I have been invited to exhibit at Heartwood this year. My theme is visualising touch. I will explore and record a variety of surfaces within Heartwood using rubbings, photographs and words. This information will be used to create a series of art textiles to be displayed on site.
Day 1. Arrived at 2.30 Fanny answered the door with a cup of tea in her hand. Armed with our mugs we set off to visit my exhibition site, the tennis court fence, and then had a short excursion into the wood. Fanny took off running, trying to avoid the short sharp shower of rain.
I started to record the surfaces of Heartwood by making a series of rubbings. Each rubbing was accompanied by a few descriptive words. I became aware of different surfaces around me, the bark on the trees, pine needles caught in cobwebs, the metal truck and its rubber tyres, flaking paint on a post and the grass...
Day 2. Friday the 13th. I continued to take rubbings making my way into the old wood. It was windy with low black clouds appearing through the branches. Most of the rain missed me. Todays rubbings included a gate, a wire fence, more trees, and man hole covers.
As the day progressed I felt that the words written on the bottom of each sheet of paper were becoming more important than the rubbing itself.
Progress of artwork. I am creating a series of textile squares stitched with words taken from my rubbings of Heartwood. The first two stitched squares are hanging on my washing line to check that they will withstand all the elements that they may have to endure during the exhibition.
