London Part 2: Edwards & Todd

Last week I mentioned that I had been packing up prints to deliver to a couple of galleries, one was the J M Gallery in Long Melford and the second? Well that's very exciting indeed . . .

Last month I recieved an email from the owner of a shop/gallery near the British Museum in London, they exhibit and sell the work of contemporary artists specialising in linocuts and they thought my work would fit in well with their plans for the gallery. After momentarily thinking that they didn't really mean me, I re-read the message, drank a large strong mug of tea and telephoned the writer of the message, Gary Edwards. He had spotted my work in Verandah in Norwich and yes, he was very keen to include my work alongside the beautiful work of Richard Bawden and Colin Moore

So that is why on Saturday, after breakfast in the hotel in Wembley, we headed into Central London - luckily Cliff knows the way without a sat-nav and he's also very confident about finding a parking place - except the space we expected to park in was surrounded by cones - arghh!!! Luckily, just around the corner we found another parking bay and a pay-and-display machine - phew! A brisk little walk later and we were skirting around the British Museum, into Great Russell Street and just before the main gates of the BM, we turned right into Museum Street - a little side-street lined with individual shops, cafés and galleries full of tempting treats.

Near the far end on the right we found Edwards and Todd - and because I entered the shop carrying a large flat parcel, Gary guessed immediately who I was :-)

Gary explained that he has plans to display the framed linocuts along one wall and reorganise the browsers of unframed prints - linocuts in the English artist/illustrator tradition seem to be increasingly popular at the moment. He also takes his stock to print fairs around London on Sundays when the shop is closed and was confident my work would sell. (I've just received an email to say that he's sold four already!)

So, it's Saturday just after midday in the centre of our capital city, the sun is shining and after a huge fix of life enhancing laughter the night before, we're feeling mellow - where did Cliff take me?

a) To a smart restaurant for lunch

b) To Regent's Street to spend lots of money

c) For a walk around a muddy, overgrown graveyard

I'll tell you in Part 3 ;-)

London Part 1: Hello Wembley!!!!

On Friday afternoon Cliff escaped from work and I completed the last deadline of the week, before we packed our overnight bag and drove down the motorway to London. Eventually, after mile after mile of roads lined with traffic cones (will they all disappear in 2012 for the Olympics? and where will all the cones be stored?) we arrived at our destination . . .


Wembley! In fact, a hotel right next door to Wembley Stadium (the football ground with the big arch over the top) and Wembley Arena (the enormous show venue illuminated with pink and yellow lights). The square outside was all a-twinkle with Christmas Trees and dancing fountains, which put us in an excited mood . . .


and because we'd come to see . . .


and even though our seats were almost at the back of the 12,000 seat hall we could easily see both small, real Eddie and ginormous virtual Eddie on a massive super-real screen . . .


We were taken on a roller coaster of Izzardness through world history - dinosaurs, stone-age hunters and gatherers, 'ancients' (Egyptians, Greeks, Romans), Moses, Noah, the Battle of Hastings - I'm still laughing at the Bayeux Tapestry stitchers being urged to keep up with the action on the battlefield.

We laughed at linguistic sumersaults in French and Latin, and my favourites - the jazz cockerell and the ska cat!



All great fun, fun, fun . . . and proves that laughter really is the best medicine - all the better when it's intelligent and clever and from the wonderful Mr Izzard!


After the show we were only five minutes walk away from our comfy bed!

The rain has stopped, so I'm off to skip around my garden in the sunshine with the under-gardeners and Spice Girls :-)
In part 2 I'll tell you about the gallery we went to in Saturday morning ;-)

Returning to the J M Gallery

It has been a busy week! Priority has been the 'clash of the deadlines' - it always happens doesn't it!!! Added to that it was the week to publish the bumper Christmas and new Year issue of the Village Magazine and a couple of galleries wanted more of my prints. And I really really wanted to have my hair cut . . . that one nearly got crossed off the list . . . but wait! a card was put through the door the other day and yes, it's still here. I phoned the number and yesterday lunchtime a lovely freelance stylist popped in and in next to no time, in my kitchen, she got my barnet transformed into a choppy flicky little number! Saving me no end of time and pennies too :-)

Then I was off to Long Melford to the Jessica Muir Gallery to deliver a sheaf of unframed prints for their browser, all ready for Christmas customers.


Inside the gallery there are lots of lovely new things on display (including my framed prints) - some very gorgeous ceramics . . .


and lovely glass hanging decorations caught my eye . . .



The weather wasn't good for taking pictures of the pretty shops, but I did take a couple of photos of the main street, looking right and left outside the J M Gallery.


You can see why Long Melford got it's name - the extra wide main street snakes away as far as the eye can see in both directions.



Did I say 'a couple of galleries'? I did! I'll tell you all about the other one in a day or so.

Have a lovely weekend
Celia

mmmmmmm . . . Sprouts :-)

Hands up those who like Brussels Sprouts . . . anyone?

Me! Me!

I said that twice because both Cliff and I like Sprouts a lot!

Charlotte of 'The Great Big Vegetable Challenge' blog and cookbook, has put out a rallying call to all Brussels Sprouts lovers out there, so I thought I'd join in.

I don't grow Brussels Sprouts in my vegetable garden - I prefer to grow a selection of varieties of Kale that I'm unlikely to see for sale, around here Sprouts can be obtained fresh from the Fenland fields, for sale at markets and roadside stalls. And if you buy a whole Stick of Sprouts they'll stay fresh for ages in a cool shed or larder. I bought this one on Sunday from my favourite farm gate stall (or summer-house!) at 100 Histon Road, Cottenham near Cambridge. It's the Daddy of Veg Stalls, at this time of year it's packed with all kinds of winter vegetables everything £1/bag except Sprouts which are £2.50 a stick, and soon there will be Mistletoe too ;-)

So, for those who find plain boiled Brussels Sprouts a bit scary, here are some ideas which might change your mind . . .

Steamed Sprouts with cooked Sweet Chestnuts and a knob of butter is the classic combination to accompany Christmas Dinner. Add some crispy bacon too and it's almost a meal in itself. Left over cooked sprouts and potatoes can be fried the next day as 'Bubble and Squeak' - served with HP Sauce of course!

Sprouts aren't just for Christmas - our favourite is to add them to a Vegetable Curry. No, don't laugh!!! This is serious . . . the idea came from Cliff's favourite Indian restaurant in North London (it does still exist, but sadly not a patch on it's its glory days in the early 1990s). Find a recipe for a Vegetable Korma made with coconut milk or creamed coconut and include Sprouts with the other vegetables - delicious!

My Dad always put malt vinegar and white sauce on Sprouts (but then again he put vinegar and white sauce on all veg!). My Mum remembers a school cookery lesson in which 'the girls' were taught to make a salad of raw shredded sprouts with Heinz Salad Cream dressing (it was during WWII and she opted to do geometry and algebra instead of cookery, shortly afterwards!) I admit that I didn't like Sprouts much when I was young - but I gave them a second chance, now I love them.

Super nutritious and seasonal, hurrah for Sprouts!

Ahem! could I have some attention please!!!!

Ahem!! Meee-ooooo!!

I know what, I'll get into the in-tray - that might make her stop looking at the computer screen and ask me what I want . . .



No? She's drawing pictures of switches and plugs - booooooring!

Time for plan B – shred the top sheet of paper!



Hee-hee!!!! That made her look!

"It's half past five! Isn't it time you served my supper?"

Pudding memories

This is my Dad's Auntie Vera, in my memory she was notable for being skilled at crochet lace, taking fuchsia cuttings and making Christmas Puddings.


One year I decided I wanted to make a Christmas Pudding, so I asked my Dad if he could obtain 'the recipe' from Auntie Vera, and shortly afterwards I received this . . .


This is actually a photocopy (the original is somewhere safe), and as you can see it's seen a few baking sessions! The first time I followed the recipe, I started weighing out the ingredients and soon realised that this would make more than one pudding – many more!!! So I now make a third of the quantity and it makes one big pudding and a smaller one.


The puddings are cooking as I type this . . . they will be ready when 'The Archers' begins on Radio 4.


On Christmas Day, before breakfast, I'll put the bigger one in the slow cooker and leave it to cook until the end of Christmas Dinner. How do you serve yours? This has become a compromise, I now make a sweet white sauce flavoured with rum. In my family, the pudding would be served with ordinary custard plus a glug of brandy straight from the bottle which was passed around the table :-) Never, ever Brandy Butter – nasty posh stuff!

So, while the Christmas Puddings boil and become rich and moist and wonderful, here are some lovely colourful photos taken this morning in our greenhouse . . .



and garden . . .



For some reason I keep humming that tune that was played for the 'Vision On' gallery . . .

Dum de dum... dum dee dummm
Dum de dum dum... dee dee deeeee

Dum de dum dee dumdee dumdee dumdee . . .

You'll find it on YouTube if you care to look - I'm sorry but I can't do the links for you (the studio computer is saving it's strength to draw science diagrams!) And no, I'm not related to Tony Hart, but he was my hero when I was 7!

. . . and after the Bazaar

On Friday I stepped out of my usual routine and drove down to Saffron Walden to rendez-vous with Carole at The Riverslade Gallery in Saffron Walden - I was to 'shadow' her for a day to learn how to look after the gallery for when it's my turn to be on duty. There was a lot to learn! We had an enjoyable day, after a quiet morning (I had time to learn about the till!) we had some enthusiastic customers in the afternoon and some good sales - so it was a successful day. With the gallery all packed up and left spick and span, I trudged through the dark lanes to my car and drove home trying hard to remember everything!

So then it was Saturday and the Christmas Bazaar - I'd iced the carrot cakes I'd made earlier in the week, on Friday evening, so once they were packed in cellophane bags I sped up to the village hall to deliver the cakes for the cake stall and teas and to bag a pitch my stall. Then it was back down the hill to home to pack all my stuff in the car, get it into the hall and my stall set up.

The time flew past and with everything set out the first customers were arriving through the door!

The hall ebbed and flowed with people, a first wave looked at all the stalls and considered without buying, there was a lull as most people tucked into the delicious cakes before a flurry of spending. All in all a pretty good day, even without record breaking sales. And it was fun to have two lovely neighbouring stallholders . . .

To one side was one of my neighbours from the village, Christina Friel with her stylish selection of new and vintage costume jewellery and accessories. Christina has a expert eye for what's in fashion, you can find her stall on Cambridge Market every Sunday.

And on the other side, the lovely Mrs P, aka Silverpebble with her array of shiny silver and bead jewellery. She was even beavering away behind her stall with her pliers and silver wire, creating a gorgeous oriental style pendant!

So, that was lots of fun and great to catch up with the gossip too! With all packed away, cars loaded up, we said goodbye and headed off into the dark blustery night. I'd just got everything in from the car to my studio when Cliff pointed to a note on the calendar "Church Flowers" - oops! I'd clean forgotten! That's the trouble with living in a small village, you get put on rotas! So on with the boots and mac, and torch and secateurs in hand I walked to the church, lucky I know where the light switches are! And lucky too that there had recently been a wedding and all that was needed was a bit of pruning and tweaking. Can I sit down now please?

This morning we woke early, Cliff was leading a walk of 15 miles and I loyally said I would join the group for the morning (9 miles). I could hear wind and rain outside :-(

But by the time I'd eaten my porridge the sky was cloudless and blue! Fingers crossed the forecast squally rain would be in the afternoon (when I'd be back home in the warm!). We strode out along the Devil's Dyke, squinting into the low winter sun and trying to avoid slipping on the treacherous wet exposed chalk. All was going splendidly! We saw a herd of over twenty Fallow Deer, including a couple of pure white ones - what a treat! But the sunshine didn't last - at around midday the heavens opened and the wind lashed us with gale force gusts soaking us in next to no time! I was a tiny bit relieved that I had opted out of walking in the afternoon and my car was at the lunch point for me to hop in and drive home! But it was a very good walk - if it had been dry I would have carried on to complete the full distance ;-)

There was something I had to do before getting out of my wet clothes and boots - tidy up the hen-house and collect the eggs . . . Oh!! that's not a hen . . .

Hope that you too had a good weekend! I'll be back soon, but I've one or two deadlines to meet this week, so no blogging until they are done.

Celia
x

It's bizarre! It's bazaar!

It's been over a week since I last posted on here . . . this is going to be a quick update about what's happening in and around my studio . . .

The weather can be described a bizarre - between the storms and gale force winds, the sun shines and it's unseasonably warm. Around and about the colours in the landscape are sparking off lots of ideas for new prints.



But I have other things to do - at the top of the list is The Christmas Bazaar (details on my main website www.celiahart.co.uk - apologies for not putting the clickable links in my post, but my studio computer and blogger seem to be having a lovers' tiff!). I'm surrounded by baskets of stuff . . .


and lots of Winter Thrushes . . .


I know there will be lots of gorgeous things for sale - and the lovely blogger Silverpebble will be there too, with her very very special silver, beady treasures. The tea and cakes are guaranteed to be scrummy - treat yourself!


I've been freelance for over 18 years now (crikey!!!! that's a long time!) and I still can't get used to the ups and downs of the work-flow . . . when there is a lull I know I have to get on the phone or send out self-promotion leaflets, this won't take all day and I should fill the day with creative projects of my own - but my mind goes blank; as soon as I break-through the 'artist's block' the email pings into life and an artbrief arrives - urgent, urgent, urgent - but I've got other things scheduled in and prints half printed - I need to grow extra arms to cope with all the stuff and my studio looks like the autumn gale has blown through it!


Meanwhile, while my attention is elsewhere, the under-gardeners have been busying themselves with UGPs*. Cheekily they have decided to work right outside my studio's office window . . .


. . . yes, I can see you girls!

* unauthorised gardening projects

Look what's in Country Living!

Do you read Country Living? I have to admit that I haven't bought a copy for over a year, but a few weeks ago I received an exciting email from Vanessa of Verandah in Norwich and I've been eagerly waiting for the December issue to be published. Yesterday one of my neighbours called in with her copy which had arrived by post - hurrah!

Because in the Emporium on page 18 is . . . one of my linocuts "The Hazel Arch" . . . there it is in the top right corner!

The caption says . . .

Ooops! they've relocated me to Norfolk, a near miss - Suffolk's not far away and Verandah is in Norwich which is in Norfolk, so I'll forgive them.

And here's the Hazel arch in real life, the leaves have yet to fall, and Nutmeg who posed for the original design is recreating the image - it's every Spice Girl's dream to appear in a glossy magazine ;-)

Winter thrushes in the Yew tree

Just outside my studio window is a vast ancient Yew tree - it's husband guards the entrance to our courtyard.

The male tree spreads its sturdy arms wide, he fills the air with his pale yellow dusty pollen in spring, then scatters the ground with spent rusty catkins. In autumn Tawny Owls converse from his high branches and in spring Cole Tits swing from his finger tips.

By contrast the female Yew stretches to the sky from an ancient coppiced stump. Bow-makers fall in love with her strong slender limbs. In autumn her branches are bejewelled with hundreds of thousands of soft red fruits and as the evenings get chilly and the first frosts still the leaves, she awaits the arrival of the winter thrushes.



I wait for them too, exciting the view from my window . . .



Song Thrushes use the topmost branches to perch and sing their exquisite repeated phrases; Mistle Thrushes raucously land on the swaying boughs and fill the air with their rattle-cry. From Scandinavia, Redwings arrive in the night and feast on the berries after their long journey south - and Fieldfares too with slate grey heads and rusty backs chattering and calling in the cold air.

The birds will arrive any day now - but today the Yew's lower branches are decorated with my festive Winter Thrushes . . .

They started life as quick sketches in my sketchbook . . .


and soon became carved lino blocks . . .

printed onto some lovely leafy paper, I soon had a flock of thrushes flying across the studio . . .

Some of the Winter Thrushes will soon be flying over to my Etsy shop - just as soon as the camera gets recharged ;-)

And here's the plot . . .

A couple of years back I illustrated a series of GCSE History students' books for Folens Publishers; one was about Crime and Punishment, my brief - to draw all the grimy scenes of wicked deeds and gruesome retribution in a historically correct but "light-hearted" fashion. I kid you not! sometimes being an illustrator gets quite bizarre.

Here are three of the scenes from a crime relevant to this evening, as England skips with glee as the fireworks light up the sky and we re-enact burning a 17th century terrorist.

Here are some disgruntled gents hatching a plot over a pint . . .



and here are the plotters . . .



and here's the guy (sorry!) who drew the short straw . . .



"Hold it right there matey! you're nicked!"


Enjoy your sparkly whizzy bangy evening!

Celia
x

Remembering and celebrating

This morning Cliff and I remembered Charlie. Charlie the cat lived with Cliff (and later, also with me) for over sixteen years, in five different houses and after a very happy life he passed away four years ago today.

As you can see, Charlie had bags of personality . . .


He was an out-doorsy, boysy, rough and tumble sort of cat, but in his retirement he sometimes spent a few hours with me in my studio sitting on my drawing board in the sunshine and that's when I painted his portrait - a Renaissance cat sitting next to his favourite plant - catmint.



Charlie could never really be described as a 'studio assistant', I think he saw himself as senior management! But my studio was so quiet and empty without Charlie checking up on me and we knew that there were cats and kittens out there needing new homes so in May the following year we adopted 'the ginger one' and his 'tabby sister' - the studio assistants.

As regualr readers of PPPs know, the studio assistants spend all day sleeping in baskets next to my desk, but when the light fades they stretch their furry catsuits and make it known that it's time for tea :-)



I know that many of you, like me, have a studio assistant or two (or many!) – mainly cats, (many ginger), some dogs. Today, in memory of Charlie, lets celebrate our studio assistants for their support, companionship and inspiration.

Autumn glory

We have explored miles and miles of local footpaths, it's amazing that we're still discovering new routes. This afternoon, in mild - almost muggy- weather, we set off following the map to explore paths new to us . . .

We found ourselves in this beautiful wood - moments before I took this photo a herd of fallow deer ran through the woods from right to left right in front of us.

And after the woods there was this panoramic view - Suffolk doesn't get much higher than this (120m). It's so difficult to capture the subtlety of fading light and distant fields (click on the picture to enlarge it) there's so much in that strip of landscape between ploughed earth and sky.


The hedgerows are full of autumn fruits . . .

The unlikely combination of the vivid pink casings and the orange seeds of the Spindle bush - a spangly explosion of colour!

Plump clusters of inky blue sloes tucked among the leaves turning buttery yellow on the Blackthorn bushes.

And blood-red haws on the prickly tangle of the Hawthorn - a feast waiting for the arrival of the winter thrushes from the far north. My mind is stuffed full of images to keep me happy through dark evenings and cold nights which will arrive very soon.