Picnic

The most tragic thing I can think of: a ruined picnic.


This is for a one-day project. I've gone a little off-brief. Let's see what they think of it.

Saturday

To the Natural History Museum to revisit the hall of minerals because I was reminded by the work by Boredom Research at Millais Off-Site Projects in Southampton.


Next to the V&A to make a survey of the ironwork for reference.


Then I realised: I'd photographed agate followed by a gate.

Pop Boutique

Evening At St Jude's

Angie Lewin's "Thames Fireworks" linocut.

St Jude's is a gallery in Norfolk that brings together a number of contemporary printmakers. From time to time they exhibit in London under the name St Jude's In The City.

The current show is on for a couple of weeks at Bankside Gallery. Last night was the opening night and I tagged along because two of my tutors have work on display: Charles Shearer and Jonny Hannah. It was a real pleasure to meet some of the artists and find approaches in common with other people from the illustration / printmaking world.

I particularly liked the pieces by Ed Kluz, Alice Stevenson and James Brown.


That's the view from outside, on the south bank, without fireworks.

Flow-arrs

I present today's sponsor, the letter R.


Thank you, Letter R.

Warhol In Southampton

This evening BBC4 showed Ego: The Strange And Wonderful World Of Self-Portraits. Laura Cumming carried out a thoughtful and engaging survey of the genre, from Albrecht Dürer to Mark Wallinger.

On the way (near the end) she covered Andy Warhol. Lately I've heard bits and pieces about a Warhol exhibition coming to Southampton. The show will be spread across the Southampton City Art Gallery and the John Hansard Gallery. Southampton University article; Artist Rooms page.

I haven't watched television for months. This evening, after Ego, The Pre-Raphaelites, The Culture Show and Nigella Kitchen, I may be convinced to make it a regular activity.

Grimm

The Grimms' Fairy Tales, one of the possible sources for the Fairytale And Folklore module that I began this week. I'm going with Italo Calvino's "The Italian Folktales".

Here, however, is my mother's book of Grimm stories, illustrated by George Cruikshank, first published in 1823 and published in this Puffin edition in 1948.


Now to research the meaning and context and produce images bursting with symbolism and allegory.

Adventures In The Printroom

Imagine a university printmaking room. There's one of those large rectangular sinks for washing items of all sizes. Below that a number of plastic and metal trays are stored.

Having made a number of prints and dabbled in marbling for the first time (having somehow never done it at primary school as most people do), I began the inevitable cleaning session. There were rollers, wood- and lino-cuts, palette knives and stone slabs to be cleaned, and I'm getting faster at it, but was bound to take about half an hour.

So to start at the sink I shoved a metal tray back underneath... and smashed the glass filter that takes the acid out of the waste. The floor was watery; the stand full of filter crystals and the air full of a rancid smell.

The sink has been sealed off and the maintenance people should be seeing to it urgently... but I feel very silly indeed and am now a little flustered, what with the plumber here and an Italian lesson to go to (and a power cut this morning).

That's the end of my woes. On the plus side, I might get to sell some of today's work by the end of the month.

Barbecue

Here's another pun, following on from "Sacks Of Phones". I jotted a few ideas on a lolly stick at a garden party in the Summer. Eugh - people are difficult.