I
DREAM of living in the countryside - OK, in reality I do live at the edge of
the countryside but as it’s on the fringe it seems that it's always under
pressure so for me it never has that idyllic sense of timelessness
that goes
with
my
notion of countryside. But in my dream this morning the sprawling city of Wakefield
was transformed back into a small market town something like
Holt in Norfolk or Cockermouth in Cumbria and my route home from an art workshop
at the cathedral wasn’t via the
wide Calder Valley with its brand new office blocks and car showrooms but
through a quiet moorland valley like Borrowdale in miniature.
Well,
I can dream but this morning we’re heading away from town to the farm
shop out in the fields at Emley and we soon find ourselves in countryside
again – pastures, small woods, stone-built farms; good walking country,
the stuff of dreams.
Fresh Start
I usually make an attempt at a fresh start for the new
year but this year has been exceptional; not only have I dusted every book
and shelf in the studio,
I’ve also sorted every last bit of paper* that has been lying
around on the desktops and pinboard for months. But I must call that it; I
mustn’t
start opening drawers, cupboards and loft hatches and trying to sort them out
too!
Fly me to the Moon
Amongst
my books I found a couple of old sketchbooks which I moved to the attic where
I'm collecting all my sketchbooks together. I drew the rocket (left),
which has obvious Heath Robinson influence, as one of props for a Christmas
production I was
designing
the scenery
for.
At that time, in the mid-1970s when I’d just left art college, I lived
in a flat where my single room
doubled as bedroom and study. I loved to have it stuffed with books and with
all sorts of bits and pieces, including a 6ft x 4ft notice-board which filled
the wall above the bed which I used to display my work in progress. I felt
I wanted to be surrounded by
all
my
projects
and interests. My den.
Now I appreciate the calm, clear uncluttered space. My
head is stuffed with so many bits and pieces that I don’t need to have
them jostling for my attention all around me
as well.
*Oh no I haven't; there's still one stubborn bit of paper on the pinboard,
a form for a free listing in an artists' directory that I need to fill in!