Enjoy…

And I come across this builders’ sack full  of weeds I pulled up last year. In amongst the rotting vegetation wild garlic and lung worth have self seeded.

Fox is asleep beneath the apple tree. He grins at me as I pass by as if by saying; ‘told you so! As long as the sun shines, there will always be us weeds and vermin.’
And he closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep.
And suddenly all is well again with my world.

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But the area is part of a Conservation Area, and you need planning permission to cut down trees. Besides, who in their right mind would cut down two mature trees covered in ivy in the middle of nesting time?
After having listened to this noise for hours, too stressed out to be able to concentrate on doing any work in the studio, I decided to pop across the road.

I called out to the contractors who told me that they did not need planning permission.  I insisted they did, and while I phoned the Headmaster to find out what was going on, they stopped work. They were quite sweet, really.

But instead of the Headmaster, a very irate caretaker appears and he tells us to go away and mind our own business. The School does not need planning permission to carry out tree work, and we are just ignorant , silly women who are making a fuss over nothing.
At this point quite a few people had gathered around and here he is seen laying in to one of them.
He orders the tree work to continue.  I phone the Council to find out what is going on, and I am told that of course they need permission to work on trees in a conservation area. They advise me that a Planner will be found who can come to check out the situation and speak to the Headmaster.
I call the school to plead with them to halt the work until the Planning Officer has arrived. But they don’t stop the work.

Instead the headteacher appears at the gates and shouts at us to go away. He keeps asking us where we live, and who we are, and for I while I feel as though I am being threatened by a mobster.
We ask him if he has planning permission, and he repeats the caretakers opinion that we are ignorant women and should mind our own business. We insist we will go away once we know if he has a permission to destroy trees planted by the lady who collected trees and plants with Darwin and helped create Kew Gardens.

We say they’d better stop work until the Planning Officer arrives, or we’ll call the police.  The Headmaster laughs at us and turns away to order the work to re-commence. But he is making frantic calls on his mobile…
And so are we; to the police.

But when the police finally arrive; it is too late. Three trees were cut down that day.
My friends and I go for a coffee, and while we are at the cafe’ I pick up the local paper and spot an article about how a Christian organization in a nearby town, Bexhill, is busy creating a community garden where people can find peace and contemplation. There is a certain irony in that two church organizations in neighbouring towns are behaving in such opposite ways – one church creating a garden in Bexhill while the other one, in Hastings, is busy destroying one.

This is a link to the area concerned…

I would like to end this sad tale on a happy note; but I can’t find one. Except this; the Swifts have arrived! Hurling themselves through the air in jubilant celebration of Spring and the beauty of being alive. I’ll settle for that, I think.

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Hastings. Sunshine. Cherry Tree dreaming about seas of pink flowers.

Rolling Sea mist, and still she dreams and plots and labours.

…almost there!

There! Done it!

The sea is rough and petals flutter like clouds of pink confetti; but we have a result. The Cherry Tree in all her glory!

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I’m letting my big teaching studio in Hastings; I have decided not to do any more big ceramic workshops for a while…
I still run small ceramic workshops from my own studio upstairs; I find it hard to give up teaching all together.

This studio measures 21′ x 15′

There is a lovely fireplace for those chilly evenings…

Lovely views, and easy parking…

Nice French doors leading out to a little patio…

…perfect for that tea break

And it comes with a cat! And heavingly curtains!

The rent is £275/month, and that includes heating in winter.

There is also a smaller studio at the back of the house; it measures 14′x 9′ and would be wonderful for storage/printmaking – there is a sink in the room plus a separate entrance and bathroom. The rent for this studio is £225/month.

The rent for both studios is £500/month. If you are interested in renting one of the studios or both, then please contact me!

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The fig tree is waking up to a new season of glorious living!

I’m going in to my studio today to see if I can produce something – anything! Pockets full of paracetamol and a hot water bottle strapped to my back, squelching and flopping as I move.

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The flower meadow underneath the old apple tree; lung worth, primula, violets, blue bells  – there are even a few snake head frittilary

…growing in between the lung worth

wild violets

Kind of a good excuse not to mow the lawn?

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As for me? I am hanging out my laundry. And the fox is keeping a watchful eye.

My back is still playing up and it is a victory (of will over matter) to even make myself bend down to empty the washing machine. Let alone hang the stuff on the line.

My reality is fractured in so many ways both internally and externally.

Fox. Sheets. A reflection in the glass doors of me in my most sexy and alluring sweater; the one  I seem to live in these days.

I like the multi exposure image because it reflects how I feel at the moment. So much is going on; yet nothing is happening – I’m flat on my back in bed for no good reason. When I should be dancing.

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This is a torso celebrating the heathland; bracken and brooks.

I was sorry to see it go, but glad it found a new home.

Smoke fired ceramics, appx 23” x 15”

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Strange mixture of Shamanism and Christianity – I love it.

I hope you enjoy it, too.

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