I am making some things and trying things out, but at the moment the making seems inconsequential, exploratory. I am happy with a couple of things, unhappy with other avenues that have now been dismissed. All informative, but nonetheless dismissed.

I recognise this period as reflective, and in times gone by I might have worried, but these days I’m happy to be slowed down, and contemplative. 

The thrust of my work at the moment seems to be more about words: reading, writing, organising my thoughts. I never seem to be able to finish one book before I start the next. So I end up with a pile that I am dipping in and out of. The advantage of this is that I get a certain amount of cross-pollination between ideas. It is hard to keep track, so as I come across things in each book, I write them on a large bit of paper, with different coloured pens, so that I can draw those connections together. I think at some point I will write something essay-like, or perhaps even sermon-like, and deliver the ideas to an audience… from a pulpit?

I’m also preparing for a three-day songwriting visit with Michael Clarke in Devon. (He is the one who co-wrote and co-produced Drawing Songs with me.) I’ve written before about the way we write together, so I’ll not go into it again. Suffice it to say say it’s a very satisfactory creative experience for both of us, and I have every confidence we will come up with some gems. Other than my Drawing Songs project we haven’t recorded or published anything else together, but we plan to in some way or another. I just want to get the work into shape, and put it out into the world.

Meanwhile, I have submitted two pieces of twig-related work to the RBSA Members Annual Exhibition… but I am in two minds as to whether it is the right place for it, in a very mixed group show where I have no control over how it is shown. I feel certain loyalties to some individuals, but I am torn… there have been a series of unfortunate events that have made me question my membership. Mulling it over constantly.

It’s hard to find a group, already established, that I feel completely allied to. Maybe I un-join everything and be my own club? Much of this is to do with the way I work, I am sure. I can’t be pinned to one media, one method. I work with drawing, textiles, installation, music, sound, performance… I work alone, but also in collaboration. I choose and use whichever suits my message at the time of making. It is a matter of voice, vocabulary, language and audience. I know I am not the only artist to work in such an eclectic fashion, but it does make it difficult to find my people. I always start off enthusiastically participating but then always end up disappointed, and occasionally angry!

So my studio looks a mess. I have twigs, paintings, word collages, fabric, textile vessels and wooden boxes everywhere. When I go in I never know what I’m going to pick up to work with. But I think for most of November it will be words, songwriting, singing…

Hopefully I will have something to share soon!