My Week...

The beginning of this week was perfect for hibernation at home, cosy with cups of tea and a Harry Potter movie-marathon and a big bundle of crochet while it rained outside. We snacked on homemade raspberry crumble and ice cream, and it was perfectly delightful. We had Christmas in July with friends - it was because of lateness rather than design, but next year we plan to do it deliberately as we all have birthdays in the months either side of Christmas. I made one-hundred and forty pompoms for Big Knit hats, and we counted the ones that have already arrived - there are 873 so far. 

I have had a couple of little adventures this week - I've been to Wolverhampton and Liverpool, and had a mooch around the shops and Galleries, searching for inspiration. I had a look around the Tate, FACT and the Liverpool World Museum, and bought lots of plastic from the comic book shops. I also went to my first ever Clothes Swap with my little sister, we had a splendid time and I found a very sweet little skirt to bring home. It's been a lovely week.

My Week...

What a lovely week it has been! The sun has been shining and the long days have been glorious, we even made ice cream to help with overheating! We had a date-night at the movies, and I had a very jolly trip to Liverpool. 

I was a little bit under the weather on Sunday so I started making granny squares - I've made blankets with small squares, and large squares that just keep going, but never a whole blanket made of big squares, so that's my plan - I've done eleven rounds on each square now so I'm a happy camper. 

A Little Adventure

I have been a busy bee this week, working my little socks off to get to-do lists done so that I could take myself off for a little day out. Yesterday I hopped on the train and went to Liverpool. After living there for four years, Liverpool is like a second home to me, and even after eight years away, I sometimes miss it terribly. I love the old buildings on the waterfront, the amazing independent shops on Bold Street, the hustle and bustle of the city. The place that I miss the most is the Tate - I love the way an art gallery has fitted so effortlessly into an old industrial space, the strange little nooks and crannies that you just don't get with modern, purpose built galleries. I went primarily to see the new Jackson Pollock exhibition, not a favourite artist of mine but I like to be open-minded. The exhibition was interesting and logically curated (that sounds ridiculous I know but I hate it when exhibitions don't make sense)and I particularly enjoyed seeing the work on the Japanese and handmade papers. 

The highlight of my visit was the Geta Bratescu exhibition, so full of colour and experimentation, I loved the texture and the repetition of ideas, I found it very interesting. 

Image from Tate Website - Geta Bratescu Medeic Callisthenic Moves 1980-1 © Geta Bratescu, Ivan Gallery, Bucharest

I took a look around the DLA Piper Series, and there was something new that I enjoyed - Lorna Simpson's "Photo Booth". The combination of the concept (photos from the 1940's interspersed with her own drawings) and the execution (I love the was it is displayed) made it really appealing to me - I have always enjoyed seeing collections. 

I love the work from Saloua Raouda Choucair too, her retrospective at Tate Modern stands out for me as one of the best exhibitions that I've seen. This piece is called "Poem of Nine Verses". 

I went on from the Tate to the Liverpool World Museum to take a look at the Maya exhibition and it was stunning. 

Painted Figure - Late Classic Period (AD600-900) Elderly Man in Blue Araceae flower

Disc from Chichen Itza - Early post-classic period (AD900-1250) made of wood, turquoise, shell, coral and slate.

It was just fantastic, a huge exhibition of really interesting things so skilfully made. I'm hoping to visit again before it closes. 

Tate Liverpool...Part Two

I carried on my mooch around Tate Liverpool in the Leonora Carrington exhibition. It was my second visit, but this time I had a really good look around...

 Evening Conference, 1949.  © Estate of Leonora Carrington

"I, as the whole world, yearn for an individual identity. I would like to find it because on finding it, like the truth, it changes and shifts. We only need to sleep to convert ourselves into different personalities" Leonora Carrington 

And Then They Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur, 1954 

© Estate ofLeonora Carrington/Artists Rights Society (ARS)

I loved her work, mostly for the experimentation with materials and techniques, and the amazing colours. I picked up the novelisation of her life in the shop on my way out, it's called "Leonora" by Elena Poniatowska and I am excited to read it! 

Wandering through I found myself in the huge room of Cathy Wilkes installations. The change from bright colours and busy paintings full of immense detail to this stark collection of figures was quite startling! I must confess that I hadn't made the connection to the installation I had seen as part of the Turner Prize in 2008, this work is really very different, and I found this much more thought-provoking. 

Cathy Wilkes Untitled 2013 

Installation view ‘The Encyclopaedic Palace’, Venice Biennale, Venice, 2013

Courtesy of The Artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow (borrowed from the Tate website) 

Cathy Wilkes Untitled 2013

"The Encyclopaedic Palace", Venice Biennale, Venice, 2013 

(borrowed from Trend Tablet)

There was so much happening in this room, so much to see and take in, I was pleased to have a closer look. These figures had something nomadic about them, their clothes somewhat tatty and dishevelled, they were soulful and so human, with their collections of broken ceramics and bits of lace and embroidery. I really found them so endearing, they seemed lost but at the same time, content. I don't really know, it was appealing but also unsettling. It's a hard feeling to describe, and the things I've read seem non-specific on the meaning of the work, so all I have to go on is my reaction to what I saw, I picked up the exhibition guide so maybe I'll find out more there. There are photographs from the exhibition on The Modern Institute website, they are beautiful. 

So that was my Tate Liverpool adventure - and what a lovely adventure it was!

Tate Liverpool... Part One

Yesterday I woke up and had a realisation that I had no to-do list for the day and that the sun was shining - a rare combination of events indeed, and suddenly I caught the scent of adventure! 

I took myself off for a little day out to Liverpool, my main plan was to have a mooch around the Tate and re-visit the Leonora Carrington and Cathy Wilkes exhibitions, and I'm so very glad that I did. I must confess that I like to mooch around galleries on my own, I am an obsessive note-taker, and I am aware that it's a little bit of an anti-social habit. So armed with my notebook and a selection of pens - just in case one runs out, I've been caught-short before so now I go prepared - I set off on my adventure around the gallery. I thought I would share some of the lovely things that I saw...

I started on the Ground Floor, with the György Kepes exhibition of photographs 

Leaf with Leaves and Prism 1939

Lily and Egg, 1939 © estate of György Kepes

I moved on up to the DLA Piper Series: Constellation

Sophie Brzeska by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 1913 © Tate

And the Living Room exhibition, which is a really rather clever concept, it's full of the every-day bits and bobs that make up home.

Bathroom Mirror, by Patrick Caulfield 1968 © The estate of Patrick Caulfield

To Be Continued...Part Two Coming Soon!

My Week...

Last week was one filled to the brim with adventures and crafty making! I visited Liverpool for the Tate and shopping, went to the theatre for date night, bought a vintage embroidered cushion from a lovely trader in the market, had cake with a dear friend, and got very excited at the arrival of Harry Potter tour tickets. I've been working hard on my granny square blanket, and finished the second full row of my year-long blanket, and tried to make progress with the three (!) pairs of socks that are on the needles.