Prized moments...: ....holding true to form!....

...holding true to form...Ha!... easier said than done!...so the battle of the cairn continues & I will not be beaten!

...as I mentioned before I have looked previously at building cairns, inspired by many artists work I wanted to try and emulate some of these techniques yet make my work original....Bourgious made powerful sculptures and installations but used materials that were personal and full of emotion, that's the ingeniousness of cloth...

...and the many different types of mixed media that is now available and acceptable in today's art world.
...One of my most personal pieces I have ever made was my "Cairn" AKA "Tower of strength" (see previous blog "Ta dah" 12th June 2012 for in-depth info about it)

...and as I said last week, I find myself looking at cairns again!...possibly on a smaller scale...but I have to confess I would still like to make a core 10 metal version....Juan Plensa esk...but using the beautiful marks, like I always do...who knows...maybe one day!

Juan Plensa

...any way I digress!...so I've been happily playing about in my studio making small replica pebbles in the hope of re-creating cairns...

I've made a few machine embroidery ones, still my favourite so far...tho' I've been looking into starches etc to use rather than types of glue. Something that wont erode, damage or alter the material too much. I've also been messing with metal these last few days, my finger ends wreck but I'm starting to get the hand of it a bit now....

I've tried air drying clay and they were a bit of a disaster really and also way too solid a structure.

The challenge is to try and get the construction as delicate as I can. It's like I've stripped away the stone and left only the intricate map like marks, the empty space resembling the missing mass...the composition at the same time making it appear wholesome, the materials managing to hold and keep its form.. the fact that the shapes are all formed around true pebbles hopefully giving true and natural contours and a realistic silhouette.
The definition, significance and relevance of a cairn

as stated on the internet is...

cairns plural of cairn (Noun)

Noun

A mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark, typically on a hilltop or skyline.
A prehistoric burial mound made of stones.

Coastal cairns are sometimes called "Sea marks" and are often painted white or even lit to form a beacon.... which made me think that as my pebbles are predominantly coastal I might try and all white cairn...anyway, I've reduced the amount of glue I've been applying and the map cairns seem to be getting better.

I've even had a go at knitting with the wire ....interesting! I thought it might create a more defined structure.. .it's actually quite heavy for a small pebble! however, I do like the idea of trapping different wire and things inside, it reminds me how we sometimes find fossils inside the pebbles...an element of surprise! obviously not inside all the pebbles, that would be too obvious!

I'm trying to rust some metal at the moment too...could prove interesting!

.... on the go at the moment are text and thread samples, and various other attempts that are drying and I've just started a string one as I'm always taking photos of rope and bringing home remnants of fishing twine, so on a smaller version...string it is!