An application I made for an artist residency. (Didn't get it but did get very positive feedback which is nice!)

 BRADFORD PENNINE GATEWAY: NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE APPLICATION. Artist’s Residency Commissions.

This is my application for the residency and I am particularly interested in the area of the Bingley North Bog.

A Brief History of my interests and previous research:

I moved up to Bradford about five years ago, from London.  Bogs and peat weren’t something I had access to at all, unless I was visiting North Yorkshire, which I did occasionally.  Walks up on the North Yorks Moors were always exciting though.  We saw adders and beautiful dung beetles that were an iridescent blue when turned over. 

I was fascinated by the liminal spaces between land and sea along the Thames estuary, and in the summer often travelled to the bizarre Isle of Grain, just to be near the muddy outcrops and the plants that we didn’t really see further in.  I drew a few of them, such as Golden Samphire. 

A couple of years ago I discovered the raised bog at Malham Tarn.  It was June/July time and the bog was full of the most beautiful plants I had ever seen.  Most of them new to me.  marsh orchids, water cinquefoil, water avens (I had drawn that before as I had it in my pond) bog bean, bog Asphodel, bog cotton, Northern marsh orchid, common sundew, globe flower etc. Not to mention the dragonflies and lizards, that you catch from the corner of your eye, before they scuttle off into the undergrowth.

Standing on the edge of that boardwalk, you would have no idea that the land in front of you is so rich with life.  But once you get your eye in… tiny sundews, waiting there for their dinner, mosses, star shaped or spongey. It is, indeed, a wonder.

In the winter it is just as exciting, this is when the mosses and lichen come into their own and are bright glowing green, grey, red, turmeric yellow, white. 

 

(sketchbook page)

It is this joy that I hope to bring to my art and the awe and wonder that I would like to share. It is through this sheer amazement at nature, that we realise that ecology and stewardship are important and that we can be part of the journey to help these places survive.

As David Hockney said in “Spring Cannot Be Cancelled”:  "There are a thousand things I can see! These simple little things are unbelievably rich.  A lot of people have forgotten that but you can remind them".

Artistic practice and proposed work:

My artistic practice focuses on drawing and printmaking.  I build up the print in layers, sometimes using collagraphs and stencils.

 

In the studio my work is process led; I am often pleasantly surprised with the marks I have made.  I prefer it this way because I am referencing our connection with the natural world, which, as we know is never consistent or rigid. 

 

I propose that I would find and draw interesting plants and wildlife that I find in the North Bog. With regard to timescale, I feel I would want to be on site looking, finding and taking photographs and drawing for a few days.  My usual way of working is starting with the small and move outwards, thinking about the habitats and the ecological systems.  Looking and seeing, recording and researching.  Then into my studio.  I would love the opportunity to examine a distinct area of interest like the North Bog and make work that celebrates and informs about this important habitat.   It would also be a chance to expand my practice and introduce new processes that I have been thinking about recently.  (For instance Silk screen monoprinting.)

 

Drawing the flowers and wildlife is my way of learning about them and the environment that they live in.  It’s not just the biology; it’s also the history, the myths and legends, the healing properties and their culinary delights.  There are often really interesting stories that follow plants down the centuries. Red Campion Silene dioica takes its name merry god of the woodland in Greek mythology. Each plant has flowers of one sex only (dioica – two houses), so that two plants are needed to make seed. Interesting to note that the ground up seeds are good for treating snakebites and another common name for it is Adder Flower.  

 

 

Folklore tells us that red campion flowers guard bees’ honey stores, as well as protecting fairies from being discovered.

 

 It’s these stories that help us connect and remember the plants we are identifying.  

 

Apart from the plants, I am interested in the damsel and dragonflies.  Also, very much a surprise if you haven’t spent time in nature very often. The iridescent blue of the Banded Demoiselle shimmering in the sunlight would engage anyone.

 

I am a member of Bradford Botany Group and this weekend (June 27^th) we have visited Tarn Moor and seen an incredible amount of bog and peat plants.   Being part of this group is a great learning experience that really helps with my practice.

 

https://anitagwynn.blogspot.com/  (I have uploaded work that is relevant to this application, to the first page).

 

Sharing and relevant experience:

 

At this stage, I am envisaging an exhibition and workshops. 

 

I have had solo exhibitions and made work expressly for this purpose.  For instance, I have had a solo show at the Garden Museum in London. My show was called “Without bees there would be no flowers”.   I also ran workshops alongside the exhibition.

 

I am currently organising an exhibition, bringing together artists from Bradford and London, to celebrate the mighty Dandelion.  This will be next Spring when they are at their best.

 

When I was teaching art to teenagers with Autism/Global and other specific learning difficulties, I found that drawing and monoprint are a fairly low maintenance and easy way to get people involved. Gelli printing, specifically, is a good activity for sharing and getting people involved as the prints are surprisingly detailed and allow you to see things more clearly.  A lot of people are scared of drawing and this is a really inclusive way to encourage creativity.  

 

Using a gel plate is spontaneous, free-spirited, and endlessly creative. With each print, you can explore new textures, colours, and patterns. It’s always surprising as you are not sure what will happen but always satisfying!  You don’t need a press and so it’s quick and simple and fairly portable.

We know that drawing is great for the brain in many ways, but very recently I read that it “reduces sadness”.  What better reason is there for introducing people to drawing? 

Sketchbooks and monotypes

 Works from sketchbooks, drawing outside, drawing inside with things gathered from outside and finished pieces.  

 

Allotment drawing

                                                         Bee Homes

Raised Bog

Orchid and Dandelion

Tap Root

Open Studios Zig zag books

Sketchbook 

Monotype.  

Dandelions and Sagittarius? Maybe......

I read that Dandelions are ruled by Jupiter (which has an uplifting and radiant influence apparently).  Whether or not you believe these nebulous things, I quite like the idea that ... in some link with Sagittarius.....(Jupiter rules Sagittarius? the details have escaped my brain!) that the arrow represents goals and dreams and removes stagnations!  Stagnation is something I had been feeling over the winter and was somehow unable to move on with my practice, but now Summer is nearly upon us and surrounded by an abundance of wildflowers, I feel that my creativity is flowing again!  The dandelions have turned to lovely fluffy clocks and are blowing about all over the allotment, setting up for next year.   

On the subject of Dandelions, this week I have bought a new book "Field Handbook to British and Irish Dandelions". (BSBI Handbook no.23 A J Richards).  I now know that there are up to 250 different sorts of dandelions.  I sort of knew there were a few, but this many?!  I am constantly surprised by nature and it's abundance.  A timley reminder, maybe, that there are also 267 different sorts of bees in the UK.  

https://anitagwynn.blogspot.com/2018/07/267-two-hundred-and-sixty-seven.html

 I wrote about this a few years ago when I made a lot of work about bee homes. 

Well here we are and it's June 2nd. Since these drawings I have been working in my studio quite a lot, which I am pleased about.  I have been trying to draw on a daily basis and mostly I have managed this.  My work is mainly centred around my allotment.  This year I haven't spent quite as much time there, because it was so wet over the winter but now it's a toss up with allotment/studio.  I went there this morning and picked some wild flowers to make gelliprints from.  Mainly, at the moment to keep track of what I have growing there.  Although this might turn into some massive artwork I can't control nor have the space for!  

I will take some pictures of the work I have been doing in my studio.  Things have moved on a bit and I might be ready to share by end of this week.  I have been rubbish with this blog, which I have been writing for a lot of years now.  At least it serves as a reminder of my thoughts over the years.  Sometimes I even surprise myself when I look back over this and the many sketchbooks I have.

These works have recently gone to live in new homes. Hope they are enjoyed there!

Dandelion. Gone to France.

 Under the apple trees

Apple Blossom time

Below is Bee Home.  A collage of monotypes.  One of my favourites.

Lenthening days!!! Still obsessed with hyacinths.

 A quick video of my concertina sketchbook.  I've been following the progress of all the bulbs I have.

The white ones were a birthday present. 

Started making some background for ideas I have, now that we are moving on from the bulbs!  The days are lengthening, the snowdrops are out and in some cases nearly over and the daffodils are waiting in the wings.  Lovely morning today and I went out to feel the morning light.  Supposed to be good for the circadian rhythm.  

The organised chaos in my studio at the moment: 

An unfurling, a cluster, an awakening, a renewal, a memory.

 

It's January 28th.  The end of January is in sight.  I don't usually prescribe to this 94 days of January thing, but bloody hell, the constant rain, the fog, the GREY; it's definitely getting me down this year.  I see from my snaps on my phone, that last January/February was much brighter. However!  Today was sunny and my hyacinths are coming through.  I usually have a couple in these bulb vases as I love to see the roots reaching downwards.  

I love the smell of hyacinths, it's that Proustian thing.... takes me right back to my youth.  I remember my mum used to put them under the sink just before Christmas and then around mid January there would be little shoots of a very pale green.  Out they would come and by my birthday (4th Feb) they would smell beautiful. The days would start to get longer and then Spring would be here..... full of promise, excitement, hope for the coming months.  I am not sure the thing about my birthday is right, but in my memory that is what happened. So there!

Now, although I don't do that under the sink thing, I do like to have hyacinths at the end of January that are going to make February smell delightful.  I like these bulb vases because I like to watch the roots.  I love the way the flower is in that bulb. That magic that reaches up and grasps the light. All in that small shape.  

Some sketchbook musings.  

As it's been sunny today, I have been at the allotment. Hooray!  I cleaned up the studio and did some quick sketches.  Will get going on some monoprints tomorrow.  I think rain is forecast again.  Boo.  

Still it's cosy in my studio with the fire lit. 

Golden Angles.

Back of the Sunflower!  I'm going to make a collograph.  I have had these sunflowers for over two weeks now and they are still standing, but they smell like a going off cauliflower!  I think they will have to go in the compost now.  Shame.  I've really enjoyed them.  

These sunny and joyful plants (as I am always saying) are of course proper plant allies!  They give us those gorgeous seeds, which I love and the birds in my garden love too.  I've just been watching "my" coaltit having a mid morning snack in the garden.  

Interestingly..... and I mean I see a pattern when I'm looking at them ..... the arrangement of the florets is at the golden angle.  Now I'm not an mathematician (grade 3 CSE, good grief) but I love a bit of an equation.  They're pleasing to look at I think!  

${\displaystyle \theta =n\times {137.5}^{\circ },}$

(where θ is the angle, r is the radius or distance from the centre, and n is the index number of the floret and c is a constant scaling factor)

This is the Golden Angle.  At this point I'm going to quote Wikipedia because trying to remember this is just beyond my addled capabilities.

"Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other; however, in a very large sunflower head there could be 89 in one direction and 144 in the other. This pattern produces the most efficient packing of seeds mathematically possible within the flower head."

I've taken out the citations, but you can look it up if you need to!  

Also, I have found out that the myth that they turn to face the sun as the day goes on,  isn't exactly true.  Which is good to know, because I have some small lemon coloured sunflowers in my allotment and I noticed that they weren't facing the sun, and I wondered why.  To quote the gardener John Gerard:

 

"[some] have reported it to turn with the Sun, the which I could never observe, although I have endeavored to find out the truth of it."

If you look at a field full of sunflowers, they will be all pointing the same way.  That way is East!  They like to warm up in the morning sun as this attracts more pollinators.  

When the flower is young, it is heliotropic, in that it follows the sun from East to West as the day progresses but a fully mature flower will only face East.  

Another interesting sunflower fact is that they were domesticated in Mexico 2600 BCE.  I am also pleased to report, that like many of the flowers I write about, it is helpful for snakebites!
 
Traditionally, several Native American groups planted sunflowers on the north edges of their gardens as a "fourth sister" to the better-known three sisters* combination of maize, beans and squash.  Among the Zuni people (I had to look this up... they are North American Indians from the Zuni Valley), the fresh or dried root is chewed by the medicine man before sucking venom from a snakebite and applying a poultice to the wound.  This poultice of the root is used for rattlesnake bites.

*Anecdotally, people at the allotment this year said that their small beans didn't do so well because it was too hot.  Mine were planted behind the sweetcorn and were great.  The shade helped them survive.

Sunflowers and other lovely late summer memories - Joyful autumn

Today is grey and rainy.  Still after the gorgeous but very dry summer we have had, I shouldn't moan.  I have come down to my studio and lit a fire today.  It's so lovely to be back here.  The summer was taken up with my allotment.  As usual in early Autumn, Aldi has bunches of Sunflowers!  Can never resist.

Of course, I have been drawing them.  Not very well, in my opinion but I will persevere!

I have taken loads of photographs and realise I quite like the back of the flower actually.  They really are the sunshine flower, just full of life, yellow and joy!

This summer I started drawing flowers that are known as "plant allies" in that they are useful to us.  This was the plan, although it applies to almost anything that grows in our countryside.  Obviously some are not allies (unless you want to poison someone ha ha), but an amazing amount of the common wildflowers are really useful.   I drew elder flowers and then elderberries.  I haven't followed up any of this making delicious cordials or helpful medicines to ward off colds or anything remotefully useful!  

In August I attended a workshop at West Yorkshire Print Studios with Stephen Fowler.  Tetra pak printing!  It was great and I learnt loads. I made one of an elderflower and am going to make some more of other plants I have drawn in my sketchbook. 

Concertina sketchbook.  Tried to take a panoramic pic but it didn't work. 

Stephen Fowler @stephenfowlerrubberstamper on insta and my lovely friend Bobby. 

 

Lady's mantle and women's work.

Alchamilla vulgaris or Lady's Mantle.

The cupped leaves collect dew drops.  This pure water was used

by alchemists for their potions. 

My most recent artist statement reads: "My work is process led; I am often pleasantly surprised with the marks I have made.  I prefer it this way because I am referencing our connection with the natural world, which, as we know is never consistent or rigid. 

I started drawing flowers a few years back. I found a collection of pressed flowers at my old home, that my mother had made.  I made a few monoprints referencing this collection and from there I started thinking about real, live flowers. Now I am excited about the allotment that I have recently acquired. It’s full of apple trees, it’s full of dappled light in the sunshine.  Hopefully, it’s full of potential! I want my art to be joyful, which is how I feel when I go there. I hope people feel the same way when they look at my work.

 At the heart of this, there is also the worry that this will not always be here, because of the lack of awareness of how we relate to the land. I wonder if people realise that if we had no worms or no bees, then we wouldn’t have food. Without plants, we wouldn’t survive."

Over the years, it hasn't changed much.  My interests and concerns are very much the same, but obviously, my methods might have developed and my processes are expanding.  I think the last paragraph is the crux of my beliefs and the sadness I feel that people are divorced from the food they eat, the way it grows, the good these plants do and how we are wasting our most precious resources.

Back in 2011 (Looking back on this blog) I see that my interest was examining my place in the world and my personal history.  In context, I was looking at the things I had collected and trying to work out what and why I had collected them.  Dried flowers, shells, spirograph etc.  Now I think (is this because I'm now a grown ass woman- post menopausal?! ergo: a CRONE/HAG (Sharon Blackie prefers Hag, as crone is a bit too sweet.) I am looking outwards, thinking about how I can encourage a wider understanding of our/my place in the world.  I think, to be fair, that attitudes are gradually changing ( New gsce Natural History)  although I absolutely despair at the plastic lawns and plastic hedges that spring up around my area.  Can't they ban plastic lawns ffs.  

The hedgerows are calling!  I have become interested in the old, the ancestors, the healer, the Wise Woman.  Many books have inspired me but Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass and Sharon Blackie If Women Rose Rooted have really been inspiring.  

Again from my blog  "If you haven't read "Braiding Sweetgrass" I think you should.  It's about the relationship we have with the earth, its ecology, the relationship the indigenous peoples of North America have with the living world and how plants and animals are our oldest teachers.  She is a botanist and a poet.  The writing is beautiful. "

https://goodreads.com/book/show/17465709-braiding-sweetgrass

In If Women Rose Rooted, Sharon Blackie is calling out for the "rewilding of womanhood; reclaiming our role as guardians of the land."  Because from where I'm standing the men haven't made a brilliant job of it, have they?  

https://www.waterstones.com/book/if-women-rose-rooted/sharon-blackie/9781912836017

I think I started realising that there must be another way, and that maybe a bit of old fashioned 'witch-craft' might be the way forward actually.  We know, from history, that women were always the ones that dealt with birth and death and with healing and that this was knowingly forced away from them.  Whether it was witch burnings in the past or belittling, shaming and abusing that we see now, we know that women have, historically, been the keepers of the Earth and should rise up and take control again.  So I want to tell more stories of plants that have healed and that go on healing. Whether it's from the mindful joy of looking at them or making tinctures,  ointments and oils, they all have stories to tell. 

If you look back at this blog you will see some of these stories. 

https://anitagwynn.blogspot.com/2018/01/updated-writings-about-plants-i-am.html

I am looking at new ways of printing and maybe making a book or a scroll but this is all to be worked out and I'm only on day 2 of this adventure.   So onwards and upwards as I like to say.....

This weekend! And Verbascum thapus (Mullein).

 It's the Art Trail this weekend and here I am getting ready to take my stuff over later today.  

It's always nerve racking when you're about to present yourself and your work to the world at large.  Suddenly you doubt yourself, but I'm sure it will be ok!

Creative Social (a group that aims to get Creatives together socially to support each other) described my work "Anita Gwynn will be showcasing her delicate and evocative botanical monotypes at 5 Higher School St - a must see for nature lovers".  So that was lovely. 

The Art's Trail catalogue says "Anita started drawing flowers after finding a collection of pressed flowers at her childhood home.  Using this collection, made by her mother, she made a series of monotypes and from then on started drawing wildflowers".

My new work has changed a bit, in that I have now included my allotment and related subjects, so not quite just wildflowers this time, although one of my bigger pieces is Mullein, (Verbascum thapsus) which was growing magnificiently in Nog Lane a couple of years ago.  It can grow really tall and has lovely velvety and soft leaves.   If the mullein moth caterpillar finds it, it decimates in quick time!!  I love the tall spires of yellow flowers and the gorgeous soft sage green leaves.  

It has many other names such as Beggar's blanket, Herb blanket, Candleflower, Cuddy's Lungs, Feltwort....  The lung reference is because it is meant to be very beneficial to people who have given up smoking and to those who suffer from asthma.  It is also good for UTIs, ear-ache, anti-inflamatory, an all round good plant, I'd say!

And here she is, in all her glory.   I have a couple of little seedlings in my garden, from this very plant.  I think they take a year or two to get going, so hopefully I will have some in my garden next year.