☖☗ birdhouse in your soul

another collaboration!

created by Madelaine Murphy:

constructed by Jonathan Wells:

dovecote:

salvaged wood and chandlery:

linking local seaside houses 

with nautical & fishing history:

an interaction with local people:

folding origami birds:

talking about their journeys:

families: friends: visitors:

pegging them on the line:

in the rain and sunshine:

we're doing it again on Saturday

at the Pier as part of 

artside :

come down and fold your own

little bird:

tell us your story:

ᘎᘏ walking on pebbles and sand

very early in the morning

on the 18th June

Joanna Hartle 

installed camino

a cockleshell and sand labyrinth

on Thames shoreline at Leigh-on-Sea:

under a blue cloudy sky

barefoot in the warm seaweed shallows

when it was complete

each person took a golden cockleshell

to take on their journey

in contemplative silence as they walked

the curves and turns

leaving a shell within

and the memory in their hearts:

despite the tides camino is still visible ....

‑‒— the spaces between

it's that time of year again

when there's lots of arts events

going on locally:

after hearing her speak at 

Pecha Kucha #8:

I was curious about new works

by Tricia North:
as someone who loves

the snippets of family legend
tales like chinese whispers
ever changing and embellished:
this collection of pieces are about 
the bits that are not said:

"the mistakes, accuracy and gaps
in information that we leave
for future generations"
her complex structures
layers text texture
sewn thrown
glazed sanded
painted scratched
"my concerns are not so much about what is said
but what isn't and how we read and misread that"


while objects have no meaning
without the person telling the story:
Tricia is reciting and reforming them
in her own distinctive way:

ʔʕ turn and face the strange

we didn't have a front garden to speak of:

just old tarmac, all cracked, flaked and gritty

that was carried into the house

from the soles of shoes:

until ....

the landscapers arrived:

with their big tools and machines:

26 tonnes were taken away

crushed and recycled:

some to make the base for my path 

and runway:

grey edging stones around the perimeter:

two slate stands for my car wheels:

the rest of the garden covered in

topsoil, horticultural membrane 

and shingle:

sand brushed into the path:

walk the planks:

a blank canvas for me to plant:

with sea loving plants:

and gorgeous grasses:

a work in progress:

☼ a summer tea party

on the first day of June

I met with my friend Sandra:

we walked past fields of lucerne:

and parched earth on the marshes:

through the caravan park

and tall rusty gates

past the lakes

blooming with waterlilies

to Creeksea Place Manor:

we watched two amusing ladies

make beautiful flower arrangements

as they talked about their farms

of asparagus harvests and wheat:

then we ate sandwiches on cake stands

drank tea from china cups

and relished slices of soft deep victoria sponge:

followed by a tour of the Manor

by the present owner:

the building was in disrepair for many years

but Mr Bertolli and his family are gradually

restoring it:

some of the original features remain

an historic glimpse for good causes: