Rose Lodge, detail from sketchbook, Whisper, 2021.
Small sketch of plastic waste assembled to suggest two heads intimately close: a found shard, cartoon-head-like, is held by a broken plastic fork protruding from a used nylon pyramid teabag case, whilst a dried, squeezed-out paper teabag appears intent on whispering a message. The pencil drawing measures 9×10.5cm in my sketchbook, giving the correct tightness of mark and tension of the grouped items. [see whole A4 page below]
The page [above] from A4 sketchbook, 2021: Ideas for MA project, using domestic waste, specifically plastic packaging, including nylon pyramid teabags to tell a cautionary tale around non-home-compostable teabags… those ‘Terrible Teabags!’ [A nod to Edward Gorey with his horrible or horrifying tassels/trimmings in Les Passementeries Horribles.]
To explain – notes from my journal:
A brief intro to my ongoing obsession with non-home-compostable teabags as part of the colossal picture of the waste/recycling/landfill issue. Many teabags sold as biodegradable will only break down at an industrial level… frustratingly, they will not become friable fluffy compost in your garden. Even the more common paper varieties are often manufactured using plastic-containing glue to join the edges – again those microplastic deposits are unsuitable for home composting. However, I wish to approach the subject through the humour of nonsense rhyme to avoid didactic narrative and have been using the empty cases playfully, to create shadowy worlds from which to draw.
Rose Lodge, Speak and I Will Listen, 2022, Ink and pencil on watercolour paper.
Rose Lodge, Cammy’s Teapot Trip, 2022, Ink, Gouache and pencil on watercolour paper.
Rose Lodge, Sprite Shadow Dance, 2022, Gouache applied with dip pen and pencil on watercolour paper.
Rose Lodge 