Frames of Reference

A Cup Of Sue

I first met Sue Ashworth in the mid 90s when I moved to Hove and rented space in a communal studio. She and her then partner were doing a commission for a Brighton pub. It turned out the pub owner wanted a ‘Boyle Family’ type of thing. Sue’s partner (a sculptor-cum-troubleshooter carpenter extraordinaire) asked me if I knew anything about the work of the Boyles. I said yes, their techniques for replicating 3D slices of our planet were legendary – and something of a guarded mystery. Continue reading “A Cup Of Sue”

Arrivals & Departures

This is the back wall of the showroom at The Rowley Gallery. I felt I should post this photograph on Frames of Reference to celebrate the arrival of eight new prints from Gail Brodholt because it’s rare for us to have so many at one time. They usually depart very quickly. Continue reading “Arrivals & Departures”

Seascapes & Seescapes

Two exhibitions, one in Greenwich, another in Margate, both featuring paintings by J.M.W. Turner, both spectacular. The image above is a watercolour from the Tate Collection, Harbour Scene at Sunrise, possibly Margate, so let’s begin in Margate. Continue reading “Seascapes & Seescapes”

Knots & Dabberlocks

Sanderlings in the Shrubby Sea Blite

Continue reading “Knots & Dabberlocks”

Bee-Composed

My big sister Lily Hunter Green is a musician and visual artist based between Brighton and Suffolk. She’s currently working on an art installation project called ‘Bee-Composed’, which involves working with an apiarist and a sculptor to adapt a redundant piano into a working beehive from which she will then harvest the sounds of the bees interacting with the strings and the visual footage recorded from within the piano. This will form part of an exhibition later in the year and an original EP. Continue reading “Bee-Composed”

The Uncanny

This is a true story and it happened on Rosslyn Hill in Belsize Park, one evening a few years ago, though the pictures you see are not from there, no. These haunted trees are from the rookeries of the notebook, this winter’s trees signalling to each other through the pages. Continue reading “The Uncanny”

For Paco De Lucía

I heard someone on the radio say that Paco de Lucía was dead. I was shocked. Then someone else said Pablo de Lucía and I breathed a sigh of relief. But when I checked I saw that Paco had indeed died, of a heart attack on holiday in Mexico. Born December 21, 1947, died February 26, 2014, the flamenco guitar maestro gone far too soon. I witnessed an astounding concert at the Royal Albert Hall thirty years ago when he played duets with John McLaughlin. He was a force of nature, together the two of them were supernatural. He will be greatly missed. See more tributes to Paco de Lucía at BBC News.

La Barrosa – Paco de Lucía, guitar and Juan Rainrez, dancer.

Signed, Sealed & Framed

This is a letters patent, so called from the Latin verb pateo, to lie open, exposed, accessible. The originator’s seal was attached pendent from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. Letters patent are a form of open or public proclamation, though what they proclaim is not always patently obvious. Continue reading “Signed, Sealed & Framed”

Rembrandt’s Frame Maker

We recently reframed Rembrandt’s Frame Maker, an engraving by John Dixon published in 1769 by John Weston, after a portrait by Rembrandt of Herman Doomer painted in 1640. Continue reading “Rembrandt’s Frame Maker”

Return To Hampstead Heath

Rembrandt returned to Hampstead Heath last November, back home again to Kenwood House after a holiday whilst the decorators were in. Self Portrait With Two Circles travelled to New York, Houston, Milwaukee, Seattle and Arkansas whilst Kenwood House was closed for over a year for maintenance work. I always like to call in to say hello whenever we’re passing so it was good to catch up. Continue reading “Return To Hampstead Heath”