Monday 27 June 2011

☖☗ birdhouse in your soul

another collaboration!
created by Madelaine Murphy:
constructed by Jonathan Wells:

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 
come down and fold your own
little bird:
tell us your story:

Thursday 23 June 2011

ᘎᘏ walking on pebbles and sand

very early in the morning
on the 18th June
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 ....

Wednesday 22 June 2011

‑‒— 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 
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:

Thursday 16 June 2011

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:

Sunday 12 June 2011

☼ 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
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: