A Saltmarsh Collaboration
I have been drawing and visiting the Saltmarshes along the river Dart for what will be five years in December of 2025. Following the banks of the river and walking with the seasons to visually document my experiences of the passing years together with nature. The drawing of the saltmarsh entitled “Winter at Sharpham Marsh” that I made in 2021 was used in 2022 by the Jerwood Foundation as the Christmas card for the foundation.
A little over two years ago I was invited to an informal chat about what would become the embryonic stages of the saltmarsh project. Later I was asked if a drawing I had made could be used by the project a work in charcoal named Syrinx. I became a little ensconced with this project spending many hours watching , drawing , listening and feeling as the sensations ebbed and flowed. The little band of artists was of six interdisciplinary artists all with our own feelings about the saltmarshes. We were balanced by a great swathe of scientists the combination of both science and arts generated a unique conduit by a wider audience could be informed of this liminal space..the saltmarsh.
Key to my journey has been all the sensations that are involved in my unique process of creativity. The use of found site specific pigments, making “tools” from what is around me is one strand, one filament of what is involved.The sounds and feel of the wet earth or walking on frosted ground, scratching drawing materials across a surface play into my mind. This repertoire is continually expanded as I experiment with new materials or try different techniques to describe what is before me, around me.
To give one example; in imagining the shapes and patterns of the saltmarshes on river Dart (having seen some drone footage) I grabbed a roll of canvas from the studio. The torn threads from the tray sized canvas rectangles that I made were put to one side. I laid the canvas flat with the rivulets of the torn canvas to mirror the rivers ingressions into the saltmarshes. I then stippled gesso onto the canvas and allowed them to dry before removing my “rivulets”. The dried canvases could then be stitched with embroidery thread. It was when stitching, that the feel and sounds emerged. The needle resisted where the dried gesso laid but gave far less of a fight where it had not reached (the threads had prevented it).The sounds and feelings of the stitching had me utterly absorbed.
If you have a project or an idea that you might like to collaborate on then I would very much welcome a discussion and see where it all goes.