printmakers and popular art

Here's a link to a brief video of Angie Lewin, one of my favourite contemporary artists, making a print.

Not been doing much of late as the ear is still not right. But I did manage to pay a flying visit to the Fry Gallery in Saffron Walden last Friday: I'm utterly smitten with the work of Edward Bawden and the gallery changes their selection each year. I'm also eagerly anticipating the autumn, when Bedford Gallery (which is, unsurprisingly, in Bedford) will have a major exhibition of Bawden's work. Better still, they're doing some gallery talks and archive afternoons.

Whilst I was in the Fry Gallery this caught my eye:

There, under glass, was a copy of one of my favourite King Penguins. At first, I couldn't work out the connection between this book and the Fry Gallery's collection, which features works from the artists who used to live in Great Bardfield in the mid-twentieth century. Then I looked more closely. Next to "my" book, was another book by the same author and this one, on English Life, had illustrations by Bawden. Hmmm, can see I'm going to have to start haunting book fairs again...

Crafting at the Fitz

First, thanks for all the good wishes; I'm happy to report that my ear is on the mend! Not only that, but I'm feeling up to socialising again and I've just spent a wonderful day at the Fitzwilliam Museum, crocheting coral. The workshop was part of a Crafts Council Project and also ties in with the fascinating Darwin exhibition which is on at the Fitz at the moment. The project is supplying kits (materials, ideas and worksheets) to community groups, schools and galleries who would like to create their own reefs which should, eventually, be merged with the reef that started at the South Bank last summer before touring (and growing ever-bigger) at the Knitting & Stitching Shows. Its eventual destination looks set to be the Eden Project. The Fitz already had a couple of mini reefs on display. One that had been started at the Sedgwick and fabulous selection of work from a community group and a primary school in the Kings hedges area of Cambridge.

I'd forgotten just how much fun you can have armed with yarn and crochet hook, surrounded by fellow fibre fiends. But I'd also (yet again) forgotten my camera. So you'll just have to take my word for it that some fabulous forms were created and quite a few newcomers have become"hooked" on crochet.