TELLING TALES
As curator and participating artist of the exhibition Telling Tales my contribution came about after reading the book Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. The book describes the Yorkshire moors which reminded me of my own childhood when we used to cross the moors to various places inluding my Grandfathers home. The English tradition of Sunday walks through village, fields and moorland often resulted in weather changes and exposure to harsh conditions. Wuthering Heights is told against the backdrop of the bleak Yorkshire moors where wind and gales blow and where deep snow drifts deeply in the winter. I was born not too far from the setting of the Bronte sisters in Howarth and the weather conditions are graphic in my memory; stormy dark rain clouds would soon brew and many times we would get a severe wetting with chills and asthma to follow. The author writes, "it was one of their chief amusements to run away to the moors in the morning and remain there all day, and then often, punishment grew a mere thing to be laughed at." Heathcliffe and Catherine were defiant children and this trait had dire consequences later in their lives. The book follows the chilling reality when there is rejection of some kind in families: Heathcliffe belonged to no one. He appears in the story of the Earnshaw family as a lost boy. His lost-ness and his great need to be loved led him to posses Catherine. If he could not have her entirely to himself then he would become sulky and go into dark foreboding moods. Those around him could not abide his presence of darkness of soul and let him know of this. Later he would take revenge on those who ridiculed and rejected him. As human nature goes he hurt those who were close to him especially Catherine the girl whom had loved since they were both children. As an artist I read the book and made art works when I felt I could describe in visual terms what Bronte was telling. There are sixteen pieces in the series that tell about naughty children who bond while playing, who smoulder with passion as teenagers, and who have deep pain when rejection occurs. Unrequited love took these two lovers into an intolerable situation that continued longer than death. Bibliography; Bronte,E J, Wuthering Heights,Publishers, Penguin Group, Middlesex, England 1847, 1965.
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The Rejected, 1999
Acrylic, egg tempera, collage. on stretched canvas.
52 x 41cm framed
[Purchase for $650]
'From the very beginning he bred bad feelings in the house. Mrs Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors."
Quote from Wuthering Heights. by Emily Bronte
The Rejection, 1999
Acrylic, egg tempera, collaged fabrics. on stretched canvas.
52 x 41cm framed
[Purchase for $650]
" Heathcliffe retained a great deal of reserve, and that served to repress all demonstration of feeling, and Catherine went to find another."Quote from Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte.
Youth- running wild-off to the moors., 1999
Acrylic, egg tempera, collage. on stretched canvas.
52 x 41cm framed
[Purchase for $650]
" The two continued to do as they had done as little children unrestrained. Their father had died."
Quote from Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte.