♒♒ river carry me

the tides breathing waves

take flotsam away

as seaweed fingers ride

under a fading kiss in the sky:

✔ look away

 * illustration from the fabulous stuff no-one told me :

☐ when they are young

last Saturday we went to the 10th annual

free range graduate photography show

at the Truman Brewery, London:

lots of emotion and angst bubbling 

away with many of the works:

real gut wrenching head nodding familiarity

and intrigue:

maybe it's a new breed of photographers:

or maybe it's a sign of the times:

things that caught our memory ....

Isabelle Brack ~ Untitled 2010:

things don't always have to be in focus to have impact:

Chris Mear ~ Grandma 2009:

love her suspicion + the lines and colour:

humour as we went in to the darkened room to see ....

the future of photography?

*taken through 3d glasses*

by Charlotte King:

Caroline Harbourne ~ Stolen Lives:

recreation of an image found on the internet:

we've all seen them on social networking sites:

she goes one step further ....

click this image to make it larger ☝

it makes you think:

Angelica Robinson ~ Perimeter:

love the format, images and narrative of this:

 an illustration of a journey around the London Olympic site:

looking for an understanding of the impact it has on the

area and people: compelling and poignant:

Libbie's pick: she loved the whiteness of the

sheep as they fade into the hazy horizon:

* apologies to the artist as we didn't make note of the name*

my top picks ....

Helena Tkalez ~ Displaced:

one of a series of timeless shots taken at her late 

Grandmothers house before it was sold:  

the heart aching narrative of a Ukrainian lady, 

a survivor of the Nazi labour camps:

who settled in the UK for 60 years:

objects, pictures and religious icons becoming 'displaced'

among family, friends and strangers:

beautiful:

Alma Haser ~ Paper:

apart from the folding of paper:

a passion of mine:

these gorgeously staged images tell a story:

if you want to believe them:

ↂ silver dreams

the lust list:

just like aladdin:

a getaway for two:

if anyone has these going spare:

we'll take them off your hands:

⚡⚡ fire me up

yesterday I wandered to the Old Town :

I lucked on a workshop organised by

Madelaine Murphy, Richard Baxter, 

Lola Swain and Kelly Foreman ~

raku japanese open firing:

no guns, just glaze:

pick a pot, already formed and fired:

a choice of glazes and tools to try:

Kelly tells me what each glaze will do

after firing:  

with her guidance she realises my idea:

possibility, shade, technique:

mine has turquoise:

kilns waiting to be filled:

happy shoppers all:

carefully placed inside by Kelly:

then fired up:

we wait:

we anticipate:

Madelaine glazes a bonsai pot

brought along by a lady who shows me 

photos of beautiful ferns and 

bonsai in bloom:

a cup of tea and a shared memory of being taught 

to tie her shoelaces by her father:

the pieces are taken from the kiln and

sunk into sawdust:

*I missed this exciting part as I had to meet Libbie at home:

you can see it here ☛ getfiredup

most of the pieces were hidden under the sawdust:

mine peeped through as I wanted the lower

part of my glaze to be different from the top:

like a lucky dip, Kelly pulled the pieces out:

Richard cleaned up the burrs:

may I present a beautiful cup:

crackled and blue and mine:

a pleasurable afternoon:

⦾⦿ electric video & ears

this week of the art trail has been diverse:

wednesday evening saw us visiting our favourite

vegetarian restaurant and eaterie

mykitchen :

for a platter of pleasure 

no food involved:

unStatic a new night of sound and performance:

we sampled the menu and saw ....

a video talkshow by 

Mette Wozniak :

Mettemorphosis sees Mette dressing the part 

and interviewing her alter egos:

it reminded me of the still film photographs

of Cindy Sherman :

unnerving parody :

we liked her little song about snails:

'restless' by Ann Harvey:

her light shone through, the music crescendo'd

as she drew:

sounds created from objects in the environs by

Stuart Bowditch aka Hybernation :

echoes and bleeps over a deep soundtrack:

'all the sounds I used were recorded in MyKitchen the day before the gig'

projected visuals and wizardry by our

amazing local vj Mike Lowther:

oversized cutlery clanging on plates:

film 'middlemans dinner' by

Kelly Jessiman:

the everyday object made awkward:

unstoppable stuffing:

finally an interesting pre-tape recorded piece by

Curtis & Kherbeck:

analogue language take over bid in a beat style:

Noam Chomsky & John Ashbery chewing the

stale crusts from the dining car:

strangers on a shadow train:

click whirr play stop:

time took us away:

the evening carried on without us:

original things like this don't come along often:

more please:

ꇴ shine a little light

these ancient steps so steep:

make us lose our breath when climbed:

yesterday the artist clare lynn

transformed them:

with little red clips and leds:

as the dead looked on and twilight fell:

a trail of lights leading us down down to the river:

magic to our stumbling feet:

look here to see:

{that walking down and up a cobbled incline is not easy}

some light play of my own to match the OooO's

of the onlooking crowd:

✉ ✔ monday moments

lunch on the jetty with my friend Simon:

bowls of my home made carrot & coriander soup:

with water lapping below our feet

and the occasional cockle boat chugging past:

a letter from Finland:

with green chequered tape:

a gorgeous postcard from Anna Emilia :

what a favourable start to the week:

how was your Monday?

{ click here to find out why I received this beautiful gift}

☼ saturday saunter

the sun was out and we headed along the trail:

first to the student show at The Stables:

this colourful piece took our eye by 

Laura Whitchurch:

the blitz ~ after guernica 

by Bailey Wesborn aged 11:

gorgeous textured batik by 

William Home (9) and Mia Johnson (8):

^_^

wOoP my year 5 group were awarded a 

'leigh art trail runner up' rosette for their sea sculptures:

time for tea: 

Libbie + gerbera shadow = our own piece of art:

refreshed we stepped on ....

Lydia Hardwick's kooky ceramic birds:

I've met them before but under different auspices:

a flamingo is always a hit with me:

her playful installations are quite  difficult to view in an 

estate agents:

but knowing her humour, it's intentional:

possibly my pick of the day is Southend Pier by Alan Hockett:

he demonstrated his method my holding up an empty bean can:

using it as a pinhole camera, he captures the spirit of the subject:

his spectral images of local landmarks are hazy green:

a beautiful revival of old methods:

watercoloured pages by Bridget Davies:

this reminded me of the photographer Erwin Blumenfeld

and his iconic 1950's Vogue cover:

the first line of the page reads 'has my face a story in it?' she asked:

brave brushstrokes get my vote:

shops not on the trail get into the spirit:

dead flies on a plaster cake:

wish you were young:

sssSuperwiggle:

sit under a tree and see 'ghost' by naturespacecreative :

historical tales and an evolving ground sculpture:

the ancient cedar tree lives on:

more events to come ....