New work

Although I have not been writing about it here, between visits to Wicken Fen I have been working away on a new group of work.  It is a continuation of last year’s “Between the Lines” series in that it repeats the imagery and themes, but is sufficiently different that I have given it its own title, “A Marginal Space”. 

There were several aspects of “Between the Lines” that I wanted to develop further so, over several days in January and early February, I filled a sketchbook with collage experiments.  Working with paper and on a small scale meant that I could work fast and try out lots of different ideas without getting too precious or hung up on any one of them.  And to help me think differently, I set a series of “rules” in opposition to my previous approach.  I found it was relatively straightforward to translate what I learned from this exercise into cloth. 

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I’ve made fourteen pieces of work in this group and spent several days recently photographing them.  I love these detail images.  They really focus attention on the marks. 

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Several pieces from this group will be exhibited at Gallery 57 in Arundel for the exhibition, Gaze, Glimpse: A look at landscape (24 June – 6 August).  This is a lovely gallery, run by Ann Symes, and I am thrilled to be exhibiting there alongside a wonderful group of other artists.  In fact you can see a preview of the new pieces here. 

In the meantime, I also have some work in Bircham Gallery’s current Early Summer Exhibition, which is on until 24 May. 

Wicken Fen: fourth visit

I left home early in an attempt to reach the Fen by dawn.  Winter mornings, especially if there is mist or frost, can be lovely.  But this was a grey, drizzly January morning, so it probably didn’t matter that I arrived later than hoped.    

In summer the fen felt closed-in, opaque and overwhelmingly green.  You couldn’t see past the lush vegetation.  Now, it feels as though the landscape has expanded and opened out.  I can see through bare twigs, reeds and trees.  Areas of open water that had been totally obscured by the reed beds, reflect light even on a grey morning.  The colours are winter greys accented by acid green or yellow (lichen, moss), pale blue (water, sky) and warm golds or ochres, where the sun catches the leaves. 

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This time Sally and I explored the southern part of the reserve to the edge of Burwell Fen.  Winter crops were pushing through adjacent fields – undulating, dotted lines of emerald green against indigo-black soil.

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In places, vine-like plants have twisted and wound themselves together to create dense, matted coverings over fences at the edge of the paths.  A little surreal.  I particularly liked the contrast with the reeds behind. 

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We remain interested in the hides and found two new ones to explore.  Once again I was interested in the way reflections in the windows disrupt or overlay the view.  Taking photographs through rain-spattered glass resulted in some impressionistic images too.

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But the main thing that excited me on this visit were the reflections in the water.   These varied according to the light, the water quality and any disruption in the surface.  My favourite was one ditch where some disturbance had turned the water a milky blue-green, the perfect background for the shadows and reflections cast by the willows and linear marks of the reeds growing out of the water and fallen branches. 

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In the afternoon the sun emerged and turned the surface of Wicken Lode silver.  Trees and reeds on the opposite bank were reflected up side down while reeds in the foreground cut across these images.  Monochromatic, linear images. Positive and negative space. 

There is something about these images cast on the surface of the water but not being part of the water.  The reflection can be so distinct but is essentially unreal, insubstantial, ephemeral.  They are an indirect way of looking at the original.  And a reversal or distortion of what's there.  Some are so clear that my photograph could be taken for the original.  But I like those where there is just enough disruption to make you question what you see.  

Wicken Fen: third visit

Sally and I made another visit to Wicken Fen earlier this week on what turned out to be an uncomfortably hot day. There is little natural shade, there was virtually no breeze and, although the hides provided some shelter, as well as being hot they were also stuffy!  Not the most comfortable conditions for our third research visit, but we did our best and stayed until evening, drawing and taking photographs.  By 7pm the light was glorious and golden … and the heat was finally relenting. 

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The Fen is still overwhelmingly green.  The reeds and sedge have grown up above our heads in places so you cannot see over but are left to peer through.  The leaves on the willow, alder, birch and hawthorn look dull and tired.   To me, all this foliage is a barrier – it conceals the underlying structure and I find it rather uninteresting.  I am impatient to see the leaves off the trees and all the greys and browns of late autumn and winter.  But greenness is so characteristic of this place that I may need to make peace with it and see what I can do. 

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I don’t think I wrote about our second visit, but every time we’ve been so far, Sally and I seem to be drawn to the hides.   We have been photographing through the holes in the walls and the slit windows.   One hide has opaque plastic windows and partly conceals the view in a way that interests us.  Other visitors were clearly bemused to find us kneeling on the floor pointing a camera at a hole in the wall or drawing what we could see through a closed window! 

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I am interested in how the hides cause you to see the Fen in sections or fragments.  Pursuing this idea I took a small mirror with me this time, propped it against the window and started photographing the reflection.   What really interested me though was the juxtaposition of the reflection and the view through the window – and in some cases a secondary reflection in the window too.  The result is a combination of landscape fragments that is definitely something to explore further.   

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