NOVEMBER 2015 BLOG

I’ve been busy working on paintings for my solo exhibition with the Green Chair Gallery and on 21st November it goes out internationally for 5 weeks. The title is WHAT HAPPENS IN HAMPSHIRE (ENGLAND) and features 14 new paintings that show my response to the beautiful landscapes, gardens and coast of my new environment.

I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with a variety of techniques and materials to stretch my creativity and in this show I’ve produced work in acrylics on canvas as well as using oil pastels and watercolours on textured watercolour papers. As the result of this series of paintings I’ve decided to continue with this theme in 2016 by focussing on two themes: light on sky and water, and in contrast, a more earthy approach exploring the fields and wild flowers of the local landscape.

As I write in my artist statement at the beginning of this show ‘I often begin with quite literal interpretations of what I see to help me absorb, appreciate and form an emotional connection with new images before taking them further with a more stylised or abstract approach.’
If you visit www.greenchair-gallery.co.uk you can see my latest work!

SEPTEMBER BLOG 2015

The first signs of autumn are appearing, and it’s been fascinating watching the patterns on the fields as the harvest is gathered in, they’re inspiring several new paintings I’m working on. I’m delighted to have been invited to show a collection of my landscapes in The Green Chair Gallery, an online art gallery based in Canterbury but presenting art works to an international audience.

Last year two of my landscapes were displayed online in Mexico in the SICArte International show resulting in an invitation by Solihin Garrard, owner of The Green Chair Gallery to display more of my work. So I’ve been busy painting around the Hampshire countryside and coastline, preparing for my exhibition this November 2015 at: greenchair-gallery.co.uk. Watch this space!

It’s also been intriguing watching a Civil War Re-enactment entitled The Battle of Alton in the Hampshire town near where now live. I’ve always been interested in 17th Century history, so much so that my history mystery first novel Lady of the Ascendant was set in Chester during the English Civil war. This is still available in paperback from Amazon. Although sadly rain prevented a re-enactment of the actual 1643 battle in the Flood Meadows, we enjoyed demonstrations of soldiers in period costume marching with pikes and shooting with their muskets in the Market Square.

Nearby in the grounds of St Lawrence Church where Royalist soldiers led by Colonel Bolles were massacred by Lord Crawford’s Parliamentarian forces, the English Civil War Society had erected marquees where we could see 17th century pottery, basket weaving, a forge and an apothecary stall. This genteel display contrasted oddly with the devastating events that led to Alton falling into Parliamentarian hands and Oliver Cromwell taking up residence in the town.

JULY 2015 BLOG

After fasting in Ramadan and living like a recluse for a month now the fast is over life has suddenly exploded into a sequence of inspiring events.

One of our daughters held a big family Eid party in London for us and it was great to all get together again. One outcome of this was my granddaughter asked me for help with her school project involving her cats. These are two beautiful Siberian Forest cats which have the loveliest markings and I’m having fun pattern cutting to help her make life-sized models of them. There seems little time for crafts in the busy school curriculum these days and I really value being able to pass on sewing skills to a younger generation, having descended from a long line of dressmakers.

Another amazing afternoon was spent at Farnborough in Surrey at the Air Accident Investigation Branch Family Open Day where we were invited to a celebration of 100 years of the work of this important organisation. Our son Afandi works there as a senior Aircraft Accident Investigation Engineer and he and his colleagues fascinated us all with a series of presentations showing how their work has developed over the years to make flying safer for everyone.
We saw a collection of early versions of the famous black boxes which record what happened in an aircraft which had crashed, and the more modern orange boxes which work using the latest technology to help discover the cause of accidents ranging from micro-lights to events such as the mysterious crash of the Boeing 777 MH17 in Ukraine last year where Afandi travelled to this war zone to help with the investigation. Later we were taken on a tour of the hangar where the wreckage from past accidents is stored while experts analyse why each crash happened. It was a sobering sight but one which gave confidence in the future of air travel because of the thoroughness and dedication of all those involved in trying to make flying safer. On a lighter note afterwards we enjoyed tea and cakes in the shape of aeroplanes that the staff had kindly prepared for us.

Back home in Hampshire I’ve been working in my new garden having planted it out in traditional cottage garden style. Already our first harvest of gooseberries has been picked and little apples are starting to swell on the James Greave tree, and the garden’s alive with buzzing bees and a wide variety of butterflies including Commas, Red Admirals, Peacocks, Cabbage Whites and Painted Ladies. Visits to a local Lavender Farm and to Mottisfont Abbey’s famous rose garden are inspiring me to work on a series of new paintings and wall-hangings.

JUNE 2015 BLOG

May was such a busy time for me this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write my blog.
The highlight of the month was Churchill Fellows’ Day on 27 May 2015 held at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Sir Winston. This was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, established as a lasting memorial in honour of everything he had done to save this country in the war. As a living legacy to his memory and his belief in the power of potential, the Trust provides Travelling Fellowships to enable people who wish ‘to travel abroad to learn... to return to inspire.’

British citizens who are selected are funded to investigate groundbreaking practice in other countries and return with innovative ideas for the benefit of themselves and their communities. This year, 150 Fellowships in a variety of fields, (including an Open category for people to make their own proposals) are available, so do visit the website at wcmt.org.uk to learn more to see if you’d like to apply for one. In this way, people can attempt to put into practice Sir Winston’s own ideals which he stated in 1908:

‘What is the use of living if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we have gone?’

On Fellows’ Day, hundreds of people from all over the UK who, over five decades had been awarded Travelling Fellowships met together to see and be seen and to hear presentations from over 45 Fellows ranging from subjects as various as Hindustani drumming; CSI: Crime Scene Insects, and From Medicinal Plants to personalised medicine (my favourite!).

I was honoured to have the poster featuring my achievements in textile design entitled The Origins of Aran Knitting selected to be displayed in the Colonnades Gallery where I had the satisfaction of seeing many people enjoying reading it...

At the end of the day we were entertained by the daring acrobatics of a Spitfire flying upside down and by the music of the British Imperial Military Band all wearing splendid scarlet uniforms and antique white spiked helmets. Altogether, a really wonderful event.

Another really interesting day was a visit was to Dulwich Picture Gallery where I saw a retrospective show of over 80 of Eric Revilious’ watercolours. Eric Revilious, who died at the early age of only 39 when his aircraft disappeared off the Icelandic coast during an air-sea rescue mission in the war, is largely responsible for the revival of English watercolour painting. His career spans peace and war. He was a celebrated war artist; many of his paintings evoke disturbing and ghostly dream-like images of this time. But it was the distortion of perspective in his landscapes and the patina of the meticulous marks he uses to convey texture that captured my attention. He’s been called the Seurat of Sussex, but his use of glimmering light and dark and a lyrical other-worldliness in some of his landscapes reminded me of the work of William Blake and Samuel Palmer. The show is on until 31 August – catch it if you can. www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.

In my own work, I’m beginning a new series of paintings of summer gardens and continuing developing my sequence of wall-hangings inspired by these and the Hampshire countryside. My own garden’s also stimulating my visual sensitivity with new images for these creations, as was a visit to the National Trust gardens at Nymans where I photographed these amazing tulips.

APRIL 2015 BLOG

It’s been a very busy time this spring, with a family wedding in a Somerset. The occasion was absolutely wonderful, a lovely get together for the families and all 120 guests, many of whom had travelled from far and wide to attend.

One of the high points was the Welsh bridegroom’s brother’s speech, a beautiful poem in a very obscure form of Welsh, which sounded as if it would have gone down well in an Eisteddfod. As no translation was offered, we all had to take the contents on trust! As he and his wife had travelled all the way from Canada we were touched he’d gone to so much trouble to prepare it.

The cake cutting ceremony shows how happy the bride, our eldest daughter, and her husband were. The accompanying picture showing her high, glittery silver shoes were the subject of much fascinated comment. We held our breath as she slowly descended the fairy-light-decorated steep stairs wearing them. How she kept her balance as she made her dramatic entrance amazed us all.

Afterwards we spent the night in nearby Bowlish House in Shepton Mallet, a very interesting experience for me as I’ve discovered in my family history research that my maternal-great-great-grandfather Moses Stone lived there with his wife Rebecca Garton and their family when he managed the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in the mid-nineteenth century. We spent the night overlooking the lovely garden in the same room he would have slept in. Bowlish House is now in the process of being redecorated after the TV series Broadchurch was filmed there and the building had to be restored to make it suitable for guests again. The restoration is being really beautifully done, as my photos show, and the food and kind welcome we received there were really special. I would certainly recommend it to other people. What was really astonishing was to discover that my ancestor Moses Stone had married his second wife Rebecca, a member of the well-known brewing family in the same village Abbotts Leigh where our daughter had just been married. None of us knew of his existence until recently!

Other family events have kept us busy; one of the most fun was a visit to Bird World in Hampshire with two of our grandchildren. Photos of the flamingos, avocets and penguins illustrate our trip and again I can recommend Bird World for family trips; I have another one planned for next month!

FEBRUARY 2015

I’ve been busy painting my grandchildren’s portraits in time for meeting them again for an exciting half-term trip to the big city where they live. We met at the Shard hotel for the amazing views where you can see the whole of London below in a 360 degree panorama. Since moving south it’s been much easier to get together. The children are both teenagers now so I wanted to depict them at the threshold of their lives while they’re still young enough not to be blasé about being painted in watercolours by their grandma....

Another connection I’ve made recently is with the Southern branch of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellows - formerly I was a member of the North West branch. We met in Hampshire where I was asked to give a presentation of my Travelling Fellowship. I showed them my book IRISH KNITTING which describes my journey to Ireland and Norway, and also brought in some of the garments which my research trip inspired. In May I shall attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Trust at Blenheim Palace where a poster describing my Fellowship and its long-term consequences will be on display; a great honour to have been selected, among many others.

These Travelling Fellowships are a wonderful opportunity to develop any dreams you might have; if selected you’ll be funded to travel anywhere in the world to do original research in many different categories. Your project should show how you’ll be able to benefit your community on your return. To learn more visit www.wcmt.org.uk.  Any British citizen is eligible to apply.

Now spring’s in sight I’ve been busy working in my new garden on dry days. At the moment hellebores, primroses, crocuses, snowdrops and a single tiny iris reticulata are already in flower; also a larger purple winter-flowering iris has just opened, not sure what kind. For a treat we recently visited the nearby Hillier Gardens in not far from Winchester where the most beautifully scented Daphnes were in bloom in their Winter Garden. Visit www.info@hilliergardens.org.uk for more information.