light, write, colour

The past few weeks have seen some rather intense creative activity, as Tom and I prepare for an exciting weekend in Argyll. On Friday, Tom will be opening an exhibition of his new work at the Tighnabruaich gallery, Light by the Sea.

As well as his beautiful photographic seascapes, each of which evokes the distinctive light and spaces of Argyll, Tom has also been enjoying exploring a different way of re-creating and representing a sense of place with sound. In the sonic sketches that accompany his exhibition, he’s combined his personal experience of the Argyll landscape with its physical and environmental data, bringing together waveforms (which ‘translate’ the unique light structure of each image into sound); melodic patterns drawn from the OS grid reference of the location of each image; and ambient recordings made in the field. The effect is deeply absorbing and evocative (and I say that having lived in the same house as these sounds for many months!) The sonic sketches certainly add another rich layer to Tom’s artwork, which, if you find yourself in Tighnabruaich between this Friday and April 23rd, you’ll be able to experience for yourself. For those of you who can’t be there, I’m sure Tom will be posting more about the work and his experience of making it over the next few weeks.

Tom’s exhibition opening coincides with the small but perfectly formed Argyll book festival, Write by the Sea, at which I’ll be reading from some new work. I didn’t know until I sat down with my ideas that they would become a sequence of poems . . . but there we are. I’ve been a reader and writer of poetry all my life, but this will actually be the first time I’ve aired any verse in public (unless you count the Heid Haiku I published to celebrate the publication of Milarrochy Heids. . . or the lighthearted lines I snook in under an assumed name on one of Tom’s calendars). The poems address several “me” themes: walking and disability; the writing of landscape and the body; and issues of making and materiality in a fairly broad sense, including a piece about my favourite coat. I’m sure I’ll publish one or two poems here at a later date – wish me luck with the reading!

While developing our own projects we’ve also just completed work on another book that’s about to go to press. I’m very excited to reveal that this will be the first title to appear under our new Make // Mark imprint – our not-for-profit scheme in which we mentor and support talented authors and designers through the publication of their first book. Colour Moves is a showcase for the distinctive and important work of Italian-British designer, Claudia Fiocchetti

Claudia’s book includes a collection of 17 joyful, colourful accessories, including the beautiful snood (named ‘Broken Herringbone’) that Fenella’s wearing on the cover (and which it proved rather difficult to persuade her to take off)!

This book will be our 16th title, and we are all really proud of it. I’m looking forward to revealing more about Colour Moves and celebrating Claudia’s work with you!

Wishing you all a great creative week!