Vidya Wolton

Highland fling

Any regular readers to my blog will get the gist of the places I regularly visit. From the Garlic Farm it is possible to follow alternative trails and the one I went on yesterday led me up to the Highland Cattle, seemingly contended to graze on some winter hay. I was taken with the regular blobs of wool on this scratching post. The feel of the wool was a reminder of the felting I did at the end of last year. Not being ideally suited to textiles I haven’t ventured any further in these pursuits but was quite happy to admire wool on barbed wire for its aesthetic quality!

Couldn’t resist Mr & Mrs Snowman. Very tasteful I think! Yes, it’s snowing quite heavily as I write and the Island is transformed to white on Wight. Wonder how the Highland cattle are faring (glad of a winter coat I expect). This picture was taken near the Garlic farm on the weekend when the ground was frozen but the air crisp and bright.

First attempt!

Today I was part of a group embarking on some experimental feltmaking with tutor Jeanette Appleton, who is currently showing a major body of work at Quay Arts. Jeanette is truely international in her themes, drawing on impressions of the landscape in Spain where she lives and driving home a message on environmental issues through the most subtle and delicate of means. This is an exhibition not to be missed as it pushes the boundaries of feltmaking beyond the purely decorative to challenge the viewer concerning the meaning behind the work. The works are beautiful, well-crafted, yet potent as a means of comment on environment and tourism issues with their associated politics.

The Garlic Farm certainly offers variety in terms of scenery as you follow the trail round. I’ve chosen a couple of viewpoints here and did this quick scratchysketch en route. It’s very enjoyable for photography hence the wispy grass scene I’ve conjured (with a bit of cropping). The cryptic question remains: according to one of the monks at Quarr Abbey that I met earlier in the year, the grass is actually greener on the ‘other side because of the angle of view. Whether this has any spiritual or life-changing significance remains for you to decide!

Last week was spent cat-sitting in the village of Shorwell, providing an excellent opportunity for some sketching in the fields behind the house. I was able to station myself at one particular viewpoint with a wide vista across much of the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight. I’ve worked directly into the sketchbook and also from a colour copy (shown here). I have to say, this is something of a departure: a straight depiction and the use of naturalistic colour, but then again why not! Be straightforward for a change and as a novelty it worked for me to simply draw what I was seeing. These exercises in observation have proved fruitful in the return to the studio as I’ve been able to work onto colour copies mounted onto canvas or board. There seems to be something of a mini-project emerging so I think I’ll go with the flow and see where it leads.