THE EYES OF THE SKIN

I began today to record the drawings I made during an annual gathering of charcoal burners (Charfest) two weeks ago and the camera still smells of smoke. Smoke flavoured the 3 days and its lingering presence conjures the event powerfully. Another sense came to my notice: touch. When 'harvesting' the charcoal from the Ring kiln and Earth Burn there were no gloved hands.   Direct contact seemed to give both pleasure and a means of gauging the quality of the product. Skin was becoming blacker and blacker through sieving and bagging with bare hands. 
I head this blog with the title of a book I'm reading at the moment by the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa. I was introduced to his writing by a student on the MA Interior Design at Portsmouth University. She asked to talk with me and film my hands while I was working.

I leave you with these words by Pallasmaa: 


'All senses, including vision, are specialisations of skin tissue, and all sensory experiences are modes of touching and thus related to tactility'.