Ballooning and Hundertwasser.........

I went for a balloon ride with my mum this week a birthday pressie from my sister, mum and i are within 2 days of each other in may.

it was really interesting the balloon company Bath Balloons, encourage the riders to join in with the whole process, mind you i can't see how they can get it of the ground without a few willing hands, there were only 3 of them.

Anyway.. i was on holding the hole open while the air was blown in, it was fantastic to look inside, it was like a cathederal when half blown.

me holding hole open!!!

there were 16 riders and the pilot, this is my mum being man handled (by a man) cos she's got a bad knee. Most undignified.

we got up eventually and these are a few shots over Bath. Looking at the photo's later i noticed a comparison with the paintings of Hundertwasser so i've added a couple for you to compare and contrast. I've been using Hundertwasser's paintings as inspiration lately so...... i feel a project coming on.

A moment of reflection.......

Me on Stanley House's patio

Yesterday i spent the afternoon at Stanley House it is a specialist nursing home owned and managed by my little sis Catherine Yeates. Cath is a nurse specialising in Huntingdon's Disease, the majority of the residents at Stanley have HD. It is a hereditary disorder of the central nervous system caused by a faulty gene, each person whose parent has Huntington's disease is born with a 50-50 chance of inheriting the faulty gene. It is an incredibly complicated disease with currently no cure.

Anyway it was their easter party, it was a lovely social event of family and friends of residents and staff, children and grandads, easter quiz, egg hunt all that kind of stuff. i'm the odd one out in my family as both parents and sister work(ed) in the caring profession, i remember as a child being forced to go to christmas and easter parties in care homes in mum and dad's social service region and being terrified, in those days residents were plonked on a chair around the outside of room with a TV on in the corner that was the entertainment. My mum and dad's home for the elderly was a converted workhouse. Things really have moved on since then thankfully!

a group of un-terrified children
Finished the day off with a gin and middle-aged spread party back at Cath's and ended up kipping on her sofa. Awoke to the sight of my sis uniformed up ready for work.

'Mornin' Nurse' i blearily comment, 'how are you feeling' says nurse, 'fine' i mumble wobbling my way to the bathroom. this is the kind of challenging intellectual exchange i like of a morning. (is this blog beginning to sound a bit bridget jonesey????)

I took a day out recently with my mate Caroline to my favourite place in all the world (or UK at least haven't been everywhere you know) the Knapp and Papermill Nature Reserve in Alfrick Worcestershire. Wood anenomies were prolific butterflies flitting everywhere it was glorious. We sat upon a tussock to pollute the air with a couple of old rollups when i heard a lovely sound in the trees

says i 'i wonder what that was'

says she ' i fink it was a bird'

we need to get out more!!

Caroline 'tree-hugger' owen-thomas

Cyprus and other stuff..........

I've just come back from a lovely holiday in Turkish Cyprus. The weather was lovely and in a week Dad and i really explored the Turkish part of Cyprus with the help of a local guide. If you only have a week it's well worth investing in a couple of day tours with someone who really knows an area. I took with me The Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell a book that describes Cyprus pre-war and the delicious laziness of it's people at that time. There a great passage about how he tries to buy a house in rural Bellpais in the Kyrenian mountains (very near where we were staying) and the complicated negotiations involved, really funny.



Kyrenia harbour












Back home i hit the Heathrow tarmac running with a new programme of workshops to finish and messages and emails a plenty to answer. i'm exhibiting at Kim Thittichai's house for Brighton open houses in May and trying to find a muse to make some new work. I suffer from artists block as much as anyone else and get inspired for brief moments before loosing it to blinding technicalities like my printer breaking down, or the exhaust pipe falling off my car.

a brooch inspired by Huntertwasser

I'm trying to write a new programme for the spring but had to catch up with all the cancelled classes due to snow. i've been so confused because i had 6 day workshop in a row all over the place trying to remember to put all the right things in the car for the day. i drove the wrong direction on the M5 forgetting where i was going, another day i had in my mind Solihull when i was really going to Sutton Coldfield,,,, utter confusion!!

Anyway i'm back on solid ground again thank goodness.

try a little Dan Auerbach Trouble Weighs a Ton i feel a bit like that sometimes

More bloody snow.........

I was hiding in my garret all day yesterday and decided to pop down the pub for a pint. Not bothering to open the curtains imagine my surprise to find 2 inches of sludgy snow which stuck to me as soon as i got outside. It's very pretty and all that but i'm getting fed up of trying to second guess whats going to happen next. i've cancelled 3 workshop sessions because of it and now i'm down to me last fiver.

Anyway if found these two dodgy looking abomnable snowmen in the pub

'dangerous' dave thomas who has vivid dreams after eating cheese.

and marcus 'are you looking at my pint' morris. i don't know what he's got in his hand but he doesn't look pleased to see me.

i also found on my phone photos this pic of Jem my sisters spaniel... isn't she cute

today i'm mostly answering emails 99 of 'em.....

Fieldfares and other random stuff........

Having an unexpected day free due to the snowy conditions (i was supposed to teaching exploring velvet in Solihull today) i visited my sister and spotted this little chap in the garden. photo from Wikapedia.

He certainly seemed to be the king of the garden fighting off any stray blackbird or finch who came along. My little nephew Fin got all Bill Oddie with binoculars. Left him and his little chums doing something dangerous with snow.

yesterday i took my mum and dad to visit my Uncle Rob who had just come out of major surgery at Wolverhampton Hospital. He was amazingly perky considering surgeons had been rummaging around in his chest for hours the day before. this trip meant that i had to spend a period of time in the car with my mum and dad. it's a bit like being with two spaniels one excited and the other grumpy. to memorise the route home dad read out all signs and adverts in a black country accent (just in case they had to ask for directions) people ask me where i get some of my eccentricity from......

today i am mostly making brooches that look like houses.