Paolozzi

Saturday we visited the Pallant House Gallery which was exhibiting works by Eduardo Paolozzi, it is well worth a visit. Paolozzi created a beautiful mural for the Tottenham Court Road Underground station. His work seems to be mainly influenced by the space era of the 1950’s with mechanical shapes and collages of 1950’s American advertising. Like many artists his work is not limited to just painting, textiles, and Wedgwood plates, film as well as sculpture. He experimented with wax casting, creating heads out of cast metal it was interesting to see the process unfold.

The poster prints are a riot of colour and mechanical shapes, that I found it a little busy there was so much to attract the eye, but it reflects the colour explosion of the 1950’s so well – this was a time when vibrancy was an reaction to the deprivations of war time Britain.

The mechanical drawings and prints remind me of the Steam punk imagery that is a subculture of today, where steam and monster structures combine with robotic implants on humans. These have been recurring themes throughout the ages, right back to the luddites who saw machines replacing jobs.

It reminded me of a period of drawing I did a few years ago, when I discovered some old engineering stencils – I loved the technical aspect of drawing and used them to create an imaginary machine of my own. Sadly the original is lost, but this is a photocopy – the tones have been lost from the original pencil but it gives a flavour.

My two favourite objects from the exhibition was a gold porcelain piece – it had been cast from impressions and then made from porcelain which was then covered in gold. I think the structure would make the light reflections absolutely beautiful.

I really liked the gold version of the Wedgewood Plate, mostly because I can follow the pattern and texture more easily than the colourful version. 

The combination of blue tones and pattern is gorgeous, and very inspirational.  Well worth a visit if you can it is running until the 13th October 2013. 

Transitions Bread

I have been making bread for a while now, but I needed a little bit of hands on expertise which might give me the confidence to bake great bread, efforts up to now have been ‘all right’. 

A great friend told me about Transitions Chichester which was set up a few years ago, it is a scheme where people share their skills to help one another, so you can offer your time which can be simple tasks such as babysitting to gardening and baking. 

So I was up bright and early Saturday morning, armed with pinny, a large mason cash bowl and a jug for Julia’s bread making course held in her own kitchen. There were four of us in all and Julia quickly put us at ease – (once a teacher always a teacher!). Together we all made loaves with Julia’s gentle guidance. I ended the morning not just with a loaf, but enthusiasm and new friends. 

The transitions scheme has its own currency, the chi, which Julia earned by hosting the course, chi’s can be then exchanged for help or learning new skills. I think it is a great idea and one that had me wondering what I can offer. The great thing about sharing a skill with someone, is that you can gleefully delight in their success knowing that you were a tiny seed in their creativity. 

And here.. at last (third time lucky!) is a seeded loaf, made with honey not sugar! I am so proud! 

While out walking with the dog, I came across this lovely clump of snowdrops nestling among the shade, such a beautiful sight that I could not help but share with you. Sunday was a gloriously sunny day, A and I walked the dog along the sandy beach and I really appreciate how lucky I am to be so close to the sea, with a lovely man and the dog teaches me to enjoy each moment, as he chases his frisbee enthusiastically his face in a wide grin! 

Cushy number

We are having family to stay over Christmas and bought a lovely white sofa bed. The great thing about the colour is that is possible to update or change the look simply by sewing different cushions. I had some of this clarke and clarke fabric left over from a few projects so I thought I would make some new cushions. I simply love this design the birds and roses are lovely. There are so many colours and the duck egg blue is one of my favourites. Once I had made the cushions I thought it needed a nice fringing  to give them a finishing touch, which was all the excuse I needed to go to the Eternal Maker. 

After walking round Chichester in the pouring rain purchasing the final gifts for Christmas I decided I would treat myself to a visit to the store which is simply delightful. Not five minutes through the door I was offered a lovely cup of tea and decided to participate in their make and take. It was a little button tree, which was delightful to make as there were huge pots of buttons to pick from. Daisy talked me through the project and it was like sitting with a good friend. Living in West Sussex is wonderful there are so many fantastic fabric shops, clothkits is in Chichester too, one of the many reasons I am so happy to be here. 

Little button tree made at the Eternal Maker.