Archive for August 29th, 2008
Tessa Clarke collects all kinds of everything to put together in her multi-media art work. Lee Morgan speaks to her about art and enchantment.
Tessa Clarke has taught her colleagues to collect sweet wrappers. She flattens them and stores them and keeps them until she can use them in her work. Tessa is a hoader, but more than that, she sees beauty in everything and waits until it can shine in her art.
There’s a kind of magic in a collection. And there’s an enchantment in keeping and storing a collection.
‘I collected Bibles when I was a child. I wasn’t pious. It was the paper. And I loved the gold. The parchment and the gold, and the whole preciousness of the book.
‘My granddad was a carpenter who had a real love of wood, and I used to collect boxes – I still do,’ says Tessa.
‘My gran was a hoarder, there were always things around that we could use. To others they’d look like unbelievable piles of junk.’
And out of that ‘junk’ came art.
‘Most of my work is trying to capture the feeling and beauty of nature and aspects of light,’ she says.
Tessa keeps her precious memories too, and all of it informs her art as well as her work as a teacher at Estover College.
‘Someone recently said “but you’re a teacher”,’ says Tessa. ‘I just replied that Kandinsky was a teacher and most of the masters were teachers.’
What better way to pass on her enthusiasm and passion for art than to be a teacher as well as a practitioner. and she talks about art as a great emotional release.
‘There’s a sense of relief. You can work through emotion in your work, especially if you’re angry or feeling frustrated. In my work, red represents anger, but it’s resolved anger.’
A turning point came in Tessa’s work during 2003 and 2005, and she emerged more immersed in producing art.
She trained as a weaver in Birmingham, and it was her love of surface that led her into the medium. Even now she demands total control of the surface.
‘I very rarely start with white paper,’ she says before describing embedding seaweed in paper, and twists and happy accidents that can take place from experimenting (for texture she suggest fruitnets or bottle tops). She has bags of shells, stones and sycamore leaves. She creates characters out of twigs and uses them to play with rhythms, tones and layers, giving her work different facets of meaning.
‘Different people see differently to me,’ she says. ‘My work is abstract enough for them to have their own interpetation.’
The interpretation can only be enhanced by the tactile, scratch and sniff nature of her pictures, and she often encourages the love of words – another of her collections. She’s been inspired by Wordsworth, haikus and even invents her own words.
It’s as if each event, and each image, is to be kept and put together to recreate the magic of the everyday. There are elements of enchantment that Tessa refers to – the annual trip to the Christmas Eve service at Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, for example – which combines with her joy in what is all around: the size of the sky, tickets, twigs as she casts her critical gaze at the ordinary.
Tessa’s also chairman of the Drawn to the Valley group of artistists. ‘As an artist there are times you feel isolated,’ she says, and being part of this professional, a highly motivated group can help keep focus.’
But focus is the one thing it seems Tessa doesn’t need. She’s also an avid photographer and her obvious passion to explore, decipher and touch the world around her is as tangible as some of her work.
And it’s something she doesn’t want to keep to herself. ust take a look at her pictures, or ask her collegues as they save the sweet wrappers.
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August 29th, 2008
posted by Cptn
The burgeoning Burlesque scene is spreading to Exeter on Saturday night with the unveiling of Kinky and Quirky’s kooky evening of entertainment swaggering up the Tigga’s Bar in Exeter.
Quirky told us the nights are all about a bit of chic grown up fun when we caught up with her before the previous Torquay Burlesque night.
And Quirky describe the Exeter evening as: “A night of great live music, gorgeous burlesque performers, cabaret, comedy and some fab choons to shake your booty to.
There will be two live bands, Le Chat Noir and the Alpha Dogs. Burlesque artistes for the night will be Kinky & Quirky regulars the Naughty Toes and Muffin Tops troupe.
“For those of you yet to experience them, these five lovely girls have given our audience glamorous, sassy, inventive routines and we love having them as part of the gang,” Quirky told the PRSD.
Doors will open at 8pm, and the show will kick off at 9pm and the night finishes at 1am.
Tickets are available in advance at £5 or £6. on the night - advance tickets can be obtained at the venue or from the myspace or email quirky@kinkyandquirky.co. uk
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August 29th, 2008
The weekly technology column from those good people at Plymouth’s Orange Crate
The internet is a bit like a sprawling metropolis, with its huge variety of inhabitants, sections, and contents. We are all familiar with the popular central locations such as Google, Facebook, MSN, YouTube etc, but these only make up a fragment of vastness of the web. So what constitutes the rest?
Like many cities, the best parts are not always the most popular parts, and if you take a random route down the back streets you’re bound to find some hidden gems.
Now I’m not encouraging you to explore all avenues of the on line world – we all know that there are some shady parts which should be left well alone – but let’s take a look at a selection of the weird, wacky, endearing, and potentially genius ideas that are hidden on the net.
First up is art. Posted by a Danish blogger and artist Vegard T Magussen, I’m really not sure what to make of this… It appears to tell a story about an odd group of foam people, but I’ll have to leave the extraction of any hidden meanings or significance down to you – concept art is most definitely not my strong point. And if that’s not your cup of tea, then how about this? I’m guessing Joe has a lot of time on his hands…
Everyone who has used stock photography knows that it is a strange world where everybody is attractive and looks a little too happy. Luckily these factors make it easy to mock, as Adventures in Stock Photography humorously proves. Taking classic stock images and putting stories to them is surprisingly hilarious and well worth a quick look.
Next, a testament to false starts and unfinished ideas. One post wonder is a collection of blogs from around the web which were not continued after their opening entry. I don’t know if it’s just me, but reading them reminded me of the fleetingness of our on-line lives – the grand plan of today is neglected and forgotten by tomorrow. Anyway, on-line philosophy 101 aside, check out GraphJam. If you thought that only financial figures and mathematical illustrations could be displayed using graphs, prepare to be amazed! It’s original, it’s funny, and it often hits the nail right on the head.
Finally, how would you feel about spending $1 to see your face as a part of the biggest collage on the web? Web entrepreneur Mark Nayton has developed a site called Face In a Million to help you do just that. The idea is to get a million people to submit a photo of their face along with a one-off payment of $1, and a link to a website, whether it be a profile page, blog, or just a site that says something about who they are. So gradually as the site receives more followers and hits, so will the sites of the members, and everybody is a winner! A full breakdown of the concept can be found here – it’s an honest, coherent, and down-to-earth rationale from a regular guy with an original idea.
Mark confesses openly that he wants the site to make him a million dollars, and isn’t afraid of putting the graft in to make it happen. I for one support his ingenuity and integrity – if only everyone who had an idea followed it through to fruition.
So there you have it - a visit to a mere few of the many ‘treasures’ that are hidden on-line. There are countless more exotic, original, crazy, and thought-provoking sites out there, you just have to know where to look.
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August 29th, 2008
posted by Cptn
Lest we forget the crime of being different – albeit within an established subculture – Plymouth Goths are getting together on Sunday for a memorial march to murdered Sophie Lancaster.
Those Vampyrical vegeterians with a nifty line in black clothes and striking makeup, which pretty much sums up the PRSD Goths, are coming in for a lot of stick on the Plymouth Herald site.
The march leaves from the Sundial in Plymouth town centre at noon on Sunday.
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August 29th, 2008
posted by Cptn
Continuing summer’s watery theme, members of Dartington Playgoers and volunteers from Totnes Oxfam are getting together tonight at St John’s Church, Bridgetown at 7.30pm, for an assortment of words and music based on, in or around… water.
The Oxfam fundraiser is being directed by Canadian poet Mavis Jones, who said her brief was to come up with something entertaining and thought-provoking. She said was sprang to mind as an appropriate subject for Oxfam – which is committed to providing clean water for people all over the world.
She has come up with a range of songs, poems and prose, many of which will be surprisingly familiar to the audience, while some will be quite new.
The majority of prizes for the draw are from eateries throughout the town, and all interval refreshments will be Fair Trade, and Fair Trade goods will be on sale during the evening.
Programmes and tickets have been printed free of charge by Veasey’s and are available from both Oxfam shops in Totnes and at the door.
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August 29th, 2008
