tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83787545482004660142024-03-13T10:45:36.712+00:00On the GrapevineThoughts on art, nature and friends from the Grapevine Gallery in Burnham Market in the heart of North Norfolk.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-1753361171203458802021-12-10T16:44:00.002+00:002021-12-10T16:44:25.140+00:00Don't look back in anger<p>Prompted in part by my loyal reader and in part by this particular day - which at least here in the far north of Norfolk sees the year's earliest sunset, <b>I have searched my desk and found my long discarded quill</b> and returned to scribbling down the thoughts from my sub-conscious.</p><p>Chastening to note that another year of my allotted time has slipped past and what have I achieved? Well despite the absence of my scribblings, exhibitions and gallery life - now opening only by appointment - the gallery lives on. The Vine is curiously hard to leave behind, not that I want to. Some say I'm not trying, <b>some - I imagine - may think I am no more, neither of which are true.</b></p><p>Faced with the practicalities of opening safely in a very small, very old building with an extremely cautious public and fully cognisant of the ever-changing rules and regulations, I thought that rather than sit there with the door closed waiting for custom to request entry, to turn the whole thing upside down and let it be known that by requesting a viewing I could tick all the boxes. Safety for both parties, a pleasing sense of personal and exclusive service and somewhat selfishly, spend more time walking, gardening and generally <b>enjoying what I now see as the essence of my later life.</b></p><p>Confounded by the virus and all the stuff that has resulted, Norfolk is still extraordinarily beautiful and pleasing in many ways. I say this in the knowledge that <b>my reader is not equally blessed</b> and that to speak of it rubs salt into the wound.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZ5sKsGdWsQk6nHlNSnvZGt-KVM5izuPYELiieBDL3JYbazsgYiMKaqsprswa6k8mJoGv-JxvTD0Z36eE7lm3ZaUfUrGe_7d3lKjAfBZLg_Rvmyr7904xN-Z0z4A7NZZE3zaCOCIqgWwlrGDnOq5RbHceC0yRrokuUWGMT2oLzA5bNUNFWHJulmzDj=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZ5sKsGdWsQk6nHlNSnvZGt-KVM5izuPYELiieBDL3JYbazsgYiMKaqsprswa6k8mJoGv-JxvTD0Z36eE7lm3ZaUfUrGe_7d3lKjAfBZLg_Rvmyr7904xN-Z0z4A7NZZE3zaCOCIqgWwlrGDnOq5RbHceC0yRrokuUWGMT2oLzA5bNUNFWHJulmzDj=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>It ain't perfect. Far from it. Possibly the greatest and I feel irreversible consequences of the last 18 months is that this corner of England is no longer 'secret' or unknown. <b>This summer it joined the modern world.</b> Role reversal, not empty but full, extremely full, of those who historically didn't know we existed or if they did, didn't really care. The attendant pressures, stresses and anger of urban metropolitan life were to be found in every pub, every restaurant and on every byway, path and beach. And not surprising as everybody visiting was paying huge prices for the privilege.</p><p>The anger has calmed somewhat with the season but what cannot be reversed is the squeezing out of the last few remnants of proper rural life. Villages no longer have community, they just have population and the idea of doing things for the greater good has by and large gone. We can't blame anybody for this, we're all guilty and with no leadership or statesmanship to be seen, it is self-perpetuating.</p><p><b>One of the few voices of sanity in this wilderness</b> has - of course (with a smile) - a Norfolk connection. A prophet or voice now largely ignored or derided in his own land, the former PM with the peas, John Major, spoke out to remind us all of the standards that should characterise public life and to list the fundamental British values that have been and are being betrayed. We all have different political views but <b>we should not countenance any government that undermines Britain's reputation for keeping its word</b>. We would do well to listen to him.</p><p>Not to push further into the morass, the Norfolk countryside is similarly boggy at this stage of the year, but in contrast with moral swamp, its natural beauty remains and accordingly before I lay my pen to rest again I shall dash out to record another significant sunset. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEwsSS0ezlCnDBs5JDOzi6aCcnXGA6QiZ8eDTu6O9uf8BaapfUwNpOnDOjzFV7CkUvhRy9_HzQfDFqlo75y6mTwQDnqE9KQ-Xc7u9jmElaj1GwLeZZhHzm5QjIDCIV-sg6tAV0pfg-xKQw0N8AU7bKH88h_Pl7AOSymTNxf8tktaXbdFn837AAPqbG=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEwsSS0ezlCnDBs5JDOzi6aCcnXGA6QiZ8eDTu6O9uf8BaapfUwNpOnDOjzFV7CkUvhRy9_HzQfDFqlo75y6mTwQDnqE9KQ-Xc7u9jmElaj1GwLeZZhHzm5QjIDCIV-sg6tAV0pfg-xKQw0N8AU7bKH88h_Pl7AOSymTNxf8tktaXbdFn837AAPqbG=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Not the Solstice but at least as good as.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Don't look back in anger</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I heard you say</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>At least not today"</i></b></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-81019201349984174272020-12-31T12:00:00.001+00:002020-12-31T12:21:41.248+00:00Who'd have thought it?<p>Twelve months ago I was busy scribbling hopeful thoughts about <b>how good I felt about 2020</b> and how things were going to change whilst nature stayed constant and calming. Well things didn't quite turn out as I or pretty well anyone else could have imagined.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--mYvO1G8RDQ/X-3CK_dP8TI/AAAAAAAAAv4/TdVmAR_5E1whqr0YpfSsHr9HsFvFDLohgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/dd7b5a4f-8e4e-4c52-a1ae-5e29ba6535ec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--mYvO1G8RDQ/X-3CK_dP8TI/AAAAAAAAAv4/TdVmAR_5E1whqr0YpfSsHr9HsFvFDLohgCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/dd7b5a4f-8e4e-4c52-a1ae-5e29ba6535ec.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>New words, and new concepts - furlough, bubble, social distance - are now not even regarded, and pretty well <b>all the economic rules that determine how society operates have been thrown out of the window</b>. But quite remarkably we have accepted all this and are, by and large, living our lives accordingly.</p><p><b>I was, and remain, a devotee of Radio 3,</b> the dulcet tones of Petroc Trelawny and colleagues bringing a sense of calm and continuity to the start of my day. As well as the reassuringly familiar <b>they manage to introduce me to and occasionally seduce me with new sounds</b>, with the huge bonus that reporting of the ever-changing alarms and excursions of the wider world are corralled into an acceptably short precis of the news in under 5 minutes. And only once or twice in the two and half hours of the breakfast slot - and all too occasionally - <b>read to perfection by Susan Rae, surely the model for all current news presenters</b> in my humble opinion.</p><p>Connecting my opening thoughts with this appreciation, I hadn't quite understood until an hour or so ago <b>how remarkable the achievement of maintaining these live broadcasts was</b>. I realised that programmes were being presented from home but fondly assumed it was using serious technology. Well not quite. At the start it seems in more than one instance programmes were reaching us employing the might of an iPad and the presenter's home wifi. Quite remarkable. </p><p><b>I love rural Norfolk with all its quirks and idiosyncracies</b> but can only quietly give thanks that Petroc and his chums don't live here and depend as we do on what passes for broadband, as I fear they might just have decided to give up on live broadcasts.</p><p><b>A Happy and Hopeful New Year to both my readers!</b></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-76854431888351312892020-10-31T13:09:00.000+00:002020-10-31T13:09:19.256+00:00Save - a voice of commonsense crying in the wilderness<p>Organisations and membership bodies do not easily find favour these days, indeed the latter increasingly struggle to find their members unless they offer something tangible in return. Supporting a belief or a cause for the greater good as opposed to protecting or defending an interest is pretty unfashionable.</p><p>It comes as a surprise - a pleasant one - therefore to come across <b>a body which seems to me at least to do precisely that, working for the common good.</b> So what is this paragon of virtue? SAVE, or Save Britain's Heritage as they are fully known, sets out its case as being at the forefront of the conservation of national heritage, intervening to help buildings and places at risk of demolition or decay. Over the years they have argued and supported - successfully in many cases - for the retention of sometimes unremarkable but significant buildings, not for profit but because of the value and qualities they lend to their neighbourhood or community. </p><p>Some of their campaigns do not chime particularly with me, but <b>how refreshing that they fight for things that do not benefit or make money for them</b>. They are not seeking to create visitor experiences but to secure the intangible qualities of our built environment that make life worth living, even when as now it seems pretty bleak.</p><p>So why do I suddenly feel this empathy for them? Possibly the contrast with the shallowness and lack of principles evident elsewhere, possibly their local campaigns but probably because <b>their views increasingly represent what used to be called commonsense.</b></p><p>On a parochial basis, they seem to have secured the future of some unremarkable but potentiallly agreeable railway buildings at Brandon here in Norfolk. These are not great architecture or Architecture with an A, but infinitely better than the lightweight nothingness of the shelter that would've taken their place. Brandon typifies the kind of town that most of us pass through looking the other way and it needs its history and the buildings connected with it. I<b>t's very easy to dispose of things, but when we keep them they are usually valued and appreciated.</b></p><p>In Norwich, SAVE have supported the community in their desire to secure the future of the northern part of the City by highlighting the inappropriate form and scale of the Anglia Square proposals. Again not to make money but because Norwich is unusual in having not thus far started building high, particularly when there is no reason to.</p><p>So where is the commonsense part? Recently they have looked at the issue of the costs and practicalities of the various options for housing parliament during repairs and refurbishment at Westminster. SAVE have pointed out that whilst the Lords didn't like the idea of going to York, not only is there a historical precedent for Parliament to sit in Oxford, but that the Divinity School at the Bodleian bears an uncanny and practical resemblance to the House of Lords. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i2bA54PY_nE/X51caoFdx5I/AAAAAAAAAvU/G-CI9tFtkLsvDTmRzDXr865l7LF8RqydACLcBGAsYHQ/s1660/Screenshot%2B2020-10-31%2Bat%2B12.33.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1660" height="434" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i2bA54PY_nE/X51caoFdx5I/AAAAAAAAAvU/G-CI9tFtkLsvDTmRzDXr865l7LF8RqydACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h434/Screenshot%2B2020-10-31%2Bat%2B12.33.32.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit - David Liff</span></div><p></p><p>Further weight is lent to their thoughts by the relative costs – £54 million for their costed proposal as opposed to the £1 billion plus quoted for Parliament's own solution. <b>In these straightened times, this looks like commonsense.</b> Simples!</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-24739977909491135592020-08-25T16:49:00.003+01:002020-08-27T08:48:06.914+01:00National Mistrust<p>I never imagined I would find myself pretty much entirely in agreement with <b>Melanie Phillips</b>. I only normally need to see or hear her on Question Time or somesuch to feel the hackles start to rise. Often outspoken and seemingly angry and intolerant <b>her approach and persona is a million miles away from mine.</b></p><p>So what has she done now? In an excoriating piece in the Times on 24th August - again not one of my favourite newspapers - she goes after the utterly misguided and <b>patronising proposals for the National Trust </b>contained in their, I assume leaked, 10 Year Strategy. I can't find anything in what she's written to disagree with, <b>I only wish I'd written it myself</b>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vg2jS5sKmws/X0YoAYKP8XI/AAAAAAAAAug/xIIo8x8vKIA6ejrcHRvwiiw8cPNTwgxdACLcBGAsYHQ/s964/NMT%2BLogo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="734" height="410" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vg2jS5sKmws/X0YoAYKP8XI/AAAAAAAAAug/xIIo8x8vKIA6ejrcHRvwiiw8cPNTwgxdACLcBGAsYHQ/w312-h410/NMT%2BLogo.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span>There's not much point re-writing it and it is readily available for free on-line. Simply to say the strategy's basic assumption that the focus should be on </span><b>promoting access at the expense of caring for our cultural history</b><span> and providing 'experience' </span><b>is wrong. Just so wrong.</b><span> The underlying thesis seems to be that history isn't relevant, coupled with a patronising contempt for both the historic identity and culture of our society and our own individual capacity to assess and understand this.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span>In denial of what I like many others think, namely that </span><b>the National Trust has been put in its current position by both individuals through legacies and gifts and the rest of us by supporting them to look after and nuture our cultural history</b><span>, be it houses, gardens or landscape, this strategy seems to aim to decide what we should see and, by extension, what we might think.</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't want to live in the past, and change and development cannot be denied. But to remove or limit access or how we access the nations' story - particularly by this body - is indefensible. This is to me <b>a betrayal of its members and supporters</b> - the nation. Rarely has an organisation's title and principles been so subverted.</div></div><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-67146786609645575202020-07-28T17:52:00.002+01:002020-07-28T19:27:17.897+01:00The new normalWell here we are, nearly the end of July, and <b>nearly 4 weeks into the new world</b>. How's it going? Rather difficult to say just yet but not without hope. Like many others we have changed the way we operate and in our case that means that sadly you will not find the door open and - at least most of the time - you can't just wander in and out as you might want to.<div><br /></div><div>We have sanitiser of course, but because our gallery space and stairs are inevitably cottage scale it means that even at the 1m distancing requirement it really is only one visitor at a time. And after they've gone we need to clean surfaces and objects just to be sure. <b>And all this behind our face masks.</b> So not easy to generate the informal and friendly buzz we've always aspired to.</div><div><br /></div><div>Viewed in the context of the facts of life for a small gallery in an attractive village, namely that most casual visitors come largely to look and enjoy - which of course we have always been very happy to accommodate - our former operation no longer really works. <b>So for the time being we are opening by appointment only in order to focus on lifeblood of any business, sales.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>We know other galleries round the country are adopting similar ideas but we also know that some are trying to go back to how it was before. BCV. Thus far, we have had some – albeit limited – success but it really is far too early to tell. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>As far as our artists are concerned, they need all the sales we can encourage</b> and that really means us focussing on that rather than the maintenance of the relaxed ambience we have built up over the years. To keep up with what we have and what's new, we do – like pretty well everybody else use social media – and we try to highlight good things there. And in due course, barring unforeseen bumps in the road, <b>we may well promote the occasional event</b>. We shall see.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, amongst what we have on offer are <b>3 new works from one of our most popular artists, Mari French</b>, illustrated here. Firstly, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-igJ-0L1gBZU/XyBSeZPhJNI/AAAAAAAAAto/zPZeYqVhJUchp5k9CTLIDjOhDwT_2roNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/image2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-igJ-0L1gBZU/XyBSeZPhJNI/AAAAAAAAAto/zPZeYqVhJUchp5k9CTLIDjOhDwT_2roNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/image2.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="text-align: left;">'After the rain'</span><span style="text-align: left;">, 34cm x 34cm, acrylic, ink and gouache on board, £800.00</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nUQdgidVyyY/XyBTzxvoAKI/AAAAAAAAAt8/cN-dvDWB5kEeTBSuYKbs8W1pHOIvc8SpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s240/image0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nUQdgidVyyY/XyBTzxvoAKI/AAAAAAAAAt8/cN-dvDWB5kEeTBSuYKbs8W1pHOIvc8SpQCLcBGAsYHQ/w300-h300/image0.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Secondly,<i> '</i></span><i><span style="text-align: left;">Abundance'</span><span style="text-align: left;">, 34cm x 34cm, acrylic, ink and gouache on board, £800.00</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmVAPIPh2Fk/XyBU-iBi75I/AAAAAAAAAuI/UjY4w4VigTcz4pAoRt3txuVxyEhBkNGVACLcBGAsYHQ/s480/image1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmVAPIPh2Fk/XyBU-iBi75I/AAAAAAAAAuI/UjY4w4VigTcz4pAoRt3txuVxyEhBkNGVACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/image1.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">And lastly,</span><i style="text-align: left;"> </i><i><span style="text-align: left;">'Alchemy'</span><span style="text-align: left;">, 34cm x 34cm, acrylic, ink and gouache on board, £800.00</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you like these, <b>please do get in touch. Our email is burnhamgrapevine@gmail.com</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-22034301199909906372020-05-30T13:06:00.002+01:002020-05-30T16:25:14.299+01:00Silent Spring revisited<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uq9O_AFDjoE/XtJJ6jeIqGI/AAAAAAAAArM/hEX8Qtxzi0Yx_9Av2byFhKnawpHwdAB8gCK4BGAsYHg/a%252BUTx625Rbuvp2omqo7M3w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uq9O_AFDjoE/XtJJ6jeIqGI/AAAAAAAAArM/hEX8Qtxzi0Yx_9Av2byFhKnawpHwdAB8gCK4BGAsYHg/w640-h480/a%252BUTx625Rbuvp2omqo7M3w.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Nearly 60 years ago, in September 1962, Rachel Carson's seminal work on the hazards and horrors stemming from the worlds increasing use of pesticides was published. <b>Foreseeing an empty natural world, bereft of insects and birds,</b> Silent Spring marked if not a turning point in our attitudes to chemicals in agriculture, a wake-up call whose ripples spread far beyond it's original audience. Even as a young schoolboy in a far from global society I was aware of it, possibly through my Grandparent's back copies of National Geographic magazine, which I avidly devoured, and it has remained with me, an 'eyeworm', lodged in the rear vaults of my psyche.<div><br /></div><div>Little could Carson or anybody else for that matter have guessed or hoped that 60 years later, Silent Spring would come to pass – but almost in reverse and for complex reasons. Yes, her fears about pesticides were largely correct and their use is still widespread, but the growth of awareness and commitment to ecology has developed massively over the years. And so, not the Silent Spring she envisaged, but through pandemic and global shutdown, we have and are still enjoying <b>the best silent spring anybody can remember</b>.</div><div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qF8qbhXsZSk/XtJEjk11oNI/AAAAAAAAAqw/NeaeO1lKJ58bOc_7R8_jt6C7ZrNNbrPgQCK4BGAsYHg/qH2NT8BkTX%252BKNkqmYbw%252Bhw.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qF8qbhXsZSk/XtJEjk11oNI/AAAAAAAAAqw/NeaeO1lKJ58bOc_7R8_jt6C7ZrNNbrPgQCK4BGAsYHg/w480-h640/qH2NT8BkTX%252BKNkqmYbw%252Bhw.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The air is cleaner, clearer and our world has been quieter. So quiet – few aircraft, huge reductions in traffic levels and less audible human activity – that pretty well wherever you've been, <b>the sounds of the natural world, birdsong and now reassuringly bees and insects have been in the ascendancy</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SWUqwXufK5M/XtJK_3BDjDI/AAAAAAAAAro/7fm4_zqVdUUeM_-4i0PQRbIE4ZjerqTZQCK4BGAsYHg/fullsizeoutput_fda.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1699" data-original-width="1699" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SWUqwXufK5M/XtJK_3BDjDI/AAAAAAAAAro/7fm4_zqVdUUeM_-4i0PQRbIE4ZjerqTZQCK4BGAsYHg/w400-h400/fullsizeoutput_fda.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>As the seasons roll on and we move seamlessly from Spring into Summer, <b>change is coming and the signs are there. </b></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZiHEE01k18/XtJDAt93uUI/AAAAAAAAAqU/SopxzpOalDQxB75t5b-kcRkxXVlhSx3egCK4BGAsYHg/fullsizeoutput_1031.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2769" data-original-width="3692" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZiHEE01k18/XtJDAt93uUI/AAAAAAAAAqU/SopxzpOalDQxB75t5b-kcRkxXVlhSx3egCK4BGAsYHg/w400-h300/fullsizeoutput_1031.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>The silence has been wonderful</b> but it was unrealistic to think it could be maintained if our economies are to recover, but how immensely reassuring to find that </span><b style="text-align: left;">the world can be resilient and that nature does recover</b><span style="text-align: left;"> when we wake up to see what is there and notice what matters most to us.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-85284014196525247292020-04-29T11:00:00.000+01:002020-04-29T11:00:04.982+01:00More questions than answersAs we come to the end of the strangest month in our lives there are just so many questions.<br />
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Are those swallows swooping low over the water? or are they martins? Are the trees earlier into leaf this year? When's a good time to go for a walk - early morning? or early evening? Will it ever rain again in Norfolk? Why do lambs change from being full of bounce and innocent joy into impassive and obstinate sheep? Is that a weed?<br />
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And then there are the deeper issues. Other than the deaths and the suffering, <b>is this simpler life better? </b>Do we want to travel so much? Do we want a more local and less global life? Is it the limitation of face to face conversation that is so strange or are we actually communicating more but in a different way?<br />
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<b>The one thing that most of us have is more time.</b> Time to think, time to sleep and time to ponder all these things and for growing numbers, time to grieve – if not in the way we have become used to. As this time passes more and more are turning to writing, music, art and crafts as well as becoming more aware of our natural surroundings, whilst those who help and care for others are becoming more appreciated day by day.<br />
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At the moment attention is rightly focussed on the practical questions of survival in all its senses, but if and when our world stabilises, we need to hope that some of the good things that are coming out of this are not swept away in the backwash.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-80036012151263455892020-03-31T15:44:00.000+01:002020-03-31T16:23:41.363+01:00So where do we go from here?Just four weeks ago I referred to what were then increasing <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">pressing reasons to encourage life to be as local as possible. <b>The world in which I wrote those words now seems so remote and from a different time.</b> In just a few days we have moved from encouraging life to be local to it being a necessity for all of us everywhere. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">As one of my favourite and hence much used quotes says, <i>"the past is a different country; they do things differently there"</i>. Indeed we did, and hopefully we will one day do again. In the meantime, I like so many am <b>taking pleasure in the blue skies and the sounds of spring</b>. Looking for positives, the crisis has achieved worldwide what would never have even been considered possible in our most extreme fantasies, a genuine reduction in pollution and hopefully positive impact on our climate.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">What happens when in the months and years ahead the health aspects become more manageable is a very different question. <b>I can't see life returning to normal, if one's definition of normal is the lives we have lived.</b> To speculate further is simply that – speculation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">The idea of history and time at least in the christian world is defined very generally by the concept of BC and AD. In the humblest possible terms I am now using a third, <b>BCV. They did things differently there.</b></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-39152158118868266922020-03-02T14:25:00.000+00:002020-03-02T14:25:48.898+00:00Diversionary tactics<b>Like a lot of things in the world just now, these thoughts have been out there for a while but have now finally emerged</b> here. Not peculiar to our bit of the country but seemingly at times more apparent here is the wonderful dark art of diversion.<br />
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I could be talking politics - local or global - but for the moment I'm considering something that affects almost all of us, namely transport networks. In the very local context, road closures - and I use that term advisedly - <b>send the law-abiding or cautious on lengthy and seemingly absurd extended excursions</b> through the delights of the North Norfolk landscape. Not infrequently those wishing to go from Fakenham to Burnham or maybe Wells are confronted by an apparent exclusion zone; "Road Closed Ahead" with well signposted diversion routes.<br />
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In the most extreme case in recent history such signage would have lead the unsuspecting on <b>a journey of over 20 miles to drive from Burnham to North Creake rather than the usual 3 miles</b>. The courageous, foolish or well-informed would have found that if they behaved in an anti-social manner and ignored the signs, there was indeed a hole in the road on the edge of North Creake but being looked at and managed by helpful and sensible chaps happily waving traffic through.<br />
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These diversions seems absurd to many and cause justifiable irritation and stress to businesses and residents in these challenging times. So why do they happen? Simply because <b>the diversion route has to be of the same standard as the route closed</b>. The fact that the closed road can be about as small as a road can get but still labelled as a B road prevents short local diversions being signed along often wider and safer roads simply because they are "Unclassified". The consequences are missed deliveries, interrupted or cancelled bus services and the absence of all-important customers and trade.<br />
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A bit further afield but still in Norfolk <b>the economic impact of closures and diversions have been apparent for all to see</b> in Sheringham and currently in North Walsham. Here the disruption is inevitable with the replacement of mains services in the commercial centre of the town but the cost to a town trying to regenerate is considerable. The very obvious non-opening of town-centre shops in the absence of any visitors or customers on recent Saturdays hopefully will quickly become a thing of the past.<br />
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It's quite easy to take a view that all this is of little lasting consequence in these trying times but there is a wider point. <b>There are very good and increasingly pressing reasons, climate and now health-based reasons to encourage life to be as local as possible.</b> If local shops and supplies are impacted, we will inevitably be tempted to travel to overcome this and our journeys are in many cases needlessly extended.<br />
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We are creatures of habit, and <b>living and shopping locally is a good habit</b> and we need to encourage and sustain this.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-83404449342667797592019-12-30T11:30:00.001+00:002019-12-30T11:30:20.332+00:00A new dawnThe sun is shining and the sky is blue - it's all looking pretty good out there just now. These few days between Christmas and New Year are always different – <b>the rhythm of the daily grind briefly disappears</b> and pretty well anything goes. This year however <b>the absence of that normality is rather satisfactory</b> as there is a pleasing balance insofar as Christmas and hence New Year fall in the middle of the week, neatly sandwiched between two weekends, producing one long weekend. An added bonus is that this actually leads to relatively straightforward arrangements for school holidays and travel. Coupled with benign weather there really isn't much to dislike this year.<br />
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Looking back, previous scribblings at this point in the year inevitably tend to the contemplative, but this time we not only have a new year but a new decade. <b>We're going to be living in the 20's</b>, which whatever it brings sounds pleasing to my ears. So is this a new dawn? Will anything change? This tree was there in 2010 and I'm pretty sure that it'll still be there in 2030, but all around things do change and following the discontinuities and frustration of the last few years I sense that many of our friends and visitors are quite <b>keen to move on a bit</b>. Whether that's possible is anybody's guess.<br />
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We have a new government – well sort of. It goes against the general desire for progress to find that people who were not elected are eased back into power whilst some who patently do not deserve recognition are honoured for divisive actions and policies. At the local carol service some of this was referred to (obliquely to avoid upsetting those who only go to Church on such occasions) in the address – not a sermon – by our stand-in Vicar. At the end of his remarks on change and what might be awaiting us in the next few years he concluded with the words <b>"We shall see"</b>. I couldn't have put it better myself.<br />
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Oh – and <b>a very Happy New Year to both my readers!</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-19547570648164368442019-12-06T14:05:00.000+00:002019-12-06T17:36:29.886+00:00Forever greenA long time ago in a gallery far away. Well actually no, predictive text is fraught with hazards, but certainly <b>a long time ago, the idea of the Grapevine was born</b>. Having found the space and agreed terms, the need for an identity was uppermost. Various names were suggested and considered but we very quickly settled on Grapevine. Why? Well those who have followed our progress over the last 17 years will probably know, our then location at <b>No.109 was already well-known as Grapevine</b>, having previously been a wine shop with an exhibition space upstairs. There seemed little logic in changing it for even in those pre-online days, most delivery and taxi drivers knew exactly where we were. Name settled we then commissioned graphic designers and with the approval of younger members of the family the logo and typography emerged, and <b>it was green!</b><br />
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And it still is. When we opened in Burnham 12 years back it was very soon made clear by those who mattered in North Norfolk that <b>our identity should be perpetuated</b>, so as 7 years previously we accepted the inevitable. Now of course, green is fashionable and more significantly part of worldwide consciousness.<br />
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Not getting too carried away, I have given some thought to <b>how green we actually are</b>. Surprisingly encouraging it seems. We are entirely lit and heated (minimally) by electricity and I am informed this is renewable and sustainable. <b>Our artists and makers are increasingly local - no airmiles to be found her</b>e, and they use local craftspeople for framing and local supplies wherever possible.<br />
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We could do better of course. Most of the packaging we receive is re-used but I still feel uneasy about bubble-wrap however many times it goes round. We also use cling-film wrap. With this, we are at least now using what I am told is a degradable form but I'm not totally convinced. And of course, in common with most rural businesses, we do use that ubiquitous on-line retailer for things not readily obtainable locally - but as noted before their boxes do come in useful.<br />
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On a personal basis <b>my footprint has also reduced, no longer travelling to the far corners of the country on the pretext of meeting artists.</b> There is inevitably a downside to this and in some cases a real sense of sadness, as inevitably a number of those who exhibited with us and supported us in the early days have retired or sadly died.<br />
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This time of year prompts consideration of gifts. In common with many of our friends and acquaintances, <b>the character of our giving and receiving has changed over the years</b>. The blatantly commercial element has been squeezed by various forces, economic and political uncertainty across the spectrum and a more deep-seated drawing back from the acquisitive desires by the younger and greener sectors of society. <b>So where does this leave the world of the small gallery?</b><br />
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Probably and hopefully not in a bad place. <b>Our art is reasonably green</b> - particularly if you let us wrap it in brown paper or corrugated card. It supports genuinely local economies. It comes in all shapes and sizes and it has a long life – and can be passed on to future generations even if you or the recipient tire of it. <b>So what are you waiting for?</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-75294991635031781092019-03-30T12:42:00.000+00:002019-03-31T13:49:47.060+01:00Time for a change<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The last 3 months seem to have passed chaotically</b> but with little change of any real significance. Unlike last year there has been repetition and distraction but little drama. Hardly any real winter weather with an absence of snow, frost and cold. Neither wet nor dry, the season has past surprisingly uneventfully. There has been wind - lots of it, but even that rather like in other aspects of our life has been<b> </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">"<span style="background-color: white;">a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, </span><span style="background-color: white;">Signifying nothing"</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Encouraged by the absence of winter, nature joined the chaos with snowdrops running riot then disappearing as rapidly and completely as they burst into life. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The statistically unusual but now unsurprising 'record-breaking' warmth of late February prompted the daffodils to burst into equally early bloom.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These too were not long for this world and are now almost history, with camelias and forsythia in hot pursuit.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So now what? Officially winter is now past and spring has been confirmed. <b>But as with the world outwith our beautiful little Norfolk bubble, has anything really changed?</b> Well with the weather, possibly. We shall see. It's a new month on Monday - as Flanders & Swann so perceptively noted all those years ago, <i>"April brings the sweet spring showers, On and on for hours and hours!"</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">As for the wider world, I am yet to be convinced that change is that close. All one can say with any certainty is that <b>in time, at least, we move forwards tonight</b>, and for that I am grateful.</span>
</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-17659178389197220082019-01-07T16:12:00.002+00:002019-01-07T16:12:32.486+00:00The sound of birdsIt's grey in Norfolk just now and we're at one of the days that is singled out as a low point of the year. Apparently yesterday, January 6th, is not only when we take the decorations down but also, somewhat soberingly, is statistically the day the most people die – if you read the Telegraph. Other statistics are available but when you put this alongside stories about what the most depressing day is - although how this can be identified is beyond me - <b>you might be forgiven for not feeling upbeat just now</b>.<br />
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But put your nose outside and whilst it's maybe a little early to be full of the joys of spring <b>just listen and look</b>. Even though we haven't had much winter the birds are out and being busy. Any feeder seems to be <b>overflowing with small birds</b>, all looking full of life. Blue tits, Great tits, Long-tailed tits - you name them - there they are. Robins are singing, Blackbirds are busy nest prospecting, Pigeons are back apparently doing what pigeons do mostly and the Rooks are starting to remind us they're there.<br />
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The lengthening of daylight is barely perceptible and yet the birds' biological clocks clearly know. Maybe if we didn't have our obsession with statistics, we too, might be out and about doing rather than contemplating darkness and cold.<br />
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Nearly 120 years ago at the start of the twentieth century, one of my favourite poets, Thomas Hardy, wrote <b>one of my favourite poems, The Darkling Thrush</b>, evoking the sound of a bird singing at just this point in the year, prompted apparently by<br />
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<i>Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew</i></div>
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<i> And I was unaware.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-295014176641434162018-12-21T12:02:00.000+00:002018-12-21T12:02:19.050+00:00In the bleak midwinterAccording to our Christmas cards I appear now to have a third reader of these scribblings. Most importantly <b>I am informed that they also cheer him up</b>. As a tutor at University told us many, many years ago, if something you've done makes somebody smile you can't really ask for more.<br />
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At the moment there do seem to be a plethora of negative and alarming stories out there beyond our little bubble of happiness here in the wilds of Norfolk, but I do wonder whether it was not ever thus. Our development of media and connectivity is such that we now feel more involved with bad news than our ancestors did <b>even though that involvement is largely and fortunately, virtual.</b><br />
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The horrors of a hundred years ago were only too real even to those living in rural Norfolk, but the involvement was actual, with the loss of families and communities. Now our shock and rage is often focussed on events that not only are we not involved with but are not even genuinely affected by. We love bad news and are somehow drawn to it. In the words of recently departed and wonderfully eccentric Baroness Trumpington, <b>"Don't call for help, shout Fire! then they'll all come to have a look"</b><br />
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Anyway regardless of what our over-dosing on media might have us believe, <b>nature is now turning positive</b>. The earliest sunset was a week ago, the longest night is past and the Solstice is today.<br />
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The Solstice <span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">- <b>the shortest day, today, when the sun reaches its lowest maximum height in the sk</b>y — after which light begins its slow climb back and <b>night yields its reach. </b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Midwinter, yule, the year’s pivot, </span><b style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earth’s rebirth, a dawn of hope.</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-91039215690385337262018-12-04T16:40:00.000+00:002018-12-04T16:40:20.939+00:00Slow you downIt's probably age, but there are moments when it feels like we're increasingly out of control. We're only in the first days of December and apparently many have done their Christmas Shopping whilst the emails for spring ranges are increasing by the day.<br />
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It's not all down to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, for here in the village <b>we were guilty of a very early Lights Switch-on</b> seemingly weeks ago. They look great but when you think that when they are removed in January they will have been up for nearly 2 months - that's a sixth of the year. In our defence <b>the date was driven by the tide</b>. Not ours, but down the road in Wells, where Father Christmas arrives from the sea and can only so do when tide and darkness coincide.<br />
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At home we went and chose our Christmas Tree 10 days ago, but <b>it's still happily growing with its friends in a local field</b> and won't come in the house for another 10 days. You could argue that this diminishes its significance but it will be present for a week before plus the 12 days which I think is about right and actually <b>makes that time seem suitably different</b>.<br />
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Here in the gallery, I succumbed last weekend and following my normal pattern installed some suitably low-key and tasteful gestures towards the festive season. This is partly peer pressure - if everybody else has lights you are likely to be thought truly sad if you're the one who doesn't - and partly <b>a commercial reality, for without a bit of sparkle one might be overlooked</b>.<br />
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Historically, whilst sales of ceramics and - in the days of our Norwich gallery - jewellery peaked in December, paintings saw surprising sales after Christmas. This pattern now seems to be changing, with increasing sales of art as a gift. My reading of this is that in these days of uncertainty and <b>growing antipathy to waste and pointless expenditure</b>, paintings and prints are seen as a gift that is more than a token, a gift that requires thought and consideration and one that <b>may give at least as much pleasure in the months and years ahead as it does when it is first given and received</b>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-15939381301580397282018-11-29T13:55:00.000+00:002018-11-29T13:55:58.669+00:00Writer's block?My loyal reader contacted me noting the reduction in entries here this year, wondering whether this reflected the family changes. In actual fact I think it relates more to <b>simply being out of the habit</b> and possibly a slight move away from social media prompted by the way it has become very much a platform for political views of all shades and volumes.<br />
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As my visitors and the occasional customer will know, <b>the gallery often has the feel of the village pump where friends and artists gather.</b> There are moments where the suggestion that there should be an inscription over the door <i>"licensed to sell art .... and listen"</i> feel very pertinent. Rather like a visit to the hairdressers, the environment here seems to encourage conversation with unburdening of worries and uncertainties. <b>I don't do hair, but I do offer coffee and I do listen.</b><br />
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Recently a number of artists have confessed to uncertainty as to what their work is about and to it's future direction. Rather like the paucity of my scribblings here, it is a form of writer's block common to all who aspire to being thoughtful or creative. My take on it is that <b>if we didn't have these moments of uncertainty and questioning we wouldn't be much good at what we do</b> - be it writing, painting or anything that prompts thought.<br />
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As I have noted before, the work we show varies considerably, but a common theme is that <b>all the makers believe and hope that the best is yet to come</b> and most have a degree of insecurity. As for social media, most of us apparently feel that if we don't engage with it you will be forgotten. In reality, I don't think this is true. Many artists achieve extraordinary numbers of 'likes' to their work on Instagram and Facebook, but that this is not reflected in sales, which of course exacerbates any underlying insecurities and uncertainties.<br />
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Perhaps then, as long as these feelings are kept in proportion, social media can be a force for stimulating creativity and development, whilst the more <b>negative aspects can always be assuaged by looking and enjoying - maybe even purchasing - art.</b> And to leave my loyal reader happy here's something that should soothe the most savage breast.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-65308561243357097382018-11-20T12:30:00.000+00:002018-11-20T12:40:19.169+00:00A week is a long timeChange is all around us and the pace seems to be accelerating. Everything is uncertain. <b>Talking politics? No, nature.</b> For even this seems to be slightly more chaotic just now.<br />
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Just a week ago my early morning walks were serenely calm with sunrise and mists floating over the landscape.<br />
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There haven't been any notable extremes in either temperature or wind and yet in the last week most of the autumn colour has disappeared, seemingly overnight. Just <b>a week ago the beech trees were in their full glory</b> and looked set to continue for a while.<br />
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<b>This morning, at about the same time and the same place, it's all gone</b> – well nearly. The trees are largely bare and the colour has disappeared.</div>
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I'm not suggesting anything unexpected has happened; it is after all late November which by most peoples reckoning is the end of Autumn. It's just that the change seems sudden, or maybe faster than some years. We missed out on Spring this year, going straight from the chill of the beast from the east to high Summer, or so it seemed, so maybe this is the continuation of that, with Winter having blown in from the North Sea. Or maybe not.<br />
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On the basis of last week's chaos in the world of politics and today's position, we simply don't know. <b>It might be warm and sunny by the weekend or it might be snowing – in both the political and natural worlds.</b> We can be fairly sure though that the leaves won't be back on the trees, at least not until after next March.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-38096721781601978302018-08-20T12:08:00.000+01:002018-08-20T12:08:06.547+01:00Going green - the wonder of grass10 days ago the world was still brown. We'd had rain - actually quite a lot of it at the end of July - but nothing seemed to have changed much. The lawn was still like coir matting and even the deep-rooted weeds were looking tired. And then almost imperceptibly the world started to change; just a hint on Wednesday, the merest suggestion on Thursday and then by Friday, green re-entered our dry world.<br />
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Curiously some of the first signs were not acvtually grass, but in the dust and gravel along the side of Norfolk's rural roads where grain spilled by contractor's trailers, having first provided a feast for the wood pigeons, burst into unexpected life. And now just a few days on the verges are definitely turning green - you can almost see them growing.<br />
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As for the lawns, even though we know - and are always told - not to water them as they will recover in September, this year did seem to be stretching our belief. But the grass is growing - and we're still in August. What a wonderful thing!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-9906048818400306502018-07-26T15:13:00.001+01:002018-07-26T15:13:14.266+01:00Hot off the pressJust four months ago it seemed like Spring would never come. In some ways it never did and <b>we leapt straight from the freezer onto the barbecue</b>. For us lucky enough to be here in North Norfolk there have been few complaints, sea breezes making our lives disproportionately easier than those who live and work in cities. However, it is now finally getting to us here, with everyday seeing the fire service rushing to extinguish another field fire, whilst most gardeners hereabouts are starting to realise the havoc being wrought by such a long period without rain. Sadly, I imagine the coming months will also reveal how many trees have succumbed.<br />
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For the gallery, <b>the good weather has brought more visitors</b> but even they are now starting to find it a little warm, particularly in the middle of the day. Our artists are similarly affected - the memories of being too cold to work now seem like a dream - and many are understandably taking time out from the studio.<br />
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Particular problems face the printmaker, with inks adopting unusual characteristics in persistent conditions of high temperature and humidity, even if the maker can cope. Fortunately for us, our <b>current exhibition of wonderful prints by Louise Davies</b> was made before the onset of the current heat. Louise is one of the artists who has shown with us for many years, firstly in Norwich and subsequently here in Burnham. <b>Her work is characterised by vivid colour</b> - hot reds and oranges and also the cooler greens and blues - and offers the chance to acquire some <b>seriously good art at very affordable prices.</b><br />
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Writing about the process of her work Louise says<b> </b><i>"My prints are created from immediate drawings that I do from my sketchbook. For me, the sketchbook is a vital tool for the beginning of my work. I feel very connected to the landscape and to the seasons and try to convey the feeling, shapes, lines and colours of being in the landscape either at a certain time of day or at a certain time of year.</i><br />
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<i>My prints are often created with three plates and sometimes include a collagraph. I love colour and use the different plates, with Aquatint, to pursue a final print, which I hope will have luminous colour and depth in it. The proofing stage can take weeks as I keep trying different colour fields. It can therefore take a while to finally finish the image. My overall mission is to make something that I feel has a balance pictorially. Nature seems to do this effortlessly and this is what I would like to achieve in my work"</i><br />
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The exhibition <b>"A feel for the land"</b> was due to conclude at the end of the month but given the interest - and the weather - we have decided to allow it to <b>run on into August</b>, with the closing date being posted on the website in due course.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-31808354507481572392018-05-20T15:42:00.000+01:002018-05-20T15:42:14.611+01:00Coast and FieldIt is not a pre-requisite for exhibitions to include the word 'Coast' in their title, but given the proximity of the gallery to the coast and <b>the fundamental connection between our part of Norfolk and the sea</b>, it is definitely becoming a habit.<br />
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Our next exhibition does, with <b>Coast and Field</b> which opens in the gallery on Friday 1st June at 6pm, and features the vibrant paintings of local (very local) artists <b>Kevin and Ann-Marie Ryan</b>.<br />
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At their last exhibition with us three years ago, I referred to how best to write about successful artists on their return for further exhibitions. As I noted then ”The biographical details remain the same and in most cases the style and approach are a development of what has gone before, and which underpins their reputation – which, of course, is why they have been invited back” This still holds true, and amongst our regular returnees, Ann-Marie and Kevin Ryan have seen consistent success over the last 16 years.<br />
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At the heart of all their work are <b>their distinctive palettes</b> embuing their perception of the underlying earthforms of the Norfolk scene with a warmth that strikes a chord with many who appreciate the distinctive character of the area. <b>Their paintings are not normal for Norfolk.</b> Vibrant, rich and sometimes dark colours are not what most associate with the county and yet they are very much in tune with it.<br />
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For those who are familiar with their work, this latest collection builds on their considerable reputation. For those who are less familiar – come and see – for almost inevitably, the limitations of reproduction tell only part of the story.<br />
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<b><i>COAST AND FIELD - Ann-Marie and Kevin Ryan, June 1st to 23rd</i></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-77928953447233817722018-04-16T15:04:00.002+01:002018-04-16T15:04:47.579+01:00Fragile CoastIn the two years since her last exhibition at Burnham Grapevine, <b>Mari French has emerged as one of Norfolk’s fastest rising stars</b> on the national art scene.<br />
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The roots of Mari French’s paintings lie in <b>her deep-seated love and affinity with landscape and weather.</b> Born in Manchester she grew up close to the brooding presence of the Pennine hills and then spent 15 years living on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Her early paintings from this time reflect the locale - powerful, at times moody and always evocative. Moving to live in Norfolk, her sources of inspiration and the resulting paintings changed - the colours brighter, and the mood less intense - but still capturing the elemental forces of these wild landscapes.<br />
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Her work is constantly evolving, with experimentation employing paint, ink, collage and oil pastel. The most <b>recent paintings reflect a greater confidence</b>, employing bigger brushes and bolder gestures, the work freer and more expressive but still evoking the interaction of wind, rain, and light.<br />
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Having been a selected artist in the 2014 Sunday Times Watercolour Competition her work has most recently been selected for the Royal Watercolour Society 2018 Contemporary Exhibition. Always fascinating to look at on first sight, <b>Mari’s paintings reveal more about themselves and ourselves as time passes. </b><br />
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<i>The exhibition includes over 20 works with prices starting from £400 and continues until 5th May</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-69666737984301593492017-12-20T15:34:00.000+00:002017-12-20T15:34:05.464+00:00At the darkest hourIn a week's time Christmas will be done and dusted and we'll be in <b>that strange period where the retail world will have swept all festive signs away</b> and will be into 'The Sales' and Easter Eggs, whilst the media will review everything they can and foretell the future.<br />
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Somewhat strangely, we've already past the earliest sunset and the evening light is creeping back, minute by minute. I realise the other part of the equation isn't quite there yet, but <b>the feeling that a corner is being turned is good</b> and prompts the odd reflection on what its all about - particularly when out and about early or late.<br />
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It's always difficult to decide which bit of the year one likes best - I actually think some part of us is pre-programmed to appreciate the season you're in. <b>They all feel right at the time</b>, partly because everything we do still inevitably - even in the digital age - relates to the season. Cold and dark in the winter, warm and dry in the summer. It's when it gets out of sync we all feel everything's not right. So, reflecting, we seem to be doing about right just now; a late colourful autumn and for the first time for a few years <b>a bit of cold and even snow before Christmas</b>. More remarkably, the cold has briefly departed just in time to make family and friends getting together relatively straightforward.<br />
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Accordingly and - in our case traditionally - we spent last weekend with good friends who whilst not having the good fortune to live in North Norfolk do live in another wonderful bit of England, down in glorious Devon. My daily walks briefly disappeared and were replaced with <b>conversation, good food and the odd glass of red!</b> It wouldn't do all the time, but just like the season, it feels absolutely right just now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-16088889492482940282017-11-30T11:54:00.001+00:002017-12-02T11:22:31.241+00:00The proof of the puddingFollowing up on my last post, I am pleased to report that <b>the lights did indeed go on here</b> in Burnham a couple of weeks ago. Like most of the businesses, we are aware of what's going on during the day but only manage to go and have a look towards the end, having discharged our basic function - to trade.<br />
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Based on what I heard from customers during the day, <b>it all seemed to go down rather well</b>, with lots to eat and drink and a mix of music on stage and strolling entertainers loose and wandering around the village. The days of the celebrity switch-on are seemingly gone for good with the re-establishment of <b>Father Christmas at the centre of things seeming to satisfy most people's Christmas wishes.</b><br />
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As for the lights themselves, I remember when <b>tungsten started to give way to LED</b> there was a noticeable backlash and a feeling that these new-fangled things were cold and clinical and not very Christmassy. They may have been, but <b>the world and technology has moved on and Burnham has moved with it</b>. The LED's no longer look cold to me and crucially (by and large) they work when asked to. <b>Just as celebrity has been consigned to history so it seems has the need to check and replace bulbs</b>. Another Christmas Tradition that might just not be missed.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-66183761439187565452017-11-17T14:09:00.002+00:002017-11-17T14:09:47.427+00:00Smaller then you might imagineA couple of years ago I wrote about the hazards and pitfalls of having <b>Christmas Light switch-on events.</b> Well it's that time again, and all across North Norfolk, lights are being installed, checked and day by day, switched on - even though Christmas isn't quite just round the corner.<br />
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When its cold, crisp and bright as it is today, it doesn't seem that strange, but on mild days with leaves still on the trees it does seem just a little early. For most of our neighbours, thinking particularly of Wells and Holt, the organisation and installation is, I think, if not in the hands of the local Town Council very much supported by them. Here things are a bit different; Burnham is smaller than you might imagine - we are not a town but just a slightly larger than average village. We have a Parish Council but <b>the traditional Christmas Lights have always been a matter for the Traders Association</b>, indeed I believe this is where the origins of that body can be found.<br />
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Each year in the time we have been here there has been a question of costs and management. There are a surprising number of businesses here but as time has gone past, an increasing number are staffed by those who live elsewhere and the original direct connections and community links have diminished. Fortunately largely through the efforts of a very few over the last couple of the years, some of the installation costs are now more manageable, but as somebody noted this week <i>"they don't switch themselves on"</i> and the Christmas trees themselves need to be funded, purchased and installed.<br />
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The Parish Council are of course involved but the fact remains that without <b>the time and effort expended by one or two individuals</b> sorting every thing out, Burnham's lights simply wouldn't happen and another little bit of community life would fade away.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8378754548200466014.post-4735218082213494022017-11-08T11:41:00.000+00:002017-11-08T11:41:03.466+00:00Role reversal<span style="font-family: inherit;">In a previous world I was an urban designer. I know and I apologise, although actually some of what we worked on was good. Some of it was however <b>too radical for conservative clients</b>, both public and private.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nearly forty years later, the world has now moved on. <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">he idea of retail parks in edge of or out of town locations - closely followed by new business centres alongside - and then the explosion in online shopping, means <b>town centre shopping is now more or less irrelevant</b>. Niche destinations remain viable either because the destination is attractive in itself or because they offer small specialist and unique services. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The small town 'shopping centre' built in the 60's and 70's has by and large had its day. Nobody wants them and fewer and fewer go there. All across the country there are towns and cities desperately trying to reverse the tide. <b> Funding and re-branding ain't going to fix this. </b>As one of my colleagues memorably advised one of the regeneration agencies we were working for way back then, <i>"it's like a dog chasing a motorcycle - it wouldn't know what to do with it if it caught it". </i>History suggests there is some truth in this - sadly the country is littered with regeneration schemes that didn't actually fail but just spluttered and subsided back from whence they came.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">The answer is to change the way we see these unloved towns. <b>Nobody wants to shop there so we need to reverse things - live there.</b> Convert the unloved shops to residential and community use, maybe put care facilities in the centre so those in need don't depend so much on others to take them there. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">It's worth remembering this is not rocket science; historically it was done the other way round with housing being displaced for retail. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Towns are increasingly like Polo mints - with a hole in the middle.</b> Instead of building further and further out making a bigger and bigger hole <b>we need to abandon our perception of 'town centres'.</b> In many cases they already simply don't exist. We need human scale development to live in at the centre with the other stuff round the edge. The latter part has already happened but so far we've failed to act on the consequences of this.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0