Between the Earth and the Sea

A drawing project about geology, climate, history and relationships, and how nature and culture unfold together in place, inspired by the Drawing Ecologies module at DJCAD lead by Tania Kovats.

The south coast of Fife from Kinghorn to Buckhaven provides the backdrop for a rich seam of material, metaphor and magic emerging at the surface, from Pictish carvings and creatures hidden in caves to the crumbling stories of minerals, communities and toil being washed into the sea.

Old photograph of Buckhaven taken from the cover of The Lost Village by Eric Eunson , 1993. Murals on shop fronts in Buckhaven by Andrew Parry with local community group CLEAR. Guidance on making pigments by local artist Jan Hendry. Final quote inspired by the words of Sourabh Phadke at Clayfest 2019.

I also created a concertina sketchbook of Buckhaven Bay, the focus of the project, using pigments found there. 

While I have worked with earth for a long time this was my first experience of finding, processing and using earth pigments in drawings and paintings, both in the landscape and on paper. It feels like the beginnings of something exciting and full of potential. I hope to develop it further.

Drawings with foraged earth pigments, graphite, pastel and clay paint, A3