Late at Tate, 7th December

We will be selling at Tate Britain on Friday Evening, 7th December. Please come along if you are in London. The event is called 'Late at Tate'.

There will be another nine craft workers, all selling top quality craft items.

Sharon has also contributed a blog entry  on the Kelmscott Chaucer, 16th November 'Makers on Makers'. See below...sorry couldn't find a way to get a live link to the blog set up...sorry...
[ technophobic] Phil

http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/blogs/makers-on-makers-sharon-dickinson-archives-crafts-on-kelmscott-chaucer

Memento mori mirror. £35.

 

The difficulties of photographing mirrors.

This is one of our new Surrealist inspired mirrors. 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe'. And that's not a camera.

New Mirror, writhing squid.

 

Avoid Talktalk !

Please note that our E mail address will be changing very soon so that the address on our business cards will no longer be valid. We will post our new address ASAP.

Our service has been through Talktalk. We have just spent the best part of a day trying to get answers from Talktalk to simple questions about why they are overcharging us for a service that is not working properly and our contract with them.

Every time we have phoned we have visited a different country:  South Africa, Thailand, India, even the UK. The responses we have had to our questions have been, in general, incomprehensible and misleading. It was impossible to reach someone who could talk normally. Their staff must be trained to obfuscate, fobb off and ignore customers. All Talktalk want is your money. Our contract with them, which we can't obtain, involves a penalty for our premature termination of it. But we are quite prepared to pay this to get away from them. No doubt we could contest issues to do with the contract but we just can't afford to waste any more time on this subject.

So be warned: avoid Talktalk.

Does the National Trust support British Crafts?

 A while ago I sent off an Email to the National Trust asking them what their policy was on stocking their shops.  I wanted to know how much of what they sold was imported and mass produced and whether they actively supported British crafts. I didn't receive a reply.

My question was prompted by our visits to National Trust properties. At the end of your tour you are often funneled into 'The Gift Shop'. Sharon and I have never bought anything in these shops first of all because the prices are too high and, secondly, because  much of their contents appears to be imported and mass produced. There does not appear to be much that is locally produced or of a genuinely craft origin. It's shiny, packaged and bears all the hallmarks of slick marketing strategies and all that nasty 'business' approach where the only thing that matters is the bottom line.

The properties owned by the National Trust were built by skilled stonemasons, carpenters and bricklayers. They were filled with and adorned with beautiful furniture, sculpture, porcelain, fabrics and so on. These items had to be made. They  required high levels of skill to be produced. Everything you see in a National Trust property was produced by an individual's hard work and mastery of their craft.

The National Trust spends a great deal of money on preserving the buildings that it owns and the objects they hold. However, does it support the crafts tradition that made these things and encourage it  to flourish and grow?

The National Trust Gift Shop 'Experience' is not encouraging. I suspect that the mindset of those that control National Trust  retailing is formed by the same 'marketing' ethos that has reduced  shopping in England to such a dull, dehumanised level. I suspect that few of them have a ever worked for themselves or made anything with their own hands.

What would we like to see? We would like to see the National Trust actually sell and promote the work of British craft workers.They are part of the tradition that produced the stuff that the National Trust looks after. This tradition needs to be nurtured by the Trust.

It would be nice if the National Trust shops sold a little less twee confectionery and overpriced bead jewellery and more locally made quality crafts.

The biggest problem those of us who are full time craft workers face is the cost of selling what we make. Most of us could never afford to rent a shop, good craft fairs are expensive because hobbyists, who have other sources of income, inflate demand for stalls, with on line selling it's hard to get noticed, and traditional markets [where we sell] are in decline. However good what we make is we have to spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to find our way to our customers.They, equally, want to find their way to us and struggle to find somewhere that sells the individually made work they want.

It would be wonderful if the National Trust used it's shops to help solve this problem.

Elephant, cosmic...

We are doing a series of animals enjoying Cosmic Consciousness. A little less expensive than our usual pictures with a lighter frame, which is still wood, though. Each one is still hand done and each one will be different.  Size of frame approximately 11" by 5.5". Price: £35 plus P&P. Alternatively visit our market stalls. To remind you these are:

Lougborough Market: Thursday
Stamford Market: Friday
Grantham Market: Saturday
Cambridge Market: Sunday.

Pre-Raphaelites, Tate Britain and us.

We were delighted to be given two free tickets plus £100 travelling expenses by Tate Britain and Etsy on the basis of the pewter work that we do which they, and us, see as being part of the Arts & Crafts tradition.

We made our visit a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I love being able to see, at exhibitions, original works of art that you are familiar with from books.  You can see their true scale and appreciate their  surface texture and thus get a real feeling for  how the artist created his work.

Unfortunately it's 'his' when it comes to the Pre-Raffs. Women's role in the movement, was to provide inspiration, be put on pedestals, dressed up in archaic costumes, sit in cold baths -Elizabeth Siddal nearly caught her death of cold posing for Millais's picture of Ophelia-and so on. Not many of them appear to laugh or even smile.

Sharon had to choose  a work to write an entry for the Tate's blog [She hasn't done that yet, but we will put a link to it from here when she does]. She decided on the Kelmscott Chaucer. The capital letters in the text have been an inspiration and basis for many of Sharon's repousse letters. I particularly like the otherworldly, almost Surrealistic, illustrations of the Kelmscott Chaucer by Edward Burne-Jones.

There's a special atmosphere that is evoked by this book which I can't describe but which is tangible in other places. One such is little Moreton Hall which we visited in September. To my mind it would make the perfect location for Pre -Raphaelite figures to swan about in.

Phil

New Work: The Dodo.

I've been looking  at lots of images of Dodo's . No one knows exactly what they looked like so my picture is as much an imaginative production as any other. I particularly like the Dodo beak, their funny little wings and their chunky feathered bulk. I also think the Dodd is symbolic of all the other creatures that have been wiped out in recent centuries and it a good idea to have a n image of one around the house to remind us of what we are doing to the natural world

Latest Green Man!

 

Raw Oak Inspiration!

Oak Trees at Croxton Park, Leicestershire.

Benevolent Green Man

I am reeling after watching part of a programme about China on the Beeb.

Man is a veritable engine of greed, fuelled by plastic junk, burgers, fizzy brown liquid encased in even more plastic junk and stretched metal belching noxious fumes.

Most of the Green Men we make are rather stern looking and so they should be, how dare we take what is not ours only to destroy it?

Here is a slightly more benevolent and tired looking  Green Man, he has seen it all before but is here to remind us to do the right thing, learn to ride a bike.............take the bus..........plant a tree.

Tuesday Morning

Lumpy Silver Heart

Roses by the Backdoor

Cardoons from the allotment for drawing.

 

 

Such a beautiful morning. Blue skies, breeze, bird song, cats idling about, occasional crow from our cockerel whose body clock is a little challenged, porridge, fresh coffee, art materials to hand....This is good, dare I say.

 

I'm always nervous about celebrating a wonderful morning...is this something British? Sometimes I think we're only happy when we're miserable. We feel safe then. 

 

Another Hare over the Moon

 

Another Hare and Moon picture...

A couple of months ago we were in our favourite pub, The Wheel Inn, talking to Barcky, a local guy who does hedging, fencing, shooting and other such rural jobs.. We asked him if he came across a dead hare to drop it off to us so we could draw and photograph it.  A few days later he presented us with a dead hare. He'd shot it for us. We didn't want him to do this but having got the hare we felt that to do it justice we  ought to use it as the basis of our pewter pictures.  The hare had a notch in one of its ears so now in commemoration of him I'm doing all my hares with a notched ear. It's the least I can do for such a wonderful animal. Quite a size he was, too. You can tell by the table and chairs.

We wondered if we ought to eat him in order to justify him being shot. But that's a moral dilemma for another day. I buried him in the garden so he will enrich  the soil in which  I grow my fruit and veg. That thought helps.

I bought Barcky a drink when I next saw him. He's a good bloke, a genuine countryman who is always ready to help.

 

 

The Hare over the Moon

The Hare over the Moon

[Plus three startled crows and some moths]

The Hare over the Moon has become  a theme that we constantly return to. There's something magical about it.What that magic is about is hard to describe. But that's the thing about images we find magical: they are shimmering, ineffable, meaningful  in a a way that eludes words at the same time as being alluring, delightful and life affirming, The image needs to be left to speak directly to our souls.

Above is the latest one I've done. Price will be about £200.

'Servile Ornamentation'

John Ruskin, writing about 'The Nature of Gothic', introduces the very useful idea of 'Servile Ornamentation'. This is ornamentation 'in which the execution or power of the inferior workman is entirely subjected to the intellect of the higher'. This kind of ornamentation is characterised by symmetry, simple geometrical shapes and 'perfection'. By the latter Ruskin means perfect finish and regularity not that the ornamentation is aesthetically good. He was very conscious of the social conditions under which  it was produced. The 'servile ornamentation'  was produced by slaves following the rigid dictates of their masters. They were not allowed any freedom of expression.

He contrasts this with the art and architecture of the 'Gothic' style where craftsmen were able to show their individuality even if their execution was not perfect. Even if Ruskin's charactersisation of different styles of art is historically suspect, the idea that ornamentation should be the expression of a free spirit rather than a slave or an oppressed worker is one that is fundamental to British craftworkers.

Unfortunately there is still plenty of 'servile ornament' out there. A visit to any shopping mall shows that it is, in fact, the norm. Mass produced goods from the factories of Far East show it in abundance. It is especially evident in the jewellery that is on sale. This is why I get angry about factory made jewellery sneaking into Etsy and other on-line shops. [See previous post].

Some people say to me, 'Oh, but making that stuff gives people jobs in those countries'.  That's the same argument that Victorian factory owners voiced: 'We're giving these people jobs!' 'Jobs', as though that justifies everything. 'These people', 'Those countries', there's an implicit racism there. It's all right for them to work in bad conditions in sweat shops. If we were subject to those conditions  we'd be outraged.

Sorry, I'm starting to rant again. I'll shut up and go and make something.

Etsy & other On-line shops that sell crafts.

We sell some of the items we make through Etsy. Etsy purports to sell handmade items.  We had a good look around what it offers for sale. We also had a good look similar sites. We noticed that, particularly in the area of jewellery there were quite a few items that were clearly factory made.  Having been in the jewellery trade for  over thirty years we can recognise the factory made stuff from Thailand. This is annoying as it is difficult enough for craft workers to earn their living without having to compete with mass produced silver junk jewellery pretending to be handcrafted. A tell tale sign is usual the stamp 925 which is put on imported silver jewellery. So please be wary. Have a good look at the item and the story that goes with it. It's usually possible to spot the bogus items if you stop and think.

Crow Mirror

Top

I love crows so I made a crow mirror. The photos are quick snaps so apologies for the quality.

Members of the crow family are highly  intelligent. I know, I've listened to the jackdaws that are nesting in my chimney. They sound like they are chatting to each other. Today they were so noisy I got annoyed with them so I shouted up the chimney SHUT UP. And they did. I was quite surprised. I  must have given them a fright.

Phil

The Thames Delta Exhibition.... and Inspiration

Last Saturday I went down to Southend to attend the opening of the Thames Delta Exhibition which charts the rich history of popular music in the area. I was pleased to have contributed a few small items of memorabilia to do  with rock band, Doctor Feelgood, who in the 1970s were an amazingly powerful live act, one of the best ever in my opinion. My connection with them is through my school days friendship with Lee Brilleaux, Doctor Feelgood's outrageous frontman. Lee and our little gang spent lots of time -when we should have been doing school work-  creating all kinds of  poems, playlets, gags, drawings and fantasies. It was, I suppose, our response to the boredom we felt and a rebellion against the sometimes oppressive authority of our teachers.

I remember the feeling of delight I experienced as we created all this stuff. This delight is something that has stayed with me all of my life and which I constantly try to recapture. Sometimes I succeed, which is wonderful. You can't get back to the past but it can inspire you to explore fresh experiences and fashion metal, paint, clay, sounds, tastes or words -whatever your chosen medium is- into something new and amazing.

My favourite piece of 'art' from my school days is the revised 'Map of the World' that Lee and I created in a private study session. We made  Canvey Island the centre of the world and muddled up continents, seas and cities, added a few non-existent places, redid the points of the compass, reduced the USA to an offshore banana republic, made the Earth flat. Oh it was fun! Here it is.The red line traces our imaginary 'world tour'.

Sadly Lee died of lymphoma in 1994 at the age of forty one. I'll be attending the Lee Brilleaux Memorial Concert on Canvey Island on Friday the fourth of May. This raises money for Havens Hospice a charity that provides hospice care for adults and children in the Southend area. It provided support for Lee and his family. A worthy charity to support. I sell copies of the above map for £10 plus postage and packing. The £10 I donate to Fair Havens.

Parking in Melton. A whinge.

Down by the station there used to be a patch of land where you could park for free. Melton Borough Council resurfaced it and  installed pay & display machines. It now costs £3.30 for us to park there on Saturday. It also costs our customers money to park, of course. There are now no free parking spots in the centre of town. On Saturday Sharon overheard muttering and grumbling coming from people who were queuing to put their money into the machine and asked them their opinions on the charges. They expressed the view that the charges were an unfair imposition and were angry and resentful about them. They were obviously not starting their visit to Melton in a frame of mind conducive to happy shopping. Their mindset was negative.   
   Just out of town their is a large Tesco's. You can park there for free. You can also use their toilets for free. In town you have to pay 30 pence. Another annoying  little expense. I know this is a bit of a boring topic and you can, no doubt, detect the nasty whining tone in my voice, but it is this kind of practical issue that has contributed significantly to the decline of markets and town centres. Surely it is so obvious that it doesn't need a Mary Portas  to point it out. Or perhaps our politicians and planners are so out of touch that they only notice the obvious if its presented to them via an expensive glossy report.

Mary Portas recommendations has led to the government to creating a £10 million fund to encourage the utilisation of empty shops. This sounds a lot until you compare it with the new Westfield  shopping centre next to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. This is a 1.45 billion pound enterprise. The shops there will be the usual big chains selling goods made cheaply in the Far East. Not good news for the small traders of London.

'But it creates jobs!', the politicians proclaim noisily. Jobs for shop assistants, security guards, cleaners and for the sweat shops of the Orient. Is this the kind of economy we really want?

The Kogi of Colombia

Every so often,  in the deluge of demands made on your conscience by all the media you link  into, something comes along that particularly touches your heart. This morning when I should have been working hard I went on Facebook, procrastinating as usual when I've got too much to do, and picked up an item on Facebook, via film maker George Hencken, on the Kogi people of Colombia in South America. These people have managed to survive with their culture intact since the Spanish  invasion of their lands in the sixteenth century. By the way, they gave up gold to keep the Conquistadors off their backs!

But now the Kogi are threatened by battles between paramilitary forces and guerrillas in their homelands in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Villages have burnt down and many people have been made homeless.

I remember watching  BBC documentary on the Kogi a few years ago.It stuck in my mind [How many programmes do as they slide through our minds as we mindlessly gawp at the screen?] and every so often I find myself thinking about the Kogi and their view of  Western Civilisation which they  regard  as a destructive immature venture that is destroying our Mother, the Earth. They sent a warning through the programme that we 'the Younger Brothers' as they call us -they are 'the Elder Brothers'- need to change our ways to avert catastrophe. They are right of course.

It wasn't just their message that impressed me, it was their poise and dignity. They weren't restless, discontent and agitated as we are. They clearly displayed inner qualities that we lack and are therefore embody something of great value that we 'Younger Brothers' need to find and cultivate.

It is distressing to think that they and their wisdom is under threat.

More news will be turning up on this site:

 www.indigenousnativeamericans.com

Hockney Delight! And Spring.

Highlight of the week was a visit to the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy. This is probably the best art exhibition I have ever been to. His exploration of the landscape of East Yorkshire was .. er.. inspiring ...sorry to employ such an overused word but it is exactly the right word for the context. It was inspiring because it made me want to rush home and be creative myself. It was inspiring because it presented a positive and realistic vision of the world that was such a nice contrast to all that dreary 'conceptual art' that imagines itself to be 'challenging' but is merely tedious.  It was inspiring because Hockney's use of colour was so outrageous and dynamic that I felt my eyeballs had been pierced by a multitude of psychedelic needles.

After spending two and half hours totally absorbed in the exhibition I staggered outside, exhilarated and exhausted, eager get home have a fresh look at our local woods and record the year's most dynamic event: the coming of Spring.


Spring charges in and before I realise it, I'm behind with my allotment work. Old Lol, on the next plot has already got lots of planting done. I can feel his sharp eye noting that I haven't got my weeds under control or finished my digging. Still I have plenty to pick: parsnips, broccoli, Spring cabbage, leeks, Japanese bunching onions, parsley, endive, kale, rocket, beet leaves, Green-in-Snow [Oriental mustard] and a variety of other bits and pieces. In the garden I've been picking ear fungus from some decaying elder logs I put in a damp shady corner last year. I'm experimenting with more fungi this year and hope to produce my own shit-ake  mushrooms. I mention all this because I'm proud of it and also want other people to appreciate the delights of growing food. It's part of our life style and I believe its where the future lies: we need to become high-tech  peasants if we are to survive and enjoy living on this planet.

Phil

February Ruminations.

Sharon cooked tortilla for lunch today. She used up the very last potatoes from our allotment and some eggs at least one of which was from our aging hens. While it was cooking I sat and listened to the wind. It sounded hostile, alien. In one of my special little sketchbooks, one that I keep for best, I wrote a poem:

February Ruminations.  

                                       February, I chew the cud.

                                       The wind in the bare thorns

                                       is bestial, raw.

                                       My bed is warm,

                                       but stale thoughts

                                       belch up like

                                       last night's beer.

                                       I wait for spring.

                                       Hoping it will come.

                                       I am never certain. 

                                       I have so little faith, 

                                       not even trusting

                                       the Seasons anymore.

                                       The sky is ash grey.

                                       A polystyrene box

                                       rattles past and 

                                       the bare stalk of
                                       a climbing rose

                                       taps on the window.

The tortilla, omelette variety, was delicious. It vanquished my hunger and my melancholy.

The trees were clothed in green velvet.

Look snap my boots match the trees.

Frabjous Day

I am taking part in an online class with Misty Mawn. One of the assignments was to get out and look more closely at the world arround us. We went for a walk in Belvoir woods, as you can see the shadows were long emphasising the shapes arround us. The perfume of the earth and distant woodsmoke, birdsong echoing arround us........not another human in sight made for a truly magical experience.