Portfolio
We all collect things for many reasons including the items' monetary value, intrinsic value or for the cherished memories they evoke.
Growing up, my finds were rather modest, comprising of little things that were special to me in
some way, such as 'lucky' stones, interesting shells or fossils, pretty buttons and beads, birthday cards, or flowers, picked on family days out, that I would preserve in a press, I always loved the contemplative process of packing my treasures into suitable boxes or tins to keep them safe from the deluge of time.
Over the years, my collections have continued to grow, with more and more objects and ephemera. I'm especially drawn to things that have a sense of history: antique or vintage items
such as books, maps, fans, lace and passementerie. And boxes. Lots of boxes.....
For Curious Collections, my solo show at the Sock Gallery, Loughborough in 2024 I exhibited the 'collections' of five fictional women - images from which are shown below.
MISS CLARA KNIGH'T'S CURIOUS COLLECTIONS:
SEASHORE SPECIMENS
I embarked on this series of pieces, encouraged by fellow mixed media artist Helen Hallows, as a further development of previous work: Collection Compiled Whilst Travelling By Miss Effie Partington'. This work had been inspired by collecting and the nature of the objects and ephemera that we treasure. I have written a journal-style story entitled, 'Miss Clara Knight's Curious Collections', (see menu), to accompany this body of work. The premise is as follows.......
'
Miss Clara Knight is a Victorian girl possessed of a particularly independent nature, who has spent many years travelling the country with her father, an eminent Professor of Archaeology. As they search for wonders of antiquity, Clara compiles treasured collections of her own….
SERIES ONE:
'Seashore Specimens', finds Clara and her father exploring the southern coast of England for fascinating finds.........
Miss Clara Knight's Curious Collections
Series two: A New Discovery
Series Two finds Clara and her father travelling north in search of a mysterious hoard....
Miss Clara Knight's Curious Collections:
continued....:
MLLE CHLOE DUBOIS:
A SINGULARLY INTREPID BOTANIST OF GREAT REPUTE
This is a relatively small group of specimens from the vast and fascinating collection of plants and flora gathered together by Miss Chloé Dubois, (1855-1933). Very little is known of Mlle Dubois’ background, but throughout her life she steadfastly searched high and low for new and exciting discoveries in the field of botany. A singularly intrepid botanist of great repute, she travelled the globe and discovered hundreds of new species.
Mlle Dubois had friends and acquaintances in many countries, which proved invaluable
to her research. They would often send information as to the whereabouts of strange or unusual plants and sometimes small mysterious packages would arrive through the post
for her containing flowers, roots, petals, leaves or seeds. It also meant that she could stay
in a variety of locations for as long as she wished. She stayed as a guest of the Dalai Lama for over a year before crossing the Himalaya’s to India to see a friend who had heard rumours of a new type of Jasmine.
THE DASSETT-SMYTHE COLLECTION
This exceptional collection was discovered entirely within the Devonshire estate of Lady Amelia Dassett-Smythe, (1790-1876). After the first find was discovered during renovation work on a crumbling folly, this remarkable lady quite literally left no stone unturned in these vast acres in her eagerness to discover more strange and unusual artefacts. These fossilised creatures and many more were unearthed intact by Lady Amelia and her estate workers over a period of fifty years and were of great interest to many notable antiquarians. Introduced to Lady Amelia by his wife, Emma, Charles Darwin subsequently took a great
interest in these finds and spent many years championing her attempts to have her findings published.
Photography by Terry Davies of Print Scape Photography
HANDMADE PAPER VESSELS
These handmade paper vessels are created using a variety of papers
including my own papers made from recycled waste paper, old book pages and paper napkins,
and other handmade papers such as silk paper or banana-leaf paper.
All of these vessels have inclusions of antique or vintage cotton lace, some handmade.
Fresh
For 'Fresh', I worked from a much brighter palette of blue and green hues. and further developed other ideas I'd been working on with fish and sea creatures.
Photography by Terry Davies of Print Scape Photography