Wk12.....

of the Documented Life.   The challenge was "cut up a magazine and add to your planner".   The eyes have it....

 

and for the runner I documented hockey sticks for the excellent production of "Daisy Pulls it Off" at the Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre. looking forward to "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". The other part is to represent little Peruvian gold figures. I needed to go up to town to meet my daughter and with some time left I managed to squeeze in the next to last day of the "Beyond El Dorado" exhibition at the British Museum. Glad I made it, there was some fascinating stuff.  Although the exhibition has finished there is lots on the Museo del Oro website. I must not leave the Viking exhibition too long. 

 .

Road......

For the Craft Barn challenge the choice was "art" and "road".  My first thought was   "Into the Woods" by Stephen Sondheim, only to find I have been singing the wrong words to this for years and also to many othr songs which I thought contained the word "road" and turned out to be "way" "path" "trail" etc....so I was becoming a little desparate when I remembered this from my schooldays. Funny how you can remember songs you learned then but can't remember what you put on the shopping list you left at home. I offer you the Uist Tramping song which I guarantee you will have on the brain for days.

My painting style hasn't changed much  in the last 60 odd years.
Here's a very jolly version

Wk 11.......

of Documented life.  The challenge was "Draw, photograph or collage a bird onto your page" .  I wanted to do something to represent the spakling blue skies we have had this week, I also have a new bird die and s gelli print stack .....so

this is the cover,background is just inktense bars wiped over and spritzed.

For my runner, what else but the chains from the Cheapside Hoard.visit

Modern Art and Medieval Mastery part 2,,,,,,

I was intrigued(as was everyone else)  by this group on the bridge.

 The artist appeared to be painting in between the metal plates of the bridge, the people with him were from Channel 5. ?????
I took this so you can have a go for yourself. I might.

 Update: Thanks to Debbie for the comment which gave the explanation for this. Ben Wilson is the artist.


Did I mention the sun was shining, St Pauls reflected in one of the  pieces of street art.

I was on my way to the Museum of London and I realised I was passing Postman's Park. This is somewhere
Lynda Monk told me about a long time ago. Sorry you weren't there Lynda but I will have to go again because a gentleman had positioned himself right in the middle of the memorial to eat his, rather large, lunch,
This is the explanatory plaque.

and just a few of the tragic, heroic stories.

(You should have a larger versiou if you click on the picture, I think it is working again now)
When the children were little we used to go to the Museum of London a favourite because you could walk through from prehistory to the present day. I haven't been for years but a memory from then was a beauitful chain that was on display from the Cheapside Hoard. (Watch the video on the link if you can)  The chain was so delicate and pretty I have never forgotten it so this exhibition was a must for me. The workmanship is stunning, you can pick up a magnifying glass at the entrance and you need it to appreciate the tiny detailed pieces.  Security was very tight (you have to leave everything in a locker) so I have had to borrow this from In Detail which has very good pictures of other exhibits. The chains are very long.


and this is the postcard I bought.

I couldn't resist a quick look at the rest of the museum which looks great fun and seems to contain many of the costumes I have been missing at the V&A..  Return visit soon I hope.

Modern Art and Medieval Mastery......

 Yesterday I took myself up to London without any real plan but the sun was shining so the city was mine.  It turned into a day or contrasts. My first visit was to Southwark Cathedral to see the installation by Angela Wright. 

This is a close up of the wool strands

The softness of the flow against the wonderful medieval carvings of the High Altar was stunning and very moving. It is in place for the whole of Lent. There is a talk by the artist this Sunday(March 16) at 12.45.
Back out into the sunshine I wandered along the edge of the Thames to the Tate Modern. 
Didn't quite expect the fun I had.  We like the familiar, I think, so the Mondrian

and the Rothko

 and I loved these huge canvases by Gerhard Richter

but I had the most fun with these.
Dan Flavin, this room had flourescent lights on one wall which threw shadows onto the opposite wall. As people walked throught the room you could see their shadows in various colours but I couldn't really see my own. Fascinating.
This young man kindly stood still for me.

and this is my shadow

  

Gorgeous colour.

Gerhard Richter again,  11 panes of glass which gave a blurred impession and almost a sense that you could see though yourself.

Just looks like a rather blurred photograph really but you had to be there.  Back outside, sun still shining I took the "wobbly bridge" across the river

 and back in time but if we are to eat this week I better go and do some shopping. To be contd.

Wk 10.....

It is getting hard to keep up..a little sunshine and the great outdoors beckons.  But back on track now I hope with Documented Life. The brief was "Make a list of the the things that make you, YOU"......not a clue ....so I took a photograph of the hearts that had been on my tree in January and February  because they represented all the things I like to play with and then I made a list of things I like a lot.(in no particular order I hasten to add)

the major catch up was on my runner,

The Lakeland hills look a bit more like volcanoes, the colours at the top are for the polyanthus we pooped in the garden to give it a lift.
This just made me smile.

Craft Barn..Marriage

Catching up with the Craft Barn Q&L challenge.  The words were Marriage and Age, immediately   I started singing "Love and Marriage......etc", so here is my take. c

Although it is a dying institution it has been around for a long time so I chose this stamp of a couple from Pompeii and added one of my favourite photographs from my own wedding.  Gelli print background, stamp onto handmade paper and other stamps on deli paper.
and this is Frank Sinatra's version.


  My apologies if  this gets on your brain for the next fortnight.

Wk 9..

a sad/happy week.  We were comforted by the number of people who attended my brother's funeral, good to see so many people loved him as we did. The happy part was being with family,  we had an afternoon at the zoo with my great nephews, so good to hear their laughter and we managed a quick trip up the Lakes on a glorious day with snow on the tops.  The Lake District at it's finest. This is Lake Coniston.

and this was the star at the zoo, only 10 days old.

Lakeland is the home of Derwent Pencils and having seen these recently I couldn't come home without them.

and these 

More about them soon but I am in love. I was also given some deli paper by a generous friend so as soon as I was unpacked I had to play. I created a piece of paper that looked, to me,  like the bracken and the rocks on the hills so this is my spread for this week.  Not to the brief which was "collage something you have recycled" but more a reflection of the week.
this is the cover

and this is the spread

Joy of joys you can use the inktense bars on the gelli plate. Trees are part of one of the first rubber stamps I bought.
The runner is "in progress".