School Project Mark I
Have you ever seen that ‘Grumpy Old Women‘ episode where they talk about the ‘letters from school’ and having to make things for school projects? Costumes, cakes, makes etc, and the terror of looking in the school bag to find yet another letter from the school asking for this that and the other. Contributions for this, help to make that, donations for this, cartoons, carboard, this list is endless…
Well, a few weeks ago I was handed a blue piece of cloth, and a letter explaining that we needed to make a collage hand for a community project in which all finished hands would be put together to make one big collage. We had to use the blue square with which they had supplied us, and we could then use anything else we wanted. Fabric, paper, glitter, all sorts.
Being a creative person, I had lots of good ideas, but then like most things in my life, I left it to the last minute. So, realising the deadline was upon me, I pinned down my protesting daughter, drew around her hand (so I could at least with a clear conscience claim she had been involved), used the cutout as a stencil and used some pink felt for the hand shape. I Got some PVA from her craft box, and the day before the deadline start gluing on my stars and sequins, having used spray mount to affix the hand. That worked quite well. I left it for 24 hours, which I thought would be ample time for it to dry. It did indeed dry, however, when I lifted my square, all the stars and sequins started to fall off. I then re glued again with craft glue. Left it for two hours, went back..again everything fell off.
By this time I was getting desperate as I had only an hour to go before I had to hand it over, the deadline having all ready been and gone. Frantically I rushed upstairs to my studio and got my very expensive (only to be used for serious art work) pot of Golden Matte Gel Medium. I got some more glue, and carefully stuck my stars (beginning to look a little worse for wear) and sequins down and painted the gel medium over the the top, then somewhat haphazardly and over enthusiastically covered it in glitter, it actually worked a treat.
I left it pinned to the line to dry and carefully carried it to the school and handed it over with nary a backwards glance, relieved to be rid of it.
It was a stressful day all told and am so looking forward to my next school project.
Hand for school project
Hand for school project
65th Anniversary of VE Day
65 years ago today was VE day, which stand for ‘Victory in Europe’ and marked the end of the second world war. My Grandmother, Gladys Bennie nee Ellis, who had married a Canadian pilot after only a very few weeks of courtship, travelled from Slough to London the day before, and sat on a pavement all night with countless others to watch the Victory parade. She missed her last train home and only made it as far as Windsor. Gladys went to the local police station and explained her situation. They very kindly made her up a bed in one of the cells (a lot cleaner in those days I should imagine), cooked her breakfast in the morning and she then made her way home.
I have many stories similar to this one told by my Grandmother, mostly about the war, and her early life. I am glad I remember them, for now dementia has taken hold and she remembers very little from the past. Interestingly most of her memories centre around her childhood in Cumberland. Conversations with her are now a cycle of repetition. I rang her today at the home where she now lives, and told her it was the 65th Anniversary of VE Day, she remembered being there…but little else. Today wasn’t a good day. Gladys will be 90 this year, she born in 1920.
I have been looking at pictures and old films today of that event. People were euphoric and joyful, and full of hope for a better future and so desperately happy and relieved that the terrible days of bombings, death, deprivation and uncertainty would be at an end.
Though I was born in the early 60′s, quite some time after the war had ended, it was still for most people of my parents and grandparents age, a recent memory. In fact, there were still many legacies of the war around. The garden next to my Aunties house had an Anderson shelter at the bottom, though my sister and I were never allowed in it, and in fact, rationing didn’t come to an end until the mid 50′s. Most of the films on the television were about the war etc, as were documentaries, the most memorable being ‘World at War’, broadcast most unsuitably during Sunday afternoons.
The world has changed considerably since then. Nations have been formed, borders have changed, moved..dissapeared altogether. New technologies, cultures, belief systems and ways of life. I wonder how the world will look when I am 90?
Anyway, here is to all the souls who fought in that war, supported their country, and helped to rid the world of a terrible evil, that today so many have so little knowledge of. And here is to my Grandma, whom I love so very much.
Links:
VE Day Memories – BBC
The World at War
ETA:
Grandma died late summer last year.
Southern Classics
Chevrolet
A few weeks ago whilst it was still sunny, myself, Luke and Orla went to see the Southern Classics car show that was taking place at Chichester College.
Unfortunately, the times on the website weren’t accurate. It stated that the show was ending at 4.00 pm, and in fact ended at 3.00. So, by the time we got there, some cars were already leaving, including a Pontiac Transam, which I watched drive past me *boo*.
However, there were some beauties on show, and I got some good shots, plus which Orla got some new toy cars (and me too) to add to her collection from the stalls that were there too.
The owners were friendly and informative, and clearly had enormous passion for their cars and the club. One owner told how his Armstrong Siddeley (see pic below) had been in a barn for years and years on end, and showed me photographs of how it had looked when he got hold of it, which was little more than a wreck. The time (and money) he had invested in restoring the car to it’s former glory was immense.
I should at this point mention that my husband is a petrol head (mostly for old classic cars etc, and 70′s classics). There is no car that exists that he does not know something about, and even when looking at a small section of a car in a photo, he will be able to tell you what it is. So, over the years, I have gathered some knowledge myself from the subsequent fall out, and am able to recognise most classic cars. Our time together and trips to Festival of Speed, Revival etc, has given me an appreciation of the beauty and elegance of old cars.
Sunbeam
Riley
Lorrie Whittington
Visual Artist and Designer
Chichester, UK
