The idea of forests as a child was tangled in fairytales for me. The woods at the back of my friend's house a place of mystery and danger. This feeling was carried into my college years due to reading Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber". These twisted versions of already dark stories set my imagination off and I filled sketchbooks with these tales.
Much later I started drawing woodlands and bears; my first screen prints after a long break. I had moved to Hebden Bridge and rather than the woods being places of trepidation they were places to calm my mind. Places to catch glimpses of treecreepers, wagtails and deers.
I began to wonder how I could make my drawings into the little worlds I imagined on my walks.
One of my favourite artist's; Alexander Calder talked about art that moves and so I carried a little homage to him in my head. A mobile; not the sleek, geometric shapes he used but a little woodland with bears and trees and moons. A little world ever moving and changing.
When I could no longer ignore its pleas to be made (why do I do that?), I began..
All the pieces were drawn and then laser cut.
I printed my drawings on them by hand, excited about it all coming together.
I strung it, making sure it balanced and moved well, mindful of the love I had of Calder's work. I made a handprinted box too. And here it is; a family of bears, the trees and the moon.
I hope you get to have some walks in the woods this weekend. The snow is thawing and Spring is knocking on Winters door x
