Potential Energy
Saltash Regatta weekend.
A bustling brightly coloured celebration of river and community based pleasure. I always like to get to the waterfront at dusk on the Friday or dawn on the Saturday to catch the hardware of the event in preparation. The symmetry and stillness of the gigs and pilot boats belies the ferociousness of the events later in the day
These weighty oars have the delicacy of ballerinas feet as they rest peaceably together on the green. In a few hours they will be battling for prime position, one on one contact is not unheard of.
I love the laced-on leather handgrips, resting here, they have an erotic quality, suggesting laces on corsets passively waiting to be undone. In reality, the leather provides grip but the combination of endeavour, leather and salty water is punishing to the flesh. Soft palms and finger tips can be shredded to bloody remnants of their former selves.
Gigs, resting neatly in the water, delivered overnight from all over the West Country await their teams to give them energy and purpose.
Their skeletal insides waiting for race-ready muscles to give them power.
Blades, polished to cleave the water whilst the rowers cleave together, rhythm and energy effectively brought together.
Flashboats announcing every rowers hoped-for outcome. Just a few hours peace before the rowing begins.
The Old Mortuary is in many ways an accidental project. The old Co-op mortuary had housed nothing more exciting than headstones for many years. Rarely visited by Co Op staff it was in a decaying and damp state of repair . The ingress of water through its leaking roof had caused Hannah an immense amount of damp problems in her adjoining cottage. Vast amounts of money were spent trying to remedy the situation from within the cottage . Communication with the Co-op Undertakers Department asking them to fix their building was difficult and always fruitless because buildings were the responsibility of the Co-op Headquarters in Manchester. Locally negotiations were thwarted by what seemed like constant boundary reorganisation moving the responsibility for Saltash around various bigger branches in the area.
Early June is the perfect time to hunt for contemporary art. Art Schools and Universities showcase the best that their art students have to offer. Usually held over a week or so the Graduation exhibitions are vibrant , eclectic events. Last night I went to Plymouth College of Art and Designs Graduation Showcase, Breaking Through., Plymouth is one of the few remaining independent art schools. It teaches an eye watering number of creative courses and the end of year show reflects the huge diversity of subjects. The standard of these shows is always high . Proud parents, tutors and graduates rub shoulders with interested art lovers and talent scouts from the creative industries. Bargains can also be found and I’ve bought some lovely pieces from Degree shows around the country. One or two pieces have turned out to be a great investment as their creators become well respected and successful as their careers progress.
It’s not every day you see an ECG represented in a painting. I popped along to St Saviours Hall on Lambhay Hill in Plymouth to see a fellow artists work today. A little blast from the past in the hares eye caught my medical imaging eye.
This monoprint has been knocking around in my head for ages. It’s taken a while to pull together the various strains of thought and to find the products that would give me the feel I wanted.
In our home we have to find space for ‘stuff’. The belongings or memorabilia from two sets of parents, now dead, and two previous individual homes. That’s a big ask of a small cottage. The sensible answer to this is that you can’t keep everything : recycling out to charity shops is not only the answer , it is also the right thing to do. If we don’t need it then a much better use is to generate money for a charity while getting it into the hands of someone else who can make use of it.
This fantastic mural sums up London right now. I read it as a ‘Never give up ‘ message.
In writing a style and arts blog, I consider I’ve dodged the awkward ball of having to write a critical review. If somewhere isn’t stylish, I can easily choose not to write about it and when reviewing creative subjects, there is nearly always something positive to pull out of the experience. I’m grateful this is not a foodie blog because I don’t know enough about the subject to be interesting. However, I am very aware that style/ decor/ ambience is something that is very important to most people, particularly when considering repeat visits. Style is also about how things are served.
theoldmortuary.design 