It's Art Darling!

It's been a little over a fortnight since I last posted, but it feels like an age.  The weather's been challenging.  Naturally, as soon as I decided to pack away some of my dead-of-winter clothes, the temperature plummeted.  In the last couple of weeks, we've had rain, storm force winds, sunny spells, hail, rain, dramatic clouds, rain, frost, the most incredible weekend of sunshine (more of that shortly) and yes, you guessed it, rain!

I was forced to abandon a planned Steampunk styled wedding shoot due to a key supplier dropping out at the last minute, which was frustrating to say the least.  However, I consoled myself with the fact that it would probably have been abandoned in any event due to the incessant rain.  After licking my wounds for a short time, I'm now in the early stages of planning a styled wedding shoot paying homage to the 1960s.  Here's a glimpse of my mood board.

In the meantime, what have I been up to?  Well, I took the train into the heart of our second city, Birmingham.  Departing from Stourbridge Junction, it occurred to me that this little station has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing railway stations in the West Midlands.  

It even has its own resident cat, George.  Sadly George was too busy hunting to pose for a photo when I visited.  He's also very busy with his publicist, having his own Facebook page to maintain.  Link here if you're interested.  Facebook

My chosen destination, Digbeth, is undergoing a process of regeneration (or gentrification).  Since my last visit, there have been subtle but notable changes, including some pavement planting areas and garden benches.  The laying of the tram lines continues in earnest.

Whilst I enjoyed a wander around Red Brick Market, I think some of the units were possibly in the process of changing hands.  A number of the units were being cleared on the day of my visit, so the market felt a great deal emptier than usual and I left empty handed.  However, the real star of the show is Digbeth's vibrant and ever changing street art, captured here with my iphone (as much as I love the place, I don't really want to risk taking my big girl camera).

Thanks for the offer Ozzy!  Don't mind if I do!

A favourite rainy day activity - and there have been many rainy days lately - is trawling around Antiques Centres.  My Mom accompanied me on one such visit and had fun trying on some of the vintage hats.  

What passes for antiques these days never ceases to amaze me.  With nothing really catching my eye, I made it my mission to photograph some of the more kitsch and downright bad taste items for sale.  

Which one is your favourite?

With all of this inclement weather, I've decided that one can never have too many pairs of boots.  Here are some recent additions.  

Frye boots.  I've had these for a while, but forgot to share them.  They were a Vinted purchase, but so much more comfortable and lightweight than my Frye Campus knee high boots.

I've replaced my old, cracked DMs with a blue patent pair.  Another Vinted purchase, they were new without the box and a fraction of their retail sale price.

We may not be enjoying much in the way of spring weather, but the garden is doing its thing.  The ferns are unfurling...

...and the Euphorbia is out.

Walks have been less frequent.  That can't continue.  We have wet weather gear, but the icy wind takes much of the pleasure out of it.  However, on one of our walks, we encountered this handsome fellow staring intently at his owner, willing her to join him in the pond.

I snapped up this little studded cross body Topshop bag - perfect for housing my essential working accoutrements; those bits and pieces that won't fit into a camera bag full of lenses, namely lip balm, specs, phone and lens wipes.

In other news, the film poster for the short film I recently took stills for, has dropped.  

Spurred on by being asked to submit a photograph for the film's publicity, I set up my tripod and took a few photographs.  Now you all know I'm not that comfortable in front of the camera, but it's always a good working exercise.  For your information, it's also very laborious as I use what is technically referred to as "the running back and forth method."  Basically, this means set up camera, focus on a spot, try to run to said spot, strike a pose and hope for the best.  I know, I know, I should probably set up a remote trigger or tether my camera to my phone, but I feel just a tiny bit pleased with myself when I get it right.  I like to suffer for my art!

In the event, I used none of the photos from the rainy day session and just sent them an iphone snap from last year.  Tut tut!

Life is full of strange and funny coincidences.  Last year, we met local artist Dion Kitson in the rubble of The Crooked House.  He insisted I took his photograph.  

He has a great sense of humour and he and Gareth got along quite well; Dion creating witty signs expressing the community's outrage, Gareth salvaging pieces from the rubble to create a fireplace/bar "shrine" incorporating rather telling petrol cans and a urinal (just out of shot) scrawled with "Taking the p**s".

I nearly spat my wine out when he popped up on Channel 4's Late Night Lycett as the man behind the fake Banksy that had made the news recently.  Comedian Joe Lycett and Dion are friends and collaborated on a recent fake story, creating a piece of art with all the Banksy hallmarks, to see just how many fake stories they could get into the press.  Here's the story:

Joe Lycett behind Banksy mural hoax in Birmingham - BBC News

As for The Crooked House story.  The owners have appealed the order to rebuild.  The hearing is scheduled for August.

So that brings me pretty much up-to-date.  Last weekend, I photographed the most amazing festival wedding (think black dress, bluebells, neurofunk and golden hour portraits), so I'm now busy working through approximately 400 photographs, so forgive me if I don't leave a comment on your blog.  I'll be having a mega catch up later this week!

Moving Forward

 I've been a little quiet of late.  But then my world has seemed a little more quiet as I appear to have lost some hearing in my left ear.  No quantity of ear drops seems to be changing things and despite ear syringing no longer being available on the NHS, I'm struggling to get an appointment any time soon.

Anyway, last weekend we headed over the border to the rugged coastline of Ceredigion and Aberystwyth in Wales (known locally as "Aber" and meaning mouth of the river Ystwyth).  We were there to visit the University open day, but made the most of our time there by immediately seeking out the charming Wetherspoons adjacent to the railway station on Friday evening.

The temperature on arrival was mild enough to sit outside under the canopy with a prime view of the station platform - a train spotter's dream.  We had to laugh when an elderly gent unexpectedly decided to share our table (others were available).  At this point we were nearing the end of our meal (cauliflower and spinach curry for me, chicken burgers for the boys) and as we got up to leave, Gareth noticed that he had the tell tale spotter's book in hand.  Our theory is that we had selected his regular table.

After a brief but bracing walk along the windswept seafront, boasting the oldest pier in Wales (built in 1864)...

...vibrant seafront properties....

...and this impressive war memorial depicting an angel appearing to fling a laurel wreath onto the head of a naked woman emerging from a thicket below (to spare her modesty and because the light was dying and there was by now an icy breeze, here they are in silhouette form)...

...we headed back to our car, pausing only to ogle this feline beauty, who appeared to be trapped inside the shop front of a hair salon.  We checked.  She wasn't.  There was a door open at the rear of the salon, but something had her transfixed.

Our Airbnb accommodation was warm, cosy and comfortable and the welcome pack from Karen was hugely appreciated. 

It even had a kitchen and a TV!   My first Airbnb booking back in 2021 came with unexpected challenges.  My top tip.  Double check the small print with Airbnb bookings.  Luxuries like kitchens and TVs are not a given.  We managed a few days away "self catering" with the aid of a hastily purchased sandwich toaster and an ancient laptop with audio issues to watch the few DVDs in our possession. 

Saturday was largely consumed by the University's open day activities.  Kicking off at 9 am, we were handed a welcome pack including £20.00 worth of food vouchers for the day before heading into a lecture hall for the welcome talk.  This was followed by a visit to the town's Arts Centre, a handsome building housing an accredited museum, for another subject specific talk and tour.

What an inspiring place to learn!  There was antique equipment, beautifully maintained and still in use...

...and a room - the artists' studio - I could happily have made my home.  Check out the view!

We politely refused the shuttle bus and elected to walk back up the steep hill to the campus, earning our lunch in the Arts Centre Cafe, before heading over the road to talk Medieval History.  We ended the day with a tour of the student accommodation before being released into the community.  Just before we left, I spotted a ceramics exhibition and rushed in to grab a couple of photos.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting Aberystwyth's highlights, including the National Library of Wales (an amazing building and the only legal deposit library in Wales, giving it power to request a copy of everything published in the UK with thousands of new publications arriving every week).

The exhibits, including ancient manuscripts, photographs and works of art, could easily have kept us occupied for a day, but sadly we were rapidly running out of time.  I managed to snap this painting by Claudia Williams, c 1980, a highly regarded artist in both Wales where she moved in 1953 and in France where she lived for 15 years, but spent much of my time studying the photo portraits of famous Welsh people.

This gave me severe cabinet envy.

Library door patina.

Onwards to the 13th century castle built by the English to keep the Welsh out.  The castle ruins provided glimpses of Aberystwyth promenade. 

This yellow corner shop caught my eye, the dipping sun conspiring with nature to cast a perfectly proportioned shadow of a tree onto its wall.

There's a great deal more to Aberystwyth, but we were flagging and so headed back to the comfort of our digs for food and wine and the prospect of a lie in.  Ordinarily, we would have been expected to vacate by 10.30, but as the clocks had been moved on an hour overnight, Karen kindly suggested we stay until lunchtime.  We were away late morning with plenty of food for thought.

Talking of food, back at home, I've purchased some new reversible bed linen covered in gorgeous Sicilian lemons (a 70% off bargain from Ian Snow).  We always have lemons in our fruit bowl and to keep the vampires away, often knock up a simple pasta dish dressed simply with grated garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and lemon juice.

What else have I been up to?  Well, I've had another hair cut!  I can't believe how quickly and dramatically my hair grew after the last one.  Unfortunately, my layers grew out too, so they're back in place and my love affair with seventies styling continues.

I've also read Gold Dust Woman, a well researched Stevie Nicks biography by Stephen Davis, watched the Amazon Prime series Daisy Jones & The Six, which takes inspiration from the turbulent story of Fleetwood Mac (worth it for the fashion in my opinion) and gone down a gold dust rabbit hole in my photo edits.  This is an old photo of the boy that was.  Where did the time go? 

In between seemingly incessant rain, we managed a walk from our house and discovered a secret water tower up on the hill, masked by trees and unknown to us until now.

The garden is slowly coming to life from Euphorbia to tulip bulbs.  

Figs!

Spring is the season our garden has the most colour.  Our beloved and ancient magnolia tree is also on target to bloom over the Easter weekend.  On Wednesday night, there was a chorus of six frogs croaking, their bulbous heads poking out above the surface of the pond water.  Unsurprisingly, this was the sight on Thursday morning.

Gareth's potted Gunnera Manicata are bursting into life (not to be confused with the invasive and illegal Gunnera Tinctoria).  

I've also noticed the arrival of more than one bulb in the post lately.  Gareth's informed me that said bulbs are Voodoo Lilies.  They sound evil.  Apparently they smell like rotting flesh for 2 days when they first bloom in order to attract flies to pollinate them(nice), but we're meant to overlook all of this because of their exotic beauty.  Looks like one has already claimed its first victim!

The birds are yet again losing out to not-so-secret squirrel.

The planned photoshoot didn't happen.  Here's a potted history.  

Casting call yielded two models - let's call them Jack and Jill.  

The first date in February was postponed due to sub zero temperatures.  

I purchase shoes and jeans for Jack to protect his modesty in an otherwise revealing outfit.

Jack drops out of the shoot after booking a lads' holiday.  

An alternative model, Pandora steps in.  We now have two brides.

They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but Jill pulls out three days before the shoot, citing a hospital appointment.  

Catherine, our French jewellery designer exclaims "Oh my God!" and "We should do a bride jilted at the altar shoot."

I am forced to cancel the shoot.

Pandora persuades her boyfriend (with previous modelling experience) to participate.  

We're now trying to find a date to suit all.  So, if you can be bothered to keep up, watch this space.

In the meantime, I've been tinkering and can now create a semi-realistic lightning bolt in post edit, something I think could work for this troublesome shoot.  If it ever happens.

In other news, my Mom was given the all clear last week and we went out for coffee and cake at Enville's Archie's Attic to celebrate.  I had a catch up with my namesake, the business owner, Claire.  She had been given the heads up on my last shoot (see above) by a customer who had visited that very day and announced excitedly that he had just seen a woman in a wedding dress up on the hills.  Much speculation ensued about where the couple had married - the church bells hadn't been ringing that day.  Claire had smiled and said "I bet I know who that was."  There are no secrets in an English village.

Archie's Attic was dressed for Spring....

....and Mom was looking happy and healthy.

Inspired by the prospect of better weather, the wreath on the door and cafe craft workshops on offer, I found my scarcely seen crafting mojo and made a rag wreath for spring from some old scarves.

Spring sunshine let's be having you!