Paradise and Beyond ...

 

Back to the coal face this past week … which has been somewhat torrid, but all is being sorted out with the NHS … life goes on – and it looks like at some stage an op … but for now back to some form of normal …

The Universe in Verse -
15 portals to wonder through
science and poetry

It was like Piccadilly Circus … people appeared, disappeared, reappeared, sat around, got called up, into one room and out again … then I got a hug from the nurse practitioner and sent on my way.

I took this little book with me for my appointment at the hospital 'The Universe in Verse' by Maria Popova, with illustrations by Ofra Amit … as you'll see from the descriptions I've attached ... pertinent to today for us to consider ... 

In here you'll find an article The Octopus and the Unknown, followed by a poem written by the author, 'Impossible Blues' …

Wislawa Szymborska
(1923 - 2012)

... Pi and the Seductions of Infinity with a poem by the Polish poet, essayist, translator, and the 1996 Nobel Prize Literature winner: Wislawa Szymborska (1923 - 2012) … I highly recommend you check her out …

An appropriate series of illustrated essays through the lenses of science and poetry. A celebration of beauty as we search (wherever we are in life) for the positive and reality.

Symmetry, and the Hidden
Order of Things

So these 15 portals are very appropriate for me at this time … the ups and downs … nothing serious, but something needs to be put into place – which is happening.

Flowers and the
Birth of Ecology

I hope you'll be able to check out this little book – lots of interesting notions and ideas in here … very thought provoking … and I leave you with a couple of notions to contemplate ... 

Without flowers, there would be no us.

No poetry.

No Science.

No Music.

I hope to be back to normal with my posting – which I know is 'never normal' – whatever that is … but I'll be around a bit more …

Thanks for being here …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Savage Land ... Jacqui's latest book in her magnificent series ...

 

What's more important to life … water, shelter, or food … or …. looking after all of Nature …

Jacqui - very happy with life

The lands our early ancestors explored … needed to escape from … stretched far into the distance … further than their eyes could see … what lay ahead – and how could they take care of their wandering communities.

An area known as "Moonscape" in
the Namib Desert

I can see little reason to not believe that the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa live much as the ancestors Jacqui writes about would not have similarly existed ... so this post will be in this direction ... 

Swakop River - flooding through,
opening up into the Atlantic Ocean,
having been in ephemeral state

Depending on the season our ancestors would reach out across the physical features of earth … following ephemeral river systems … being there when the rains would let lose their life giving waters …

Female Welwitschia plant - showing the cones,
which are ripe and can be eaten raw or cooked

… they knew they had to be near a water source, while they could manage without food for one to two months at a time – the moon cycles – they'd know they needed to find some meat, fish, plants and fruits … and which suited the human system – to keep the clan alive ... 

Mopane Tree

Shelter was essential too – if the area was wind-driven, they'd need to hide away at times, keeping out of the sun … and making sure they were protected in winter …

Mopane Worm on a twig

Those early indigenous peoples would know which parts of plants were edible, where to find them, which season they would appear … and if there were insects living around the plant … they could possibly be harvested … as mopane worms are to this day.

Tamarix, Acacia, Camelthorn, Mopane trees … also provide shelter and firewood – once the indigenous peoples had learnt about fire – these particular trees are known for their hardwood.

Birds would snuggle into the 
lichen hiding their young and eggs

Over millennia our ancestors would have noticed nesting birds, which birds would nest in scrapes, and how useful finding and building shelters would be ... also to access these birds for extra food - eggs and meat ... 

A Welwitschia plant - which can live
over 1,000 years - fibrous trails

Papyrus sedge has been used for millennia, as fossil records have noted, for fastenings … many stringy or fibrous plants … Welwitschia, Papyrus, reed strands would be put to a good many uses …

Dune Spinach - edible

Over time man has grown wily – now our brains are relatively large, with an enormous amount of power … to control the various areas of our life as we progress …      ?? ever forward.

We've managed to use and subdue most things … have we thought about life itself … we in the 21^st century may never know what the future holds for the sophisticated animal that is today's man … but by encountering and mastering Savage Land … we've learnt … or have we …

as Jacqui says in her strap line to Savage Land

Nature Almost Wins …

Man v Nature - Jacqui's series - on how man survived critical events on our evolution ... 

My earlier post in January 2025 ... 

Jacqui's introduction to my delayed posting - apologies to one and all - tis here now ... 

Thanks for visiting ... and do buy/read Jacqui's books - they're very readable and enjoyable ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

World Literature eating Soup, on a Lawn, while learning how to plumb a Drain...

 

Three Little Books with an update … nothing like mixing things up … just a little …

I took Kafka's Soup book with me to hospital last week … we failed … I read a couple of stories, but need to return in two weeks (12^th May) to see if we can work something out …

Brilliant, caring, empathetic staff … I consider myself very fortunate … then the next day, to my surprise, the community nurses contacted me – that I wasn't expecting … but now I know I'm in the system …

... so after that brief intro … I trip the light fantastic … join me with Kafka's Soup, on Machiavelli's Lawn, learning how to Plumb-in Sartre's Sink …

Mark Crick wrote and illustrated these three books … short stories … he is best known for his literary parodies …

… you'll find recipes, do it yourself tips, or if you prefer … how to garden …

So join me in our bright sunshine … and bring a little bit of fun with you – let's tell stories of life and love …

… then to round this briefing off … my talk on the love affair between John of Gaunt and Katherine … gave much amusement and giggly laughter – even from the 'chaps' … I plagiarised some of the love elements from Anya Seton's story telling.

John of Gaunt (1340 - 1399)
Katherine Swynford
(1349 - 1403)

When you read Mark Crick's little books … you'll come across Virginia Woolf, Marquis de Sade, John Steinbeck … and more …

... or from Sartre's Sink you'll come across Julius Caesar 'Putting Up a Shelf', Emily Brontë 'Bleeding a Radiator', or finding Edgar Allan Poe 'Boarding Up an Attic' …

Manet's 'The Luncheon on the Grass'
(1862)

...then once in the garden, and after the Introduction by Niccolo Machiavelli, we will find Emile Zola showing us 'Weeding by Hand', or Sylvia Plath's 'Burying Bulbs in Autumn' …

All delightful examples of comedic commentaries on various great writers' – something for us all to learn from … even using a radiator key – the tool provided to Emily Brontë – when she bled her radiator …

We had a brief overview on this: the
Wilton Diptych (1395 - 1399)

Grab a read … they're delightful parodies … and what a way to appreciate well known authors …

Lots happening out in that global world of ours … enjoy the change of season …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Quick Update 2 …

I'm off to see what happens on Wednesday … otherwise all things continue as usual … and I positively assume the medics and I will be on our way to a 'resolvement' …

Dressed to impress by the
seaside, in East Sussex

Here on the coast we haven't had the best Easter weather … cool, misty, foggy days … but it is a little warmer …

Way too many visitors ... 

Those Crumbling Cliffs are still very dangerous – so it's been decided to cancel all coaches with their passengers to the Beachy Head area … too worrying for the authorities with those cracking cliffs …

c/o Wiki - a hedgehog

Life is interesting in the country … we heard snuffling and bonking hedgehogs on the Beeb (BBC) … the presenter decided the male was making the bonking noise – only to be duly informed by a listener … that it was actually the female: Who Knew?!

That crack will plummet a huge
chunk of chalk onto the 'beach' below
(dangerous for those above and those below)
and definitely not for burrowing hedgehogs

My sister-in-law says she's got two of those mammals in their garden … and so is delighted … there are plenty of nooks and crannies for them to burrow into and hide away from the cat, the dog … giving them time to bonk away …

A Sussex Trug with Easter eggs
and tulips

Then there were plenty of Easter Eggs some filling Sussex Trugs – we had a salmon lunch a la famille and friends … tulips and daffodils are filling our shops …

SouthDown coaches - a commercial truck,
converted into an each local Sussex 'bus'

Now this morning, Easter Monday, the bells rang out signalling the death of Pope Francis … next, after the funeral, the Vatican convenes a Papal Conclave to select the next Pope …

Life in all ways goes on … wishing you a peaceful Spring or Autumn depending where you live …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

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