Spring 2021
I have moved. My writing desk overlooks a nursery playground, a care home (once a workhouse), a view of the Wrekin (an ancient hill) and a small slither of a horizon looking towards the Shropshire hills.
I am emerging from the slumber and hibernation of winter and her cold, dark, damp days. My pottery is a cold place and even with 5 heaters on, the cold still manages to seep into my bones. I am preparing myself for welcoming in the joy of spring.
There are a couple of blackbirds ‘getting it on’ while I write, flirting; showing off! … a reminder to play and re connect. They are making me laugh and are a welcome distraction!
Like the seasons, I breathe in… and I breathe out. My Ontological self? I feel the process of change in my physical being. I am witness to my own change, as a mother, an artist and understand my place in the world. I sense my own value and am reflecting on this. The oxygen is pumped around my body. I shrug off the aches and iron out the creases in my neck. I stop. I breathe again. I collect my thoughts and try to pin point what I want to share, without being overloaded with tangents and distractions, variables and endless possibilities of thought.
There is a feeling of change in my artwork. I can feel the need for exploring, working on new, fresh clay. There is so much to say in art… especially now. I am a witness to this and as an artist, I want to explore it with words, with the physical and with the metaphorical. I want to connect and to be a part of this connection.
A shift towards writing and plans for working on larger sculpture is happening behind the scenes.
Sketches, drawings, experiments with form, shape, movement and energy is happening with my 2D and 3D work. A new sketchbook is nearly complete; and I have some yummy successes in terms of glaze tests, especially with the introduction of colour!
The maquettes and models are being made. Making a small 3D version before scaling up will hopefully help me to produce some larger life-sized versions in clay, fired and ready for the Summer.
An art collaboration with my artist buddy (Wayne Chisnall) is slowly growing momentum again and has turned out to be a valued and supportive weekly mentoring and buddy system. You can find out more about this on our unlockdownart.co.uk website.
I look forward to seeing some of you in the physical world as well as our online one at some of the exhibitions and shows this year…Until then, stay safe and well
X Sharon
