Molloy On The Shore

sucking stones

I don’t know if Samuel Beckett ever visited Orford, but when we were there – I took advantage of being at the seaside to lay in a store of sucking stones. Click on the play button below for an excerpt from Molloy spoken by Jack MacGowran. It’s one of my favourite pieces of Beckett tomfoolery.

Frames of reference

Staverton Thicks

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In July I posted Elizabethan Oaks about the ancient oak trees of Hatfield Park, which prompted comments recommending Staverton Thicks, a dense, primeval woodland with the oldest oaks in East Anglia. I was intrigued. I’d not heard of it before. Continue reading “Staverton Thicks”

Frames of reference

Christopher Corr At Kensington Place

Swimming with the fishes

Swimming With The Fishes is one of Christopher Corr’s many new paintings for the Art Wall at Kensington Place. They’re bright and colourful, optimistic and uplifting pictures of a piscine* paradise (*fishy in English, swimming pool in French). Continue reading “Christopher Corr At Kensington Place”

Frames of reference

The Man Who Planted Trees

Jean Giono wrote this classic tale in 1953. It tells of a shepherd’s singlehanded reforestation of a desolate valley near Digne-les-Bains in Provence by slowly and devotedly planting acorns. Many who first read it thought it a true story. The author described it as an allegory intended to encourage the planting of trees. This enchanting animated film was made in 1987 by Frédéric Back and it is narrated by Christopher Plummer. Giono’s story may perhaps have influenced Joseph Beuys – 7000 Oaks.

Frames of reference

Three French Abbeys

abbaye-notre-dame-de-senanque

This is probably one of the most famous lavender fields in all of France. It is cultivated by the monks of the Abbaye de Sénanque and blooms in early summer. By the time we got here it was all over. We hadn’t intended to come but the road from Venasque to Gordes was closed at Sénanque and we could go no further, so we turned around in the car park. That was the nearest we got. Continue reading “Three French Abbeys”

Frames of reference