Follow the Line

About

The stroke of a brush, charcoal or pencil, the splash of a sponge, a cut with a knife, incising into lino, metal or clay. Random or controlled, colour or monochrome. From initial sketches to finished works, those early marks remaining to tell the story or hidden beneath subsequent layers but still important to the final piece.
 
Intuitive marks, fluent and confident, spontaneous or more considered, the empty spaces telling their own story. Building those lines into blocks, creating patterns, systematic layering or seemingly uncontrolled yet never left entirely to chance.
 
Lines can be seen across the landscape: a neatly ploughed field, a row of trees, the wavy line of hills in the distance, where an artist can capture a sense of place. We walk these lines, footpaths and bridleways, gathering memories as we journey.
 
Geology, geometry, graphite, gesture, graffiti all have their part to play in influencing artists.
 
When choosing ceramics, shape and form become important. The outline, uncluttered by pattern encourages touch, a sense of quiet and balance. Equally we are drawn to the colours, textures and surface design, a line to entice us round the form, a tactile sensory treat. A row of bottles, a collection of jugs, a juggling dog, holding the delicate porcelain, a feast to the eyes alongside their function, a small everyday luxury.
 
Jewellers using repetition to create pattern out of lines.  Clean, crisp, mathematical precision come to the fore.  Others use a linear thread to hold onto, as well as adding colour to the line.