Orbicular Granite

We spent a fabulous day at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford yesterday. I finally got to fulfill a long held desire to visit the adjoining Pitt Rivers Museum too and my brain is still fizzing with all the things we saw. It will take a few days to organise my photos but the first thing I saw and had to touch was this piece of orbicular granite. Now, I've never heard of this before but I 'googled' it today and the images that come up are amazing. Just look at those patterns and tell me they don't scream 'get out the carborundum, make a plate and print me'.....

Kevin Coates

Kevin Coates has a new exhibition, touring from North Wales to the Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire next month. It is called 'A Notebook of Pins' and each pin is mounted on a notebook page that distils the original drawings and ideas Coates did for the designs. They are deep in meaning and full of mystical creatures and birds, all crafted with the finest materials in the most exquisite detail. A joy to behold.

Time out for bugs

We're off to Oxford to visit the Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museums there. The first houses archaeological and entomological specimens so it is right up my street. So are these - they're real insect specimens combined with antique watch parts made by Mike Libby. Look and wonder.

The Ladies of North Wales

On Saturday we drove north and our first stop off was with printmaker Ruth Thomas who was taking part in HelfaGelf which is the North Wales Arts Trails events. It started this weekend and will continue for the following two weekends which is a big commitment by the 112 artists taking part, much longer than similar events I've been to.

Ruth's primary work is with collagraphs, specifically using natural forms and materials to make her plates. With a mixture of grasses, leaves and even re-hydrated spiders she produces some lovely work. I particularly felt drawn to her use of colour and found the same with the second artist we visited on the following day.

I've seen the work of Ann Bridges before and really enjoyed the chance to meet her. She was very generous in describing her working methods of making printerly paintings like the one above - she stencils layer upon layer of thinly rolled printing ink on to a special paper base and builds up her images. They just glowed- but it was her passion for drawing and completing a daily sketchbook type journal which caught my imagination. Looking through her collection of what are really 'visual diaries' was a real delight and a method of working she employed last year when she was artist in residence at Plas Newydd, home of the Ladies of Llangollen. She said we shouldn't go home without seeing it and she was so, so right.

Nestled in a valley, Plas Newydd is only about a quarter of a mile from the centre of Llangollen. It was home during the late 17th and early 18th centuries to Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby who ran away from their wealthy homes in Ireland to be together, living in 'romantic friendship' at Plas Newydd for over 5o years. They have always been known as 'the ladies of Llangollen' and they had two big passions - to collect woodcarvings and stained glass.

Both the outside and the vast majority of the interior surfaces are covered with hundreds of carvings many depicting mythological creatures. Too dark to take great pictures but it was easy to see how inspiring a place it was for Ann as artist in residence.

The stained glass collection was incorporated into their windows and pieced into mosaics. Both the house and the grounds with its topiary and knot garden are a delight. We're so glad for the recommendation. Plas Newydd was a delight.

Pretty Flamingos

Yes, I know these don't look like flamingos (or is it flamingoes?) but I saw these ring-tailed lemurs yesterday when a friend and I visited Manor House Wildlife Park here in Pembrokeshire. It's been bought by the TV personality Anna Ryder Richardson and there is a new TV programme about it on BBC at the moment . As it happens my friend's daughter works there (and for the previous owners) and she is the source of lots of beautiful feathers which I often add to my collection.

It was only because of the publicity for the TV programme that I found out they had flamingos at the park and as my friend Sue has just produced a brilliant collagraph of these lovely birds I just had to go along and see some.

These 5 guys - and guys is what they all are - are from Chile. They are quite small and very long lived. Sadly, I do not have any flamingo feathers in my collection because they tend to fall out in the water or by their hut where they get trampled into the ground. They are such beautiful, elegant birds though, so I can forgive them for not moulting in my direction!

The only flamingos I've seen 'live' were at the WWT in Slimbridge and they were very large, at least twice the size of the Chilean variety. There were a couple of gay couples in the flock there so perhaps the chaps at Manor House might go the same way. I shall visit them again so I'll keep my eye on proceedings!

Here is Sue's wonderful flamingo print and another printmaker I admire is a Somerset based artist called Julia Manning. I just love the vibrant colours in this flamingo print of hers. That pink and orange together is stunning.

As the sun has come out and they are forecasting it to last for a few days we're off to North Wales. We have a few walks planned and there is an art trail on so I will be in my element. Can't wait!

On Dover Beach

'The sea is calm tonight

The tide is full, the moon lies fair upon the strait......'

These are the opening lines to a favourite poem by Matthew Arnold called 'On Dover Beach'. I thought part of it would make a great text for the book I wanted to make from my pebble collagraphs.

I scored the sections on the strip of paper I had printed and folded them before I added the text and this was a silly thing to do - have you ever tried adding writing or printing when the paper isn't flat! I cut up another collagraph print to decorate the front end piece which I covered in black bookcloth.



I then decided to add the text to the accordion book in a landscape format. If I had not already folded it I could have put it through my printer and made a more professional job of it . As this option was out I just decided to handwrite the lines. Naturally, I rushed at the job in my slapdash way and did not do it as well as I could have. This is a prototype idea (so I keep telling myself) and I will eliminate these issues if I do it again, although I love the pebble prints and I'm very happy with the way they have turned out.

Here are the lines I selected from the poem:

Listen! You hear the grating roar

Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,

At their return, up the high strand,

Begin, and cease, and then again begin,

With tremulous cadence slow, and bring

The eternal note of sadness in.....

Believe it or not, I've been busy...

It seems ages since I wrote a post but I honestly have been busy doing things! There's been lots of travelling to visit my Mum who's not too well and a lady I know gave me masses of fabric - and I mean, masses. She offered it to me and I said yes, I'd take it - little knowing she meant rolls of the stuff- enough to set up a market stall with! Then her friend asked what I would do with it and asked if I would use it to make items for sale by the charity she works with.

The charity is Combat Stress and it helps troops who come home and get invalided out of the army with PTSD and other problems which mean they struggle to cope with civilian life. Sadly, her own son came home from Iraq, could not cope with the change of life and became a heroin addict. Consequently I have been making bags, cushion covers and peg bags until they've come out of my ears. I've not even made a slight impression in the fabric mountain but I cannot give up, especially as she has already sold lots of what I've made. Once I've made a commitment to do something I always follow through.

So, printmaking has been a bit on hold but I've made a few more plates and I've printed some of my pebbles. I've also printed them on a long sheet of paper which I carefully measured off in sections. Once the ink is dry I will score it and fold it into an accordion book. Before I do that I'm thinking about whether I want to add any text so I'll post a few photos if I achieve my aim with it.

In the meantime, back to the sewing machine......