Designing a new range. Well overdue for lack of a lull amidst the constant queries from croft helpers and "down tools" to feed the crew, check sheep, feed chickens and such. However, we only have one volunteer who is well and truly ensconsed in stair making with Yorick and the summer is a quiet time for orders as home owners think little about decor and more about escape.
Designing is something like pearl diving in a murky sea. A flutter, an alluring hint of a beautiful solution brushes across my thoughts leaving just a flicker. Then to find some approach and the skills to nudge the shadow into the light. Although the mental scheming is essential and propels all thereafter I find I quickly need to get tactile. It is the watching of shapes, the experimantation with tools, the handle and impact of materials that coax the seed of an idea into a seedling and then hopefully a blossom.
I am exploring lino/block print, slowly learning what it does well and what it doesn't! I had a notion to fill the available material with more, but am compelled to leave space and simplify. I had in mind to create a nest, with twigs and lichen, maybe a feather or two, but for some reason big eggs and a small bird are...enough.
