Week Thirty One
“The feel of a hot dry wind on the face, the smell of distant rain carried as a scent stream in the air, the touch of a bird’s sharp foot on one’s outstretched palm: such encounters shape our beings and our imaginations in ways which are beyond analysis, but also beyond doubt.” Robert MacFarlane 
It appears that this weekend I have woken up into an altered world, I must have walked through a magic portal without realising, it seems very different here. There is this scorching ball of fire in the sky that is literally ‘blazing’ away. The lambs are in shock basking in this glorious heat, and overnight, the leaf, flower and bird populations seemed to have trebled. There are hundreds of tiny midges dancing in the air, and an incessant sound of humming, buzzing, chirping and chipping.
The bees are so large I’m wondering if they are former scientific experiments. Just precisely how does a bee fly…if your body is that huge and your wings are so tiny….perhaps they are filled with helium gas? Is this actually the beginning of summer or just a taster or even a teaser…time will tell hey? But on the grounds of Highgreen estate these last few days, it feels like I’m immersed in an idyllic Thomas Hardy chapter, captivated in a delightful English summer….. and it is bliss. 
As I get busier and busier, I am glad that walking is still my constant; it settles and inspires my mind. Altogether I have now walked 475 miles; I would quite like to achieve a thousand miles or even more by the end of my residency! And I know to some, this is a paltry figure, but to me, the girl who hated walking to the corner shop a few minutes away, she, is rather proud of each and every step, all 1,433,906 of them. I was inspired the other day by meeting two retired policemen who were walking from Lands End to John O’Groats. 
I naturally took a photograph of their feet for my ‘Feet that I meet’ project. They had so far covered an impressive 700 miles, and were intending to complete the whole course in ten weeks. I am thinking more and more of whether I would like to attempt such a task, so it was interesting to talk about their journey. As they sat on the fell in their shorts and bare feet basking in the sun, eating their ‘Gingsters’ pasties, ‘I thought it best to warn them of the ‘Tarset Tics’. 
As I turned around to leave, I could hear the sounds of long trousers being rapidly put on. As the weather gets better, I hope to meet more walkers on the Pennine Way, unfortunately that means there may be more rubbish. Much to my disbelief I have started to notice an incline in the amount of debris dotted around. I was mortified when I came across a MacDonald’s cup strewn on the verge side, you would think people had more sense but obviously not! 
Several people have mentioned that there is a lack of Jilly’s artwork on the bloooogy blog, so I wanted to address this. Having read my journey and seen my photographs of my environment, I suppose part of me wanted to ‘wow’ you all with my creations when my final show happens, also part of me does not want all the mistakes an experiments to be seen just on a blog, maybe they are for my eyes only, artworks after all, are an edited version of what an artist has gone through. Nevertheless there will be more artwork shown in the next few weeks, as the VARC celebrations are near and hopefully more artworks will be completed. 
I’m currently working on a bone sculpture, I’ve been collecting sheep rib bones when I walk the fells and find carcasses. I’ve been cleaning and bleaching them, they look almost like porcelain now. The bones will form a long trail that sits on the floor creating a ‘Road of Bones’…well that’s the working title at present. Ok….a sneak preview…I’m still putting them together, making little stands so they will….errr….stand up, then some ink and mud will be introduced, so if all goes to plan they should be completed by the end of next week! 
Awhile back a friend, (who incidentally is an amazing photographer and artist check out his website www.rookywood.org) sent me some classical music called ‘Jilly’s Classical Hoohah’, for my continued ‘life education’. For those who don’t know, musically I’m usually a techno and house kinda girl, so it’s a new experience for me. Recently I’ve been playing these cds a lot. I have to say the Pablo de Sarasate, ‘Gypsy Airs’ OP.20 is to die for, and also the Max Bruch, ‘Kol Nidrei’ is divine. For the first time ever, I have had the whole grounds of the manor to myself, and I must admit, I rather like it, I’ve been listening to loud classical music with the doors wide open, I’ve been skipping and swaning around in my flower dress with my imagination running riot. I’ve been waltzing …on my own… in the courtyard as the swallows swoosh above me in glorious sunshine. Sorry William and Cynthia, I’ve pretended all weekend its all mine! 
At Gibshiel there is a certain wall that stretches towards the horizon, and it is one of my favourite viewpoints; I have taken many photographs of this place in different weathers. I absolutely love it and sit there often, come rain or shine it never fails to lift my heart. However one glorious day as I sat there and admired its beauty, I realised underneath all my happiness, there was sadness slowly creeping in. I know what this sadness is, I’ve watched it carefully. It is an overwhelming sadness, an acknowledgement in fact, it is the truth that in a few months time I will have to leave this beautiful place. At the moment this sadness is in the deepest recesses of my mind, a slight undercurrent that I can sense. I think over the next few months it will travel down my body. I know that it will be really painful when it reaches my heart, and I imagine that the day I leave this place, it may have reached my feet by then. 
Perhaps we can part that way? This is the final phase of my residency, and one, in which I intend to enjoy every last drop, even though I know, there will be sadness, pressure and stress not very far from the surface as I get ready for my final exhibition. Since one of my most beautiful friends died in 2003, I‘ve always wanted to collect phials of tears to create an artwork. I think tears are precious, they are liquid forms of pure emotion, and their components can be made of both great sorrows and great joys. Perhaps now is the time I should start collecting my tears. A fruitful, thoughtful, busy and glorious week. Week Thirty One…..done!