Slipping between

It is only a scrubby field but one silent, thundery afternoon it was full of magic

Most of the colours were muted but something about the quality of the light made the leaves already touched by Autumn  glow like jewels.

The more I wandered and looked the more beauty I found

I couldn't decide what attracted me most, the delicate seed-heads

or the Fireweed

I went further into the tangle until I felt as if I was in a fairy-tale and maybe outside the castle where a Sleeping Beauty slept

A combination of spider's webs and drifting willow-herb and thistle-down had captured the berries and twigs and wrapped them in silvery white

All was silent and I seemed the to be the only person in the world.
Finally I turned to go and glimpsed my beautiful Cathedral rising up out of the mist,

In Autumn the veil between this world and the next seems to lessen and we glimpse through.

Life in Black and White

My life is always a gentle chaos, where I permanently chase around, striving to hold together the threads and keep some sort of order. The month of October was no exception, except there was a a more determined glint in my eye as I strove to prepare the house and life for 'The Salisbury Arts Trail'. For 10 days my rooms were full of art and people. I will leave it to your imaginations as to the work and tidying that lead up to those wonderful days...
This year I had a very special reason for all the hard work- my son Samuel, who was going to be one of the two artists exhibiting in my house. I'm sure that the lovely John Gustard, brilliant painter and great friend, will forgive my favouritism, during this piece.

It is no small thing to provide enough pictures to fill an exhibition and Sam was kept extremely busy: drawing, choosing photographs, printing and framing works.I was determined that this should happen however. As his teachers will agree- Sam is incredibly talented but  he battles with fitting into the educational system. He is not rude or rowdy- the very opposite-but he finds it incredibly hard to produce suitable work within the time scale allowed. This has meant his exam results do not represent his brilliance! As a teenager and an artist, it is doubly easy to become discouraged and depressed.
It was important, therefore, to give his art a chance to prove its worth.

The first sale is always a milestone- ( there is the all-important 'red dot' on the card of the photograph!)

The private view was its usual riotous, wonderful mix of friends, animals, art and wine. I think they are one of my favourite social events- what could be a better mix?

By the end of the evening there were enough sales for the artists to feel happy and appreciated. For Sam though, the important thing was- as he put it so perfectly-
" A Stranger loved and bought my pictures".
Throughout the week Sam shared his love of photography with other artists-

and had his pictures discussed and appreciated

It was a busy week. We even had a day when young artists brought in the work to 'show and tell'

What made me the happiest was people's reactions to Sam's most important piece.
 He drew it for his art GCSE exam when he was 15. It is the foundations of Salisbury's Cathedral crammed with delicate drawings of all Sam's favourite buildings from the city. It's unique, quirky and a joy to every body who loves the architecture and history of Salisbury. His teachers loved it but it did not impress the examiners and Sam did not receive the grade he needed or was hoping for.
We made full size and small prints of " The Foundations of the City" and everybody loved them ... and bought them!

So the Art's Trail was a success, the walls of the house have still not recovered but I'm content. On the last day we took a picture of John, Sam and myself- happy and satisfied

We had made a good team.
And I am so very proud of my son.
.
With thanks also to David, Emily, and Anne Marie ( John's wife) for all their loving support.

Beautiful Dawn

I couldn't resist sharing these pictures.
I awoke early and decided to do some research at the computer. I hadn't even looked outside at the day or the weather but my tiny book room was lit up with a beautiful pink light. Grabbing my camera, I  dashed upstairs to Sam's top floor bedroom, which looks towards the sunrise and the Cathedral.
Luckily for his sanity (you should never wake a teenage boy too quickly, it's very damaging...) he was away at his Father's, so the coast was clear and I could wrench open our creaky sash windows, climb precariously onto a chair and several books, lean out of the window... and capture these few glorious moments-

and five minutes later-

The colour and light change so quickly, I'm glad I was awake to witness this beautiful start to the day.


ps. I haven't altered or enhanced these pictures in any way!