The other day I took a snap of the foundations of our home – or at least underneath the floorboards – which were recently revealed, as a project to renovate our house and home studio got underway.
It’s not a view you see very often and for some reason it captivated me.
It got me thinking about how these foundations have supported the house and the people who have lived in it for nearly a hundred years.
I’ve always been interested in what came before – the people whose feet have worn away a step in a historic house, the surface of a wooden handle worn smooth by many hands, or the vibrant young faces of people in a faded photo who are now old, or long dead.
I think it’s why I create my paintings with so many layers, each layer building on the next to create a collage of memories and relationships that connect the paths we’ve travelled to the place we are now.
Looking at the image of the foundations of our house (above) I couldn’t help but notice the similarity with a painting I made several years ago (below):
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This piece was part of a series about connections called Golden Threads, and in some ways the ideas behind that series echo the themes of connections and foundations. There’s an Eastern story about the ‘red thread of fate’. In this myth, the gods tie an invisible red thread around the ankles, or fingers of those that are destined to meet one another, or help each other in some way. I thought about all the connections and threads that link us with the people we come across in our lives – sometimes these are fragile, lasting only a short time, and other times, strong and sturdy, with us for a lifetime. Something of these ideas, found their way into my ‘Golden Threads’ series. We’re now staying with some of our family who have very kindly taken us in while the renovation takes place, and for the first time in many years, I’m temporarily without a studio to paint in. I thought having nowhere to paint would be a challenge, but in fact, I’m enjoying this time and space to breathe out and reflect on all the journeys and connections I’ve made – and those yet to come. |
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Please share this email with any friends, or contacts you think may like my work. Thank you! Till next time, Jess x |