printed material: April 2010

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Eyes to the skies... and look swift about it!

'Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed time; and the turtle dove, the swift and the swallow. Observe the time of their coming' Jeremiah 8:7

Our swallows returned to their nesting site together on Saturday, the 24th and now I watch them daily going out to feed. Everywhere about us the birds are pairing up and breeding. I don't know about you but the dawn chorus here is amazing at the moment. I've never known a Spring like it, but whilst I can enjoy all these beautiful birds I know it's unlikely I will see swifts in my near vicinity. They don't fly over the open farmland around me but I've enjoyed watching them in previous years screech over my local town of Narberth in a large group ; flying so fast that it's only that distinctive arrow head shape that confirms what you're looking at, but their season is fleeting. They are the last migrating birds to arrive and the first to leave in August and those babies that take to the sky for the first time this year will stay in the air continuously until 2013.

These wonderful birds fly in perpetual motion and radar has even confirmed that swifts sleep in heaven. At night their ascent takes them high enough to glide. They sleep for no longer than five seconds at a time . If they are at altitudes high enough for planes I wonder if the volcanic ash debacle will have had any effect on their travels? I hope not.

The latest RSPB magazine, from which these wonderful images come, has a fascinating article about the swift. There are incredible facts to digest : 'over it's lifetime, this bird, weighing as little as a hen's egg, will fly two million miles - the equivalent of four round trips to the moon'. Of course the swift is constantly on the look out for food, feeding on the insect life that drifts into the upper atmosphere, but it is a discerning eater. From our point of view we were amazed to read that one beekeeper discovered that the swifts flying around his hives were only taking stingless drones and ignoring the almost identical worker bees alone. How wonderful is that?

But, in truth, all is not wonderful for the swift. It has suffered a huge population crash in recent years. Within a decade it has slipped from green to amber status on the list of Birds of Conservation Concern, and it is only 'a shade of orange away from red'. The reasons why are not clear so the RSPB is asking people this Spring and Summer to tell them where swifts are nesting. Lots of their old sites are gone with the advent of new bulding techniques and the RSPB will hope to use the information gathered to help existing colonies and to help find new places for them to nest. They also want to know about groups of screaming swifts if you see them flying at roof level. This may indicate nesting sites nearby. Please go to this link and have a look. If you can help please do. All of this information is vital if future generations are to enjoy the sounds of Spring that we're lucky enough to still have.

Monday, 26 April 2010

The Calligrapher

Last week I read lots of blogs in people's own hand. It reminded me of this video that I saw recently. Apologies for not remembering where. I subsequently read all I could about the Quay Brothers who produced these three stop motion animation idents (the bits between the programmes) for the BBC when they re-branded BBC2 in the early 1990's. They were rejected and the three have been put together for this film. My favourite bit comes at the end with all the frantic hands drawing the wing on the page....

Saturday, 24 April 2010

Those were the days

I started a new project this morning and I needed some of those instruction sheets from the inside of old dress patterns so I went to my 'suitcase' full of music, maps and patterns etc and I found this little magazine inside that I'd forgotten all about. It's dated from 1957 and has kept me amused when I should have been getting on with something else. I just wanted to share one of the letters on Sarah Hope's Help Page headed 'Does Age Matter?'

"Often I have seen letters on your page in which you have said that you don't consider age differences matter when two people really love each other. So I am hoping you will side with me against my parents who are terribly against my marrying a man who is thirty-seven years older than I am, being fifty-seven to my twenty. I know I love him and that he loves me so what does it matter that he has lived a good deal longer than I have. I can't marry him until I am twenty-one but I intend to do so the moment I am. Do support me. I feel sure I am right".

Sarah replies : " Sorry to disappoint you but I am afraid I agree with your mother - the age difference in this case is far too big and it is extremely unlikely that you would be happy married to a man so very, very much your senior. Nor do I think that the man himself would be happy; he is getting to an age when he wants a quiet home life with few visitors or distractions and he'd probably find a young wife and her friends boring. I hope that by the time you are twenty one and free to marry you'll see how unlikely it is that such a marriage as you are contemplating would succeed".

Speaking as someone who is getting to that age this year when I want a quiet home life with few visitors or distractions I wonder if these two ever did marry. I love the way she says ' what does it matter that he has lived a good deal longer than I have!' Ah , the wisdom of youth. I wonder if she read the rest of the magazine and bought the lipstick? I wouldn't mind having some. If you click on the image and read the ad in it's entirety you'll see that 'he'll love you wearing it.... it makes you lovelier with its natural transparent beauty'. It was only 2/6 but for an extra five shillings (five shillings!) you could get it in a better case. Let's hope she bought the lipstick and found true happiness.

Friday, 23 April 2010

Recycling

I don't know if any of you are like me but whenever I print something I keep every sample of it and put it in a pile on the desk. Sometimes I print on the back of it or scribble over it but the pile stays there... just growing. Throwing it away is a crime but you cannot recycle it all - or can you? Yesterday the pile seemed to dominate the desk so I thought I'd put it into a recycled notebook or sketchbook. For good measure I threw in some old book pages, some old maps, scraps of prints and painted pages that have not worked but that I could never bring myself to dispose of. I cut the pages the same depth but they are not all the same width. That's not important to me. Similarly I'm not worried about the different weights of paper. I can't use wet media on the copy paper but I can draw into the book if I wanted to with pencil, charcoal, pastel or pen or better still, use it as a base for collage ideas. Some of the pages are empty but at least 75% of them are already coloured on or printed. It eliminates the fear of the 'blank page'.

Because I have a lot of paper I made it a chunky 5 inch square and sewed it over some linen tape. If I made it larger I could use leather or felt strips to sew over. I used waxed linen thread but I could also use tough weaving threads or ribbons. The great thing about books like these is that the choice is entirely up to you and after I finished the text block I even rubber stamped a few pages just to break up the white space even more.

Of course all my scrap paper wasn't ready to fold into 5 inch squares for the signatures so I had to chop and crop. I have not wasted the scraps either. I threw them straight into a bucket of water to break down. Tomorrow I'm going to blitz them in the blender and either dry the pulp to later dye it and make sheets of paper or I will make it up into papier mache pulp as I fancy making something figurative with it. Not sure which way I'll go yet.

More pressing than the pulp is what to do for a cover? I should have thought of that before I started but did not. I always say if I had half a brain I'd be dangerous. Choosing the cover has now become difficult and I've made two choices. First up is this piece of felt made long ago and dyed in an experiment that didn't go to plan (plan? I've already admitted I don't plan so why be surprised it did not work!) If I sew this to the tapes it will be a lovely tactile book and I can sew or decorate the cover too.

But I think my preference is to take the recycling element right to the end of the project. These unprepossessing things are two pieces of board cut from an old collagraph plate that I long ago consigned to the back of the cupboard. It was made when I was doing something about St Davids Cathedral so it was all about church windows. I managed to salvage these two 5 inch square bits and I've coated them in shellac this evening to varnish them. If I use these I can keep the binding exposed and I quite like the stitching so wouldn't mind it showing at all. I think that's what I will do. I can finish this then tomorrow. Trouble is I have so much paper I could make many many more, however I won't fill this one in a hurry. I like to recycle but there are times when perhaps throwing things away might be less problematic!

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Are you hearing the humming?

I know this isn't a honey bee. It's a wonderful Buff tailed Bumble Bee and there have been so many of them on our flowering quince that the air has just been heavy with constant buzzing and humming over these past few warm days. It has all put me in mind of a great poem by Mary Oliver called 'Hum' :

What is this dark hum among the roses?

The bees have gone simple, sipping,

that's all. What did you expect? Sophistication?

They're small creatures and they are

filling their bodies with sweetness, how could they not

moan in happiness? The little

worker bee lives, I have read, about three weeks.

Is that long? Long enough, I suppose, to understand

that life is a blessing. I have found them - haven't you? -

stopped in the very cup of the flowers, their wings

a little tattered - so much flying about, to the hive,

then out into the world, then back, and perhaps dancing,

should the task be to be a scout - sweet dancing bee.

I think there isn't anything in this world I don't

admire. If there is, I don't know what it is. I

haven't met it yet. Nor expect to. The bee is small,

and since I wear glasses, so I can see the traffic and

read books, I have to

take them off and bend close to study and

understand what is happening. It's not hard, it's in fact

as instructive as anything I've ever studied. Plus, too,

it's love too fierce to endure, the bee

nuzzling like that into the blouse

of the rose. And the fragrance, and the honey, and of course

the sun, the purely pure sun, shining, all the while, over

all of us.

As a PS, I spent most of today either in the garden or working in my shed. On my way in to get a cup of tea about 4.00pm I saw a swallow on our TV aerial. My first sight of one in the garden this year. On April 22nd. The same day they've appeared for the past three out of four years. Have they made it four out of five? I cannot truthfully say as the swallow flew off and I didn't see it enter the old nesting site so who knows? You'll think me fanciful but my heart skipped a beat. The sight of them cheers me so much. I shall be on the look out tomorrow to see if I shall see it again. I hope so. Fingers crossed. Any swallows anywhere else yet?

Monday, 19 April 2010

What a difference a week makes...

Everyone is commenting on blogs about this wonderful shift in the British weather. At last we are having some long awaited sunshine and genuine warmth. I took the above photo exactly a week ago after I noticed this little cherry outside my back door had started to shoot -

and here it is exactly one week later. I am amazed at how much it has grown but the change is noticeable everywhere isn't it? All of a sudden the plants in the garden have taken on that 'fresh' green tint and things are shooting up. My attention has been drawn to all the natural activity taking place as well - great tits have taken up residence in one of the two boxes on our little pig cott, robins are nesting down by the compost heap , blue tits are building a nest in our front garden wall, a pair of goldfinches look like they've returned to nest with us for another year and that pair of long tailed tits are still about , usually tapping on the window every time my husband goes into the garage!

Thanks to everyone for all their feedback about the swallows. I saw my first yesterday on a drive up to North Pembrokeshire . It was in the same place on a wire on the homeward trip as well but nothing here as yet. Before I started this blog I used to keep a notebook of their comings and goings and I looked at it yesterday morning just checking on the dates. For the past three out of four years they have returned on April 22nd. Now, how they can do that I do not know but I am holding my breath for Thursday to come. In truth I don't care about the date but I shall be so disappointed if we do not see them at all this year.

At Tales from a Cottage Garden Jeanne selects a poem every Monday and her choices are always so 'right' for the moment. Today she has chosen 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' by Robert Browning. Please take a look and take in the lines -' And after April, when May follows, And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows....'

I am always leaving Jeanne comments about how apt her poetry choices are. I wish I had her sense of style. I can only leave you with a poem I found in that notebook I was reading again yesterday. In my notes about the swallows for 2006 I'd written down a copy of 'The Twelve Months' by George Ellis (1753 -1815).Thinking about Browning talking of April followed by May how about this offering from George as a way to record the year:

Snowy, Flowy, Blowy

Showery, Flowery, Bowery,

Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy,

Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy

I'm so glad it's not Showery and I'm looking forward to Flowery! Hope the sun is shining on you wherever you are.

Sunday, 18 April 2010

Magnificent Maps

I am grateful to Cathy over at Menopausal Musings. She kindly let me know that there is a new series starting on BBC 4 tonight called 'Maps; Power, Plunder and Possession'. It's followed tomorrow night by another series called 'The Beauty of Maps' which is on for four nights. If that wasn't enough for a little cartophiliac (!) like me, through reading about these programmes I then found out about a new exhibition opening on April 30th at the British Library called 'Magnificent Maps'. It's like buses - everything comes at once!

This exhibition runs until September 19th and showcases the British Library's unique collection of large scale display maps, many of which have never been exhibited before. There will be over 100 maps on show , considered some of the greatest in the world. One will be the Klencke Atlas, above, never shown with its pages open before.

Presented to Charles the Second on his restoration and now 350 years old, it takes 6 people to lift it - so not for light reading then! I cannot fit in a trip to visit London to take in all the current exhibitions I want to see so how I will fit this one in as well I do not know.

Easier to access is an opportunity to join the 'Collective Atlas ' project. I found out about this via a book arts newsletter I receive . Go over to the Somethink Collective blog to find out more and see the work already submitted. In essence the idea is " to create a representation of the world through the people who know the places. Think of a village/town/city that you have spent time in. The task is to try and represent it the best way you can in one simple book"

Once the books have been sent in the idea is to try and find an exhibition space to showcase them in. Could be a really interesting thing to do and the book has to be made from one A4 sheet of paper so not a large project. Have a look at the ones already submitted. I'm going to have a go when a good idea comes to me.

Haven't got the time this week though because there's too much telly to watch. Thanks Cathy!

Friday, 16 April 2010

A garden lost in time

Every so often you have one of those magical days when everything goes right. I had one of those yesterday when I went to Aberglasney. I was in the company of 4 great friends, the weather was warm, the sun was bright, the food was delicious and the garden was just plain beautiful. This wonderful place has been restored over the last decade or so from a lost garden into a very special place , a lot of the work being done by dedicated volunteers. It's not too far from the National Botanic Garden of Wales but where they have scale, Aberglasney has intimacy. Even though it is not a small garden there are many intimate areas and it has something to offer all year round. Out in force yesterday were the fabulous magnolias undercarpeted with the beauty of simple wood anemones and primroses. We all went camera happy and these are only a fraction of what I took....

There is a wonderful 'hot house' full of beautiful orchids, clivias and carnivorous plants. I just got lost in the colour and textures of the whole place.

On the way home we called in to a community recycling project where I'm a member and we all bought things to create something with. I picked up a lovely piece of soft burgundy leather for £1. It says 'make me into a book cover' so I'm going to take some of my photos ,choose the right format and then print and bind a small memento of a very special day out.

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Papercut animation

Another office... but not one I'd like to work in this time.

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Post it note experiment

I used to work in an office. I never had this much fun! Perhaps that's why I don't work in one any longer?

Sticky Note Experiment by EepyBird from Eepybird on Vimeo.

Friday, 9 April 2010

Aaahh.......

We only ever see long tailed tits about once a year, usually around this time. They often flock together in small groups, but today I was working in my office upstairs and noticed two of them flying around the garden. Despite my best efforts they eluded me and my camera all afternoon unless you wanted to see lots of pictures of their rear ends or catch them just flying out of shot! Finally, I saw this one outside of the conservatory and it stayed still just long enough. There's something very endearing about them isn't there? They've definitely got the 'aaahh' factor for me.

Another beautiful day here. Hope it's the same wherever you are. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Swallow Alert

There was a small piece in our local paper a couple of weeks ago saying that a swallow had been seen flying over the beach in Tenby. Since we've had nothing but rain ever since I wonder if the poor thing has survived. Other sources in the county have also reported sightings but we do not expect the pairs that breed in our little pig cott to return until later in the month - fingers crossed! I love these amazing birds. They are my favourites so I got to wondering if anyone else had seen them around the country yet? If you have, or have heard about any sightings, please leave a comment. Although it is still quite early it will help me get a feel for whether this is going to be a good breeding season or not. Thanks.

PS: You don't have to give your location away - a general hint will do.

Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Mixed bag(s)

I am confined to barracks as we have Jim, the heating engineer here fitting our woodburning stove. I am turning a blind eye to the chaos and the mess and getting on with things. Normally I get out of doing the vacuuming because I have bad tinnitus which is aggravated by the thing (seriously!) but I think I shall be close friends with it by the time Jim finishes today's workload. Roll on tomorrow... but first I finished this bag for tonight. I have finally used up every scrap of this green stuff. I bought one metre of each pattern and have made three bags from it which I'm very pleased with.

This pattern is one I bought from an Etsy seller last year and every time I make it I have to remember to tweak it as it is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I like the shape and I hope the recipient tonight will be pleased with it. I also made another big bag over the weekend which I might keep for myself.

This was made using a tablecloth I bought in the charity shop for 50p and some material I was given by a curtain making shop just to get it off their hands. I have a little bit of it left and I'm going to combine it with some lovely chintzy curtain fabric. Might do that tomorrow in between giving Jim endless cups of tea....

Just wanted to share one of my treasures from the antique fair at the weekend where I got carried away looking at postcards on a stand selling vintage buttons and handbags. I was so wrapped up in the messages on the back I didn't realise until I got home that I'd bought two sent to the same person by her mother. They both depicted French actress and music hall star Gaby Deslys. Wasn't she beautiful? Look at the that fabulous hat made with moire silk! Of course I then had to find out about her and I read that J M Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) was very keen on her, trying to write something for her to appear in, in a silent film. It never came about but I'm not surprised she took his fancy.

The postcards to Lily from her mother are so precious. They start with 'Have you forgotten my address?.... obviously Lily was not as devoted as she could have been... but I decided to scan them in and use them in a card making idea. I'd also bought a set of cigarette cards and scanned those in too, combining the two things like this. They might be a bit twee for me but I like them at the moment and may make a few more. After all, until Jim has the fire in I'm going nowhere!

Monday, 5 April 2010

Time marches backwards.....

I'm not that great at keeping calendars and marking time but I'm taken with this idea by German industrial designer Patrick Frey. 'Gregor' is a knitted wall calendar which counts down the year by unwinding stitch by stitch. I understand the 2011 version is currently available so I might be tempted as I'm not that great at knitting either so definitely couldn't make one myself! Mind you, I might then think my life is unravelling before my very eyes and that too might not be such a sound idea ....

Sunday, 4 April 2010

Easter Parade

I've been feeling very nostalgic this Easter . I'm reminded of Easter holidays when I was a child. It invariably rained and 'Easter Parade' was always shown on the BBC on a wet Sunday afternoon. Well, today is a sunny Sunday and we're off to walk on the beach and take in an antiques fair but I couldn't resist a trip down memory lane first with two of the best. You can't get more class than Fred and Judy.

Couldn't find one without subtitles. Try to ignore the French subtitles in the first one but, even if you can't understand it, the second is perfect 'en francais' I think. Happy Easter to all.

Saturday, 3 April 2010

The Honey Bee and the Hive Exhibition

I am trying to get up to London to see so many things and cannot find a date to fit it all in. Alongside trying to get to the major Quilts event at the V&A I'd love to visit this exhibition at the Contemporary Applied Arts gallery. The work of 28 artists, craftsmen and craftswomen is on display all united by their wonder of the bee and their shared concern for the diminishing bee population. Natasha Kerr is attracting a lot of interest at present as her work showcases the publicity material for the V&A exhibition so I picked her textile piece to head my post but there are so many other talented artists to choose from :

the quirky wire sculpture of Cathy Miles

beautiful jewellery pieces from Grainne Morton

wonderful brooches by Laura Baxter

ceramics by Joanna Veevers and John Ward (below)

Go here to have a look at the work of all the artists and read their rationale for the pieces they have created. It is fascinating to read how each of them has such a different take on the same subject. The exhibition is on until May 1st so I have to get my skates on if I'm going to see it!

Thursday, 1 April 2010

Cassandra C Jones

If you're interested in seeing and hearing how an artist thinks go to this video link. It's worth watching all of it to see how Cassandra Jones selects online images and manipulates them using Photoshop into wallpapers and video installations. (It is also interesting to read the comments on this link about what is copyright and what is not.)

I am fascinated by the creative process and always inspired by someone else's technical skills. I say this with feeling as I tried to post a 'you tube' video for this and only mangaged to display half the screen! This is my second attempt at trying to post this today and I hope the link above will work. I suppose, given the date, I should have expected no less......