Hectic Hong Kong

I've just returned from a week in Hong Kong (Mr B was working and I tagged along) so yesterday was a bit of a shocker 3 degrees after 32!! At least in HK I knew it wasn't me . . . it was hot!

Staying in Causeway Bay, the view from our room looked out over the Happy Valley Racecourse. By all accounts Hong Kong's gambling-mad populace wager more money per meeting than at any other track in the world.

Crossing the water to Kowloon on the busy Star Ferry makes you very aware of the energetic and hectic nature of Hong Kong. Although now I'm putting these photos together I notice I've managed to take shots that are almost people free, it looks calm and quiet - nothing like the reality which is busy, busy, busy. Think pokey stick and ants nest.

HK harbour is famously known for its junks . . . .

. . . there seem to be multitudinous ferry services.

Clock tower near the cultural centre and random sculptures. 

Kowloon Park's sculpture garden. 

Signs like this are everywhere.

Looking at the night cityscape from Victoria Harbour.

A little dragon looking over Central (with Kowloon across the water) from The Peak. 

The flower market in Mong Kok, colourful, bright and vibrant, with stalls and shops lining the entire length of Flower Market Road. 

When tired of Central's hustle and bustle Hong Kong Park is the place to be - children play in the fountain,

but even from the oasis of the park a mix of buildings is always visible.

The roof of the aviary in Hong Kong Park, which houses an improbable mini-rainforest with flowing streams, lush plant life and exotic birds.

Buildings crowd in wherever you are on Hong Kong Island

Looking down on the t'ai chi garden, where we spent a very relaxed morning.

We had time before our flight home to spend a few hours in the Museum of History. Telling the Hong Kong story, it attempts to record the 400 million-odd years since HK emerged from the primordial mud. Seems to end some time in the 70's . . . .

A Hoklo child's collar (the Hoklo are considered a separate ethnic group from the Cantonese, living and working on boats all their lives - boat people), embroidered with animal patterns and decorated with small mirrors, bells, beads, sequins and tassels. I intended to find out more about it, but time ran away with us and we suddenly found ourselves running for the door and our cases.

A short "week" in Pembrokeshire

Life is full of contrasts, I'm sitting in Heathrow waiting to fly out to Hong Kong, making time to blog about last week spent in Wales.

I've just spent a fab few days in sunny Pembrokeshire, yes sunny Wales! We had such a great time last year, that when Mr B had a few days holiday we decided to revisit the wonderful landscape that is, Pembrokeshire.

We found a lovely little cottage, where we could bring two excitable young dogs, to chill out for a bit - http://www.underthethatch.co.uk/dolaumaen -


A comfortably converted barn, complete with sunny terrace and stone circle.
Where the land meets the sea it opens up in widescreen, all wide-open skies and wheeling gulls.

It's all a bit Enid Blyton, for those old enough to remember the famous five, beaches, castles, mountains and picnics, of course we swapped the ginger beer for a glass or two of red!
A touch breezy at the top . . . .
Picnicking along the Pembrokeshire costal path. By the way, I was feeling pretty brave as it's a sheer drop just where the grass (in the photo) runs out and I don't really have much of a head for heights.
I do find the Neolithic fascinating, so many tantalising glimpses into our distant past, but never really 'knowing' the reason behind, say, a stone circle or the marks we might find cut into stones. I like the mystery that attaches to humankind's deep past, and as a consequence I often find myself visiting such sights.

Carreg Sampson - http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=1527 - silent testament to our forebears.
And of course, I didn't resist a return visit to Pentre Ifan.

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Tidbits

For a few weeks I've been spending time on Tidbits and I've rather fallen off the blog wagon . . . . .

I'm quite sure that occasionally time speeds, up how irretrievably it flees - one morning I'm going to wake up, to find it's my 80th birthday!!

Back in July I went to visit poet and fellow al-Mutanabbi Street book artist Ama Bolton to collect a copy of 'What is a book'. It's totally delightful, and lovely to have for my very own. 

I do hope she won't mind me sharing a couple of images, but it is such a beautiful book I'd just like to show you a little bit of it.

Talking of books. I particularly wanted to 'master' a technique which allows for pages to be inserted and moved around at will. I first saw this process at BABE 2011 in book artist Alex Pritchard's Pocket Orrery. I'm trying out ideas for a book where the viewer can rearrange the pages and create a narrative that resonates with them. 

My friend Sue runs bookbinding workshops at West Ox Arts and luckily for me she was running one for this very technique! 

This is my prototype, which I've filled it with postcards. I shall spend some time playing with the scale and trying out different types of paper before I decide how I want the book to be.  

Other than exploring book forms I've tried very hard to sketch every day - and failing miserably I might add - however, I've managed to get out with my pencil most days, either in the garden or 'over the back' where I talk the dogs for walks. 

 

Teasels 'over the back'! They are totally fabulous this year and are bound to make it into work of some kind.

I was starting on a print this morning, using some goosegrass found growing in the garden, but while cutting a piece of lino I managed to slice into my finger and after a fit of the faints I decided to take time out and bake! what . . . .

We have the village fete tomorrow so I baked a rum and raisin cake for the tea rooms,

and lemon meringue for us!

Making New Books

For a while now I've been thinking about making some new books for the Small Publishers Fair which this year will be held on the 16 & 17 November, at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London.

I find it so easy to procrastinate. I read somwhere that, 'The main thing is to begin, the next main thing is to FINISH. Anything can happen in between'.

With that in mind and to start the ball rolling I took something I wrote about 3 years ago and began with that, intending to write something new but discovering that I like what's happening with this.

This shows the idea taking shape, with some paper off-cuts and a photocopied image.

To take things a little further I cut some paper to what I thought would be a good finished size, using digital text and a photocopied image I made up a prototype.

I like a generous amount of space around text, and especially the image. My aim being to encourage the eye to linger and rest on the page - to give enough space to concentrate on what's there.

I like the way things are taking shape, but I'm not yet convinced by the cover. 

I do want to use blind emboss for the title, however, this might not be the best book for that - I'll see when I've tried out a few more alternatives.

In the meantime I'm going to cut a lino block for the images, and maybe try out letterpress for the text . . . . of course that will depend very much on which type I have - I do like the digital font I've chosen.

Inspired by the creativity of friends and strangers

It's been a busy few days, and not much has been done in my shed . . . . youngest brother and his missus stayed for the weekend and we braved the weather to see the Levellers at Avebury Rocks ll 

I'm aware that I overuse the word fabulous, but they so very much are. If you look closely you can see the rain.

The droplets are big enough to capture even with a phone camera.

How can you visit Avebury without taking a stroll around the stones, and letting your mind wander. We can only guess at the motives of our forbears (and unless we discover time travel this will always be guesswork) the mystery adds to the magic of Avebury, especially in low light - watching the rain coming in over the hills.

Seeing a friend in Oxford and catching up with a few exhibitions also kept me out of the shed! I particularly wanted to see Out of the Woods at the Oxford Museum of Natural History. I can recommend it, artists Robin Wilson and Rosie Fairfax-Cholmeley produced a thoughtful show, with a good range of wood and linocut work. 

We also saw the Jenny Saville exhibition at the Ashmolean and Modern Art Oxford. 

The work in the Ashmolean is to accompany her first solo exhibition at Modern Art Oxford. The Ashmolean has two large scale drawings on the theme of motherhood. I really enjoyed her drawings, they are both personal and universal, she took inspiration from, The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci, and creates two powerful and moving images of a mother and child.

Today I spent the morning running around the country side, having a lovely time (which included a very fine slice of carrot cake) but still not in my shed . . .

So, on my return home I thought about my week. 

I have looked and looked, talked and talked . . . but not made anything. I have however, spent a week being inspired by very creative people. I have admired work made by strangers and I have looked at the books made by friends and I have been galvanised into getting to grips with a project that has passed me by!!

When I got back to my shed today I needed to make something, so for a quick fix I decided to develop and idea I'd had in mind to do for the Tenth Anniversary of bookartbookshop  X = or What is to be done? At the time other obligations meant I couldn't submit a book, but I had thought quite a lot about what I would like to do.

I pulled out my wooden type, a motley crew I know but much loved by me, and started working on an unfinished old viscosity mono print I'd made some years back. I've had it in mind for some time to find a way to make use of various prints, unfinished or just unloved, it seems such a waste of paper to have them sitting about the place.

Printed and cut, a maze book starts to take shape.

Folded.

The addition of a cover,

an X is for kisses,

and hey-presto at the end of the week I've made a piece of work. 

I feel much better now.