this is how it feels...

Since I set up a table in our living room, locked out of my studio, oh it must be years ago now, I’ve been getting used to new ways. Moving water and paint around in fluid flows across comfortingly weighty papers has been my distraction. Making a fresh familiar. Trying not to listen to any predetermined directions that I offered up, I have splashed and poured and spilt and stroked. Torn boundaries. Isolated eddies. Dried markings. Swirling and coalescing  into the beyond. I see worlds that are watery and sky. Land that is undefined and one. Sky and land together, inseparable. And so began a new series of small works on paper - collages with watercolour, India ink and graphite on textured paper. About the wholeness of our environment. No separation. Made slowly. This narrative thread trails on along many paths and ideas. And there will be many workings on the theme as I try to make sense of their meaning. For me. And for universal connections too. From time to...

from my Caerlaverock sketchbook Out on my wanderings today around Caerlaverock, I was much more aware of the big sky down here than I have been so far. That is a surprise to me since “sky” is what I thought this project was really about after all. Birds are important, but I thought that was so much to do with their necessary relationship with that big sky. Of course it’s all to do with the geese effect and in particular barnacle geese. After all I am here at this time of year especially, to witness at least a tiny part of their overwintering. They are so present, so distinctive in their gorgeous monochrome plumage and their yelping cries. When they are flying, I must look up. It is mesmerising. I am beguiled by their return each year from breeding grounds in Svalbard. 2716 kilometres they fly. I love that continuity and constancy. And that’s the bit that resonates so much. I have returned to this place too, though I’ve not travelled so far in distance. But I was o...

A rough night’s sleep but happily I was awake before the sun came up. It’s important to rise before the dawn... As the sky changes colour emanating from the left of my direct viewpoint, the movement begins. A flurry of crows land on a nearby tree, each one turned to where the sun is about to appear. It seems like it must be inherent in their bird consciousness - the wonder and expectations of new day beginnings, for all time. Then I start to see the dotted trail lines away in the distance, appearing apparently from the inner sky, threading through the brightening light. I watch and open the window wide to listen. The geese calls increase, crying the dawn. Mesmerised, I watch their fabulous mark making in the pink light. Then the lines move in tangles right over where I am leaning over the windowsill. I can see the bellies of them - gorgeous shapes as necks stretch out and the constant beating of wings. The air shifts and the day has begun.

Book reading and a word pops out. I write it down in my notebook of interesting words. Another remembered word floats up and then a phrase, sighing inside me. Scratchings of old familiar language and place. A song perhaps? I find it, listen to it. Memories and feelings and heady exploration. Another idea for a title of a painting is there. This time the book is “The Old Ways” by Robert Macfarlane. The word is swathed. The remembered word is “happed” - Scots for wrapped up, enfolded or clothed. The song is “Happed in Mist” by Michael Marra. The title for the painting is “sky happit”. I expect that one day soon I will make it just as a few years ago I made “path from wanchancy"

Last weekend was the mighty open studio extravaganza in this corner of Scotland which is Spring Fling . Ninety-three artists and makers across our region opened their studio doors to welcome in the interested and curious public. There was an enormous amount of preparation to get my studio and all the work ready and a level of exciting adrenalin-fuelled panic that far surpassed rational sanity. The doors opened while the final signage was still being tied into place on Saturday morning at 10.30am and the fun began. Even though I have taken part in several Spring Flings by now, I was still surprised when nigh on nine hundred visitors came to my studio over three days. They smiled, looked bemused, chatted, asked very pertinent and informed questions, and explained how my painting based on feelings of loss of self, resembled a dolphin cavorting in the waves. Some managed to control the urge to reach out and touch textured surfaces and some did not even try, caressing the surprisi...

"It's a Maggie line!" - shorthand instigated by my husband Kim, describing my obsessive preference for bendy, non-parallel soaring and sinuous lines usually observed in nature and enthusiastically photographed for future enterprises. Tree branches entwining skywards. Markings and rivulets left behind on lowtide beaches. Strata of stone layers on exposed rock formations. Random discoveries of tumbled pebbles. Twisted gnarled water-seeking roots revealed. Creases in the land where hills enfold fields. Crackings on mountainsides as water takes its course. And with the last snow and drifting of a couple of weeks or so ago, we saw the achingly stunning white folds and billows, creating yet more "Maggie lines" to wonder at. A joyful beholding of a sympathetic landscape. Here are just a small sample. Feel free to click on the images for larger versions

In my last post I spoke a bit about the themes which drive my work. I realise these have been less explicit of late than when I started out with my blog. I think it is about time that I revisited them, not least for my own benefit. Over the last couple of years these themes have been no less important to me, but have influenced as a gently embracing undercurrent rather than as a forceful driving energy. I recognise I lose sight of the bigger picture so often and need to take time to re-evaluate and remember. When I started writing this blog I was motivated by a passion to communicate the meaning behind my abstract work. "Acceptable Flesh" as a concept was the focus I needed to make a body of work which I planned to exhibit as an immersive experience and as such, an entity in itself. In reality, every piece I make mines the same seam of inspiration. "Acceptable Flesh" is primarily about my struggle to deal with my socially unacceptable body. I have neither b...

I thought encaustic art was all about painting with a little electric iron and brightly coloured wax. That singular notion didn't offer enough for me to explore further with the result that a vast rich seam of gloriously sensual artistic activity passed me by for so long. I don't quite remember what led to the earth-moving moment when I looked again but I did and it did! I do remember I was left breathless when I saw work by artists such as Roberta Lee Woods and Alicia Tormey. I was enthralled and immediately set off on new travellings to unexpected and unconsidered places. There followed several weeks of gathering pieces of required paraphernalia including a little table-top stove, cradled boards, and surface thermometer. To these I added some tools I'd used for ceramics, along with carbon paper, pastels, graphite powder and India ink. My trusty heat gun would take on new fusing dimensions. I read books, looked at lots of images online and watched YouTube videos to...

There is currently an exhibition at The Artroom in Dumfries of textile work in response to the life and work of poet Robert Burns. Eight Spring Fling artists, including me, are showing work at this new exhibiting venue until February 23rd. Our pieces are so varied in both technique and style yet I think complement each other so interestingly. Gloamin Grey by Maggie Ayres Mine is called " Gloamin Grey ", taken from the poem The Lea-Rig. (Gloaming is the Scots word for twilight). It is suspended in the space and casts shadows against the wall behind. I wanted to make the hanging light and airy to evoke the magical in between time of day and night. Detail of Gloamin Grey I worked the piece using a mix of dyed silk fibres (tops, throwsters waste and laps) and merino wool tops with Solufleece dissolvable stabiliser and free machine stitching. I also incorporated some split silk carrier rods and rows of hand stitching. The Lea-rig is one of my favourite Burns' song...

I kept hearing about Pinterest. I would love it. It would feed my creativity. It was a great way of sharing. It was not only inspirational but fun too! I didn't go and look - dismissing it to the ever-growing pile of never ending "things I should know about/ be interested in, if only I could find the time". I kept on ignoring in ignorance until one day inspiring Julie said "Take a look at my Pinterest pages. Here's the link!" Eventually I opened my eyes and dared to steal a look and a glorious world of potential flew around me. I'm just peeping through the windows still. But I love it. Thank you Julie --- If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, then click here: http://pinterest.com/maggieayres/

Visiting the Harrogate show in terms of buying opportunities is like alighting in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Endless stalls of fabulous must-have, just-can't-do-without fibres, yarns, fabrics and threads. I will only buy what I need. I know what I am looking for. I have a list. I lied. I lied over and over again. But I came home thrilled beyond measure over my bag of Habu goodies. Who could resist raw silk wrapped paper and raw silk tassar yarns which make me sigh when I look at them? Raw silk tassar yarn - image from habutextiles.com Artisan tempted me with beautiful hand-dyed linen lace yarn in soft pewter, natural flax and most wondrously so so soft seaweed silk yarn in pure ivory. I was lost! For anyone who has experienced the fibre extravaganza that is Oliver Twists, well you will know what happened next... undone and beyond... Spending time indeed.

Sue Walton has collaborated with fellow textile artist Ann Small, inspired by the literary creations of Lewis Carroll. I couldn't help but be aware of broad smiles as viewers experienced the stunning manifestation of the imaginations of both the artists. Sue's pieces in particular made my spirits rise. They were full of whimsy and humour as well as being beautifully evocative and magical. So, so enjoyable! http://www.suewalton.co.uk

I was not aware of Jane Neal's work previously, so it was a huge delight when I saw it this year at Harrogate. Written on the Skin by Jane Neal The surge in the belly is the familiar sign that I am seeing something emotive and individual. Time needs to be given, more than these occasions normally allow. Jane's work is concerned with connections between textiles, skin and touch; the continuity of the visual and the tactile. It speaks to all of us as humans in our everyday, though no less individual experience of our lives. I look forward to seeing more of her work in the future. http://www.materialspace.com/page8.htm

I first found Jean Draper's work years ago, around the same time as I discovered the notion of "Textile Art" and how it might apply to what I was doing. Tall Forms by Jean Draper The most exciting thing for me then was how she blended rhythmic stitch, fabric and colour to create a flow of work that engendered such a strength of experience and emotion. A visit to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate the following year presented the chance to see her work up close. I was not disappointed and Jean was lovely when I spoke to her, encouraging me to find a theme to focus on, emphasising the importance of the idea rather than the necessity of refined technique. I left feeling positive and reassured. I met her again this year and saw her latest work, "Landmarks". I found it deeply considered and beautiful and moving. Jean was no less interested in my work and we spoke of the need for an emotional response in the viewer and how that can sometimes reflect...