Vidya Wolton

Following on from the Amber workshop I was keen to get back into the studio and see where that left me. I’ve been able to leaf through my sketchbook and odd scraps of paper for images that say something about the process of making jewellery as well as the themes I adopted during the week for my designs. Birds are still very much a feature of the images I’m currently producing and have resulted in further box art pieces that I have since been able to bring together. Here are the boxes in their ‘raw’ state prior to being rearranged, reassembled and generally transformed into other works.

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 I have actually spent today cutting and carving into Amber stone in it’s natural state. Actually quite soft to cut and shape by filing and sanding, followed by endless polishing to a high shine. Hopefully all will be revealed at the end of the week with my finished piece, more a ‘neck-piece’ than a pendant with the way things are going. Making the dreaded bezel should be interesting tomorrow. Precision never my strong point but here goes.

‘A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver’. This is one of the few proverbs I know and it comes to mind after day2 of ‘Working with Amber’ which involved setting stones. If anything were a precise art then this is. There isn’t any margin of error and making jewellery has on the one hand the highly crafted dimension but on the other hand, what amazing creations are possible along the way. It has to be well-made because otherwise it just looks ugly and today we were striving for that professional finish.

It was with some foreboding that I set off to the Jubilee Stores (in conjunction with Quay Arts) this morning, having enrolled for a whole week of jewellery making and most definitely moving outside my comfort zone. The relatively minute scale we are working on is such that I can’t quite see what I am doing at times (having developed long-sightedness with age). We were, however in the capable hands of Sophie Honeybourne, an experienced jewellery maker who very patiently helped me in spite of failing eyesight (must remember glasses tomorrow!). I actually think that working in a different medium, with different tools and as a class activity will be quite good for me and may actually inject my own practice with something new. I already have a little seagull motif which has emerged unexpectedly and takes me back to my numerous trips along East Cowes seafront with the many squawking Black-headed Gulls. Lets see where this all leads. Setting stones tomorrow. Watch this space for the breaking news. By the way, the course is entitled ‘Working with Amber’.

You may think we have come to the end of Cowes week, however, today, saturday, the racing continues albeit in the rain. The rain confers certain advantages as the crowds were dampened down and there was actually room to ‘walk’ along the High Street. Alas, no photos to show here but I have a visual impression to convey of boats in the misty rain this morning in very subdued tones and looking very inspirational for the marine artist in me which is just not emerging. I did a bit of sketching from East Cowes seafront earlier in the week but went so far into abstraction that I abandoned the view and headed back to the studio. There are hints of a paddle steamer in the work but not convincing enough to show. In the drizzly rain returning to the Floating Bridge it was good to hear the screech of Sandwich Terns. They are fairly distinctive size-wise and larger than Commic Terns which are also around. Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed the fireworks last night. East Cowes comes alive at night all of once a year for this momentous event. Great entertainment from the local band whipping up true community exuberance and a bit of dancing along by the seawall. Never quite heard that version of Van Morrison’s ‘The Brown-eyed Girl’! The more distinguishable bits were good to sing along to though. Thanks to all involved for making it happen. (Photos courtesy of Richie Mair)

I’m continuing to follow themes from the landscape but working in the studio and moving up in scale. Enjoying hardboard as a surface – I think a smooth finish suits a spontaneous approach and records brushmarks well. Painting in earnest for the Quay Arts Open as before and look forward to submitting. Will maybe look at pursuing some other Open Gallery Submissions in the region in the months ahead.

Cloudy the Hamster has come to join our household and is the centre of attention and main source of entertainment in the evenings when he comes into his own on the wheel where he has his workout. I have always had a fascination for small mammals (mainly of the wild variety) and it is just as interesting observing the behaviours of the domestic pet. Hammie (actually Cloudy) may find his place in my artwork and is also proving to be a great stress-buster. I can tell him all my problems and he doesn’t seem to get depressed. What a great agony uncle! I can really recommend it as a far cheaper option than ‘therapy’. Do try this at home.

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.

I would say the week actually began sunday afternoon as I joined 10,000 or so walkers for ‘Walk the Wight’, an annual charity fundraiser across the Isle of Wight from East to West. I have to say I was something of a complete fraud in that I was striding it out, only doing the final 4 miles of a good 26 mile route! I had the dubious excuse of meeting my sister-in-law for the final leg. We managed to miss each other and I walked the final stretch anyway and got a clap on reaching the finish line together with the rather more weary and worthy participants. To top it all I ended up on the free bus with all the walkers sporting their medals. I mention this event in particular because it was an amazing spectacle to see so many walkers striding out along the Downs.

Monday marked a hilarious afternoon’s writing with the High Tide Poets which meet at Quay Arts in Newport. The main subject was nonsense verse and I have to say it was an absolute hoot. I really enjoyed making up my own words and then trying to make it into something credible. Look out for the group’s new website, which I will flag up when it goes live.

The studio has largely given way to other commitments this week although I have managed to finalise a proposal for a residency at Quarr Abbey, the monastery just outside Ryde. This is something I have initiated and might just be a possibility. It would ofcourse potentially take my work in a whole new direction to be based there and it is a case of ‘watch this space’ for the outcome. Whilst in the studio today I was able to take stock of some work produced over ten years ago and it was interesting to see what I was doing then. These were mainly works on paper using a combination of oil pastel, acrylic and collage. Along the way there were some circle themes in the making, which subsequently re-surfaced as a major body of work from about 2005 onwards. I have to say it’s good to look back from time to time and unearth pieces from the dim and distant past. For whatever reasons 1997 was a particularly productive year with a whole series of work containing a definite energy.