Created in its wake

We've been here before

mixed media on paper

29.7 x 42 cm (11.69 x 16.54 in)

£125

The sun has been out but it has been bitterly cold. The blue sky and the brightness have been a welcome change. It's even staying light well after 4pm. Spring is around the corner (a long way around the corner, but around the corner just the same).

Memory Serves

mixed media on paper

29.7 x 42 cm (11.69 x 16.54 in)

£125

I took two walks to post three of my works on paper to their new homes in the States and to Glasgow. 

Monday: Post office walk number 1

I enjoyed the sun and even saw my first snowdrops! I gasped out loud when they caught my eye like a long-lost friend, a sort of "what are you doing here!" moment. That pretty much sums me up - I am constantly amazed by the world and nature's beauty. It truly brings me such comfort and joy. Listening to music and walking in nature feed into everything else I do.

Wednesday: Post office walk number 2

It was crisp and cold out, but no snow. I visited an old graveyard on the way home. One of my favourite things to do. I love the old stones covered in lichen. Reading the names, running my hand over the symbols - angels, skulls, and masonic imagery. Always astonished by the dates from so long ago. I walk over the frozen grass looking at the skeleton trees of winter, breathing it all in.

Sequence of webs #3

mixed media on paper

29.7 x 42 cm (11.69 x 16.54 in)

£125

I would like to walk to the post office again soon. Five works on paper remain. I am enjoying featuring specific works during the month. This will continue, it helps me focus and not get too overwhelmed. I have created a lot of work over my lifetime and during these past 9 plus years in Scotland. Not only have I created it, I have managed it - stored it, moved it, packed it, documented it, and kept up with it. Every time I create something, it feels like a billion-step process is created in its wake. I am becoming more discerning that what I create must warrant all the steps and all the expense and energy.

I am also thinking about what I want and need to say, as well as, how to say it in my future work. This all takes time, so it's a good thing it's still winter. While I ponder it all, I will keep featuring specific bodies of work from my studio. Let me know if you have any questions about these works on paper.

Rebuilding. Sketches for a new tomorrow #3

mixed media on paper

29.7 x 42 cm (11.69 x 16.54 in)

£125

Sequence of webs #1

mixed media on paper

29.7 x 42 cm (11.69 x 16.54 in)

£125

In other news, a bit of culture I've enjoyed: 

Films: 

Saltburn 

The Holdovers

Television: 

True Love (6-part series on Channel 4)

Music: 

Pictish Trail 

Books: 

Daily Rituals: Women at Work by Mason Currey 

(just picked this up yesterday - excited to read it)

Thanks for popping by the Studio Blog. I hope you are well, happy, and inspired and if not, tomorrow is another day. Thank you for being here. Keep fighting.

I am mad as hell

I just can't do the same old song and dance while women's bodies are being controlled and stripped of rights in the United States. Fuck the people in power and those that think this has anything to do with the sanctity of human life. What a world...

So, here are some links:

"Roe v. Wade has been overturned. In these states, abortion access will no longer be accessible."

From Elizabeth Warren: "What Comes Next After Roe: In the face of this dark post-Roe reality, I have three words: Hold onto hope. Do not give in to despair. Here’s how I’m staying in the fight"
Elizabeth Warren Video Link

From the ACLU: "See you in the streets"

Find a rally near you at https://map.wewontgoback.com

Donate if you are able

I don't have much but I give what I can - we have to fight like hell and keep fighting.

Besides supporting pro-choice candidates running for election, consider giving a donation that is split between all these abortion funds and advocacy groups (link below): The New Orleans Abortion Fund, Holler Health Justice, Carolina Abortion Fund, Yellowhammer Fund, Daily Kos Liberation League, Access Reproductive Care-Southeast, Missouri Abortion Fund, New Mexico Religious Coalition For Reproductive Choice, Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, West Fund, Kansas Abortion Fund, Cobalt Abortion Fund, Arkansas Abortion Support Network, Jane's Due Process and The Roe Fund.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dkabortionfunds22

And that's all I have for you this week.

Women and those who identify, please take good care of yourselves and each other - this one really hurts.

So, I leave you with solar Buddha- the only thing comforting me right now (besides knowing of the intensity, love, brilliance, and the raw power of women).

Until next week, keep fighting. x

I am a volcano

These are the first drawing or paintings I’ve done since June 12th. That's about a 3-week break. My skin felt like it was boiling from the inside out. You might say well then why didn’t you just make something? Good question. I think I stop to 1) rest and percolate. and 2) to remember how important this is for my life.

I am a volcano. I am headphones and joy division. I am charcoal and paper and unlimited cups of tea. I am a fever, I am electricity. It builds and builds and builds. I am a good woman until I am not. I'd like to run through the forest and throw rocks. I'd like to smash and kick the air. I'd like to scream from my guts until it shakes the trees. 

Instead, I'll draw. I will borrow your rock and roll smash it up energy safely from my sofa. I will screw up my face as I make the dark lines and I will break the charcoal instead. I will turn it up loud and I will disappear safely in your decades-old guitar sound and my heart will become the bass and I will go away in order to come back to myself again.

And each time it will be new, a revelation - a raw delight. I will close my eyes and shake my head and realise that no one gets to feel this but me. There is no way to make you understand so I don't even have to try to explain. What freedom. I'll step into your screams and take them as my own, I will wear your rage as a cloak and I will keep drawing.