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| Flowing to the sea 27.5x27.5cm collagraph and mixed media ©2022LisaLeQuelenec |
Barbara Hepworth – Art & Life
by Eleanor Clayton
ISBN 978 0500 0942 59
A book so good, I thought it needed it's own post...
I received this book for my birthday and waited until the holidays to read it as I knew I would not want to put it down once started. It really didn’t disappoint! I have long been a fan of Hepworth and spent many happy visits at the museum (her garden and studio) at St. Ives whilst I studied at Falmouth College of Arts and during later visits to Cornwall. I am reminded of her work with every hagstone that I pick up of the beaches of Dorset and share her attraction to the mystery of holes in things.
‘So much depends, in sculpture, on what one wants to see through a hole! Maybe, in a big work I want to see a sun or moon. In a smaller work I may want to lean into the hole.’ Barbara Hepworth
I see parallels between her work and Georgia O’Keeffe’s, whom I also enjoy, for the spaces in between and weight of their work. I think she is to sculpture what O’Keeffe is to painting in many ways.
This book has been a joy to read, Clayton has done a wonderful job her style is at once warm, accessible and intimately knowledgeable. She is, after all, the curator of The Hepworth Wakefield which I hope to visit in the not too distant future. (For now I am satisfying my interest looking through the gallery via google arts and culture here.) Clayton has also curated Hepworth’s work at the Tate Liverpool and co-founded The Hepworth Research Network, so who really would be better placed to write such a book?
Throughout there
are illustrations of her work, both the sculptures and also the two-dimensional
pieces explored further when materials and money were in shorter supply. The
drawings are a large body of work in their own right but they are also presented
here in relation to the sculptures they inform. Most books I have read previously have shown
them more in isolation. Also worth noting is that whilst, of course, Hepworth’s
husbands are mentioned within the context of her life they don’t get to take
over as ‘famous husbands’ can be wont to do in other books and are shown as being equally
influential to her work as other friends, acquaintances and contemporaries in different
fields.
There was so much within the book, reading excerpts from her writing and letters to enjoy and provide further insight to the art; the integrity, determination and professionalism about her work, her empathy, her political outlook in some cases. I think what I enjoyed most was how Clayton’s writing shows the human and likeable qualities of, in my opinion, a truly great sculptor and artist. I felt the balance between writing and illustration, 259 of them, was good and was impressed they were in colour for the most part where possible. Whilst not something I would normally mention, the layout with wide margins toward the spine is most useful for jotting down notes if you are so inclined. I will be exploring further titles mentioned in the bibliography too.
One thing that did strike me whilst I read this book was how many parallels I could see between Hepworth’s life during motherhood and the war years and how life has been during the pandemic with, ‘…her increasing frustration with juggling the traditionally feminine domestic labour with her own artistic practise.’ Despite this Hepworth wrote in a letter:
‘I’ve always felt that if I renounced my responsibilities, I should lose something. I have always believed in doing everything.’ Hepworth
How many parents have felt that pressure within the context of everyday life and then increased tenfold with the added responsibility of home school during lockdowns (In Hepworth’s case the second world war.)? I think, to her credit she managed this wonderfully, bringing up four children (she had triplets after her first child), at times single-handed and furthering her career to international acclaim. The book shows a formidable character, strong willed and with a marvellous energy but also the struggle, sacrifice and frustrations that come with a life well lived.
Whether you are already a fan or are new to Hepworth’s work I would highly recommend this book both for its insights into her work, the person behind them and also for the social history context surrounding the making of the work. For me this book is a keeper for my bookshelf and will be returned to in the future, there are many aspects to enjoy and I would rate it as the best book I read in 2021.
To visit the Hepworth - Wakefield website click here.
To visit the Barbara Hepworth St. Ives Museum and Sculpture Garden website click here.
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| Shelfie book pile ©2022LisaLeQuelene |
I hope everyone had a lovely break over the holiday season. I was very lucky to receive a lovely pile of watery and blue books for Christmas and I can't wait to get started on them. Before I can tuck in though I have to finish a most wonderful book that I got for my birthday - more on that one later....
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| ISBN 9781848224766 |
First up is Kurt Jackson's Sea - as you may know I have been a fan of his work for years and used to coincide trips to Cornwall with exhibitions of his at the Lemon Street Gallery back in the day. I can't wait to visit the Kurt Jackson Foundation Gallery in St. Just - hopefully in summer. Now I have, of course, had a sneaky peek and it looks like another visual delight of his signature paintings. I was really pleased to see some of the more recent surfer paintings included as well as a couple of my old favourites.
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| ISBN 9780008294779 |
I read Adam Nicolson's 'Sea Room- An island life in the Hebrides some time ago and enjoyed it immensely and am really looking forward to this one. The author is wonderfully descriptive, painting images in the mind. There are also some gorgeous illustrations by Kate Boxer to enjoy. The end papers to this edition are delightful white line drawings of shells - I'm a sucker for beautiful endpapers, they make a book even more special.
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| ISBN 9780198834571 |
During the first lockdown and attempting home-schooling my son and I would get through the lessons set, some days doing bits from the next days job list in the hope we could finish the weeks work by Thursday. This meant that we could have 'Fun Friday' woop! I picked a topic that would interest us both and we learnt all about the Vikings. It was good fun and without him realising he learnt quite a bit about history and geography. We made 'Viking bread', built a longship, weapons and jewellery out of cardboard and whatever was to hand and read lots of Norse mythology which for him led to some very creative storytelling. It fascinated the both of us until it was time to return to school.
For me the interest has continued and I am slowly working my way through different books of myths and sagas. The Poetic Edda translated by Carolyne Larrington looks like it will be a great read and very accessible. I'm particularly interested in finding out more about Ran, Aegir's wife a giantess of the sea. If anyone can point me in the direction of information about her, I would be grateful as she has captured my imagination and I can only find a couple of references to her.
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| ISBN 9781786891211 |
This book has been on my wish list for quite some time so will look forward to diving deep into it over the coming weeks. It will be interesting to read something from a female perspective. It seems to cover a lot of ground from mythology and folklore to history, art, religion, literature and the natural world.
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| ISBN 9780375708138 |
The final book might not be as watery but what a wonderful subject! It is one that I read a quote from on another blog, though for the life of me I can't remember which one. I did make a note of it and popped it straight on my 'to find out more about list'. Intriguing and not an author that I have come across before. As you know I have a thing about books on colour and look forward to finding out more about one of my all time favourites.
So we may be heading towards the lighter days now but as Winter proper is still to get through I am well prepared with reading material to be inspired by and to travel with from somewhere warm, dry and hopefully with a hot cup of coffee.
Have you read anything good lately? Is there anything that you would recommend? Maybe something I should add to my 'to find out more about list'? Do tell...
Last print for the year....I think...before the big unwind for the holidays. I am looking forward to it. A chance to process the last years work and make plans for the next year.
Best wishes to all for a happy holidays and a happy, healthy and creative new year.
Available in my Folksy store.
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| Surge II Collagraph 14x14cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
Another big wave collagraph in a varied edition of 6. I am experimenting between high and low key prints... more ink...less ink... strong colour more muted. So many variables to try, I guess it's the printmaking equivelent of taking a line for a walk. Whatever it is I am enjoying it immensely.
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| Surge II Collagraph 14x14cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
and then using one over inked print I re ran it through the press with another sheet of paper on top and made a monoprint - the same but reversed.
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| Big wave monoprint 14x14cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
I also like the plate at the end of the printing session and may frame that as an image in its own right....
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| Surge II printing plate cardboard and mixed media 14x14cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
Prints available in my Folksy store.
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| Can't stop the Tide collagraph 14x14cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
As well as lots of reference material of the groynes at Bournemouth beach being replaced I have hundreds of photos of waves crashing and splashing into them. I can obsessively stand clicking away trying to get the perfect shot of spray as it flies back from collision, the perfect light as it catches the water in shimmering flashes of colour.
Where previous images I have made about the groynes along the beach have been calmer in atmosphere I wanted to make something that in a small way captures that exciting, elemental energy, the sea battling against the solidity of the
wood. So another collagraph, with obscured shapes of the groynes as the sea pounds against it's side, raging at the obstruction that shields the shore. I think whilst I obsess at taking photographs to try to capture the moment I could soon obsess about capturing the perfect moment in print too. This may well turn into a series of it's own.......
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| Sketchbook pages ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
You cannot come to Bournemouth beach and fail to miss the groynes that march down the sand into the sea from Poole to Hengistbury Head there are 50-odd of them all protecting the beach from being washed away from the tide. They are part of the beach furniture here as much as sand and gulls. They are in sketchbook upon sketchbook of beach doodles I have filled since I moved here more than twenty years ago - so familiar are they that after a while they become easy to overlook.
It is a constant job for the Council to replace them which they do in sections working year on year. As a tot my son spent many a happy afternoon, from a safe distance, watching the diggers, dump trucks and cranes as they got to work removing and replacing. Once work is finished for the day and the light has become a little more exciting there were opportunities for some interesting sketching and photographing for me. I found the shadows fascinating.
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| Groynes at Bournemouth ©22021LisaLeQuelenec |
They have inspired a few series of work being rather convienent ways of introducing verticals in otherwise horizontal seascapes. A large series that kind of morphs every now and then to pop it's head up is one that I think of as 'Stripes on the Shoreline' - fairly recently in monoprints which you can read about here before that in a set of 28 small mixed media collages. It has surfaced again briefly in a collagraph with some rather unexpected results...
I made two collagraph plates using some cardboard as a base and added acrylic mediums and carborundum powder. I incised lines first using a biro then overworking with a blade being careful not to cut all the way through - I wanted an element of drypoint to the prints. Finally they were finished with a dilute layer of acrylic medium to seal them.
Below on the left is one of the prints taken by inking up the plate in the usual fashion. The carborundum holds copious amounts of ink and is difficult to wipe making holes very quickly in the scrim I use to wipe the plate. As there was so much ink on the print and on a whim remembering Henry Tonks* I ran the print through the press again but this time with a piece of clean damp paper covering it. The result, on the right, is a second print in reverse which whilst very different in mood to the original I also thought was a pleasing image.
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| Sentries collagraph 14x20.5cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
The process didn't work consistantly each time and I have some interesting misprints that I will use for further explorations and sketchbook work but there are three prints and three 'tonks' are available as an edition of Sentries and Sentries II and are available both on Folksy and Etsy.
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| Sentries II collagraph 14x20.5cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
*Henry Tonks - 1862 - 1937 a teacher at the Slade School of Art who used to press newsprint on to sections of paintings to remove excessive oil paint from the surface so as to be able to continue to work without having to wait so long for it to dry. The method is known as 'tonking'
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| Softly, softly watercolour 14x24cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
Summer seems so far away now....the pandemic and the various lock downs have skewed my sense of time so much..autumn felt springlike. I think even the seasons have been mixed up themselves as I see plants popping up through the soil that shouldn't be here for a few months yet and leaves only just coming off the trees that should have happened weeks ago. I'm no longer sure when things happened.. was it this year or was it the year before? Am I the only one to feel like this? It's chilly here so I think I will keep thinking of summer..
Both paintings available in my Folksy Store.
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| Quiet evening watercolour 22x22cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
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| Watching the rain come in watercolour 20x16cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
I love the magical light over the sea when a rain storm comes rushing in...
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| A Keen Breeze watercolour 16x20cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
Both paintings are available in my Etsy Store.
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| In for a Soaking Watercolour 25x25cm ©2021LisaLeQuelenec |
It's funny how the rain can creep up on you ...
Available in my Etsy store.
