Exploration

With so little time left to make works for the Masters Show it would seem obvious that all free time should be devoted to making. However, a surprise day off mid week saw me doing the exact opposite as I set off with my companion Andrew to follow the North Esk upstream to the Rocks of Solitude.

Although the works I have made to date for this show have been influenced by my visits to the coastline I am equally inspired by other environments. At the core of all my forged concepts is my inherent need to explore, question and understand. I am a child, I know nothing, I am eager to engage, play, make discoveries and learn.

At the start of our woodland adventure we were met by several species of birds. I am embarrassed to admit that I could not ID them and concluded that I should invest in an identification book. Our second encounter was a number of large fish lazily swimming near the surface of the river. This observation led to us later researching the life cycle of the salmon. We noted grass, twigs and detritus in the branches of the trees that had been caused by recent flooding. We tried to imagine the volume of water that had consumed the landscape. My favourite engagement of the day was with a young red squirrel who darted in front of us to the end of a branch and eyeballed us intently making sure that we went on our way.

As with all meanderings and adventures afoot I cannot leave without taking home something that has caught my eye. A small twig with lichen anchored to it took my fancy. The colour of the host organism reminding me of the green patina that is formed on copper when it degrades, I resolved to ascertain how I might recreate this environmental alchemy in my studio onto copper leaf.