November
News, recommendations, drawing club :)
Hello,
Firstly, sending a lot of love out to everyone on what has been an intense week!
I really found resonance in this Anni Albers quote this morning
“Wholeness is not a utopian dream it is something we once possessed and now seem largely to have lost, or to say it less pessimistically, seem to have lost were it not for our inner sense of direction which still reminds us that something is wrong here because we know of something that is right.”
I was re-reading a book on Black Mountain College and having some time at home with my cat because I have had an incredibly busy week on top of an incredibly busy…year?! And also really liked this one from John Rice - about the aims of BMC but I think just good as a life approach
“Our central effort is…to invite the student to the realisation that the way of handling facts and himself amid the facts is more important than the facts themselves”.
I have promised myself that I am going to write more structured newsletters from now, this is my start (gotta start somewhere right). I appreciate you all who have stuck with this substack through a major lack of content, thank you. I hope this jumble of news and thoughts will be something you want to read!
I’d like to share some things that I’ve enjoyed or found interesting recently- I’ll be doing this every month now alongside studio news.
Pottery for Palestine, by Gaza Mutual Aid Solidarity. Raising funds to distribute ceramics
This campaign will distribute traditional vessels that are everyday necessities for displaced families in Gaza—and keep a cultural craft alive in defiance of Israel’s relentless effort to destroy everything Palestine represents…For six decades, the Atallah family has been making traditional Palestinian ceramics in their Gaza City factory, equipped with modern wheels and gas kilns. Now, displaced to the Middle Area, they've set up a makeshift studio in a tent and built a wood-fire kiln out of mud. They were able to find local despots of mineral-rich clay, which fires into russet earthenware.
Artists for Gaza, Silent Auction and Raffle
Sunday 10th November 12pm-5pm, Embassy Gallery 10B Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh. @artworkersforpalestinescotland
Phoebe Judge on the death of her mother, Valentine, on This is Love.
I honestly cried through the whole thing. I think it was a really brave and beautiful thing to do.
Jack Davidson and Hatty Staniforth collaborating on A is for Ant
This episode of Screen Shot on Radio Four
I heard this by chance on a drive home, and really enjoyed Alice Rohrwacher describing her work as films to walk circles around, and discussion of object/artefact
Archeology Review from Cambridge Journal Volume 39, Human Insect Entanglement: Past, Present, and Future
My boyfriend was one of the editors on this issue and it’s a good one. Think mystical worms and ancient beekeeping. We were lucky to see Dr David Smith speak at the launch about synanthropic beetles- species which are entangled into our lives. I am new to this and was really interested in Hodder’s entanglement theories “entanglement: relationship between human and things: humans depend on things (HT), things depend on other things (TT), things depend on humans (TH) humans depend on humans (HH); entrapment: “asymetrical relationships where things get caught in particular pathways from which it is difficult to escape”
Modern Love with Andrew Garfield being refreshingly honest about his emotions
If you haven’t listened before, a guest reads a column from the Modern Love (NYT) archive, and then they discuss it. This one got me trying to think of the worst thing and the best thing every day as in the essay.
Joan Armatrading on radio 2 tonight on the drive home
Radiolab, A Little Pompeiian Fish Sauce Goes a Long Way
Really great episode about a historian who spent years looking into the potential of survivors from the eruption of Vesuvius that shrouded Pompeii. A nice look at retelling history and revisiting things you think are set. There was also a really really good episode about an octopus.
Klay NZ Fundraiser for Palestine Shield Initiative
Studio News
I’ve just sent a lot of work off to a great new stockist in Philadelphia, Quail.
Also recently sent lots of new pieces to lovely TURN in Hackney
And been sending more pieces to TOAST
Lastly, my friend Rya and I are scheming to set up a very relaxed, hopefully fun, space for drawing sessions in my studio. It’s called drawing club.
It will be rooted in observational drawing but for any ability, just a nice space to turn up to and be loosely led for a couple of hours- time to make space for drawing. It’s been born out of the two of us wishing we had that space and time for it in our own lives. You can find us @hellodrawingclub on Instagram, and we have made a substack that we’ll update once we have news of dates/sessions.
Ok that’s all, I’ve definitely forgotten some things but thank you so much if you’ve read this far!
I’m working on a rodeo themed playlist (lol) which I need to tell you so I actually finish editing it and send it out :)
Ali x