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Autumn Ramblings: Brains in Boxes & Zombie Squirrels...



Detail from ' Visceral Whisperings...'
 Oh poor neglected blog, it's time to do a brief round up before the pre-Christmas making madness eclipses everything else.

Exhibitions: I'm delighted to have work currently in two local exhibitions: a needle felted heart & brain installation in the Galeri (Caernafon)'s Agored / Open 2014 Exhibition, entitled 'Visceral Whisperings (sometimes my heart murmurs things my brain decides not to hear)'. It happily nestles amongst an interesting mix of works from a reworked chest of drawers (Rebecca F Hardy) to an impressive pool filled with water & bronze statues (Llyr Erddyn Davies). Definitely worth seeing, it runs from 3rd October until 14th November.

  Also, I have 5 woolidermy heads on display at Ysbyty Gwynedd, part of  their 'Art in Hospitals' programme of exhibitions, this one features selected Helfa Gelf artists working in various mediums and seems to be a cheery sight as you enter the hospital. Runs until December.






Ann Lewis,Castle Hotel,Rosie Green, Barry Morris,Morgan Griffith
Helfa Gelf: As promised, here's a (briefer than originally intended) round up of other artists visited during September's North Wales art trail/ open studios. With my friend Sarah, far better informed than I about arty things, we went on a mini roadtrip to Llandudno & Conwy to see what other artists are up to and nosily peruse their workshops. First stop was Barry Morris at the CASC studios in Llandudno. Barry's  studio is an exciting riot of collected things & works in progress often with macabre themes which is in contrast to his friendly, upbeat persona. The studios themselves are cleverly partitioned off from a large room, each crammed with fascinating items. I was particularly impressed with Jane Tudor's intriguing studio displaying work exploring 'issues of anxiety, danger and apprehension'. Next we visited the nearby Haus of Helfa featuring 14 artists displaying, and in some cases specifically tailoring, work to this gorgeous semi-derelict building. The collaborations between Morgan Griffith & Jo Hinchliffe stood out for me in what was an impressive & thoughtfully curated project.
Bathing Hut, LLawn, Llandudno

We wandered around Llandudno, finding dancers on the promenade, gorgeous stripy bathing huts and the achingly beautiful dilapidation of the Castle Hotel, all part of the Llawn02 multi-disciplinary art festival. The Castle Hotel has been closed for presumably years, shut up and abandoned to internal disintegrating forces. Rebirth as a travel lodge beckons & before this complete overhaul occurs, the public were allowed in to view artworks dotted between the peeling paint, crumbling plaster and smashed chandeliers. It was a sadly beguiling sight, I only wish the whole building could have been explored. It felt like a tiny peak into a bourgeoisie, low risk version of those abandoned building tours in Detroit (yes, I've recently seen that stunning documentary). I could write a whole blog post just on this subject with the faded grandeur just tangible in my not very good photos but I'll restrain myself today. Gently dusting off the past, we headed off to bother Ann Lewis at the RCA in Conwy and to try her famed 'malteser sins'. Renowned print maker Ann was in the middle of adding a joyfully lurid pink paint to a lino cut so she demonstrated the basics of lino cut printmaking to me while Sarah (also a print maker) gazed lustfully at the old printing press in the room (apparently a very good one).  There were a lot of other artists to see on my wish-list but sadly we ran out of time.

'Vlad', vampire bunny
Halloween: In 2013, Halloween passed mostly unmarked by Lost in The Wood which seems a ridiculous waste of an opportunity to indulge my love of the ghoulish & macabre. This year I am slightly less disorganised (surely that's a form of progress?) so I've gone a bit mad (given how behind I am now for Christmas!) and made a few spooky woolidermy heads: zombie squirrel, vampire bunny, (both for sale in my Folksy shop!), Gobbolino & Sootica cat heads (from the brilliant 1942 children's classic, now seemingly forgotten by almost everyone except me, my Mum, friends Louise & cat-loving Kate).

'Mort', zombie squirrel
I don't think the four of us is quite enough so here's the synopsis in case anyone else is intrigued to hunt a copy down: 'Gobbolino The Witch's Cat' by Ursula Moray Williams is an enchanting story (peppered with sweet, sketchy illustrations) about a cat born with blue eyes, one white paw and suspiciously tabby fur. His mother Grimalkin, a witch's cat, spurned him because he wasn't wicked and didn't have the green eyes & all black fur expected of a proper witch's cat. All poor Gobbolino wanted to be was a kitchen cat by a cosy hearth but all the homes he went to mistrusted & mistreated him. His sister Sootica, a true witch's cat, eventually helps him achieve his heart's desire. A delightful story from 1942, worth rediscovering!


Gobbolino & Sootica, cat heads
I also hosted a mini giveaway of crochet skull brooches. Three lucky recipients were picked by my treat-loving cat Sootica. We made a little video which I planned to edit & add amusing music but found the unedited version much funnier. Mostly, I'm trying not to laugh as I attempt to lure the cat into participating, you can view the short youtube video here
Crochet Skull Brooches

New Feature! Cultural Snapshot: like Bridget Jones' Diary but with less cigarettes & despair (categories will randomly change). Book reading: 'The Minaturist' by Jessie Burton (engrossing & intriguing so far). TV enjoying: Peaky Blinders (atmospherically dark, sharp & features the demented angel face of Tommy Shelby (future husband Cillian Murphy).  Music obessively listening to: Kate Tempest 's 'Everybody Down' especially 'The Beigeness'. Food: the final meal at wondrous local gem 'Oren' before its relocation. Poem: Luke Wright's 'The Panel', a new poem on "new politics, the abandonment of the working class and the state of play in British politics in 2014".

Am off now to make at least a thousand mini crochet mince pies...(Christmas craft fairs info in next blog)...

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