Knitted Glass ... Lost-Wax Casting ...

 

Archaeology is an amazing discipline … we are learning so much about past lives … and while I was looking into the lost-wax casting method, via the bronze-age site in Cambridgeshire, the houses had been built on stilts above a riverine area about 3,000 years ago, …

"Purple Reigns" by Carol Milne

... I was led to this wonderful sculpture: “Purple Reigns” by Carol Milne – a Canadian/American artist, who is best known for her Knitted Glass Work – glass sculptures utilising the lost-wax process.

This was a winning entry at a
Japanese Exhibition of Glass in 2010

She created this technique of 'how to knit glass' – which is set out in her Wiki link below … just so easy?!?!

Personally I've never liked knitting, I guess because back in the day we used wool – and that irritated my skin … eventually having realised what gave me the sweats … I eliminated wool from my wardrobe. Sorry!

Carol Milne

I am always totally in awe of creative artists like Carol Milne who can imagine these kinds of works …

... I don't think Prince's Purple Rain had anything to do with my curiosity re wax-casting … but we'll (and I definitely won't) never know!

Prince's 'Purple Rain' found
within the album
'Prince and the Revolution'

As my eclectic wanderings have taken me – nothing like a 3,000 year old wander!! The links below give you lots more information … I do find knitting glass: amazing!!

Carol Milne - via Wiki ... 

Lost-Wax Casting ... 

Thanks for visiting …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Crinoids … St Cuthbert Beads …

 

Stepping on eggshells … or walking on the beach with sharp, stony pebbles … both would make us jump around trying to find a more comfortable place from which to enjoy the seashore …

"So-called
St Cuthbert's beads"

I remember a holiday I had with my father years ago up on the Northumberland coast, when we visited the tidal Holy Island of Lindisfarne – an important centre of Celtic Christianity, including St Cuthbert (c 634 – 687AD), and later the Venerable Bede (c 672 - 735AD) …

Falsies from years ago!

I don't know how many have seen the fossilised false teeth set that hit the airwaves recently … actually some crinoids ossified as the planet evolved about half a billion years ago … entitled the 'smiling fossil' see link below …

Lindisfarne - Holy Island

Crinoids, marine invertebrates, can still appear … but these fossilised ones tend to be found from the Triassic era (c 250 million years ago to 200 million years ago) ...

Crinoid Stem

I realised the crinoid find … false teeth from the triassic era … rather quaint - which gave me, and continues to give me, a laugh …

Explanation of a Crinoid - via Lumen

Amazing what can be found millions of years later … protected in a layer of sediment the skeletal remains compacted, turn to rock …

One of the pinnules - before
the crinoids separate away

... the bones are dissolved by water seeping through the rock, while the minerals in the water replace the bone, leaving a rock replica of the original bone called a fossil …

As described within image

...then over geological time these replica bones become displaced leaving us with the so called “St Cuthbert's Beads' from the Jurassic era…

Triassic flora and fauna

Strange but true … false teeth idea and all?!

Happy Spring finally, though we're in for a few chilly days …

Smiling False Teeth fossil

Lumen - c/o Wiki

Crinoid - c/o Wiki

National History Museum - discover the triassic period

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Blog Mojo returns …

 

I've taken myself off to visits to Namibia that occurred in the late 1990s … one came about as I belong to a TED group and introduced two TED talks … more on those later, possibly via another blogger …

... and then I came across this artist, Uli Aschenborn – born 1947, who just mesmerised me … there's another South African artist on the way later in the year …

The National Art Gallery of Namibia situated in Windhoek … displays exhibitions from local artists on Namibian, African and European Art …

This way up - the drawing is of a Mountain

... Aschenborn has had some of his work displayed here … much of it has movement as an integral part of the art, and so falls under the genre described as Kinetic Art.

Here it is ... the other way up it is
of a Crater

I've linked to his Wiki page – where you can see a few of works … one where the drawing, Mountain or Crater, can be turned upside down, another 'Sculpture-Morph, Male Life Cycle … where the artwork shows us an ageing boy, changing to an old man eventually to a skeleton …

Namib skyline

People are so clever … and this blogging world is always opening my eyes to new areas – so thank you for allowing me to be me and let you see into my way of thinking …

Uli Aschenborn Wikipedia link ... 

Happy New Year … I'll see you around soon …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Tomato … toe-mae-toe/I say to-mat-toe …

 

My mind came to this when I saw a quote, which seems quite appropriate today …

Heritage tomatoes from the
Isle of Wight - as supplied to M&S

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.

Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”

The bench - now in situ

Attributed to Miles Kington (1941 - 2008), journalist, humorist, and musician, on a memorial bench near where he lived in Conkwell, overlooking the Kennet and Avon Canal … who hated the spot as there was nowhere to sit and enjoy the view – now there's a bench!

Conkwell hamlet

Conkwell – I had to find out about the name of this village … it was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter in 957 as “Cunuca leage”.

"Leage” refers to a woodland clearing, while “Canuca” is a Celtic word denoting “hill” … suggesting a survival of pre-Saxon British people in the area – c/o the Bradford and Avon Museum.

The Canal

Another quote pertinent to today … at least I thought so … came via Sean (we're both 13^th day of the month babies … he October, me January – what that means I've no idea!) - this post I see is the 13th too - but in the month of June ... just enjoy his library - all 10% of it!! ...

Christoph Martin Wieland
(1733 - 1813)

He sent me off to Christoph Martin Wieland from the German Enlightenment era … his thought in English … 

“Only a true cosmopolitan can be a good citizen”.

I and my thoughts have been all over the place … I'm sort of gathering them all up – eclectic mix … from all parts of the awareness … it's quite tiring! … with lots to catch up on.

Eastbourne seafront and
promenade

So finally summer's here – little wind around, perhaps living on the south coast in times like this brings some relief … so glad the summer breeze flitters a bit.

Oh yes – and we have those yellow-green balls down here next week – so there's no parking – not to say I worry, but we could do with more rain – though this week … there was a water leak – and we had no water for 9 hours … I'd heard the tell-tale ping of a text … and seeing the mess – made plans. Before my bath – I'd run it, as I was going out early to History, I saved some 'fresh water' … and left the bath in for the dirty water.

Tennis in Eastbourne - 
ground preparations

After history I came back for some lunch, then realising that the leak wasn't fixed … I went off to town – coming back at teatime as I heard the chap say 'he's just turning the tap back on' … so all is now well again. 

Well not quite – there's still an 'ole in the road … but we have water: thank goodness … and I can't think of other places too much – I just remember how lucky I am.

Strawberry Moon - over Belle Tout
lighthouse and Beachy Head

Oh yes – there was a magnificent strawberry moon – that I didn't actually get to see … but so worthwhile via this pic …

Life toddles on … I'm pushing through … and I'll be around to see you all soon now, I hope …

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

D-day and world pain: 'Weltschmerz' ...

 

As it was D-day and I was remembering my parents who were 19 or 20 at the beginning of the war and 24 or 25 at the end … my father's birthday being at this time of year.

Melancholy - 1891

So in these tempestuous times … I wondered how to title the post … then frustratingly after the internet went down for nigh on 24 hours ...

… just when I needed it to be up and running for work that needed to get done, the ideal title for this post courtesy of Big Think appeared … link also below ... 

Suits me … melancholy at this time, yet uplifting as we're so fortunate to be alive and well … we all have our ups and downs …

Anxiety (1894)

... while in the last 80 years – since the end of the 2^nd World War - which was meant to be the end of all wars … discord never stopped and perhaps more so now as there's the non-stop news, social media traction – all of which add to people's insecurity …

... so rightly described in this article … where reality often doesn't live up to people's ideals and expectations.

Separation (1896)

I was going to include photos of three churches I visited recently ... covering 1,000 years of history - including many skirmishes, conflicts, war-mongering peoples ... locals and invaders ... but that can wait ... weltschmerz is more suitable ... 

An Optimist and a Pessimist by the
Russian artist Vladimir Makovsky (1893)

World Pain - unfairly affects the poor, the disenfranchised ... it also applies to our communities ... especially in these days of the 21st century ... 

As the BigThink article mentions … we can soften our weltschmerz by keeping our positivity out there, and refusing to be dulled by others … our spirits need to be up … 

Syrian girl in Istanbul ... looking wistful 
but with hope ... 

... we can all do it, I know we can … all those little positive actions, optimistic thoughts add up giving us a more generous view of life.

Big Think article: The upside of feeling dissatisfied with the world: How to work your "weltschmerz".

Please note unless mentioned the art is by Edvard Munch (1863 - 1944) - his Melancholy is the one chosen by Big Think to illustrate their article.  

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories