Lis Mann writes: Joan and I met on Tuesday 19th April 2011 at my house to discuss our work and see where we overlapped or differed. Basically the simplicity of her shapes and the precision of her technique of cutting with a blade was as far away from my method of working as one could get. I use layers, random colours and complex structures to achieve work driven by feelings and emotion. Joan's images are also emotional, conjuring up images of domestic work, the past and the crafts long abandoned. I still use needlework and cloth as a major technique to make work. Joan's work references both these things, but the materials are paper and scalpel, and yet the beauty, simplicity and clean lines of her pieces have direct links to what drives my practice. In fact, the diferences between us are only there if you take them at face value; in fact, the contrast in the work is also its similarity. We had a very enjoyable day and felt we had gained deep insights into each other's work
Joan Skelton Smith adds that her cut outs of ginkgo tree were based on leaves sent by Alison Carter Tai as a result of Remarkable and Curious Conversations and she was particularly interested in our discussion of negative space in her cut outs.
