The weekend was good!
It has been a good weekend with London, shopping , lunch, Pride and the escaping off! (when the crowds got a bit too much!)
Then, there was back to back Glastonbury and the Dalai Lama.It was lovely and only a few days before I go to Brazil.
It couldn’t have been better, I have waited for these days, careful not to make the trip to visit my daughter, the one and only and the prime motivation of my ‘other’ life.
My work in the library; especially now I only work 4 days a week, is a constant source of knowledge and camaraderie in a common cause. I am not in a battle, but getting books and information on the ‘shelf’ for a student is no mean feat, it takes a concerted team effort.
My blog continues to grow and gain interest and my art has come to the fore.
Today I help ‘take down’ the Summer Show which I had the good fortune to share with … I am not sure how all this happened ; so I lift an offering to the one who provides , a flower.
A painting from early in my practice when some ‘marks’ come together.
Silent Sunday …
Saturday …
Off to London this morning ; to do a bit of shopping, lunch and enjoy the Gay Pride festivities.
It has been a good week. The holiday plans are almost complete, bags nearly packed; all is well. At a week to go there is a healthy glimmer of happy anticipation. We, my daughter and I have an unspoken rule about ‘plans’ for the future; her with her homesickness and me, with my empty nest we are inclined to grizzle about our ‘misfortunes’; this, for the most part is acceptable we are allowed to be sad. However, life does go on and we overcome the grief with a degree of success.
So our coming holiday will be a joy; three weeks of love, hopefulness and plans to make our subsequent separation will be gently made.
By way of celebration I share a picture from last year.
Friday’s Library Snapshots …
This week I posted a blog about an artist called Maria Helena Veira da Silva. I don’t know much about her but understand one of her teachers was Stanley William Hayter, who I know less about. I did a bit of research and found a couple books that have passed through my hands quite recently. The first by Samuel Beckett is illustrated by Stanley William Hayter called Still from our Beckett Collection and the other called About Prints by Hayter is in the Mark Longman Library.
Some lovely images to gaze at …
My Brazilian dictionary continues to delight ; especially as I can now start to count the days before I go!
Feliz quem se satisfaz
Com o dom da harmonia
Da voz e do instrumento
Que ao ouvinte irradia
A doçura da toada
E o sabor da poesia
Happy those who meet
With the gift of harmony
Voice and instrument
That the listener radiates
The sweetness of the tune
And the flavour of poetry
So the prayer for those who ‘share’ words of song continues …. with gift of harmony to you
Wednesday’s woman artist …
In a little over a week I will be in Rio; visiting my daughter. This will be my 4th visit, so have over the years discovered some wonderful attractions. Of course there are the usual tourist sights such as the Christ, Sugar loaf and the beaches and all very lovely. I enjoy the city with it bookshops, cafes, architecture, parks, gardens and art galleries. I have enjoyed ‘discovering’ Brazilian artists and particularly women ; browsing the Poetica da resistencia aspectos da gravura Brasileira I came across this image by Maria Helena Veira da Silva (1908-1992) I am not sure that it is an engraving but Vieira da Silva who was born in Lisbon, Portugal did studying engraving with Stanley William Hayter (1901-1988) the English printmaker at the Academia de Belas-Artes or in Paris where she lived for most of her life, although she did spend the war years in Brazil; so I am hoping to find more of her work while I am there.
Weekly Photo Challenge … ROY G. BIV
It was difficult to decide whether should I used seven pictures or one to meet this week’s challenge. Opting for the former, I had to make some further knowledgeable choices regarding blue, indigo and violet. I am not entirely sure I succeeded!
At the weekend …
For the last few years I have been having treatment for depression and complicated grief and art lessons. ‘They’ are not connected; the art is not part of the therapy; although sometimes the lessons feels like the cause of some of the anxiety.
However, the therapy has been largely successful; as a result my art and lessons have become less painful and more productive.
This weekend I attended a silk screen printing class; as usual the other students were artists in other genres and me, it seemed not proficient at much except turning up to try hard.
So with my fear and doubt bubbling up and my cup of tea nearby, I struggled. Even after an hour; I was still in panic, like a school girl new in school. My tools of depression began to fail …
I am not sure when I turned the corner; maybe after the second cup of tea; but I did.
I have been assured that this adrenaline rush is usually a healthy experience and rewarded with a work of art …
So on reflection maybe it wasn’t such a bad lesson and I will look forward to more classes later in the year.
Silent Sunday …
Saturday … Summer Show
I work in the University of Reading, Library; an academic environment where life is divided between term and vacation. However my post is not academic so allowed to take my holidays within reason during term time. Even while students don’t come to the library in their droves, life does go pretty much as usual.
Nonetheless; Reading is enjoying the end of term celebrations before the relative quietness of the holiday time .
The Reading Guild of Artists ; Summer Show is one of those occasions when the local community and students (Town and Gown) come together and mark the end term and the beginning of summer.
This week I am showing some paintings and attending some art classes in the University; silk screen today and water colour on Monday!
Coat Hanger Doll's House 