As followers of my blog, you are cordially invited to my solo show, to run concurrently with the Suspended Sentences: visual responses to the poetry of Simon Armitage, show in Newlyn, (and thoroughly recommended if you haven’t already seen it). As I wasn’t one of the 50 or so ‘invited’ artists (and slightly ‘snarked’ about that, see below), I decided to contribute anyway, proving that if you can’t join ’em, then find your own way.
So for you, dear followers, here is your (free) Private View, of my show, exclusively here on my blog:
TEXTERE (to weave, stitching / weaving of ideas)
As a fellow walker, I too have a ‘wonky back’, but that’s about as close a comparison to the great bard as I dare get. Reading ‘Walking Home‘, Simon Armitage‘s own account of walking the Pennine Way as a modern troubadour was a delight with many lol moments. Quite apart from the prose, with so many quotable lines of poetry to choose from, I found it almost impossible to narrow down a fitting one from Simon Armitage‘s body of work. In the end, I decided to keep it current. So this work was inspired by his response on hearing about the death of Seamus Heaney, (and quoted in The Telegraph).
The following pictures show some of my ‘woven thoughts’ in action but I don’t think they work as well as the first. I have included them as an example of part of the process anyway.
Please join me in raising a toast, not only to recently departed poets, but also to the living ones who continue to inspire the poetry within us all. Noli Timere.
P.S. If you would like to see how other people cope with the art of snark, take a look here.
Caro Woods MA 
Very nice Caro, it’s a great take on a memorable quote.
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Thank you Seonaid. I love your Venice pics! Brings back memories.
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Caro, wonderful to see that poetry feeds your practice as this is key to my own work and has been for many years. Sorry to read that you feel snarked by not being invited, as one of the curators of Suspended Sentences and the originator of the project i can assure you we explored many ways of connecting with people for this show, however with the constraints of time and no funding this had to be limited. As you will have noticed from the show we have included work from schools, recent students waiting to start degrees, graduates, artists with no gallery representation and those with a high profile. We live in a area that is highly populated by artists if we would have done an open invite the exhibition would never have happened,over 4000 artists in the penwith area….myself jesse leroy smith along with a few others have been working 16 hour days for months to make this happen with as you may know NO FUNDING in other words we have covered the cost ourselves which is huge, hence having to charge a very small fee to see the show. (in relation to the cost). I hope that goes a little way to giving you a clearer understanding of what is involved in putting on a show of this magnitude. Best of luck with your work and thank you for visiting the exhibition we are very happy with the results. Best Wishes. Mark Spray
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Dear Mark, absolutely no offence intended! I really appreciate your comments and many thanks for taking the time to explain the situation. Having curated many exhibitions myself, I quite understand the logistics involved in such a venture and applaud your energy and commitment. You must allow me a little dig which has no real validity other than a rather cheap way of reaching a larger audience, (which has clearly worked) with no malice intended and a small dose of ‘tongue in cheek’! You have created a splendid show, as indeed I stated in my post, and have only praise for your efforts. Indeed you are justified to be proud of what you have achieved. Sent with warmest wishes, Caro
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I’m really drawn to Textere I too. This was such a great post Caro – really enjoyed the links and the humour! Made me smile…….And so great of Mark to reply to you – a rare gesture! It is always disappointing to here you haven’t got what you applied for isn’t it! I am waiting now to hear about my application to The Cornwall Workshop – I’ve not got high hopes up as I know it will be very competitive – and the compensation if I don’t is a weekend of walking with Hamish Fulton! I’m on the list of volunteers. Have you applied for the residency – I feel sure you have?
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Thanks so much for your comments, Rosie. Yes, Mark’s response was a big gesture and I really appreciated it, and the epic nature of his mission in putting on such a great show. I too have applied as a volunteer walker with Hamish Fulton and am looking forward to that, but I have to admit I didn’t bother to apply for the Workshop as I knew I wouldn’t get a place! Had too many knock-backs recently and couldn’t face another one. I might be brave enough next year perhaps. I wish you all the best in your endeavor, Rosie, I’m sure you will be far more successful than me. xx
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I know what you mean about setbacks – it can really knock your confidence – hope I will meet you on the walks – exciting! Lays wanted to do one of his walks
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