I have been sketching madly around the town for some weeks though concentrating on specific areas that are the basis of my Sept 2010 Exhibition, only this evening however did I realise that despite being within the town an extraordinary amount much of the place had become forgotten; as I wandered I started to re-explore, even managing to find some things that I had not previously found.
around 8.30pm the light started to recede leaving me wonderfully enveloped in an even newer world than I had forgotten. I have often cometed upon a specific time of the day, be it dawn or dusk, where the very fabric of ones 3-dimensional world changes, when all but the boldest of collours become one of the same, reduced to a shade of...... nothing, no colour even rendering all but the most obvious of buildings and structures to a simple and 2 dimentional grey scale drawing, even pushing from site some of the ugliness that is a populated area, rubbish and minor detritis.
While on my wander and just enjoying where my feet take me, ( for this is how I wander, from one architectural or visual delight to another without realisation nor care of where I actually am geographically) on this occasion I found myself in what was in essence a 'tunnel' formed by the enveloping walls, only a little wider than a mans shoulders on either side, and, towering way above me, a comparatively long thin strip of dark blue sky that formed the roof, I felt for an instant as the tiny figure that I had used in a maquette that went towards a sculpture built during college ('maggie and barbara do lunch 2007) this path that I had found myself in led to a dead-end, what was most noticable however was the cleanliness and care that had been given to its very end, even the pipes that protruded from the walls about 5 feet up and 4 inches long, maybe eight in all, each had been painted nicely in the same blue colour as the church window frames, the base of the drain pipe even had a homemade box surrounding the drains entrance and, unusually for such a hidden place, no graffiti.
turning to leave I found a thermometer stuck on the window frame with a label requesting it be left alone, conservation? I was not sure but my curiosity warrented my finding out. on the way from this place I noticed a man standing at the far end, a further reminder of my sculpture, unwilling I am sure he was to come into such a narrow inexcapable place he waited for me.
Although his finding me was not surprising in as much as I was somewhere that you would not expect to find anyone at any time of the day, but with explanations easily made and accepted I was grateful for his finding me, he was a caretaker and was about to lock the gates, how embarrassing it would have been for me to have had to climb over a 4 foot gate that exits into the main street of town, not only was I saved me the embarrassment but I was also given a partial answer to my question regarding the thermometer, they were, he said, "all over the church", I asked a question and got the answer, at least a part of it, only time, retrospect or an unsatisfied ponderance will force a follow up visit for more information, for now I am satisfied it is for conservation or research, watch this space!
