Horticap Beckwithshaw

These bolders are situated in a small area of the land at Horticap. Not easily accessible they are nestled in a part of the site not usually encountered. I use circular movements with the mark maker to create patterns on the stone. The stone is very hard and does not flake or break like the sandstone used at Brimham and Almias. The mark maker to my surprise generates a strong smell of an ancient organic petrol like odour! I am unsure why; is it because the stone contains materials from another time?!!!

Return to Almias

I return once more to Almias Cliff. There is a real pull for me to this place; a short distance to travel to but feels like being in another world! It is 6am best time of the day. The sun is just rising and frozen snow still remains on the ground from a few days ago. It is freezing literally!!

I continue to mark make with the sandstone. The rough texture of the stone is more heightened by the freezing temperature. It hurts my hand to draw. This physicality is raw and bring me closer to the environment and its materiality.

I find some charcoaled wood from a fire once lit secretly round the back of the rock! An alternative mark making tool that forms a contrast to the lighter tones of sandstone. This material feels smooth and so much more fluid than the coarse sandstone. It leaves dark dramatic marks. 

Returning

I return to Scarr Reservoir. As well as enjoying this vast open space I return to collect stones previously left after releasing from their moss encasing.  There is again that anticipation of whether the stones still remain where I left them. It reminds me of returning to the site of a den or damn created as a child; wondering if it is still there or has someone or something destroyed it!

They still remain untouched by human or animal. In the short time they have nestled in there new location they have left an imprint of their presence.

I Introduce knitted monofilament wire previously created within the studio environment. Its presence amongst the stones generates an alien entity.  This material appropriates hyper-reality in many respects. Its synthetic nature a metaphor for all things digital, it’s bound and knitted form reminiscent of the WWW; societies need to connect with each other.

The surreal ethereal like aesthetic this material radiates when exposed to direct sunlight has such a beautiful quality which offers an interesting contrast with the raw organic materiality of the stone and the rural environment. 

Returning

Returning to Almais Cliff I feel apprehensive and wonder if the marks I have made in the past are still there. They still remain but only very faintly. The wind is strong and the shelter of the Cliff allows me the chance to draw again.

The resistance of stone on stone is such a real and palpable process and truly embraces the physical act of mark making and the mark of physical presence.

Walking to the front of the cliff the full force of the wind attacks me. It becomes difficult to draw in these conditions, but exhilarating all the same!