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.

Blue sky and blue water

The sun was shining, it was the holidays, so Sam and I grabbed our cameras and treated ourselves to a day-out exploring. Sam had read about Blue Pool near Warham in Dorset and I can never resist the chance of slipping down to the sea.
Blue Pool is a well known beauty spot and perhaps a little too groomed and organised for me. I found myself wanting to be a Victorian lady discovering it for the first time whilst digging up ferns for my rock garden...
The waters from the old clay pit are a bright turquoise colour. It is said that the fine particles of clay cause the water to appear blue or green, depending on the light-

Sam was determined to capture the amazing colours

When the sun came out it really glowed!

 

The heathland beside the pool  and the shoreline was full of dragonflies

even more blue than the waters

You had to be quick to catch them!
After clotted cream ice-cream we felt refreshed and ready to head down to Durdle door. I've grown to love the Dorset coast and this particlar stretch always takes my breath away.

I can never decide if I prefer it in the sunshine, or with dark, glowering clouds making it look even more dramatic-

We were lucky to have the beach nearly to ourselves and I felt completely content tramping through the pebbles, beach combing and having a chance to talk to my boy.

As the quiet one of the family, I sometimes feel Sam gets a bit swamped by the tides of Emmie and my chatter. It was good to have a day with him alone.
He is still perfecting the prints of his shots but I have a suspicion that I'm going to be rather envious of several - we are both dreadfully competitive when it comes to our beloved photography!

On the journey home I stopped by the heath and picked my annual posy of heather.
When I sniff the rich honey scent, it always takes me back to my childhood summer holidays spent in our Scottish cottage. I used to lie for hours, on my back on the mountainside, deep amidst the heather.

It was late when we got home, tired but happy, it had been a good day.



Exit Stage Right...

The Pantomime has finally come to end end of its run. For most of this winter, my son Sam has either been rehearsing or performing in 'Jack and the Beanstalk' at the Salisbury Playhouse.
It has been incredibly hard work but he has loved it so!

As one of the Youth Group he worked alternate days and was often on stage leaping, dancing and singing for hours. The young actors were chosen from a large number auditioning, so we felt very proud when he was picked to join the company.
Sam explained that they had to be 'move perfect' as there was lots of running about and mad mayhem on stage, so you always had to be in exactly the right place at the right moment.

We found out he could dance two summers ago, at a family wedding- when he held everybody spell-bound with his Michael Jackson moves!

However, dancing within a group to a set routine requires very different skills - and a lot of hard work.

There was obviously true camaraderie between all the cast, Sam said it was great being treated as an equal by the professional actors.

He certainly put his heart into it....

When the cast took their final bows at the end of this amazing, energetic and colourful pantomime and my Sam was up there with them-

I thought I might burst with pride!

(Please don't copy any of the photographs from this particular blog- Thank You! )