Four past use - creel stones collagraph

[NB this image has the wrong title over-written]

Obsession with creel stones

For several years I was obsessed with drawing these abandond creel stones.   They were stacked behind a derelict house just a stone's throw from the sea in Stomness, in Orkney - I drew them, once in the rain with soluble graphite, loving the blurred and shadowy marks.   Another giant piece measured about seven feet square - cominng across it much-folded and dusty a couple of months ago, in an impatient mood, I threw it away.   A drypoint etching failed to capture the essence of them, but evetually I produced a collagraph which was inked several times, in several colours and proved to be the most successful work done from them.
I think it was the hand-made, bespoke quality, wooden frame to fit found rock, and the enclosing nature which was the source of their appeal.   This photograph shows them  the dry - they were richer when wet.
Three years after finding them, they disappeared.

Layers of change

 

At any one time

some part or other of the North East

is re-inventing itself

regenerating

expanding mental horizons

and revising the urban blueprint

It could be better

if only ‘retail opportunities’

and acres of car sales

weren’t always included

but could be a lot worse:

at present there is still space to live

still time

no rush

no over-crowding

and still air to breathe

   

Teesside’s industrialisation

arose from man’s exploitation

of its natural resources

and the subsequent creation

of infrastructure

to extract

refine

manufacture

and transport

the resulting products

    Necessary urban growth

to accommodate the workforce

paralleled

the industrial

 

Man’s intervention

seems solid

and irreversible

but obsolescence

and the passing of the years

obliterate

man-made constructions

and Nature’s

often beautiful

regeneration

of the abandoned

blends them back

into the landscape

under layers

of natural decay

For me

contentment lies

in knowing

that I can see the horizon

at the far side of the sea

without having to travel

too many miles

   And knowing

that when I reach the coast

I can stand in silent

and solitary contemplation,

absorbing

the grey green dampness

of the sea-fret

or the promise

of the early morning sun

while nourishing my soul