Frances-Ann Norton

Thursday, 20 March 2025

NSEW, North South East West

NSEW

I am writing an article for the Black Mountain College Journal. After Hurricane Helene washed out the roads, buildings and airport the conference I was going to travel to was cancelled. Our consolation is to write our papers for the BMC journal. Along with the article I will include some of these preliminary sketches and images depicting NSEW.

Working out the arrow order

Working out the permutations

I worked out in these drawings that with the four selections of North, South, East, West, there would be 24 permutations, and if i made each direction an arrow and then put them consecutively together I would have myself an Anni Albers style image.

An early version, the permutations are not quite right yet

Anni Albers with her husband Josef taught first at the Bauhaus. As it closed its doors in 1933 with the rise of antisemitism and intolerance they walked into the newly open door at Black Mountain College, established in 1933 in Ashville North Carolina. These images are inspired by Anni Albers and American quilt block patterns.

A more resolved pattern sequence

This sketch moves a step closer to the final image, using half square triangles to construct the arrow images, the permutations flutter and pulse through rotations.

North South East West: a painting from the collection of Christine Williams.

Painted in Lapis Lazuli and gold leaf. Part of the family / community/ series of blue and gold paintings I have been making for the past ten years. Each cycle of making/ imagery is getting longer. Three years of Russian Dolls, three years of one Red and White quilt. Three years mourning handkerchiefs.

In this painting icon techniques are used marrying my love of quilt block patterns, Anni Albers and the use of pattern as a transcendent meditative key to a deeper spiritual experience with visual art.