Current
|
NEW PUBLICATION Janet Boulton’s ‘Eye Music’ watercolours began with still lifes of the glass shelves and jam jars installed in her studio window, coupled with the graphic forms of the scores of medieval plainchant. The series has since evolved into complex compositions, which integrate musical motifs with the resonant architectural and sonic spaces of liturgy and ceremony. This book gathers examples of these series of images and their sources—from the early studio works to those responding to the interiors of ecclesiastical buildings—with readings and descriptions of performances and recitals by players and archivists, who have explored the work’s possibility for musical improvisation. Included is Joe Scarffe’s essay ‘An Introduction to Eye Music’; and with further contributions by Jonathan Arnold, James Crockford, Daryl Green, Lynda Sayce, Tom Soper, Giovanni Varelli, and Simon Whalley. Distributed by Uniformbooks |
 |
Clive Boursnell – Garden at Spring Road 14 October 2021
|
|
As It Is Now: Janet Boulton’s Garden – Late October 2021 (Absorb Films 2022) This new film is a condensed account of making a garden from scratch, beginning in 1980; and it also marks the end of a period lasting over four decades. Being now in her 86th year Janet Boulton’s scheme for the future is inspired by the need to reduce the time, energy and costs involved in maintaining this small but complex garden. By leaving in place both the hard ground plan and the borders, with their inter-related structure of trees and shrubs, all the inscriptions and installations can remain undisturbed in their designated spaces. The main simplification lies in the decision not to introduce any more plants – neither perennials in the borders nor filling innumerable pots with seasonal displays of annuals. Consequently apart from the everyday tasks – raking the gravel, tending the paving and general pottering – the only essential work will be the twice-yearly routine of rigorous clipping and pruning to retain the basic form and design of the garden. |
 |
RECENT EXHIBITION During Heritage Open Days 2021, an exhibition of paintings by Janet Boulton supported the ongoing exhibition ‘Through the Window’ at STEAM Museum. Seven artworks from the Swindon Collection demonstrated the artist’s interest in glass, windows and reflections. Four watercolours, shown for the first time since acquired by Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, presented views from the Swindon School of Art at North Star Avenue in 1974, including the demolition of the Railway Works. |
 |
RECENT SYMPOSIUM A symposium on music, art and faith, featuring in conversation with Janet Boulton and musical responses to her art works, guest speakers, choral evensong and the launch of Jonathan Arnold’s new book Music and Faith: Conversations in a Post-Secular Age. CLICK HERE to listen to Musical Responses to Janet Boulton’s Three Studies for Holy Week. Performed by James Crockford (saxophonist) and Jonathan Arnold with Chris and Richard (singers). |
 |
PUBLICATIONS |
