Nesting 5
Mixed media on paper using monoprint, collage, acrylic, charcoal and oil pastel.
I also have prints available of this piece. I worked with a specialist Edinburgh printer to make the editions, which are printed on Hahnemühle German Etching paper (archival quality, 310 gsm).
Awarded the Purcell paper prize at the Society of Scottish Artists 130 years | annual exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh in December 2022.
The Nesting series gathers together work made during a period of unexpected nesting in 2020/21.
Through close observation of found feathers and nests I slowed down and settled in to make studies of these beautiful, complex and perfectly imperfect structures.
I decided to restrict my subject matter to these objects giving myself limitations within which to experiment. I enjoy working with different materials - the way that ink or paint reacts with paper or wood - the way that thread or wool can be used to create a fine line or a robust material. The materials guide you, sometimes producing accidents, which is part of the joy of it.
Anni Albers puts it very well:
“Being creative is not so much
the desire to do something as listening to that which wants to be done:
the dictation of the materials”.
With pieces developed through drawing, painting, monoprinting and collage Nesting features works on paper, wood and fabric.
