Day 3

Installed in Garden C (An allotment): Thursday 12th August 2021. Approx. 10.30am

Wednesday 25th August 2021. Approx. 3.30am

Changes noted: The calico on the panel had become dirty or possibly mouldy? There was some general fraying on the edges of the panel but particularly on the wedding dress fabric on the right of the panel where the threads had entangled themselves in the nearby brambles. I decided to leave this.

The panel in this garden/ allotment is sewn at its four corners to the plastic netting behind. The bottom left-hand corner had come loose and attached itself to nearby plants. Again, I decided to leave this.

There are words – a list of grocery provisions – written on the back of this panel, as you would write a shopping list on the back of an envelope. These were visible due to the sunlight, and the candle wax on the front of the panel in this area, on this day.

I was able to spend over three hours in the garden on this visit and so was able to witness and document the changing light and its effect on the textile panel. The following images were taken at approx. 6pm

Sunday 12th September 2021. Approx. 3.30am

Changes noted: A duller day when I visited this time so not the same amazing strong light that had given the fabric a translucent quality and created beautiful shadows as it had last time. However, it was still beautiful, the whole allotment as well as the textile panel changing. The edges of the fabrics are continuing to fray and more and more wrap around the plants surrounding the piece. A large piece of calico on one of the central panels had all become dirty/mouldy except where the wax is, meaning the text on the back of the fabric, immediately behind the wax, shows through much stronger. Interestingly the dirt/mould has caught much more in the wax and the white cotton (as well as the calico) at the bottom of the panel as it has in the rest of the stitched seed shape. Being at the bottom it is nearer the soil and plants so presumably this is the reason. Brown stains have appeared around the top of the fabric, I don’t know what this is from. It could be from the berries – raspberries and blackberries – above but there is not hint of any colour.

Sunday 3rd October 2021. Approx. 4.00pm

Changes noted: A brighter day, so the patterns of the fencing were reflecting through the fabric causing, once again, the grid patten to add to its overall design. There is a small brown stain from what I am not sure? The panel is surrounded by raspberry and blackberry bushes that I hoped might have added some colour through contact with the panel, but apart from this unidentified stain there is none – nature will surely do its own thing. The wedding dress fabric on the right of the panel has continued to fray and seems to have got a little dirtier. Some threads, at the bottom left-hand side have got caught in the Oregano, while others threads have got tangled on the brambles. Most striking was the mould at the bottom of the panel which has darkened this area quiet dramatically.

Thursday 14th October 2021. Approx. 10am

Changes noted: Depsite some blue sky today there were no grid reflections, at least at first, on the fabric which gave it a very different subtler feel. I was visiting at a much earlier time than I have done previously. Towards the end of my visit subtler reflections than before began to appear on the lower half of the panel and at a different angle, presumably the morning autumnal sun being in a different place. There were some beautiful shadows from the oregano projected on the panel too. Excitingly this time a pink stain – presumably from the adjacent raspberries. Threads have continued to fray and catch on the nearby plants causing the panel to twist in the wind – especially at the bottom. This was my final visit so I cut the stitches where it has been sewn to the fence and also took a picture of the shopping list of provisions that is on the back of the panel – sometimes more visible from the front depending on the light.

DAY 3: Jan – June 2022

Reinstalled in Garden C: Friday 5th Febraury 2022. Approx. 3.50pm

At the beginning of February, the Day 3 panel was stitched back into its original place on the plastic grid fence which had created such wonderful shadowed patterns in the sunlight months. Over the winter months host’s allotment and its neighbour had, not surprisingly changed. It was a very different landscape that greeted me since my last visit in mid-October when I had taken the panel away for the exhibition – http://www.soulmarks.co.uk/7-days/documenting-7-days-day-3/– though of course, even then the seasons were turning.

On this visit to install the panel, gone were the fruit and the leaves of the surrounding raspberry and blackberry bushes, instead most of the plants were brown and dead looking. In place of the abundant vegetation and blossoms seen and enjoyed on previous visits were large swathes of dark earth, the unseen growth happening below its surface awaiting the right time, the warmth and light of spring. When I looked closer, around the day 3 panel, hints of that new life were appearing. I am looking forward to my next visit to see what new life has slowly been emerging.

Wednesday 6th April 2022. Approx. 3.15pm

Changes noted: As can be seen from the photo above when I arrived the panel was hanging by only the top-left hand corner. There had been some wild winds during February and March and it had not been possible to arrange a visit to the allotment since the panel was re-installed at the beginning of February but the host told me it had been this way for a while. It seemed to have frayed a lot and much thread was wrapped around the Oregano – Origanum Vulgare. It was also torn on the top left hand side.

My first task was therefore to resecure the panel back onto the plastic fencing to which it was attached. I did this with both wire, pegs and by stitching the cloth to the fence. As the wind was still fairly fierce I secured the panel in several places to try and hold it in place. Despite the winds signs of spring were beginning to appear around the panel.

It will be interesting to see how the panel survives the next few months but for now it is back up.

Tuesday 24th May 2022. Aprrox. 9.20am

Changes noted: The above photo shows the abundance of the allotment since my last visit. It was good to see that the panel is still attached to the fence. The stitched parts have shooggled along the fence causing the panel to sag in the middle. Fraying has continued and is evident on several different types and parts of the cloth. Gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes are beginning to fruit in front and on the right-hand side of the panel. A hole has appeared and the environment continues to interact, change and make interesting marks and textures on the cloth.

Wednesday 15th June 2022. Aprrox 11.00am

Changes noted: The above photo shows the abundance of gooseberries in front of the panel. The black currants, also there, are not yet quite ripe. The panel has once again sagged creating a waterfall of curved shapes. The fraying continues, and perhaps it is more the environment surrounding the panel that has changed rather than the panel itself this time Looking back at the photos from the winter months it does seem as those the cloth is cleaner than it was. The mould that had become part of the cloth has disappeared. There are repairs that could be made to the cloth now, I thought this would be an integral part of these works, but their changes have been slower than I expected. Is now the time to intervene, to repair, to change the panels. What happens to them next, I am not sure?