Come along and enjoy my personal creative journey as a mature student of illustration and mixed media art.
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Lewd, Rude and Featuring at a Church Near You!
Whilst I work I love to listen to audio books., A college friend recommended the novels of Phil Rickman, many of which are situated in Herefordshire and the Welsh Border Country. It was through reading them that I first heard of the “Sheela-na-gig” – what appears to be a representation of a woman behaving in a very un-ladylike manner!
Although many examples of the Sheela exist in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, the one at Kilpeck, Herefordshire is probably one of the most attractive and well-known and back in the spring of this year I ventured out to Kilpeck to make my own photographic record.
In my naivety I was really intrigued how such a profane image came to be featured on a Christian church. If it was a representation of the Kama Sutra on a Hindu temple I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid, so I just had to find out more.
This started me on a trail of research both book-wise and online. Hereford Library and Hereford Cathedral Library have been great sources of information.
No clear origin for the Sheela appears to exist and explanations range from pagan earth goddess to a warning against sinful behaviour. My personal jury remains open on this.
When considering the Kilpeck Church sculptures as a theme for a college project lino print seemed to be my natural media of expression in the first instance. I find making a lino cut a very satisfying experience once I can get my head around the idea that everything has to be planned and cut in reverse, (I’ve fallen flat on my face with this several times!).
I set myself an initial task of replicating nine of the most interesting images from the Kilpeck corbels which could be printed separately or as a multiple design.
I started out by cropping my own photos on Photoshop so the images were all roughly the same size and scale then traced the outlines on to cartridge paper.
When adding detail to the image I consulted not only my own photos but also images from the internet and examples of linocuts made previously by artist printmaker Reg Boulton whose handmade beautiful book “The Sculptures of Kilpeck” I was lucky enough to view in Hereford Cathedral Library.
From combining these resources it made it a lot easier to observe overall textures and the play of light on the sculptures so I could re-produce the images faithfully.
- BOULTON, R.The sculptures of KilpeckIn-text: (Boulton, 1987)Your Bibliography: Boulton, R. (1987). The sculptures of Kilpeck. Hereford [England]: Barton Press.
- BookPALMER, R.Herefordshire folkloreIn-text: (Palmer, 2002)Your Bibliography: Palmer, R. (2002). Herefordshire folklore. Woonton Almeley: Logaston.
- WebsiteTHE SHEELA NA GIG PROJECT – RESEARCHING SHEELA NA GIG SCULPTURES IN THE UKIn-text: (Sheelanagig.org, 2019)Your Bibliography: Sheelanagig.org. (2019). The Sheela Na Gig Project – Researching Sheela Na Gig Sculptures in the UK. [online] Available at: http://www.sheelanagig.org/wordpress/
Mel Gale's Illustration BA Blog 