watery wednesday, sky watch Friday: Pt Chevalier

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http://skyley.blogspot.com/

I am combining these two memes, I had no access to the internet for a week.

We are lucky in Auckland, we are an isthmus and we have just moved to a promontory. I am 5 minutes walk to the beach.

If It's Nearly Friday...

...it must be nearly Wigtown.

I've been mainly making pamphlets this week in preparation for an appearance at the Wigtown Book Festival. It's a joint reading with Vivien Jones, called Bloodlines. 4.30pm in the Wigtown Ink marquee, which is in the Bookshop Garden.

I have copies of Grave with Lights nearing readiness. Choice of two covers at the moment - the London one (nice), and the vaguely S+M rubber-effect black one. Be interesting to see which proves more popular.

What I'm really looking forward to is having my picture taken by Kim Ayres, who is the Wigtown artist-in-residence. His portraits, in black and white, are uncompromising and I'm interested to see how closely my mental vision of what I look like matches Kim's reality.

Kim is keeping a blog of his work. I'd recommend a peek: faces are fascinating. He's here: http://kimayreswigtown.blogspot.com/

I'd show you some pictures, but blogger doesn't want to play with me this morning.

Update: ha ha, it's working again! Covers below.

Say Hello to Victor Henderson

So, back to Monday night.

Dinner was a farewell affair to our first Masters degree holder (with distinction), Ms. Lauren McKay, who has now jetted off for a new life as a teaching assistant in Vienna. That's Vienna. With Distinction!
Goodbye gift-giving was handled by T1, whilst T2 was in charge of the speech. Highlight was probably when he congratulated her on 'her retirement to Asia'.

Having then raced the boys to Cubs, husband and I went knocking on doors in the nearby village of Carronbridge. Why? I was searching for an artist, and a friend had given me a hot tip, though not entirely reliable directions.

But good golly, did we find one! All the images in this post are the work of watercolourist Victor Henderson.


There's a 2-day exhibition featuring his paintings this very weekend, at Ferndale Studio in Durisdeer. Details here: http://www.ferndalestudio.co.uk/events.html


I was incredibly taken with his work, and in one of those rare and lucky moments, very taken with Mr Henderson himself. One of those people you know when you meet them is just... decent. A good guy. The kind, in fact, that would open his door to two complete, bedraggled strangers (it was raining by then) one of whom is wittering nonsense about poetry pamphlets, and then invite them to look around his house and studio to see his work.

Upshot: works of art to lust after, and images that I am going to use in my new pamphlet. Launching at Wigtown Book Festival next Friday. Going to be a busy weekend

Here's Victor's website; do go browsing. He's got some beautiful works. http://www.victorhendersonwatercolours.com/index.php

ABC Wednesday: J for Jute

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J for jute, and gunny sacks made of jute.

I was in Ponsonby,famous for her up market eateries and restaurants. Outside a coffee bar was this stand with nicely folded coffee sacks, and an honesty box with a sign, gold coin donation to a primary school. When I saw this, I knew this is one story I want to write.

What a neat idea. The school gets some money, the coffee bar gets someone to take away his "empties" and hopefully the person who takes the sack will have good use of it.

I took a sack, it was a very good quality sack. I wanted to write about. I am still wondering what to do with the sack. Perhaps I will take it to school and get the young students to play a game and identify the alphabets.

The shop proprietor incurs some expenses as his worker has to restock the sacks and collect the money. Hopefully the worker is doing it happily for an immediate good cause for the school and a wider cause of saving the world.

Most of all, it restores my faith in man kind, if people use the honesty box, there will be some money for the primary school. A gold coin in New Zealand is either $1 or $2.

That Was A Weekend That Was

Well, OK, it started on Friday evening. Roncadora Press exhibition at A' the Airts in Sanquhar.

Mr Roncadora, Hugh Bryden

With readings by Roncadora Poets Hugh McMillan, Rab Wilson, Jean Atkin and Rebecca Sharp.


You can find Roncadora Press, home of exceedingly fine poetry pamphlets, here: http://www.hughbryden.com/?page_id=14

Saturday meant work in Ayr. My terrier had to battle an albatross.



Whilst they got to fire a cannon.

On Sunday, the Aston Hotel's fifth birthday party. First birthday party for a hotel I've ever been to. I was the Peter Pan Storyteller for the Moat Brae Trust, and didn't have to dress up.


On Sunday night, with six friends, a gourmet quiz night at a Dumfries restaurant, Hullabaloo. Three courses of locally-sourced food, a different wine with each course, and about 25 questions on each course. Rather unbelievably, we tied for first place and had to nominate one team-member to play the tie-break for us. The tie-break being to drink four different wines and identify the grape of each.

Three cheers for Kirsty! She wiped the floor with the Galloway Gourmand. Here she is, a little blurry.



And Monday was busy too.

Imaginary Garden: Glory

I think this came from here: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-picture-prompt-legacies-and.html

The prompt was Legacies and Archaeology.

Where is Glory

The Ark of the Covenant is ablaze
five gardens away; there is papal smoke
at my wall and I can smell
the burning shittim-wood.
Tonight our rheumatics will be eased,
but what is lost for this fever relief?
They said the tablets were long gone,
I do not disbelieve them.
The smoke is a snake in the back gardens.
There are rules, I had said, they cried, No more.
The voice of God is no more.
I watch the white smoke and wonder
these ashes, what shall we do
with these ashes.

Coneflowers in the light

A Buttetfly Shadow for Shdow Shot Sunday

A Mourning cloak butterfly and its shadow
y appreciative thanks to Tracey, at Hey Harriet, the host of Shadow Shot Sunday for this interesting idea; for more information on this shadow meme,please click on the icon in the side bar.

Moby-Dick In Pictures!

The truly inestimable Matt Kish, artist and librarian, is building up to the publication date of his book Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page both in real life and over at his blog, here: http://everypageofmobydick.blogspot.com/

In case this is news to you, these are Matt's words back in August 2009:
Because I honestly consider Moby-Dick to be the greatest novel ever written, I am now going to create one illustration for every single one of the 552 pages in the Signet Classic paperback edition...

And he did, getting picked up on the way by a publisher, Tin House. Last year Matt, his agent and his publisher let me use some of his artwork in my pamphlet, Venti. Now that the illustrating is over, Matt is starting to release the original artwork for sale. I really had to have some, and so bought a couple that I loved.

Page 147. Of modern standers-of-mast-heads we have but a lifeless set; mere stone, iron, and bronze men...

Page 208. High aloft in the cross-trees was that mad Gay-Header, Tashtego. His body was reaching eagerly forward, his hand stretched out like a wand, and at brief sudden intervals he continued his cries.

When they arrived all the way from the USA they were not alone, for Matt had kindly sent me the original of one of the works I used in Venti.

Page 322 But far more terrible is it to behold, when fathoms down in the sea, you see some sulky whale, floating there suspended, with his prodigious jaw, some fifteen feet long, hanging straight down at right-angles with his body, for all the world like a ship's jib-boom.

And at long last I've managed to get to Mr Girdwood's for the framing. I wasn't thinking a triptych, but that's where we've ended up.

On Mr Girdwood's counterMount test. Nope.Mount test. Yep.Costings. Eek

And in the parcel were other Matt goodies too, including this:

If you're in the UK, you can find the book at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moby-Dick-Pictures-Drawing-Every-Page/dp/1935639137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316187465&sr=8-1
Matt's original art is to purchase here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/spuddsixtyfour?ga_search_query=spuddsixtyfour&ga_search_type=seller_usernames
And look! Matt talks! Here: http://everypageofmobydick.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-advance-copies-of-moby-dick-in.html

Matt Kish: artist and sweetheart. Official.

skywatch Friday: Spring has sprung

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Spring has sprung, but someone forgot, we had rain the whole day and cold winds to chill my bones.

Singapore Zoo Flower: wild ginger

Macro Flower Saturday
Macro Flower Saturday Macro Flower Saturday ">Macro Flower Saturday

http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.com/p/join-my-photo-challenge-flowers-on.html

a kind of wild ginger

Imaginary Garden Rondeau... Redouble

There's a poets-get-together-prompt-and-write here: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2011/09/x-marks-spot.html
which I stumbled on via the incredible and prolific Peter Goulding. They've been looking at rondeaus. I've got one. Kind of. Maybe you have to know Gretna...



Star of Caledonia

symbol afoot in this passed place
to draw rich dreams for such low land
fields wide road cell block shops blank face
form flat spare stage for cosmos planned

scotlandthebravescotlandthebrand
raise a faceted astral brace
to firm the last dropped shaking hand
symbol afoot in this passed place

cecil and charles the grand biface
appointed jointed on command
lucullan visions interlace
to draw rich dreams for such low land

thistle cross starburst sarabande
supposed from waveforms light line grace
debatable as shifting land
fields wide road cell block shops blank face

narrowing border to showcase
this telling place sleight underhand
throwing arts ambsace to terrace
form flat spare stage for cosmos planned

shine division on solway sand
your meta-themes cannot displace
what sadder faces understand
fixed steel smiles closer to grimace
symbol afoot

ABC Wednesday/outdoor wednesday/my world Tuesday. Ibis

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Our new Our World Logo designed by Gattina.
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http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com

In Australia, the Ibis has become an obnoxious bird. They come out and pinch food from people. The sad thing is humans fed them first.

Here photoed are some of them that wonder into my brother's garden.

Prescription Poetry Jam!

Ah, I've cheated a bit with this one, because the prompt from Lilu was 'prescription drugs'. My poem's on desomorphine, which was a prescription drug in Switzerland once (Permonid).
Desomorphine can be synthesized from over-the-counter codeine. In Russia this home-made desomorphine is injected, and called Krokodil because of the effects on the user.

For more stringent interpretations, go here: http://poetryjaam.blogspot.com/2011/09/drug-induced-world.html

And here's the poem.



Krokodil

Life is not so great in the gulag towns,
can I tell you of the bones I saw?
Belonging to bodies with beating hearts,
craving beating hearts, feeling pain again.
They make the drug, take the drug,
knowing all that while the little peace
obtained ends with shining, white, bone.
You cannot graft that they lack.