10 October 2022 Research, establishing the scope of my practice.

More research into witch marks - Found this article by historic England which leads to other resources. 

The name Witch Mark is really misleading as they're not marks left by witches despite how they present; they're marks to ward off witches (and evil spirits) 

People are still happy to accept them as a form of protection. A lady in this article is quoted as saying 

"These markings are on beams on the stairs. There are marks all over the house which is Grade II listed. It's really exciting. I love historic things – that’s partly why we bought the house. We have a baby on the way so I like the idea of us being protected."

Why a daisy?

In this article the marks are referred to as a magical means to protect - The word magic along with the term witch marks, makes me really consider how language impacts our understanding. 

In the 16th Century I'd assumed that magic was a term used specifically in relation to witches? But superstition and fear seem to have created an entire breadth of ritual behaviour that was so strongly believed in that it too was deemed to be magic. 

Trad Wives

Last year I looked at trad wife's but felt they were a distraction to my research which was focused on motherhood and the female role but I understand why I was drawn to this now. The trad wife is another role created for women -albeit by women. Recognising that patriarchy has no gender has helped me consider this too.  Now that I can connect my interest in Madonna and how it's impacted on women feeling inferior and to witches being demonised and used as a tool to punish women, I see the connection. I'm interested in female roles, the systems and behaviours that shape them and how we live with them now. 

11am Drypoint / Collograph printing module - started exploring with some materials from the session. Will return on Friday to print. I really enjoyed this and would like to do more. I like the textures and effects.

2pm Creating a web presence.

Made a start on this with Zero (Recommended by Kite) 

3:30pm Library meeting with Eleanor Johnston

• I now have the link to request a book that's currently unavailable in the library - Art and the maternal by Andrea Liss.
• I'd been trying to read the kindle version but really don't get on with it. Talked about the scope of my research and min mapping into themes. I didn't know where to start to find authentic nature based religion references that hadn't been overshadowed by fairy tales or replaced by Halloween themes.
• I hadn't considered other texts by her; there are more that I can search for.
• Suggested theme - iconography and religious imagery.

Throughout the day I've been working on these paintings. 

• Added greens and removed image references. 
• I'm trying to lean into the imagery that I intuitively pull out as suggested by Rebecca D.