31st October

Sir Rowland Berkeley Sarcophagus

Plantpot Fred

31st October

After hubby and I had done the necessary errands in town, we made our way to a park. Where we admired the gorgeous autumal colours, the lake with the Canada geese and in the kitchen garden we were surprised to find Plantpot Fred.

We were unable to go into the house, although we did suceed in looking through the old Victorian sash windows and discovered the interior. Very large paintings hung on the walls with thick wooden frames, the furniture was dark wood and the walls were painted white. The expanse between floor to ceiling was surprisingly impressive. Maybe because I was technically snooping and therefore more aware of my surroundings, but I felt a little unerved by the obvious emptiness of the house. It was spooky.

After the house, we went in search of the little white bridge, which is said to have a lady ghost walk across it, after an unfortunate accident with horse and carriage, the lady died and now is apparently seen to walk across the bridge .....in my opinion to warn others of the peril of road accidents.

After walking across the bridge and managing to terrify 4 innocent pheasants who had taken up camp there, we strolled back through the Park, to the Church, where we found and admired the sarcophagus of Sir Rowland Berkeley and his sons Robert and Thomas Berkeley. Sir Rowland Berkeley had a clothier business  his business thrived and later he was able to purchase Park for £1,400 in May 1606.  Quite a lot of land!

Hope you like the pictures!

Hallow's End

I was invited to spend a morning in an arts workshop helping to make witches hats and skeletons with moveable limbs, it was brilliant fun and the kids really got messy with paint and glitter. Charlie drew an intriciatly patterned dagger and made a small incision into the skeletons head and stapled the dagger in place and then drizzled red paint across the blade and down the left cheek of the victims face, it was very clever =)

Lazy Days

Inspiration

I'm baffled... I have mislaid my watercolour paint set. This has never happened before. My paint set, always sits on my middle shelf in the bookcase. I searched the house. Nothing. Well, perhaps if I explained a little behind the reason for wanting to paint this evening, the paint set, will appear forthright in front of me in baited anticpation.

I was reading an article, an interview on the web, by Jenny Kostecki-Shaw- a children's book illustrator, her work is amazing (see painting above). I love her attention to colour and pattern, the trees (above) have their own individual story to tell and share with us their delight in bearing witness to the giant swan's journey. Maybe, I have too much imagination, but that is how I read the painting.

In Jenny's interview she explains that:-

"In 2006, we traveled by plane, bus, train, rickshaw, and foot for 4 months around Nepal and Northern India experiencing chai culture. We went to small villages, remote tea farms, peaceful ashrams and populated cities, connecting with locals all the way. We documented our days in journals, sketchbooks, photography, interviews, stories, video, etc. This was FAR different than researching on Google! It was an adventure and so tactile. It was also the most challenging assignment I've ever had. These kinds of projects demand a lot of endurance and faith but are the most rewarding. It's so important to follow your passion (and instincts) and go for something you believe in".

See the full interview at:- http://illustrationfriday.com/blog/2008/07/15/if-interview-with-jenny-kosteck-shaw/

I visited a really old country house last Sunday with my family and was really taken with the semi-wild deer roaming the grounds and the beautiful georgian stonework, which got me thinking...a new "assignment"....?

Unfortunately my beloved watercolour set is still missing, so crayon it is!

Artwork on a Massive Scale

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/the_berlin_reunion.html

Follow the link above to read and view the animated story celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The story is played out with two main characters and is performed by France's Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled "The Berlin Reunion".

Although still pictures are not the same as watching the performance directly, you can appreciate the enormity of the project, alongside the staggering 1.5 million viewers...wow!

This is a home video of our garden shed being erected, each piece (the walls, roof, doorway, side panel, window panel) all came delivered as a kit, and my very clever husband nailed the whole thing together, by himself, isn't he brilliant!

I love balloons!