until 21st June and is a wonderfully curated celebration of colour, connection, resourcefulness and absolute quilt-genius from the women artists of Gees’ Bend, Alabama. There are a couple of talks programmed alongside the show including one by the filmmaker, Maris Curran who made ‘While I Yet Live’ which is being screened alongside the exhibition. I may go back for a second visit.

Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s slow, quiet note and welcome to those of you who have followed or subscribed recently - it’s lovely to meet you.

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Have a great week!

Janice x