Tonie Rigby : My North

This week has been a continuation of Northern paintings. Interesting ( well, to me .) Never would I have guessed that I would have the creative drive/ urge to make, ' Northern paintings.' I haven't really liked the term.... I am not into a lot of paintings that come under that heading ( although I like Chris Cyprus and David Coulter.) They are about a time gone by, a time of cloth caps , mills and dark streets, that just don't represent my North of today. My North is warm hearted, friendly, community, ok poor and lost in some areas, high Asian population.....no cloth caps, few mills, an Art wasteland ( apart from the odd artist )..and not so far from green spaces, hills, walks, countryside, sheep,villages, community.....I could go on.

So, to make a little challenge to myself, I thought I would pick a word or phrase around the subject of my North and paint 10 small pieces in response to that. It's a must for me to vary my creative practice and approach. So the first 10 are about , ' black mills.' Don't ask me where that phrase came from, I am only the artist.i used the black sumi ink and acrylics on photographic paper. On the surface the ink and the paint stick immediately you put it down.

Words that came out whilst painting...
I like an ambiguity
My mills were almost replaced by similarly looking blocks of flats.
The sumi ink rewets
Why were they called, ' pea soupers.'
Some chimneys were bigger than others
With the black sumi ink comes a gravitas
Even the grass was brown
Some of the mills were a warm brown
The sumi ink has such an earthy smell
I don't remember the mills looking black
Some of the mills loomed
There was always grass around the mills, full of treasures , like spindles
As I paint the black mills , more memories return

As I painted , I was very aware of Greyson Perry's programme from the night before, ' All man. ' This week he was in London, in the city, with the bankers, looking at masculinity. One of his pieces was a giant pot phallus , covered in money, placed to mirror all the phallic style buildings out of the window. Was it the same for the mills ? Were they all built by men ? Of course they were, only men
had the money.

My town of Oldham has a very Industrial past, but hasn't seemed to manage to find a role in today's world.I still hear it said that it's heyday is the time of the mills.Mmmmm

Black mills 1.

Black Mills 2.

Black mills 3.

Black mills 4.

Black mills 5.

Black mills 6.

Black mills 7.

Black mills 8.

Black mills 9.

Black mills 10.

As I wrote this blog, I did feel a sadness about parts of my town that seem unhappy in today's world. I think back to images of the mill girls ( Dave's Mum was one, in the mill she went to work, I think from 14 .) Although they worked long hours, were exposed to cotton dust, and could be said to be exploited, they were always laughing.) That's changed. I carried on with the mills, ' grey mills this time. '