⁒⁒ trading history

walking back from a cuppa with friends,

I passed shops, salons, spaces:

shiny buildings of glass:

people bustle past:

no time to stop and stare:

but I wander:

this little shop has caught my eye before:

I needed some paper bags for a fair:

so I stepped inside to be greeted by a

man with a pleasant smile:

soft grey curls:

'you're lucky I'm open' he said:

'I usually shut early on a wednesday':

the shop piled high with every kind

of bag and label:

teetering layers of brown and colour:

I wonder how this little time capsule has survived:

supplying bags to public and trade since 1870:

a family business he tells me:

saved from the brink of closing, 

by a blogger and the bbc:

he's thinking of having a website:

a new generation of bag selling:

far from the days of his great grandfather:

I take my bundle of bright stripey paper:

a bargain £2.50:

and smile as he shows me an old sign ~

'todays price

2/8 per qtr':

I shall definitely shop there again:

I recommend it:

⑊⑊ stitch in time

yesterday, for the first time,

I visited a prestigious address:

in search of intricate hand stitched finery:

not a suit or shirt:

but fabric works by Louise Bourgeois:

cut, re-sewn, constructed pieces

made from hoarded linens:

woven strips and stripes:

silks and voiles of muted colour:

geometric forms made soft:

spiders web or parachute:

her parents restored tapestries for a living:

a childhood surrounded in fabric:

peaux de lapins, chiffons ferrailles a vendre:

suspended ghostly forms:

incarcerated fabric made flesh:

conscious and unconscious:

two pieces linked by needle and thread:

fear of separation:

domicile and maternal links:

alas I could not photograph my favourite pieces:

buttons sewn in patterns and grids:

on vintage cottons:

they reminded me of my own childhood:

sorting and organising the coloured discs

into piles and patterns:

a superb show of later works by a brilliantly prolific artist:

she is missed already:

and yes there is a spider:

{images from Hauser + Wirth as the gallery wouldn't let me take 

any photos *sans flash*

there were too many eyes watching me watching art which made 

my viewing quite uncomfortable: 

no hand outs and an echoing space made resonant by some loud

bloke trying to sort out their pc on the desk:  

I wasn't the only one complaining!}

⏏ eject

shocked to hear on radio 4 news today

that Sony are dropping sales of

the walkman in Japan:

this little silver box kept me away from the 

numbers on bus journeys into town:

in my own private idaho of my bedroom:

byebye little friend:

gone but not forgotten:

ᕰᕱ annual walk

our local Flickr group meet:

walk from Old Leigh to Southend:

a fresh look at the familiar:

we all see with different eyes:

big skies on the Thames:

cockle boats:

birds bobbing on the water:

calling to each other:

 rigging ringing on masts:

when we were kids, we'd climb cockle mountains:

fishy smells and crunchy underfoot:

how tall they seemed:

we have all grown:

✣✣ let them talk

pecha kucha #6:

what's one of those?

20x20:

twenty images, twenty seconds:

cities, towns, creatives, thinkers:

Southend's pecha took place in the former 

Clifftown Reformed Church 

~ now the East15 Acting School, Clifftown Studios:

local artist and recent graduate Amy Frampton

spent time, hours, days in a housing estate:

the Kursaal:

eight hours in the car park:

confinement, vulnerability:

cataloguing experience:

then creating an installation as part of her degree show:

two rooms, flat packed:

I particularly liked her photographic record

of her practice:

Laura Keeble leaves her pieces to their own devices:

shopping Magi in Bond Street:

idol worship in a local graveyard:

interest in how people interact and react with her work:

she can install chocolate crucifixes on my shelf

if she likes:

no supermarket required:

amusing and straight talking Daryl Easlea :

passionate published musicologist:

whose final words left us all a'sigh:

the house ~ digital poetry by Mary Flanagan:

an interactive screen applet:

she explores radical game design,

critical play where 

"the games that people play and how they play those games 

change in response to culture":

I love Heidi Wigmore's work:

she curated the excellent Cliffhanger in June:

{blogged here}

as well as her darkly feminine pieces:

she revealed past projects:

wanderlust:

and a sneak preview of the new:

spoonfuls of pagan imagery:

finally a nod to Ian Brownbill, Metal's director:

for filling in the gap between Southend & Liverpool:

a creative connection that has changed our town for the better:

and given me the opportunity to hear about so many

creative and innovative people:

 without having to travel very far:

✈✉ not so lonely after all

a parcel from far away:

but then again so near:

paper peeping out from under curls:

a pretty cup of choc:

a little russian lady wrapped in pink wallpaper:

and a tiny piece of art:

oh I do thank you:

𐐂𐐚 more than dressing up

Libbie's choice of exhibition, last weekend,

saw us visiting the 

Fashion | Space | Gallery:

taken during a Fastnacht festival in 

Germany, 2008:

a series of medium format photographic

prints by Axel Hoedt:

masks to unnerve:

costumes grotesquely steeped in folklore:

worn to chase away the spirits of winter:

revealing cultural tradition and costume:

historical figures and new interpretations:

taking on legacy & acted identity for the parade:

fastnacht is showing until 14th november:

♫♪ imagine peace

happy birthday my friend:

we all shine on:

𝄐𝄑 a different kind of beat

last weekend was rampage:

of the poetic kind:

although there was rum involved:

and much laughter:

Cherry warmed us up:

her cutting observations raised cheers:

the pub was packed:

the vibe was good:

squeezing into the downstairs bar:

we shuffled together for the main act:

poet: comedian:

nods to the locale:

he didn't disappoint:

and I managed to get Angie's book signed:

kerching!

☯ let's sit down

today I can sit on the floor

with my legs crossed:

with both knees level:

not one facing up and the other down:

or twisty and wonky:

I can sit up straight:

comfortably with no pain:

something most people can do with ease:

something I haven't been able to do for over 15 years:

sukasana: