Epitaph

Experimented today with some 'failed' prints combined with collaged material and chine colle. I tore the epitaph from somewhere weeks ago and of course, now have no idea at all where it came from but never mind, I am more concerned with using the various elements together to see what happens.

I don't really want to start anything new in the next few weeks - so just being playful with odds and ends already hanging around the studio table.

(Just remembered the torn page came from Gray's Elegy written in an English Churchyard - I am glad about that, it would have driven me batty for the rest of the evening).

The Seven

I just noticed that my lonely follower of the past year has been joined by six others and that is delightful. So hello and welcome to the ramblings.

Grinding to a Halt?

Don't know where the last month went but here we are landed safely in 2010 - well, just about. The view from the steps of The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool shows the city grinding to a halt on Wednesday. The wheel distorted through the window of John Lewis whilst I was warming up with a cup of tea.

We arrived for an overnight stay and so I could catch the Rothko exhibition at Tate Liverpool and The Rise of Women Artists at The Walker art gallery but the snow arrived at the same time as we did and the day deteriorated as galleries, shops and just about everything closed - buses stopped and we returned to the hotel to watch the white stuff settle quietly over everything - our room overlooked the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Georgian rooftops and it all looked quite lovely from the comfort of our well-heated lodgings. I did get half an hour with the Women Artists and slid up to the Tate the following day to see the Seagram murals but by then the pavements had become treacherous, the Tate closed early, so I called a halt to the visit and we headed for home. Liverpool had no grit and had to borrow it from the Wirral; if hotel gossip is to be believed! It seems bizarre that a city of this size is unable to react to a few inches of snow but hey, thankfully I am not in charge.

I have not been in the studio over Christmas - a combination of my back still recovering and the ice on the inside of the windows. I am also planning a visit to Australia in the next few weeks - so my mind is hardly focussed on work at the moment - a bit of personal grinding to a halt on the creative side for a while.

Plans for 2010 - continue with the gelatin prints when my place defrosts and check out art Australia. Oh, and be kind to my back so it doesn't try this stunt again!