Artists take their inspiration from many things; their surroundings, music, emotions, words…at the moment my inspiration seems to have deserted me…hopefully just temporarily…(not sure if this is just the ‘down’ after being on a high with the successes of the Exploring Place exhibition at Blue Owl Art..)
I have taken to mindlessly splashing ink and watercolour around in the hope that something will click…
….but I have to admit that although sometimes something pleasing appears on the paper, for the most part it is just that, mindless splashing…..
I am really looking forward to attending Caroline Chappell’s Abstracted Landscape course – hopefully a fresh take on my efforts and being with other like-minded people will give me a kick-start….
On the list of equipment is a request to bring along any favourite texts or poetry to do with the landscape….Now anyone who is kind enough to read this blog will know that I love words…and whilst my artistic efforts have me crying in my coffee so to speak, researching and finding books, text, poems and words is one thing that is giving me pleasure….
I love The Peak District in Derbyshire and have based several of my works on the area…these two are based on the Dark Peak..
…and while researching I came across the Companion Stones Project…..a project created by Arts in the Peak, the Peak District National Park Authority and 18 poets and artists. The project is a contemporary response to the Guide Stoops of the Derbyshire moorland – the stoops were set up 300 yrs ago to guide travellers across the moorlands. Twelve modern stoops have been placed in the Park with inscriptions that encourage a dialogue between artist and audience, past and present… For all the details of the project click on the link above…
James Caruth is one of the poets who has contributed to this project; the following excerpt from his poem particularly resonates with me…
‘the old paths lost now
in the valley’s folds,
the fraught sky tethered to a stone.
This place is neither here nor there,
but set your hand on its gritty heart,
feel the earth’s cold pulse…’
Reading poetry is something I have grown to appreciate, but better than reading is hearing poetry being read, best of all being read by the author…and here on Soundcloud you can hear Caruth reading a selection of his work…
The project sounds really interesting; something that merits further investigation, and I wonder if this, along with the painting course, is what I need to fire up my imagination…
For now I will keep splashing around….
(above based on The Salt Cellar rock formation, Derwent Edge…)
Carolyn J Roberts 