I’ve recently been thinking about how to extend my ‘tuning-in’ way of working to go beyond the human world. In Italy I love to spend time with early Renaissance altarpieces and statues. I find them very powerful; their intensity resonates with me. The first time I saw a group of Jain sculptures at a show in London, many years ago, when I took a group of students, I was mesmerized by their power and their particular refined quality of stillness.

In Norcia at the beginning of my research trip/holiday I spent a day at the birthplace of Santa Scholastica and San Benedetto, and it was very restorative and powerful. I had a dream of Santa Scholastica which guided me towards thinking of a new research project, to be centred in Italy, and the Sibillini National Park, where there is an ancient and still prevailing way of living with Nature, the Saints, and beauty.

I love to spend time in wild nature too, and if you sit quietly with plants they can have things to tell you. But you must be quiet, and you must wait. On the Piano Grande in the Sibillini National Park I was drawn to work with the spelt stems, their vigour and elegance was captivating, but also a sense of something I did not understand, and which led me on, and to listen, to hear with my drawing, with my hands.

Notes from sketchbook made when tuning in: Like many hearts made of moss and air

Sky sculpted, sky roads, sky raven comes down

L’Arte, la porta per il divino

the coloured band of indefinable, unknowable colour which hovers

the air of colours, coloured air, sun arms, cows full of flowers

dreams of looking for, and finding, pastel-coloured keys in the landscape

Tiny grasses, tiny seeds, pointy-nosed falsetto tiny bees; hot sun, millions of flowers in every direction; trees in thick green clotting the valleys, threadbare on hills;

spider thread loose on my bag; the squeaky songs of parent birds, the drowning sounds of warning; the crickets close come to sing now I am still and silent; the blue-violets salvia and the pale-washed pinks white sun balanced daisy; the fat-budded orchid; the legume with pink crown perfection growing here by the trillion an eternity of pinkness flung down

Thanks to Andrew McDouall for the photographs above.

…………………………..

Drawings made by tuning in, by listening, drawing with eyes closed…. (and artist photos)

Last week I gave a course at Newlyn School of Art where we looked at, researched, and worked with the sacred feminine principle. We considered what the phrase ‘working from the feminine’ might mean… we worked with the breath, with moving the awareness around the body especially the heart, navel, base centre and womb; we responded with drawings to music (Schubert Violin works), to poetry from for example Rilke (his poem about the womb muscles of flowers opening to receive the sun) and also from indigenous peoples and Ursula LeGuin.

I highlighted the need for inner quietness in order to ‘hear’ the quiet inner voices of self and created/coming into being…

We moved from intense inner work to practical work such as preparing size, whiting and making grounds upon which to work with paper and panel.

We also looked at the animals which are associated with the Goddess/sacred feminine  from earlier times and from a  range of cultures; and we looked into their possible significance.

I gave demonstrations of working with watercolour in such a  way that the life of the work itself is given priority, where we step aside with our concerns  and our ego and  allow something else, previously unknown to us, to emerge.

Here are two testimonials/written responses to the Course:

Revelation sums up this unique course. Kate is an inspiration, sharing so generously and intelligently her subtle and sensitive approach to painting. She’s revealed a mysterious depth that has changed my art-making.  Professor Tanya Krzywinska 

I will be teaching this course again at Newlyn School of Art on August 24th – 26th. All welcome.

On July 11th I travel to Kent and on July 12th and 13th (both days 11 – 4 pm) I’ll be working in the lovely mediaeval Thomas a Beckett  Church at Fairfield, inviting people to co-create with me: I will ‘tune into’ them with my drum, and then make marks/images/words in response to what I pick up from the experience. They will be able to take the drawings/monotypes away…this is the process I worked with when I made the original drawings for Marc Almond’s album The Velvet Trail…

Edward Armitage ‏@JAMedarmitage Jun 12Lambeth, London

Have your dreams turned into a piece of art by @Katehorse in Fairfield Church. #JAMontheMarsh http://bit.ly/1BaQCiI 

St Thomas à Becket, Fairfield

St Thomas à Becket Church (Ack. 30)

St Thomas à Becket Church in Fairfield stands alone in a field on the Marsh, surrounded by water courses and sheep. A causeway was built in 1913, and until then the church was more often than not surrounded by water during the winter and spring.

Fairfield, the village it once served has long since disappeared, but the church has survived and is now part of a parish which includes the villages of Brookland, Brenzett and Snargate.

The church is dedicated to St Thomas à Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. The church was built as a temporary structure of timber lath and plaster in c1200 to support the local farming community. From the outside it looks rather severe – the 13th century timber frame was encased in brickwork in the 18th century, and its immense roof covered in red tiles.

But entering the interior is like going back in time – the Georgian interior feels as though little has changed for over 200 years. Close the heavy door behind you, and all is peaceful and silent, except for the muffled sound of the wind. It is truly evocative of a bygone age.

In 1912 the fabric was in a very poor state and a complete rebuilding within the timber framework took place. However, the inside of the church was, fortunately, left untouched. It is Georgian, with a three decker pulpit, box pews and texts boards. The pews are still painted white with black linings.

The font is plain, and a design unique in Kent. The bowl has seven sides, perhaps a reminder of the seven sacrements of the church. It was originally located on the north side of the church, but is now in the centre, underneath the turret.

This iconic church has been used as a filming location, including 2011 BBC adaption of Great Expectations, Great Expectations (2012 film) and Parade’s End (TV series)

 

 Location Map

Aerial View of St Thomas à Becket see enlarged (Ack. 33)

Kate Walters – I can draw your Dreams

Sun 12 July 11am – 4pm St Thomas a Becket, Fairfield TN29 9RZ

Mon 13 July 11am – 4pm St Thomas a Becket, Fairfield TN29 9RZ

Venice is always a joy to visit. I had three hectic days there at the opening of this year’s Biennale. I was there to work with the Pressroom.org and to write a review for The International Times (both responses pending as of 24th May). I loved the intensity of everything, the sunshine and the dust, the blues of the sky and the water; I loved the 3 screen installation Vertigo Sea  by John Akomfrah (which made me cry so I could not watch to the end), and The Key in the Hand by Chiharu Shiota, which was also beautiful and moving, but more optimistic. More to come….

I’ve been invited to go to the Biennale, and I  am hoping to go to Venice in May to be part of an artist’s group. We’ll be writing a Press Report each morning, and I’ll be making my hollow bone monotype drawings in response to Biennale visitors…

exciting! I’ll also be writing a piece about the Biennale for The International Times …

Some of the original monotype drawings:

Professor Penny Florence observed me making my clearseeing drawings at Espacio Gallery – here she writes …”Kate Walters’ fascinating new departure, which she brilliantly calls “becoming the hollow bone”, takes audience participation to a new level. Showcased in the Summer in Hoxton, and most recently at the Espacio in London, participants are brought into the making of the work. The artist sits with her subject in the gallery (or indeed, anywhere) and “channels” them to create a unique monotype, which the person can take away with them.

This is much deeper than setting work up to which people can respond in various ways. Yet – and this is the real master stroke – though the “audience” is brought right into the making of the work, the artist remains in the key rôle. This is no dilution of the artist, but rather a true sharing of her talent. Gallery, visitor, artist, artwork: they are all changed. I felt privileged and moved to witness it.”

Here is  a link to a feature on the Falmouth University website describing the process of working with Marc…  and I’ll be at the Dark Sound conference at Falmouth University presenting a paper on my work around generative absence and the way I worked to produce the images for Marc’s album…

I heard this week that I’ll be going to Glasgow School of Art in October, to work in my new way of drawing, which I call clearseeing. I will also give a talk on my work. I’m very excited about this opportunity. Afterwards I’ll be going to the Isle of Iona for a time to live in a shepherd’s bothy and to respond to the spirit of place through my work, and my writing.

I’ve also been going through old files to look for photos of my father, with his cars, and I found images of old work (from around 2006), so I thought I’d post them here. They don’t have an internet presence otherwise, to my knowledge…

Kate Walters artist 17 feb 2015

During my shamanic Training (2000-2006) I learned to ‘become the hollow bone’; that is, to work without being bound to the impulses and desires and fears of the Ego. During the training it was whilst working as a healer or visionary that I worked in this way. Since then I have being drawing together all the threads of my life into my practice as an Artist, which is how and why the clearseeing drawings came into being.

Early last summer the curator Alice Herrick asked me to propose something for the Fete she was organising. The thought seemed to drop into my head: I Can Draw Your Dream. I jotted down a few words and she loved the idea – so I had to make it happen. I went to London last July with everything I needed (monotype plate, papers, inks, rollers, rags, bunting…) in a suitcase. Early on in the day a man came along expressing interest, and he bought two of the monotype drawings I had made of my own dreams. He contacted me later, explaining he was Marc Almond’s agent and would like me to do the artwork for Marc’s new album, working in this way.

Women seemed drawn to the idea of working with me, with their dreams, and it was an intense experience sitting beside them and tuning into what they told me about the frequency and quality of their dreams. I always like the co-creators to have the drawing I have made. There needs to be an energetic exchange for this (it comes from an ancient sacred tradition and needs to be negotiated with respect).

Since last July I have worked in this way at Espacio Gallery in January 2015 and with Marc Almond on two long afternoons when we produced everything for his new album. I also spent time in my studio listening to his new album and making monotype drawings in response.

I have enjoyed working this way tuning into myself, and whatever is is that guides me, to produce some works I love. I prefer to work on very thin paper – either Gampi paper or bible paper – as these are sensitive and pick up every mark.

http://www.millenniumgallery.co.uk/withclosedeyes/catalogue.htm

WITH CLOSED EYES  KATE WALTERS

We request the pleasure of your company for the VIP preview of ‘With Closed Eyes’, an exhibition of unique and touching paintings by Kate Walters, held on the middle floor of the gallery.

On Friday 20th February:

VIP preview – 7.00 – 7.30

General preview  – 7.30 – 9.00

To view the catalogue online please click the link above. Limited edition hardback copies are available from the gallery.

     

To read an insightful and in depth interview with Kate Walters by former Tate St Ives Director Susan Daniel-McElroy click on the link above.

To view all of the thumbnails of works from the exhibition please click on the link above.

We look forward to seeing you if you are able to attend this exhibition which continues until 24th March.