We are in the process of clearing out things from storage and it’s been a voyage of discovery as we look at things and decide whether to keep or discard. It is compounded by the number of things we have inherited from our parents, mostly in the form of photographs. These are always interesting, so become very time consuming. I’m particularly struck by the photos of my mother-in-law’s youth, before she married. It’s clear she was a very attractive young woman.
I recently had a conversation with a neighbour who is also an artist. He was describing his current practice of transferring photo images onto wood. I have another friend who also did this; indeed, I own one of his pieces.
I try a different process, by printing the images onto tracing paper and coating them in dilute PVA. This gives the pages a very different texture, almost skin-like. I try sewing them and realise I can piece these together to create a new material to drape over something
Coating in dilute PVA
Stitching detail
I then remember I have steel rods that I had started to create with before lock down. On a chance conversation with a dog walking friend I discover her son works at a metal fabricator. An art fabricator at that, http://fluxmetal.co.uk and I soon have a call with him, and he agrees to make the metal structures for me at his workshop.
This helps me move forward. The prospect of having something new to work with is exciting.
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Sketch of steel rod structure to be made at Flux Metal