THREAD AND WORD - A WALK WITH SHRINES 

AT THE MARGATE BOOKIE 

Taking time to reflect with Maggy Rodd

An introduction by Elspeth (Billie ) Penfold

I have known Maggy for a number of years through The Turner Contemporary Studio group and the Journeys with The Waste Land project, also at Turner Contemporary. I have always been impressed by her skill and inventiveness with thread and textiles.

It is always a pleasure to work with someone as talented as she is and even more so when you discover they have a hidden talent. I never knew that Maggy used to be a braillist and was thrilled when this came to light as a part of this project. Her piece in response to award winning poet Owen Lowery's Transitions poems took my breath away and you can hear her explanation about it on the film A Walk with Shrines, attached below.

Owen's poems in the landscape

Owen Lowery is a tetraplegic who came to the Margate Bookie and performed his poems dealing with the subject of transitions and transformations.  Maggy's piece speaks volumes about what, because of disability, it feels like not to be able to access parts of life that we often take for granted.



Here Maggy reflects : 

I have had a life-long love affair with textiles but that does not mean I don’t experiment with other mediums when challenged.  

For 3 of my 4 ofrendas I decided to make journal quilts (a 3 layered, A4 sized, textile piece).  

The journal quilt format is used by quilters and textile artists to experiment with ideas before committing to a larger piece.  I have used this format many times in the past to create collages to document other projects I am involved in. 

For A Walk with Shrines, I made a quilt for each book.  One book I had read cover to cover, the second I was half way through reading at the time of making and the third quilt was inspired by the book’s title.

My fourth ofrenda was a purely personal response to poetry in general.  The techniques I used were patchwork, machine quilting, embroidery, free machine embroidery, photo transfer onto fabric and Braille.

I have always enjoyed working with other artists and this experience was no exception.    Whilst the shrines were small in size, the artistic voice from each ofrenda made a huge collective impact. 

 It was a joy to see such a varied selection of pieces coming together each time we stopped walking to build the shrines.   After we had placed our individual works on the shrine, there were a few seconds of silence.  For me, this was a time to give thanks for my skills and the pleasure I get from being able to create.










Thank you Elspeth, for inviting me to join yourself and the other artists.  This was a unique experience and a privilege to be part of."

Maggy Rodd

A Walk with Shrines was part of Margate Festival 2018:Now, which was funded by Turner Contemporary, Dreamland and Kent County Council.

WITH THANKS TO ANASTASIA MILLER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY.

A LINK BELOW. TO THE VIDEO WITH FOOTAGE OF PROCESSIONAL WALKING AND OF OFFERINGS CREATED TO FORM A LITURGY TO FOUR BOOKS BY FOUR AUTHORS AT THE AUTUMN BOOKIE IN MARGATE.



A WALK WITH SHRINES by Thread and Word from Anna Bowman on Vimeo.