Books – Page 12 – Frames of Reference

Port Meadow

Dear Chris, As mentioned here are a couple or so photos and two sketchbook pages of bird images. I could write for a thousand pages about Port Meadow. I’ve been there ever since I was six years old. It floods in winter, gathers over wintering migrant wild fowl. In the summer it’s a place people swim, sail, walk, make love, do archaeology etc. If you want I can get David to send his poem about the meadow which refers to a drawing of mine. Best wishes to all, love, Andy. Continue reading “Port Meadow”

Hamer Man & The Stalled Ox

Dominic wanted to tell Jelly Green a short story by Saki about the man who painted cows. He couldn’t remember what it was called so, rather than walk to the public library, he searched for it on Google. Somehow “man” + “painted” + “cows” led him to the discovery of the Hamer tribe in Ethiopia. I’m ashamed to say I’d not heard of them before. I had no idea. Could these be my ancestors? Is this why I’m fond of cows? Not so sure about the whipping. Maybe it’s time to visit Ethiopia. Continue reading “Hamer Man & The Stalled Ox”

Goodnight Moon

Once upon a time three bears came to The Rowley Gallery to find a picture frame. They were from a story called Goodnight Moon. They just wanted to go to sleep but they couldn’t relax until they were safely tucked up inside a snug, warm, sunshine frame. Continue reading “Goodnight Moon”

Notting Hill Books

Many of the books on my shelves were discovered in this wonderful wooden shed on Palace Gardens Terrace. On fine days there would be a table outside laid with small appetisers to tempt me inside, where I would be greeted with a friendly smile and an eclectic selection of books. It was always a welcome antidote to the prescribed choice found at Waterstones. But it’s been closed since the end of last summer. Continue reading “Notting Hill Books”

Organizing The Bookcase

Stop motion animation by Sean Ohlenkamp with music by Rodrigo & Gabriela.

For Evelyn Hallewell

I was reminded of this book by Bewick’s Nature Print. It was given to us by Evelyn Hallewell. She discovered The Rowley Gallery late in life and explored it via the website from her home in Scotland. We never met but we did have long telephone conversations and she corresponded with Rowley Gallery artists whose work she enjoyed and sometimes bought. Continue reading “For Evelyn Hallewell”

A Burns Miscellany

A few days ago we received this wee pamphlet from Jonny Hannah to commemorate Scotland’s national poet. A shame it arrived just too late for Burns Night… Continue reading “A Burns Miscellany”

Bewick’s Nature Print

The Hedge Warbler or Dunnock
Printed from the boxwood block engraved by Thomas Bewick for his
History of British Birds, 1797

Continue reading “Bewick’s Nature Print”

A Talkative Font

Last October Howard Phipps wrote about Eggardon for Frames Of Reference, and he sent me a postcard from the nearby church of St Basil in Toller Fratrum, noting on the back that John Piper was keen on the font. It is either late Saxon or early Norman, with crudely carved figures on a limestone carousel and such an endearing image I wished he could have used it in his Eggardon post. Continue reading “A Talkative Font”

From Powdermills To Wistman’s Wood

Here is an extract from a prose work in progress about family life in summer on Powdermills Farm in the 1960s and 1970s. My father, then head of art at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art, had hired a cottage there, in the middle of the moor, from the Duchy for £70 a year. No electricity, no running water, a ghost in the second bedroom, and sheep in the paddock at shearing season. It was a wild experience. Wistman’s Wood, primordial remains of the original Dartmoor landscape before its Bronze Age settlement, is a few miles walk from Powdermills, and remains one of the most atmospheric and haunting spots on the whole moor. The paintings were made on a return visit in 2009, and there are two of my father’s sketchbook drawings from the late 1960s. The poem comes from First Music, a sequence about Dartmoor, childhood and memory, in the 2011 collection The Rapture (Salt Books). Continue reading “From Powdermills To Wistman’s Wood”