Mrs Cake

This is a bit of a technical test for me, I'm trying out updates from my iPad so that when I'm traveling I can keep blogin'

Christmas cake awaiting decoration - it doesn't look much . . . Yet!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Through the wardrobe

This morning when I came down to breakfast and looked out of the windows I was tempted to think that somehow in my sleep I'd gone through the wardrobe and found myself in Narnia.

Our little world at Froxfield has once again been transformed into a Christmas card scene.

Henny isn't keen, she comes out to peer about, makes a few grumbling clucks and scuttles back into the coop.

Walking around the garden in my warm boots, big coat and hat I can see all the bird food is frozen (what will the poor things do) this is early snow for our part of the world, too many small brown birds will perish in this unexpected weather.

The sound of children's voices glide across the valley from where they are tobogganing, mixing with the sound of geese flying in the still thick air overhead.

It is really still and quiet here today. The pristine snow looked so perfect it seemed a shame that I would walk along the path to my shed and spoil it.

Late in the afternoon I walked around the corner to our little church, the old ladies will find it cold in there tomorrow morning. If they come out of course, the porch has been cleared of snow but no one has swept the path.

Who is lonely Joan Allen I wonder, her tiny cross the only thing to mark a life. 

I found her marooned near the back of the graveyard, behind the grand tombstones and finely carved slate, alone in the snow.

Deep and crisp and even . . . .  Happy Christmas everyone xx

A present to myself!

I'm feeling very happy this afternoon. I've just hung a fantastic new piece of work, (a little treat to myself) a broadside from the Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadsides Tour printed by Andy Gossett with poem by Adnan Mahsen. 

A special event was held on Thursday 9th December including exhibition, readings and an auction of broadsides for Médecins Sans Frontières, in the library at UWE

Luckily for me no one else bid for this piece - my best buy of the year

Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadsides Tour Winter 2010

The al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition project was created as an arts community response to the car bombing of al-Mutanabbi street, and has been organising readings and events since April 2007 to fundraise for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). 

All 130 broadsides created for the project can be viewed at the Florida Atlantic University/Jaffe Center for Book Arts site. 

http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/JaffeCenter/jaffemutanabbistreetstartshere.htm

Now hanging in our hallway.

Hoar frost

The countryside around Froxfield looked  so beautiful today, frost formed on the branches of the trees and berries around the paddock, in the woods and roadsides around and about. 

Small Publishers Fair, London

Saturday 13 November I took a trip to the small publishers fair at Conway Hall, London WC1. 

This was my first visit to an established 'book fair' and I'm glad I went, as it will help me plan for BABE at Arnolfini next year.

http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/details/309

Not only was it good to see my own work displayed on the http://www.artistsbooksonline.com/index.shtm stand alongside other artists work, but I got to see so many varied examples of work. And unlike visiting an exhibition, visitors to this show are encouraged and expected to pick up and look closely at the work. Hurrah!

 However, not all visitors have the same levels of enthusiasm!

The public comes with a certain focus though, they haven't just wandered in, they come with a kind of fierce intensity. Potentially - quite scary! But very good if they like your work.

It was very satisfying for me, the Faculty Librarian at the University for the Creative Arts wanted a copy of my Mudeford book for their collection. Doubly nice because it will go to the Farnham campus, which is where I did my first degree.

Nowadays, as well as the small publishers fair Conway Hall hosts a wide variety of lectures, classes, performances, meetings and community events. It maintains its reputation as a place for free speech and progressive thought, hosting speakers such as Salman Rushdie, Will Self, Tony Benn and Mary Robinson.

For over 100 years the Ethical Society had its centre at South Place in the City of London, but by the 1920's the society wanted a wider range of influence and decided to build a new home in Red Lion Square, Bloomsbury. 

The Ethical Society http://www.ethicalsoc.org.uk/spes/index.php encouraged ideas about freedom in moral and spiritual life, and in thought, and at that time wanted a headquarters in the heart of London where thoughtful men & women could, - 'meet and enjoy the amenities of social discourse, with facilities for writing, rest and refreshment'. 

The building's interior reflects the seriousness of intent of those 1920's society members. Plans were prepared for - 'a dignified and commodious building, which it is hoped may become the Headquarters of the Ethical Movement in the British Isles, and also provide an open platform for speakers from any part of the world.'

The Conway Hall was opened in 1929 (brimming with civic pride) and has since that time has remained true to its original purpose.

Hampton Court

Chris and I had an hour to spare before meeting friends for lunch a couple of weekends ago, so we took ourselves off for a stroll around Hampton Court Palace gardens. 

No camera but couldn't resist - haven't mobiles come a long way.