Dartington 1

Danielle had a conference to attend at Dartington Hall in Totnes Devon. I went with her. We got the train all the way direct from York to Totnes through Storm Doris and arrived two minutes late. Dartington is an amazing place with a strange and noble history since the 1920s; Stravinsky, Britten and Paul Robeson have all been here in the past. Whilst Danielle conferred I walked down to the town through the park and along the River Dart estuary. This is one of the trees in the parkland.

Regulation Selfie

We always have to have a selfie for State Visits - here is the one for this term.

Armley

The beauty of the canal industrial architecture is something to behold. This old mill is at Armley on the edge of Leeds.

Tired Dog

On the train on the way back from our walk, Milo was very tired. But still alert enough to stick a paw on Danielle's boot to make sure we didn't forget him.

Canal Walk - Part 5

Danielle and I went on Part 5 of our Great Canal Walk on Sunday. 15 miles this time, a really good walk along the popular towpaths of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal: cyclists, runners, fisher-people, walkers all happily using it. This photo is at the start of our walk at Shipley.

State Visit

Once a term I go down on the train to Lem to see Rowan. Today was the day, great to see her, a nice meal at The Drawing Board [we must go back to it ...] and a walk through the parks of lovely Leamington. All good.

Garden News 2

The thermal compost bin has worked really well. I opened it up to find this lovely compost, complete with active worms, ready to be spread onto the vegetable patch.

Garden News 1

First Daff Day this year was Thursday February 16th; one month later than last year.

The Wold Newton Universe

I had one last lead to follow about the Wolds. I thought I had come across all the stories and then quite by chance discovered that the second largest meteorite to hit Europe landed in the Wolds. Of course. It was in 1795 and here is the monument to the event; on private land and inaccessible to the public, unless  you go and ask the landowner, which I did. More to follow on this in the book.

The Ball

Here is a photo from the Economic Summit ball of Rowan with her fellow organisers. It was reported in the Wall Street Journal which is not bad! https://www.wsj.com/articles/feds-fischer-issues-warning-on-bank-capital-requirements-1486818344

York College

Danielle came to meet me at York College after my workshop last week.

Primrose Hill

I love to nip up Primrose Hill when I am in London; such a small hill, such a great change of perspective.

We both really like doing AirB&B. This week we had a drummer in a heavy metal band and his girlfriend for one night, followed by a Mother and her daughter looking at universities the next. Life's rich tapestry alright.

Bloomsbury

We stayed 200 metres from the Lumen gallery after the Private View. It is an AirB&B that Danielle uses for work, in an old Peabody style block of flats right at the back of the Brunswick Centre. Perfect.

Warwick Economics Summit

We went down to Warwick University to attend some lectures in the Economic Summit that Rowan has been part of organising. Her job was to get the speakers and look after them when they arrived. The calibre of speakers was amazing, from all over the world, including Nobel prize winners,  a US Fed current vice-president, and loads of other really good speakers.  https://www.warwickeconomicssummit.com/home

Rowing Ball

Rowan was at her Rowing Ball last week held at Warwick Castle.

And Breathe

Well it's all over now. After the chaos of the phantom tube strike in the end it worked out OK. To summarise yesterday it was less people than I'd hoped for [not surprising with the date change] and more sales than I expected. Here is another one that I was exhibiting for the first time and that I sold

Humberhead Two

Humberhead can come down to the water and the reeds. There is no context here, but just the angle and the layers.

Private View

Private View tonight. Another new shot going down well.

The Catskill Pool

Taken in the Catskill Moutains, New York.

There are several layers here, the surface of the water, the leaves upon it, the leaves below the surface, the trees reflected in the water, a few hints of the land edging the pool, and the sunlight reflected in the water.

The pool was serene; when I got back to town the talk was all about bears on the prowl.

Preview

The Preview went really well. A good number of people came who could not make the Private View on Thursday of this week.
I was really pleased to sell this shot. The first time I have exhibited it. With a new work you are never clear how it is going to go down.

Humberhead Three

The layers of this image - sky, land, reeds, water, reflection – present some ambiguity.

There is also much history in this shot. The pool is in a peat bog that was used extensively for peat extraction up until the back end of last century. That industry no longer exists here. The area is surrounded by pits that were shut during the same time. The pit villages, whose sole raison d'etre was mining, are now without purpose. At the top of the image is a large windfarm – the new energy, the successor to the peat and the coal.

Ready for the Punters

I drove down to stay with David and Cathy ahead of hanging my show in London. Good to see them as always. Turns out David has been knighted in the New Years Honours. Bit of a shock but he deserves it - he runs the Royal Free Hospital and before that the Whittington Hospital both in London.
Hanging my show took close on six hours - hard to believe or understand why, but it always does take much much longer than you would think. Anyway I am very happy with how it has turned out. Gone for not too many images, all within the theme of Ambiguity.
First preview is tonight then the Private View on Thursday.

Cycle Heaven

The Cycle Heaven bike shop in York [so named because the premises used to be a car-parts store called Motorist's Mecca] has moved to bigger premises, leaving the original to become a small shop and a bar/bistro thing https://www.yorkmix.com/food-drink/13-pix-inside-yorks-new-community-bar-cafe/ . Danielle and I went after my workshop on Saturday. Really great atmosphere and food and beer; in fact a perfect place to have lunch!

The photo is of one of the many Methodist Churches we have been finding scattered around York. Several have been shut and redeveloped as housing, the rest are shut to visitors outside of service hours. A bit of a sad decline. This one is at Skipwith, a tiny village that also has a large Anglican church.

YOS Workshop

I ran a photography workshop at York College as part of the build up for York Open Studios 2017. I always enjoy doing these - it is really great to encourage people to develop their photographic skills and ideas. Photo is of Stillingfleet Church - dating from 1154.

Church Ride - Part 2

Round Two of our Church Ride took us to the Skipwith church which dates from 950AD, which is incredibly old when you think about it.

Church 2

This is Acaster Selby church. The people of the village used to take a boat across the Ouse to the church at Stillingford on the opposite side of the river. When 12 people died in a bad crossing they decided it was time for their own church.

Church Ride

Friend Robert and I have a project; to cycle to all the churches around York. The first afternoon took us to 6 which was a good start. Found this tomb at Acaster Malbis.

Snowdrops

Snowdrops are out in the garden to cheer me up.