Quick Update …

 

Just over three weeks' ago I had to call our NHS 111 helpline … and got taken into A & E … I wasn't seriously ill – no broken bones, the old insides of the engine weren't playing happily …

Zebra in the Kruger Park, north of Durban

I was lucky … the paramedics were youngsters … one of whom had just been to Durban for their honeymoon, along with six friends … oh yes with the husband! … he's a paramedic too, but not on the same shift … so we had a natter about the country and safaris on the way over to our local hospital – she was happy …

Nature Reserve in distance from
Rye town

I was admitted straight away, it was 8.00 am or so, and after some trial runs I was eventually dealt with, and then after lunch sent home – at least not admitted into a ward … which at one stage was on the cards.

Discovery Centre in Nature Reserve

I've been in limbo – I'm seeing the GP this week .. and so will know more. Life ticks along … it's just the wheels need to turn … and I'll find out what's been bugging me since Covid …

Discovery Centre near end of build -
showing stilts

Some friends and I went over to Rye – to the nature reserve there – I took it slowly, but they've got a brilliant new Discovery Centre … which has been built on stilts … to take into account the fluctuating tides …

Shingle Beach at Tide Mills, Newhaven

... the Reserve floods twice a day … while the history of the area is fascinating ...I'll come back to give you a better update on this area of shingle coastline – rare plants, booming Bitterns, tiny microcosms of life at the edge … needing the salt-water and spray.

Bittern in full flight

I've got a few things I want to post about … but it's A – Z month and that's pretty time-consuming … either for contributors and/or for commenters … so I'll go quiet and come alive after Easter …

A Bittern - standing tall

Thank goodness the weather's warming up – but we have a cold east wind, that being by the coast is pretty chilly … our newsagent said to me yesterday – that it was freezing this morning … I agreed!

All is well – in fact I'm feeling better … just need to get the 'old bod sorted out' … I'm fairly certain there's nothing serious ... just needed the 'shake- out' (so to speak) ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Grayson Perry: A Temple for Everyone exhibition …

 

Sir Grayson Perry, to give him his due, is an English artist known for his ceramic vases, tapestries and cross-dressing, as well as his observations on the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British “prejudices, fashions and foibles”.

Julie Cope tapestry

The Julie Cope tapestries were created for 'A House in Essex'.  Julie is a fictional Essex woman.  Two tapestries were completed for a commission for the charity "Living Architecture", they are held by the Crafts Council.

The visual story was created on a computer when working closely with a digital mediator as well as tapestry weavers, translated the work into a 3D woven textile.  Like an impressionist painting, the palette is created by individual stitches of different colours sitting side-by-side then blending in the viewer's vision.

During Covid, he and his wife, Philippa, held a lockdown art club, when he selected and collated art from everyday people, fellow artists and celebrities, based on themes occurring during the pandemic … one advantage of being able to collaborate over zoom …

Ye Olde English Pot

In this exhibition at the Charleston centre in Lewes there were over 30 of Perry's own works exploring stories of the home … from textiles and pots to ceramic tiles and woodcuts …

His most recent works in this exhibition explore themes of national identity.  Ye Olde English Pot is presented in the form of a medieval beer flagon.  Decorated with traditional slipware techniques, it references the polarising effect of the internet debate, while also invoking heraldic iconography.

… he also works in printmaking, drawing, embroidery and other textile work, film and performance … a talented artist …

A Map of Days

'A Temple for Everyone' exhibition ties in with the Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, who had transformed their home at Charleston Farmhouse, in the 1920/1930s, into a canvas and sanctuary for their ideas …

You won't be able to see the detail in this map portraying 'a fortified town'... but Perry has a longstanding fascination with maps.  Using the language of map making and historic cartographic techniques, Perry plays with the medium and uses it as a container for ideas. We can trace people, dreams, ideas and identity through these works which resemble literal mind maps, displaying ideas and their interconnections with one another in great detail.

… similarly here Perry reimagines society through art, capturing the essence of contemporary life in his work … asking us to consider where we're at in life …

Plague Cat

I think having lived through Covid and having had to adjust to life in these times … we all probably now have different thoughts on our history as it stands …

During Covid he and his wife went through a walk around the deserted streets of London ... passing by Samuel Johnson's house, where the sculpture of his cat 'Hodge' resides.  Cats came to the fore ... here he's used the medium of an Islamic Incense burner ... and added pustules and boils ... to make it more decorative?!

Cocktail Party

I've selected very few of my photos ... with annotations as mostly provided by the curators of exhibition, which I've set out in smaller print ...  

This vase is an early ceramic work (1989), featuring women awkwardly engaged at a cocktail party.  Illustrated are Laura Ashley-style dresses, a Chanel suit, Madonna's bustier.  The vase offers a playful critique of high-class 1980s fashion, high society, and art world trends.  It also echoes themes found in Virginia Woolf's fourth novel, Mrs Dalloway, which highlights the tension between the polished public persona we present to the world and the private inner life that lies beneath.

Grayson Perry Trophy -
awarded to a person with good taste

The exhibits have made me think … and I'm more open to contemporary art … live and learn, I guess. Charleston's season of exhibitions at the Farmhouse will continue to explore the intersections between art and home … which I sadly will not get to …

This is the House of Essex built for the Living Architecture charity ... it does look really fun to look around - one day perhaps I'll get there.  

Grayson Perry - Wiki link ...

"House for Essex" wiki link ... 

Living Architecture link ... 

So - after all the above ... I hope you've been able to find your way round the information provided - I wasn't sure what to do ... as he's a complex, thought provoking character ... I was pleased I was able to visit the exhibition.

Here's another link to an exhibition in Edinburgh in 2023 - per Anabel's comment below ... it gives a little more explanation on Perry's career ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Floating Lady …

 

The art shuttle bus took Sue and I over to Lewes to the 'new' Charleston in Lewes … a building for exhibitions, community projects, artist-led workshops, gallery activities and educational programs tailored for local state schools, further education and higher education groups …

c/o Charleston in Lewes website

We went to see 'Grayson Perry: A Temple for Everyone' – which I'll post about next … as I need to get my head around explaining it!

It was fresh and chilly ... 

However … we had a lovely Spring day… on the way up in what to me was rather a 'Brutalist' building … the Floating Lady appeared … my photos don't do it justice against the bright (I know!) light of sunnier days … but the link below shows the sculpture off in all its floating glory.

My pic of her in the staircase foyer

Quentin Bell (1910 – 1996), nephew of Virginia Woolf, despite his talent as an artist, his career drew him to academia and book-writing … however he worked at various universities as a Lecturer in Art History – then ultimately as a Professor.

Charleston Farmhouse with pond

He often came down to Charleston Farmhouse, the Sussex home of the Bloomsbury group (writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20^th century) … when he wrote several of those books on the Group and the Farmhouse.

Bell as a child had been fascinated with optical illusions … as children they'd been taken in the early 1900s to see the Maskelyne's family stage show. Jasper Maskelyne (1902 – 1973) was a vain man, and though helping out with World War II deceptions, died an embittered drunk.

In situ - outside Leeds University

Bell was dumbfounded seeing the lady levitated – thinking it was impossible … but recalled watching the trick … with the lady eventually lying horizontal six feet from the floor.

So inspiration took hold and the completed fibreglass sculpture was placed over the Charleston Farmhouse pond … before being moved, after the War, to Leeds University, where Quentin Bell was a Professor of Fine Art.

Quentin Bell - late in life

I was fascinated to learn about Bell's interest in Maskelyne Cook's (House of Mystery) magic show … and then his crafting and creation of this sculpture … now back in rural Sussex ...

All grist to the mill … I will be back anon …

The Magician's Scapbook - Maskelyne and Cooke: House of Mysteries

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Oscar Wilde sculpture update, together with other Paolizzi artistic interpretations …

In December I posted about three sculptures, in particular the Wilde one by Eduardo Paolozzi … but didn't mention the reason why it looked like it does …

Paolozzi's sculpture

Paolozzi creatively designed the sculpture as three segments referring to dominant times in Wilde's life …

… the distress of his life as he suffered …

… the loss of respect, symbolised by his fallen head being sculpted as such …

… the segmentation representing his troubled life and his ultimate death …

The art work has been condemned by many … as it would be near impossible for a non-specialised viewer to understand it.

However it remains ... for our interpretation – such as it is … but many would prefer a statue that welcomes us to come and have a talk with the great conversationalist and playwright …

Here we have his triptych
tapestry - in the ICA

Paolozzi was a Scottish artist, known for his sculptures and graphic works … while being widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art.

Next I came across Paolozzi's triptych tapestry 'A perspective on innovation' (1981) commissioned by the Institute of Chartered Accountants to hang in their Great Hall – it has now been moved to another part of the building.

One of the mosaic panels that was
moved during the construction of the 
Elizabeth line 

The triptych is easier to understand … and I find it really interesting … we can see his interest in post-war developments in science and technology ... also applied here in the mosaics ...

… then there are the mosaics at Tottenham Court Road tube station … again reflecting his interpretation of the local area and his wider interest in mechanisation, urbanisation, popular culture and everyday life.

Skilled workmen carefully removing
part of a panel before restoration

Due to the huge expansion of the new Elizabeth (tube) line in recent years … the art works were carefully relocated to their new place … the link with its documentary tells this story …

Paolozzi's Pop art collage

Pop! goes the end of this two-part series – brief … but Pop is to the point – Paolozzi was the first to display the word “pop” on his collage in 1952.

December's blog post ... 

Institute of Chartered Accountants - Paolozzi's tapestry ...  

Restoration works at Tottenham Road Underground station ... 

First post on Wilde's sculpture ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

The Edge of the World … a bookshop …

 

At the moment … I'd like to disappear off to this Penzance shop to quietly keep my head down away from the news … to be able to read lots of books – but life is here in sunny old Eastbourne – when the sun decides to show its face again …

I'm forever blowing bubbles appeared in my little grey cells – the lyrics don't really fit the time … but I could happily sit on the sands dreaming as the days pass … til the need to blow bubbles has passed.

The lighter days cometh … it is now warmer and of course damper – British weather.

I have numerous tomes, some shorter!, I hope to talk to you about some of them – all in due time of course … for now the winter darkness is still around … but these crocuses are reaching above ground to cheerfully greet us … and remind us time doth pass …

I'm off to an exhibition on Sunday using the Sussex Art Shuttle … a little bus that takes us from the Towner Gallery out to Charleston (Bloomsbury Group Sussex home) … meandering through the swathes of snowdrops, early daffodils and those crocuses …

Not to the bookshop (or the edge of the world) … but a bright informative exhibition in the Sussex landscape will satisfy … enjoy your times …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Halfway past it …

 

Tis life … time goes on … remembering those days … my house in Johannesburg had a pomegranate tree … under which friends and I'd sit ...

Clambering red rose ... 

...at that stage life was fun, as it is now – just different – the pomegranate symbolising romantic longings … heart tingling times … still does … but more comfortably …

In my semi-hibernating mode I remembered the poem by AA Milne …

By E H Shepard

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite like
It.

I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in the town.

1924 - first edition

And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
"It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!"

Tis where I am … thinking I'm in the sun with a pomegranate in my hand … living life, but slowly remembering those days … hankering after them perhaps … but no – life is still being enjoyed …

Pomegranate tree

Just peacefully living positively ... now the sun has started to appear again - that grey was getting to me ... 

I just hope you're all well, able to cope with life … take care …

The lusciousness of the love apple

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Light relief against the world at large ...

I won a tin of Le Gratin Dauphinois at one of our European Movement meetings … provided by another committee member, who (with his wife) often go over to Dieppe for the day … a change of country, some shopping and a French meal …

He often brings back some wonderful raffle prizes, mostly wine, but occasionally 'oddities' like this one …

… essentially it is thinly sliced raw potatoes with cream, cooked in a buttered dish rubbed with garlic, occasionally cheese can be added.

Tartiflette

I mentioned this to some friends, who said they'd had Tartiflette at Christmas, as their son is vegetarian … I hadn't heard of it … and so had to do a quick check …

Who'd have thought about taxing udders … I laughed when I read up on Tartiflette and the cheese usually associated with it … Reblochon …

Reblochon cheese

Both dishes come from the Haute-Savoie in the heart of the French Alps … holding its history to itself, including the culinary influences of the Alps …

I made my version of a mirepoix base, then over the top spread the Dauphinois … as I live easily, I added a boned rolled shoulder of lamb – one pot dish … I have to say it was delicious, over the days I ate it.

Mirepoix raw veggie mix

To get back to the reason for this post … the tax element … Reblochon is derived from the word “reblocher” … which when translated means to “pinch the cow's udder again”.

The landowners during the 14^th century would tax the mountain farmers according to the amount of milk their herds produced …

Tarentaise (type of cow living high in the Alps)

... crafty farmers decided … oh! ok – but we won't be taxed on it all … so they would not fully milk the cows until the landowners had measured the yield. 

Portrait of a Carthusian
(by Petrus Christus)

The milk that remains is much richer, and was traditionally used by the dairymaids to make their own cheese.

In the 16^th century the cheese also became known as devotional cheese … so the Carthusian monks would bless the farmers' homesteads in exchange for some cheese.

Nothing like a tax on cows' udders to improve one's blog posts … I feel certain that this type of tax no longer applies …

Gap, town in the Haute Savoie region
of south-eastern France

I'll try and keep things lighter for a while – as life is challenging enough for so many … here's to health and happiness in 2025 …

A little information, tucked away in this post, on the European Movement, which we still continue on - this is our 50th year in Eastbourne.  It is based on our 2023 programme.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories