Saturday and the week in the language of Emoji
It has been a good week, beginning on Sunday with a lovely afternoon in London in the locality of Soho Square. It was near perfect until we discovered our usual tea time haunt had upped the cost of its champagne by almost 30%! So we decided to decamp and after a stroll in the warm sunlight we found another bar that proved to be more suitable all round with more fairly priced sparkles. So we ended the afternoon in our usual pursuit of gossip and people watching. Such joy!
Monday, as reported was successful and I’m looking forward to playing with paints on Monday next.
The next day at work I had a good session with my line manager and my Personal Development Review; now my workload is balanced with my new working hours.
So if I were to write this in the up and coming language of emoji it would look like this.
Friday’s Library Snapshot …
When we receive library of books as donation or indeed a collection we have purchased ; we sometimes come across a random set of journals often there is only one. When the item relates to the collection then it is easier to classify. This item was quite difficult to place and while I attempted to make some calculated decisions I thumbed through it and what a delight! The 1944 edition of the Capuchin Annual had some lovely illustrations mainly wood cuts; it made me smile … still not classified it !
My alphabet this time may have a Brazilian flavour as I begin to count down to my next trip. I was hoping that I would have learned a little more of the language this time but it didn’t happen. Books, I bought last time are read slowly and clumsily with the use of a dictionary, a simple grammar and google translate. It hasn’t spoiled the experience; I attempted to read the Dicionario Brasileiro de litteratura de Cordel, lovely book with gorgeous wood cuts, much like the ones we might have seen in Chapbooks of the 17th, 18th, and 19th century in UK and Europe.
The first entry is A is for Abece (ABC) and a prayer that a poet might say as he sits down to write.
A is for agradeço a deus … o brilho da poesia ; I thank God … for the glow of poetry
B is for bendito seja louvada o dom berço ; blessed be praised; the cradle gift
and C is for Como seu servo agradeço, esta luz que de deus ; as his servant; thank this light of God.
While I might not offer this particular prayer, I am truly grateful for the opportunity to spend time in this daily practice of blogging; not poetry perhaps.
Wednesday’s wood engraver …
I came across this image in a book called the Art of the woodcut : masterworks from 1920s by Malcolm C. Salaman. It is titled Pauwies by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944) who was a printmaker and graphic artist, teaching in Germany before the Second World War. One of his pupils was Mauritius Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) during the years after the war he became forgotten. Thanks to the efforts of Escher, who regarded him highly as friend and mentor, for a while he did receive some attention.
I like this very much and would like to find out more about him …
Weekly Photo Challenge …. enveloped
I am not sure where this week’s photo challenge will go. We spend much of our lives enveloped, secure and comfortable. In the ideal world, we begin in our mother’s womb and in her care as we grow. We go to school, to be educated for employment the wider world. In our relationships we enjoy the safety of matrimony and parenthood.
Sadly, this is not always a worldwide experience;here is the west we do grumble about our lack and discomfort; but as individuals we are able to choose and enjoy enormous freedoms to adventure beyond our envelopes often successfully sometimes painfully.
I have dropped in and out of my envelope with mixed results.
At the moment, I am in a position to choose the way forward, no longer a hands-on parent and looking forward to being unemployed ; not imminently if my boss is reading. I am in loving relationship; it is good to think my envelope is not sealed.
My image (s) are the result of a playing art session yesterday. I attended a workshop on Saturday where we were encouraged to play with the materials and create some impromptu prints.
I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the concept as described before; so spent the day grumbling about my confines!
Fortunately, the feeling didn’t last and Monday I was able to backtrack to experiment and play. I am delighted with the results; nothing complete but lots of opportunities to play more.
At the weekend …
This weekend I attended an Open Studio Workshop. I was hoping to learn ‘other’ printing skills. I am a printmaker and fairly accomplished at lino and wood cutting. Unfortunately; I am of a generation not used to playing in the learning environment. Being the top of the class is important; getting ‘E’ for effort is not an option. Of course, I am a ‘grownup’ now and see the joys of play and celebrate the change in the school room. So I do not want to return to those days and do have fun!
Sadly, though in some situations I do return to that sad and austere place and struggle to lighten up. Outwardly I look upbeat and in control but inwardly my soul belies the smiling face.
It would be easy for me to blame the teacher, the tools, even the surroundings, the classroom was gatehouse and guard room, the toilet and kitchen and print room had been prison cells of Block Barracks, built in the same period as my old school, in the early 1900s.
Since, it was no longer used in this way and becoming a designated location for artists and a gallery, it had been a place for homeless people.
So there are reasons to feel uncomfortable but they were not to blame.
It is me!
So the way forward; how can I salvage the resultant muddy mess. I used acrylic paint and polystyrene prints, sponge rollers, and cardboard stencils (that moved)
How do I hold them in place with getting unwanted ‘other’ prints?
If I were to put these on to a background … what would I use?
I am in awe of the those who use mix media and eager to learn … are there well practiced methods or are they all the results of happy accidents?
Silent Sunday …
Its Saturday …
So, Saturday is here again;I am attending another Open Studio event this time at OpenHand OpenSpace at Brock Keep, here in Reading. I am not sure what to expect the workshop is called “Lines and Forms from
Andalucia”
While this concerns me a little, it is the premises themselves that worry me. I have been there several times and it is a fine building, in a prison sort of way; but it is cold even on a summer’s day the protective walls do not allow the sun to penetrate; it is of course difficult and costly to heat such a place. I know that in time I will become acclimatised and not notice my icy breath. I will be start to apply the layers and pack my tea that is always comforting on such occasions soon.
The subject matter is very intriguing. I worked high in the Andalucian mountains in a voluntary capacity for a little over 6 years, so the area is familiar. I liked it very much, so much so that I hoped to retire there and and fulfil my retirement as a librarian in a Buddhist retreat. This didn’t happen not only was it not financially viable, the direction of my devotion turned to the Americas.
Nonetheless, Andalucia still holds a place in my heart so the class will be lovely … if not as warm as I would like.
Friday’s Snapshot from Special Collections …
For the last few weeks I have been working with a work experience student while she only comes one day a week she has really made a difference in the library at Special Collections here at the University of Reading.
We do many ‘background tasks’ for lots of reasons to do with staffing levels and also usage. It is no good spending months or years cataloging a collection if it has no interest at all. But, then one man’s meat is another’s poison, we have no real way of knowing what is going to be the next interest. So we each beaver away hoping that someone some somewhere will ‘discover’ we have a fine collection of something super-duper.
Such are our dreams.
So with an extra pair of hands and a willing mind we decided to finish a background task. We have a collection of Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum around 400 items. We have the first editions and many since so you can imagine it is an interesting collection and perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea. Nonetheless it has now attracted some interest with students; so we are delighted; especially as we draw to a close as other collections and background task need to be completed.
As I said; the Wizard of Oz is almost finished so we haven’t been ‘finding’ so many gems … but this one made us smile it is not by Baum but W.W. Denslow the illustrator of the first editions of the Wizard of Oz in the late 19th century.
The images and text are funny …
Alphabe Thursday … Z is for Friedrich Nietzsche
So I reach the end of my journey through the alphabet of walking and cannot find a nice reference for ‘Z’ So forgive me as I fail but not so miserably. I found this nice image in A philosophy of walking by Frederic Gros and very suitable quote
‘Sit as little as possible, do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement – in which the muscles do not revel. All prejudices emanate from the bowels. Sitting still (I said it once already) – is a real sin against the Holy Ghost’
I don’t altogether hold with this saying as I thinking sitting still as many benefits but walking we have discussed is wonderful.
Coat Hanger Doll's House 