30 Day Sketchbook 19 Completed

Well I drew every day as part of the #30daysketchbookchallenge19 , looking forward to receiving the prompt, thinking imaginatively when it really wasn't my thing ( but that's the point of a 'challenge').  Seeing what everybody else  was doing on the Facebook page ( nearly 3K participants!)  and on Instagram  was inspiring  and it was great to get feedback. Most of all , I welcomed   having something to focus on for 20 to 30 minutes  in a challenging few weeks  of dealing with  aftermath  of flooding from the shower (  the workmen were working on all 3 floors , the only place to escape to was the kitchen). With my studio  out of use and  limited access to computer, I've mainly been using my phone  to record my sketches and post on social media.  

I've got out of the habit of  using  my blog as ' reflective journal'  but I have returned in effect to the analogue version,  eg for EDAM class I've actually been  writing in my sketchbook. 

There's no way I can  catch up with all the blogposts I've been meaning to write, it's more important to concentrate on the here and now, something that drawing everyday has taught me.  

Day 19 " Heads, shoulders, (Knees and Toes)" 

Day 20 "The Farm"

( Hop poles) 

Day 21 "EARTH, fire, air, WATER"

( water stains on the bathroom ceiling captured in earth pigments) 

Day 22 " Machinery"

Day 23 "Work"

It's 4 years  since I left Kew  after 25 years working there and I'm still coming to terms with  loss of identity despite the new opportunities I  have . Writing all those thoughts and feelings down and covering  them  with tracing a photograph of me in my lab environment was really therapeutic. It also seemed to touch a nerve with many people, there were  around 30  comments   sharing their  experiences after redundancy/ retirement.   I also found a still active  film clip of me in the lab from 2012( starting at 3.10 mins)  - I've changed a lot since then , not least losing 4 stone in weight.

Day 24 "Star Signs"

( collage from pages of News of the World Almanac from 1953)

Day 25 "Home"

Day 26 "Circus"

( copy of print in Room 90 British Museum) 

Day 27 "Music"

( sunrise over Gythion harbour) 

Day 28 "Heroes"

( Marine diatoms  absorbing Carbon Dioxide)

Day 29 " Desert Island Doodles" 

(my  trainstitching travel sewing kit) 

Day 30 " The End(s) 

( thread ends from stitching through previous days drawing) 

Day 31: Summary of challenge 

London Mini-Break: Concert at British Museum and visit to RBGKew

So many blog posts to catch up on and June was supposed to be a quiet-ish month in comparison to what's ahead in July! 

On  23rd June  we had a ' minibreak'  in London ,  staying  at the Premier Inn in Brentford , round the corner from where we used to live, in order to go to an evening concert at the British Museum. This was an 'after hours' event just for Friends of the BM   with the London Philharmonic Choir    with music for midsummer , inspired by the Celtic collections. 

 

 After checking  in hotel ( and helping some American tourists negotiate the local buses ) we headed into London   with time for quick look at the 'Charmed Lives'  exhibition   before an early meal at Savoir Faire  which was as delicious as usual.
What a contrast   when  we returned to the British Museum - walking through the gate and up the steps with  only fellow concert goers instead of the usual crowds . Drinks were served in the  Egyptian Sculpture Court  where for once you could  easily look at the  Rosetta stone and other exhibits  ( it's usually absolutely packed with visitors). The lighting was very atmospheric and spooky!

 We were seated  in the Great Court  and the acoustics  were  wonderful  - ' O Radiant Dawn'  by James MacMillan sent shivers down my spine  and the music played  on the harp was particularly beautiful

 The following day  we  made our way to RBGKew ( with my 'Life Pass' )  to see the newly re-opened Temperate House. 

 It was wonderful to climb up the spiral staircase  to the roof top walk and look down on all the replanting

Down to earth again and I spent some time searching  for some of the plants I'd worked with.

 Early in my career  we made  some attempts in the lab to grow some cuttings of the 'St Helena  Olive'  but they failed and the original  last remaining plant unfortunately died and so it is now extinct.  It was great to see this story  explained  through the excellent interpretation  ( and the symbolism of a large, empty, pot) . Failures are  just as important  as successes - we developed   innovative methods   that have saved other plants   but we were just too late.

We finished the day by visiting the Shirley Sherwood Gallery , fascinated  by the examples of how  various artists had tackled different examples of botanical illustration  and revisited the Marianne North Gallery  ( I'd forgotten  what a  fantastic  collection it is)

Contemporary Collage week 4: Conceptual Wall Assemblage 'Head and Heart'

 Being a scientist  and generally making art  inspired  by landscape  or abstracted versions of things I've seen  and recorded, I find it difficult to work with concepts  and emotions  as themes.  But that was what we were  working with  last week. 

 The idea was to put up sheets of paper on the wall, pick a word based on 'states of being'  eg anger   and explore ways of expressing that in visual terms   eg what colour would it be , shape, size,  texture, quick/slow marks etc. We had an overview of   24 of these abstract terms and  examples of  how different artists had used them  eg Rachel Whiteread for 'volume'  casting the spaces under desks in resin ' and Luke Gottelier  for 'scale' making a studio for his hamster.

Working on the wall  ( or in my case a door) gave the opportunity to find links between different elements  and to expand to further sheets of paper.

We formed brain storming groups of 4 to discuss   our words and how they could be interpreted which was useful process, especially as I was way out of my comfort zone. 

As it's 3 years since I left Kew, this has been  on my mind a lot this week.  Initially my word was 'reflective'  but changed to 'regret'.  Working there for nearly 25 years, doing work I enjoyed and made a difference  both for conservation and in training people,  it was a large part of my identity. I used to squeeze art and stitching into any spare time. In the end I didn't need to find a job  but now while in theory I have all the time in the world to focus on art,  one of the main issues I've had to deal with  is deciding my own direction and motivation after being part of a team effort working towards long term goals.  I still miss my colleagues.   On the positive side , Faversham is proving a lovely place to live  and I've  already had  unexpected success in winning Fine Art Quilt Masters although now there are expectations of what I'll produce next! 

 So  lots of complex and conflicting  emotion there , how to express it visually?  I started off with a grid structure   of the growth room shelves and the  circles of Petri dishes , ideas about breaking out of the grid and  positive and negative  feelings.  

 I continue to have a bit of a thing about circles  and also the outlines remaining when you cut shapes out. This hasn't been part of my textiles so far but perhaps they should be .

At home , I finally got round to sticking in some more leftover bits in my 'scrap book' . 

Drawing Tuesday: Keys and Kew

 Drawing Tuesday this week  was  at Richmond Museum - I chose to draw the  keys for the gates of Richmond Park, firstly  a quick outline of the shapes  and how they related to each other and then in more detail  in 4B pencil.  Quite a challenge particularly following the labyrinthine  intricacies of the  teeth or bittings  themselves. Some were double ended  which made me wonder how you carry them?  

Afterwards we had an excellent lunch at the 'Tide Tables'  underneath Richmond Bridge  and then I used the opportunity of being in the area to revisit  Kew with my 'Life Pass'

 It's  over a year since I've been  back, some things like the parakeets flying noisily overhead  and the Pagoda tree are still the same

 But there had been major changes to the Broadwalk and installation of ' The Hive'  and my colleagues  were finally installed in  the Jodrell  after  literally decades of various proposals for moving the lab.

 It was lovely to see them and catch up and I had a guided tour of their new facilities - very strange to see familiar items of equipment  ( even my still-labelled bench trolley) in a different location.  I'm invited back in the Spring.
What felt most odd however was catching a 65 bus to South Ealing  for the Piccadilly Line ,  passing the bus stop very close to my old   home  in Brentford but not getting off.

Shore Marks

 A difficult week coming to terms with the fact that  one month of my notice has gone already, increasingly anxious  about finishing off everything I need to in the remaining few weeks.  The annual Kew Carol Service  was a joy, especially singing  O Radiant Dawn, but underscored  with sadness, especially thinking about Nigel Veitch, our choir conductor to whom the service was dedicated .  I won't be part of it next year and it's proving  increasingly hard to  have to tell people that I'm leaving Kew and cope with their reactions and questions.
So I spent some time over the weekend absorbed in the solace of stitching, piecing together  one of my quilts for 'International Threads'  exhibition in Prague in April 2015.  
This  quilt is for the theme on 'Creating visual texture with repetition'.   I started out with a  kola shibori dyed  piece of  damask cloth bought from African Fabric Shop  and a piece of the same fabric that I'd put in the indigo vat. The repetition is from the lines, the  underlying patterns on the damask and from the accidental marks of indigo left on the original cloth  which I will emphasise  with  indigo stitch marks. I feel the need for some hand stitching at the moment to keep me anchored.   

Leaving Kew

On Friday I received official confirmation that my application for Voluntary Redundancy from  the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew  had been approved.  So with 3 months notice, I will be leaving on Friday 13 February 2015 after nearly 25 years  working there.
There have been difficult times and changes  but none so much as now. I've worked on some incredible projects , particularly on orchids , bryophytes and ferns  and with some  amazing people. I'm proud of my science publications, my books  and my involvement in teaching and training.
I'm not sure what lies ahead apart from downsizing  and moving to Faversham  although I'm looking at reviving my rather rusty botanical survey skills through MMU/FSC courses and fitting in some more time for stitching and painting. Then I need to find another job.

Researching Plan B in Whitstable

 This morning we made  a trip to the seaside, to Whitstable on the North Kent Coast. Unlike other outings we've made to Bexhill, Margate and Weymouth, I set out on this one with butterflies in my stomach as this wasn't just  a pleasant day out or  holiday but potentially the place we're going to live.
I'd made a list of properties within our potential budget  within 1 mile of the train station  and marked them on a map and then we  wandered around the areas concerned , several helpful people asking whether they could help us, whether we knew where we were going! Anything near the beach ( including this  'des res' of an old fishermans hut) is definitely beyond us but there's a surprising amount of ordinary houses that might fit the bill.

 Then we had a very pleasant lunch of  fish and chips and real ale at the 'Old Neptune' which reminded us very much the' Cove House Inn' at  Chiswell on Portland to cogitate on our findings before doing  more touristy stuff walking along the beach to the harbour.

 Lots of inspiration - peeling paint, a nice bit of rust and Thames Barges

The reason   behind our day out is that we're in the process of developing 'Plan B' .
As I said in an  earlier post, there is no job for me in the new structure for science at Kew Gardens  and after some heart searching have decided to apply for voluntary redundancy. The time table for this has not yet been confirmed  but I will probably be leaving in January and I've got my work cut out over the next few months  winding up the projects I'm involved with. 
We're fortunate that Ian has the potential in his job to work more from home   and the value of properties in our road  has increased markedly since new developments have shot up near us ( I never thought I'd live in a house worth in excess of  1/2 Million pounds!  ). If we sell up and buy a house  in a cheaper area within commutable distance of London  we can be mortgage free which gives me some  breathing space  to find a job more locally.
Whitstable seemed to fit the bill for us  with fast 'Javelin' trains to Kings Cross in the morning and evening, good local buses to Canterbury.There's a thriving arts scene ( we intend to go back in a few weeks for the artists house trail) and potential for jobs  in the area for me -   conservation consultancy, lab work, who knows. Most of all it's by the sea , our dream for retirement- we're just moving  a bit earlier  while we're still working. In any  case I intend to have at least 6 months creative time  to recover from moving house and for grieving. I've worked at Kew for nearly 25 years  and am desperately sad to leave my colleagues who  are currently in a great state of uncertainty about their future. I'm  doing all I can to provide constructive feedback as part of the consultation process, the fight is not yet over:  our Prospect Union rep Julie Flanaghan  continues to be absolutely  committed  to continuing the fight against loss of jobs and expertise.