Thursday lunchtime ruins

The Pier re-opened it's gates this morning and when I popped along at lunchtime it was heaving with people eating chips, playing on the few remaining rides and mainly taking photos of the damage. You are able to walk right up almost to the end of the pier and get a pretty close look at the destroyed pavilion- we spent time pointing out the melted lamps, the original cast ironwork and the undamaged flags. Someone had laid flowers for the pier, and the owners were walking around talking to people. We ate chips and took bets on how long it would be before it got rebuilt.

This week has been strange for me- i've had a lot of problems with my leg which has put a dampener on my mood and made me feel a bit dislocated from the real world. I shall be back to full posting frequency as soon as I can be.

Monday morning heartbreak

the view from my back door this morning at 8.07am



8.20 I got to the beach







The lone policeman in charge of keeping people back from the fire

The press photographers set up a photo of my nephew on a donkey, with the burning pier in the background.


I'm sorry for the image heavy post- but here's the story- I live in a lovely/crummy seaside town with an amazing pier that's over 100 years old. This morning it burnt down and my town is a little less lovely and a little more crummy now. Yesterday was the busiest I have ever seen the beach- I spent the whole afternoon on the seafront with friends, today I spent the morning from 8-10am on the beach watching my beloved pier burn down.

Chapelhill Steading

My lovely friend Clunk has been having all kinds of problems with her computer, and her blog got eaten by some strange beastie. But things are looking up because when I checked her site today this is the image that greeted me. Still no blog, and nothing works yet (so I probably shouldn't be writing about it yet) but look how cute it's going to be when it's all working again! Bookmark the page : http://chapelhillsteading.co.uk and keep popping back to check when the beasties have been killed off and the site is working again.

And while i'm thinking about growing stuff if you are in the UK and love allotments (or even if you don't, but still think they are a good thing) then please pop over here and sign a petition:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/moreallotments/

Probably of no interest to anyone, except me and my family

I came home from a visit to Bath with Tracy to discover that work has finally begun on my conservatory! These dull photos might not mean anything to anyone else, but to me they are the most exciting thing i've seen in a long long time. I am very lucky in that my neighbours are actually paying for this conservatory to be built (it's complicated) so I will be able to enjoy it's benefits, without having to shell out any money for it. Of course as soon as it's finished I will want to start furnishing it- which will mean some money spent, but it's almost as exciting as moving to an entirely new house. And my parents will be glad to hear that work has started because I think they'd just about got to the point of being completely fed up of asking me about it.

I seem to have been a bit absent this week- the heat has wiped me out and i've been needing lots of sleep, lots of water and lots of strawberries! This stained glass was made by my Dad, we clubbed together to buy him lessons for his birthday, and this is the first piece he made- pretty impressive for a beginner I think you'll agree. I have plans to get him to replace every window in my house with stained glass now!

Self-Confidence is contagious

My collaboration with Edith Abeyta has been receiving some press recently, here's what the District Weekly has to say about The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe:

Start with the candy, because it’s so, so sweet: Edith Abeyta’s multimedia installation Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe, where your unofficial host is a frilly pink unicorn—represented on pink tote bags and pink purses—and sometimes looks like one of those Tijuana zebra-burros without the stripes. (But happy, without the whole painted slave-creature thing nagging at you.)

Abeyta stocks her shop with unicorn note paper and wrapping paper and candies familiar and strange: three of the -head variety (Lemon, Grape or Cherry), plus Yum Yum Candy Cones, Jaw Busters, haw flakes, C. Howard’s Scented Gum and something called BB Bats. (Maybe it finds you in the dark.) It comes off only half like a commercial business—but with way more heart than your average downtrodden candy store.

I love how they referenced Tijuana zebra-burros because when my friends from California came to visit one time they said that Weston-super-Mare was like the Tijuana of the UK, which means Weston donkeys (which my 'Unicorn' is derived from) really are just like zebra-burros! Poor things...

The rest of the article is worth reading too as it sounds like there's some really interesting work in this show.

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This is...what makes me happy

Thanks to One Little Acorn for this weeks This is... topic, perfectly timed as i've been thinking about things that make me happy a lot this week. Here's a few from my list:

* sleeping all day
*fluffy cats

* books books books

* polaroid photos

* swimming in the sea
* nephews

* re-discovering hidden gems of friends

* the humbling and heartwarming experience of reading all 240 blogs on my bloglines and not a single one of them having anything to say about Banksy
* the continuing success of Miss Stacey's Summer School

Don't forget to head over to Angela's blog and see what makes other people happy

Rag Rug Making

While I was in Clovelly I met Deborah Hastings who was sitting in the old fishermans cottage demonstrating rag rug making. I've been wanting to make myself a rag rug for a long time, but have never been able to find myself the perfect bit of hessian to use as the base (a pretty bad excuse for not starting something I have to admit). Deborah was selling small starter kits for both 'hooky' and 'proddy' rag rug making, so I treated myself to a kit with her reassurance that all i'd need is a pair of scissors to get going. Of course she didn't take into consideration my complete and utter inability to start anything without at least 4 years of thinking about it before hand (the patchwork quilt is still in the planning stage and possibly will be for many years to come). Luckily help is at hand in the form of Deborah and her workshops- next month she will be hosting a rag rug workshop in Glastonbury Rural Life museum and I promised I'd see her there. It's only £4 per session (morning or afternoon) so i'm hoping to take her up on the offer to do both sessions and meet some of the 'similarly afflicted' as she called them.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along-blog

You've only got until midnight Sunday (some US timezone version of midnight I imagine) to catch Joss Whedon's 'Dr. Horrible's sing-along blog' before it vanishes off the internet for ever...ever...ever...

I've been hooked on this all week, so I thought i'd share it with you.

Holiday snaps...

Lots more here

Wonderful treasures!

When I returned from my well timed mini-break I discovered this package of goodies had arrived for me. A tiny doll and a selection of fabrics and tags all wrapped up in tissue and Norwegian ribbons and flags. Thankyou so much Emily!

I swam in the sea for the first time this year

Tunnels Beaches at Ilfracombe

Paul Greenleaf

When I was in London recently I popped into The Photographers' Gallery and caught Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed 08- A new annual exhibition presenting the most dynamic new work by visual arts graduates from BA and MA courses across the UK. I was very taken by the work of Paul Greenleaf, perhaps because he uses one of my favourite things as a starting point for his photos- old postcards.


From his website:

My work is concerned with how the land has changed physically, by neglect, ‘development’, coastal erosion or other factors, but also the way the cultural landscape is changing, illustrating the effects of time on people's lives and the environment.

I collect postcards from many sources such as flea markets and antique shops. In each case I aim to find the exact spot the original picture was taken from and document the view in rich detail as large scale prints. The postcards I choose to work on are from the last forty years (within my own lifetime) when colour photography and printing technology was being introduced.

The written notes on the cards, provide the title for each photograph creating a narrative to each image and giving a unique insight into people's lives. The title Correspondence derives from the comparison of the images, past and present, and the original function of the found postcards.

The new photographs are also published as postcards and presented as part of the exhibited work, with the intention of being used by members of the public, thereby perpetuating the original functionality.

I picked up some of his postcards from the show and will send one to the first four people to leave a comment for me to read when I get back from my holiday (oh how I love the ability to schedule posts to take place in the future)

some old, some new, some borrowed, some blue

1. Ester's bird crying rain, 2. Vombsjön, 3. let's be free 2, 4. Strange vegetations 3, 5. 2nd class, 6. COLOUR, 7. Nibble Nibble, 8. Sunday Best, 9. Funny-faced Polar Bear Taxidermy, 10. COLOUR, 11. VALERIA Y LA OTRA (Detalle), 12. Untitled, 13. bathtub, 14. Thank you this year, 15. Embroidered Skate ramps, 16. untitled

Some new favourites, some old favourites and some stuffed animals for luck. Click for more from the creators.

I should be back soon!

Hello! I'm not here!

I'm here instead.

My Mum and sister invited me to join them on their last minute booked holiday in North Devon, so I shall be away all week. I know maybe I should've let you know sooner, so you could put in your requests for postcards and fudge, but I didn't know myself until a few days ago. I'll catch up on you all when I get back!

Banksy and me...

I seem to have stepped into a bit of drama without even knowing about it. Here's some facts from me:

I used to own a house in Bristol
I don't live there any more
I used to curate shows at here gallery, Bristol
I don't anymore

When I moved into my house in Bristol there was a load of rubbish in the garden which included two old fridges, many bin bags full of special brew cans, part of an old truck and a couple of pieces of hardboard with work by Banksy on.

I threw it all away.

I threw it away because it was rubbish.

On occasion I have indeed been kept awake at night thinking about how much money I could've made from selling those two pieces, but then I remind myself of the reason I threw them away- they were rubbish. At the time Banksy was just another person in Bristol putting up stencil graffiti. Admittedly some of it was pretty clever, but the stuff I threw away was rubbish. As a curator I have never been that interested in street art (although we've had several shows at the here gallery featuring it, and indeed used to sell Banksy screenprints there) and the ONLY reason i've ever regretting throwing that stuff away is because i've seen the crazy prices people are paying for stuff by Banksy.

Last week the Mail on Sunday phoned me up to talk about Banksy. They'd got my name from the electoral roll and seen I was living in the same house as the person they've named as Banksy. I confirmed I lived there, told them I threw stuff away and confirmed I used to get post addressed to the person they named. I didn't ask to remain anonymous because i've never actually been interviewed for a tabloid newspaper before and didn't really think i'd end up being quoted as a key source- I just thought it was funny that they'd phoned me.

Since then the story has been reported on the BBC, Yahoo, in the Sun, various other places and this morning ITV turned up at the door of the gallery asking to talk to me. I've been contacted by The Telegraph and the gallery has had calls from ABC.

It's a bit funny to be involved in this, but to be honest it's also pretty scary. I've always been really free and easy with my details on the internet, thinking that there wasn't anything I didn't want anyone to know about, and that I believe people are basically good and not given to stalking as a rule. I still think that, but it's made me realise how easy it can be to find stuff out about people if you really want to.

I'm sure this will all blow over pretty soon- i'm pretty sure I haven't exposed the real Banksy, not that I really care either way. I'd always presumed he was a white, middle class Bristol boy and have been surprised to see that other people had different ideas about him. Who cares who he is anyway?

I do wish my full name hadn't been included in these reports, but so far I don't seem to have been attacked by a crazed stencil graffiti crew in balaclava's so I think Banksy's secret's safe for now.

The London Bon Dancers

The other week there was a mini music festival in the park and the highlight for me was the brief bit I saw of The London Bon Dancers. Unfortuantly I couldn't stay to see all the dances they performed, but here's something from YouTube that shows what they look like in motion:

dolls dolls dolls

my square doll hovering over Leah's doll

Some time ago, thanks to the magic of the random number generator, I won a giveaway- this time I am going to be giving a home to one of Ravenhill's lovely little dolls. In the meantime I received a handmade doll in the mail from Leah at Sew To Bed- we were swap partners in Mee Crafty's first ever swap, and poor Leah ended up with me- ie a very verrry slow swapper. (Just ask my PIF partners) Today I finally got my doll in the mail to Leah and feel I can share some photos with you now.

the sullen little miss

naughty and nice

sunbathers

Leah mentioned that she liked stripes, polka dots and gingham- so oh boy did she get gingham! My creation is a distant relation of Flat Stanley- she spent her entire life up until recently living in 2D, and is finding it hard adjusting to being a 3D person. Her shoulders are square and her arms jut out half way down her body, she has no toes and her eyes are scrunched up and glowering. She looks tough but really she's friendly and doesn't mind catching the sun for a while with her new friend. Sadly I had to split them up (in reality they never should've met)- I hope Leah manages to knock some sense into her and put her back on the right track again!

(This was my attempt at making something 'normal' by the way.)

Light on paper

Three recent polaroids. The top one was taken yesterday early evening from my kitchen door step- it was the biggest, brightest rainbow i'd ever seen. The bottom two were taken in my bathroom at about 4.30 am during one of my recent insomnia phases, or perhaps it was when my leg was really painful and I needed to get in the bath to help sooth it.

What a difference a day makes

Today I took the bus to visit a friend. It's hard to take photos from the top deck of the bus as it rattles down country lanes, but here are four photos to remind myself that sometimes the sun does shine and the sky is blue.

Thankyou all for your book recommendations- whilst reading This Chicken's blog I was reminded of my desire to get my hands on a copy of Wild Swim in order to prepare myself for a summer of swimming outdoors. I'm not a brilliant swimmer by any means, but I can honestly say I am never happier than when I am in the sea- it's a shame I don't live somewhere where the sea temperature was a little warmer!

Books Books Books

(a syrup sponge pudding to illustrate my feelings about the weather today)

I feel the need for some book recommendations- the weather has been horrible today and it makes me want to curl up in bed with my slippers on and a pile of books to read. Any suggestions for me?


One of my newest reads is 'I'd rather be in the Studio' by Alyson Stanfield. I first saw this book mentioned over on Kirsty's blog, and shortly after reading about it I was able to actually read it for myself, thanks to winning a copy in her amazing giveaway. As soon as my copy arrived I found myself sitting in the bath reading it for far too long, getting very wrinkly because I couldn't put it down for long enough to actually get out the bath! In the end common sense won out and you'll be pleased to know that I didn't actually read the whole book in the bath, in fact I didn't get a chance to read the whole thing before my friend Simon borrowed it from me. I think i'm going to make him buy his own copy because I need to get my book back!

Tortie Rye

While I was at SNAP on Saturday one of the SNAP members was busy working on this pig, as part of the King Bladud's Pigs in Bath project. Tortie Rye was painting 'There is no use quarrelling with icebergs in warm water' (WB Yeats) onto the side of a bright yellow pig, while I sat and stamped the SNAP studio logo onto a huge pile of paper bags. I had a great time chatting to her about artist co-ops, the joy of repetative tasks and my plans for world domination.

David Galletly

Excuse the horrible photos but I wanted to share this lovely work with you. It's part of the show on at here gallery at the moment, and it's by David Galletly. There are numerous pieces in the show that I would love to own, sadly lack of money means it's unlikely i'll be able to (although prices start really low at maybe £30 I think)- damn my minimal income! I'd urge you all to head over and snap something up yourself, but I kind of feel like if I can't have one no-body should. (Sorry David!)

The other artists in the show are French, Anna Peaker, Simen Helsvig and Salome Oggenfuss
but my favourite by far is David.

SNAP studio

view from behind the desk


stairs up and down lead to work spaces


cute green ironing board


view from lower level to the desk

On Saturday I went and helped out at SNAP studio in Bristol for a few hours, here's some photos of what the shop part looks like- lovely and bright and clean and full to the brim with screen printed goodness.

spotty shoes and spotty cake

I managed to find cake to match my shoes and toe nails!

Today i'm going to be helping out at SNAP studios- i'm hoping to take lots of photos, and maybe pop into my old gallery as well to see the new show there. Keep your eyes peeled for tomorrow's update.

Project One

some of the portraits painted as part of Miss Stacey's Summer School's first project

I've been a bit down in the dumps the last couple of days- my lack of mobility at the moment is really getting to me. However these things are cheering me up:

+ painting my toe nails in two shades of pink (stealing the idea from HulaSeventy who has much prettier toes than me)
+ a bunch of freesia's in a jug (they always remind me of visiting my Aunt in Guernsey)
+ a visit from Becky with cups of tea in the sunshine
+ most of all seeing how my little summer project is flourishing!

New reading material

A few posts ago I mentioned some new reading material for you to check out- i've got some more links and news for you today. I'm just a book-worm, what can I say?

First up is the news that the print edition of Erin's magazine has gone on sale:


Or if you'd rather you can download it for free as a PDF. Currently the magazine is only available in the US, but Erin has very kindly offered to ship to anyone overseas if you contact her- pop over to Design for Mankind for details.

Also fresh out the box is the latest issue of All the Rage:

which you can download for FREE as a PDF from All The Rage

Happy Birthday Alys!

Its the lovely Alys' birthday today- Happy Birthday buddy, I think you might be catching me up!