⁂ the sun appeared from behind the clouds

May is a melancholy month for me:

the surprises of Spring have faded:

the passing of age and lost anniversaries:

the winding down to Summer:

then yesterday ....

imagine my sheer delight when this popped into my inbox:

Libbie's shoes and Shibboleth by Doris Salcedo:

famous feet:

need to get my own show next eh? 

^_^
*added 15th May ~ link to the slideshow click here

⎈ maybe it's because

I'm a Londoner ....

that's how the song goes:

yes I was born in London but for all, but a few years of,

my life I have lived in Southend:

*or nearabouts*

when I saw an invitation to exchange thoughts, comment and

memories of the High Street,

'why not?' I thought:

so today I met Ian Hurd, the man throwing out the invites

along with a free coffee:

Ian is part of Agency Southend:

a non-profit making social enterprise group:

their ethos ~

"Agency Southend aims to reconnect Southend residents with their 

visual landscape, allowing the creative spirit to add to our spaces 

and invigorate the locale"

as part of this Ian hopes to create an exhibition:

never mind the history books:

he wants our stories:

mine started here:

well actually it started at my Uncle and Aunts house around the corner:

but this was the door that we called home for a while:

it was bluegreen then:

living upstairs:

a lounge, a kitchen and a bedroom:

we shared the bathroom with the lady in the next flat:

a tiny place for a family of 5:

it's amazing how, seeing this today, it sparked so many

good thoughts of times spent in the Town:

shops long gone:

the smell of coffee from Planters and their delicious cakes:

Miss Rose, a tiny 'undies shop' packed to the rafters with

corsets and knickers:

next door the wig shop, with it's polystyrene heads adorned with 

hairdo's of every shape and shade:

the scary Toby jugs in the window of Owen Wallis

but the toys upstairs to gaze wide-eyed and dream of owning:

the pubs frequented on a Saturday night trawl:

the Tavern in the Town for the jukebox,

the Top Alex for the bands:

Scamps and Zhivagos, the clubs for afters:

drinking cider on the 'hills', waiting for friends to come from the

bus or train station nearby:

York Road Market ~ now sadly torn down by the council:

many teen hours & money spent buying fabrics to make my own clothes:

buttons and zips from the haberdashery:

thumbing through 2nd hand records in Gumbis:

the door has only changed colour since then:

but the town and I have seen much go by:

ם weekend walks

wet grey windy drizzly Saturday?

perfect day to visit 

Canvey Island

for a flickr meeting of the Shabby Seaside Appreciation Society:

some members travelled down from London

mad fools:

what a treat?

we strolled along the sea wall:

this concrete construction blocks any sea views from beyond:

we braved the rain and the cold:

walking past the caravan site to a pub beyond the 

oil refinery *there in the distance*

it was good to meet some new people and explore

Canvey and it's bleakness:

Sunday saw better weather:

we drove to Burnham-on-Crouch to have lunch with

my friend Sandra:

another stroll to walk off soup + bread + cheese

followed by chocolate cheesecake *yUm*

Findlay showed us his base:

the cow parsley grows profusely here:

the smell takes me back to sunnier days:

it was quiet on the front:

too cold for many:

Findlays favourite shop:

then back to Sandra's for a cuppa and a natter:

I love the shabby seaside:

❝❞ listening history

remember the park where you spent most of your childhood

where you spun on the witches hat and met up with your friends

where you lay on the grass and gazed at the clouds?

mine was Chalkwell Park:

I still live quite close to it and often go there:

just as I did when I was smaller:

in the middle of the park stands Chalkwell Hall:

behind which, there used to be a mini zoo:

it even had a bear called Lulu:

now only the peacocks live there:

the Hall is now home to Metal

an artistic 'laboratory' founded by Jude Kelly OBE:

Wednesday night saw the first evening of 

'Salon'

an idea to invite writers and artists to share experiences

by Rachel Lichtenstein: 

her grandparents would enjoy informal gatherings in their Chalkwell home,

sharing ideas and debate in their front room:

this was a larger but great recreation:

at first we enjoyed a glass of wine:

talking or watching the continual loop

of archive films shorts by our guest speaker:

footage of old London markets, cars and kitchen table antics:

a man who manicured his front garden:

boys with cine cameras:

grainy and soundless:

images of a past life in Hackney:

after a short introduction by Jude Kelly

our guest speakers were Rachel Lichtenstein

and Iain Sinclair:

Rachel told us of a poet who spoke to her in Yiddish

but she hardly understood:

her family roots from Poland to Brick Lane to Essex:

the stories of those who they met on their way:

Iain describes his many walks:

the rhythm of feet on ground, breathing deeply:

heart beating time:

it helps you to remember:

 the Isle of Grain:

obelisks and markers:

the differing banks of the sides of the Thames:

North and South:

the Chinese jogger who can no longer take his chosen route

as the Olympic Gateway has closed it off:

an excellent hour, or so, of still and listening:

layered every so often by the call of the peacocks:

*added 16th May >

◸▚ a real magpie

as I mentioned on Tuesday

I finally visited the John Soanes Museum

at Lincolns' Inn Fields, London:

the website advised that there is sometimes a

queue, due to the delicate nature of the building

and the exhibits:

luckily, only two people were in front of us

and a short five minute wait:

after placing our handbags within clear plastic carriers,

we signed in:

strict instructions, that 'no photography' is permitted

and a wealth of invigilators meant that

sneaky Dee could only catch one photo on her

phone:

*nothing can do any justice to the true

magnificence

of this little museum*

{the colonnade and dome}

squeezing through narrow walkways:

every surface and wall and built-in nook,

covered in fabulous artifacts and curios:

every ceiling painted or domed with coloured glass:

* I did ask permission to photograph these

 from the window to the outside*

libraries of books with leather spines and 

gold embossed titles:

the painting room with amusing Hogarths and shuttered walls

~ opened, by a white gloved lady, to reveal 

intricately rendered drawings by Joseph Gandy

of Soanes realised architectural designs:

{and some dreamlike unrealised ones}

this place is a riot of inspiration:

you want to know more about every piece:

and there are thousands!

my favourite room has to be the Breakfast Parlour:

under a beautiful painted glass dome,

a large cabinet symmetrically filled with shells,

jars, small animal skeletons, cups, thimbles, fossils

 and fanciful effects:

hanging close by ~

a miniature of Napoleon thought to be one of the earliest

paintings of the emperor:

a table with jars of small white shells,

a book opened at a botanical drawing and 

small drawered boxes containing insects that 

I just ached to pull open and peep inside:

I could go on for ever telling you about divine pieces,

the shrine to Mrs Soanes departed dog "Alas, poor Fanny!'

the Monks Parlour, 

the crypt with it's Egyptian alabaster sarcophagus,

Soanes personal rooms ~ the study and dressing room,

the dining room painted in *Pompeian red

with it's exquisite Apulian vases

and every chair adorned with a teasel to deter bottoms from

resting there:

if you're ever near Holborn,

you simply have to visit:

I know I shall again & again:

*apparently Soanes pocketed a piece of of wall plaster from the excavations

at Pompeii

〓 mixed medium

last week I saw the opening of a new exhibition at the Tap:

'a moment before decadence'

curated by Jonathan Kipps:

this piece by Jonathan named 

'Bruiser'

certainly dominated the main gallery:

canvas and pigment squeezed into the main arch:

the bruised areas:

sides hurtfully shoved are beautifully rendered:

a complete juxtaposition to the black gloss painted facades:

the thick paint of Geoff Diego Litherland's paintings, seem

at first playful:

I really loved these long exposure photographs and cells by

Frankie Charles:

his dreamy installations complimented 

by the gallery and it's own light:

as I peeped in to view this video piece

the artist told me it is meant to be ethereal and viewed

on occasion:

he explained 'the rainbow appears quite faint at first,

but as the light of the day changes, so the rainbow

becomes brighter':

added to that his amusing tale of how he came to be

"making rainbows":

*in an aquarium shop, where he cordoned off the area and set up his camera:

the strange looks of people in the shop as he was filming rainbows*

triumph of the Winch Room

is David Watkins 7.10 metre high

'Converge':

this towering purple poured piece

transforms the room into a cathedral:

more amusing artists' tales

as David told me how he teetered on a 

scaffold tower:

leaning out to pour his paint:

fabulous:

go see ☞ until 22nd may

༆࿊ too many candles

today is my birthday

and I am going to the John Soanes Museum

with my friend Sue:

we've always wanted to go and today is the perfect excuse:

show and tell later: