Text Version
©Wordsmith Crafts 2006
Last updated on 9-jan-07
If you would like to own any of these graphics, or at least t-shirts, mugs and so on embellished with my designs, go to the buy things pages. If you would like a custom design or an original then please contact me and we can discuss it.
Words are a gateway to meaning for me. Each word depends upon the whole web of language for it's meaning, and yet has to define something distinctive to survive. Words can be used effectively to communicate with obvious intent, or like in these works they can be a small visual representation of a deep mystery. Communication in these works depends on the viewer meditating and searching out nuances of meaning from within themselves and in relationship to the whole.
Writing is an amazing way to communicate information. In my lifetime however I have seen then way in which the ease with which text can be produced, and the volume of information communicated, overload an individuals ability to discern meaning. As an artistic response to this I have combined early forms of writing, inspired by manuscripts such as the books of Kells and Lindesfarne, with modern graphics software. By representing the text as a picture I encourage people to use their imagination, aesthetic sense and to take time to explore the text in unfamiliar ways.
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If you leave me alone with a bit of string or scrap of wire for too long I'll start to twist and braid it into whatever shape comes to mind. This section will contains samples of my work which draw on the designs used by Celts, Scandinavians and Saxons in the iron and early medieval ages. I have also worked in a more sculptural way making wire mobiles and pendants. I like the way that the principles of knotwork can be used as a basis for symmetrical designs, and also be broken to create the illusion of three dimensions in the paper diving through the surface or melting ribbons of the design until they drip into a pool of ink at the bottom of the page.
12 October 1966 – 2 November 2005
In memory of Colin MacLeod , of Gal Gael