Kew Gardens inspiration

Do go and see Life in Death by Rebecca Louise Law, a mesmersing installation at Kew Gardens, on until March 2018.

In, and out of the greenhouses, the light was wonderful

April journal - turning to fresh water

Blue-green algae

Algal “blooms” form in both salt water and fresh water, but I wanted to focus on a microscopic form that grows in fresh water, hence blue-green algae.  While algae are needed and are beneficial in many aquatic ecosystems, excessive nitrogen and phosphorous, caused by farm or industrial run-off can cause overgrowth and “blooms”. These can be toxic, particularly to animals.

Hand-dyed fabric, experimenting with bobbin work, gathered ribbon, and chain stitch embroidery by machine ( great fun).

Evening fireworks

A potter in the garden before going out, and these agapanthus seed-heads caught my attention

then the evening sun hit them from over the fence - golden fireworks

PRISM textiles and Geffrye Museum

A visit today to the annual PRISM textiles exhibition, where the theme was "Lines of Communication".  A new venue, at Hoxton Arches, was much more straightforward to get to than I had anticipated, to Clapham Junction, and then overground to Hoxton.  A very good facet of this new venue is that the exhibition is on for two weeks, until 31st May.  The standard of work on display is as always superb, and in some cases very moving.  It seemed very monotone this year, with bright colours in evidence in only a few pieces, but particularly in those of Gina Ferrari, who has been inspired by the graffiti in the garden of the venue and in the work of  Ruth Issett, whose overlaid and stitched organzas are marvellous.

Many familiar names this year.  It was wonderful to see the devoré pieces by Peta Jacobs whose work I had admired at the Cloth and Memory 2 exhibition at Saltaire.  A very moving piece of 64 hand knitted lace gloves in memory of visits to the artist's mother who was suffering from dementia, apologies, I did not get the name here.  Intriguing stitching on ventilator mesh from Niki chandler, giving excellent shadows which were integral to the work.  Crunchy, vibrant map of a river by Amanda Bloom.  Fabulous work as ever from Bea Sewell with stitched memorabilia in a series of boxes.  Fantastic to have Amanda Hislop's  sketchbook available to view alongside the finished piece of work, so much inspiration and understanding of her artistic process from viewing the two together.

Photography is allowed at the exhibition this year, but images are for personal use only, so not shown here.  It is a bold move of the PRISM group to move from the Mall Galleries and I'm not sure it has been completely successful.  The gallery was very well lit and laid out, but it was very cold due to the unseasonal weather ( and there was no obvious source of heating anyway).  There are minimal toilet facilities and no cafe - although there are many good eating places in less than 1 minute's walk.  The exhibition was not busy on a Bank Holiday Monday, which was not a great sign.  Something for the organisers to think about I fear.

I had not realised how close the Geffrye Museum was to the venue, so I managed to ft in a visit to a place hat has been on my list for several years.  Not enough  time to see everything, but enough to get a flavour  and persuade me to visit again soon.  The flowers in the garden were spectacular as another bonus.  Good cafe as well.

More Sussex experiences

My Sussex adventures continued last week, but I've been too pre-occupied with preparing lists for everyone's travel adventures this summer ( and with the tennis) to blog about them.  So a quick zoom about them.  First a visit to Architectural Plants near Horsham, which I had not visited for over 18 years.  It is even more amazing now, and is really worth visiting before they move to their new site near Pulborough, in 2016.  The vistas in the nursery are superb, and it is possible to wander for hours around the grounds.

Shapes and textures

Quirkiness ( spelling?)

Then to the Ditchling Museum of Arts and Craft, small, but beautiful and well worth a visit.  Some of the artists in that community had troubled and bizarre personal lives, but the museum focusses on the work they produced.  Lunch in the welcoming and interesting Mister Magnolia's fortified me for a walk on Ditchling Beacon, to see the large horizon and watch the swallows.  I got my sketchbook out to record being there - Kurt Jackson influences  coming through

Swallows

The next day, off to Sheffield Park Garden  to see huge trees and lakes.  The sequoia that exploded after being struck by lightning, is now just a stump, it must have been astonishing to see it immediately after it was struck.  Several trees in the gardens are succumbing to disease and are gradually being removed.  

I found the tag of one that had recently been chopped down ( my mind went back to the tree project and how to link that to identity tags of fallen soldiers)

Lots of feathers there as well

 And the last Morley session of the term on Tuesday, life drawing, daunting again, but I did manage to enjoy this session more.  It made me realise that I was missing my scalpel, so I calmed my nerves during Andy Murray's last match with the cutting board and some black card. ( The pencil lines were made while watching a match to see if anything interesting came out of the marks) - it didn't, hence the overlay with the paper cuts.

Younger son's end of term concert last night , always emotional as the 6th form leavers talk about their experiences in the music department.  Packing now as I am off to Australia tonight - trying to keep myself calm as the lists mount up.

Tra le la le la Triangle….yes, that is a song title*...

… and the kaleidoscope quilt now has a triangle border.

A miscalculation of size led to the design solution of the black winged shapes in the corners.

It was surprisingly windy when these photos were taken.

but this gives the general idea, 

It is now 58 inches square, and I am deciding if it needs a broad black border to frame it.

In the black theme, my Queen of the Night tulips blossomed today, wonderful.

*The song is by Patsy Cline.

Designing, more in my comfort zone with paper cutting

Back to Morley this week,  and we are continuing to generate potential print imagery, using a variety of design methods.  This week, instead of a pencil, we had scalpels in hand, so I was fully in my comfort zone.  Overlaying different tones of papers to get  design, the outcomes are shown below.

Just short of A4 size

Based on this photograph of bicycle handlebars,

the design below.  I wasn't happy with this, so am going to change it later.

We also tried cyanotype printing, but my result was too blurry to mention, but it did start with a flash of colour from some incredible abutilons in the Morley garden.  This post is too monochrome, so here they are.

Unexpected art and music in the city

Starting a new job, based in the centre of London, in the summer, can be a hot and sticky experience.  However, it is worth it for finds like St John's Waterloo on Friday.  From the beautiful curves in the stone and metalwork


to the unexpected mosaics  and ceramics in the churchyard, courtesy of South Bank Mosaics


to the bounteous lilies and hollyhocks, currently in flower



to the juxtaposition of plant spikes and church spire


to the wonderful sounds inside of the rehearsals of South Bank Sinfonia, ( who do a free commuter concert on Thursdays at 6pm )

and the great jerk chicken wrap on sale in the courtyard,  ( no photo)
to the thought-provoking art of Clare Abbatt




one lunchtime was not enough.  Unfortunately, this exhibition finishes on Monday, so I won't get a chance to look at these again


which is a pity as they brought back to mind this installation at the Cass Sculpture Park from earlier in the year.