"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." A.A.Milne
Yesterday I went with Angela to Reverse Garbage. Reverse Garbage is an environmental co-operative committed to promoting sustainability through the reuse of resources. I recommend you follow them on Facebook to receive news of great materials coming in.
For very little money we bought loads of wonderful stuff to use in our art practices. I don’t know exactly how Im going to use these things, but finding out will be half the fun!
Here’s just some of the bits and pieces we bought.
Angela is in town, so today we made encaustic medium in the studio. I had bought home from New York as a gift for her a swag of different papers, some found, some bought. I also bought her some square silicone ice cube trays. The medium looks sooo good in those nice little cubes! Tomorrow I have promised her a trip to Reverse Garbage (excitement!). She has never been. I’m hoping we find some excellent bits and pieces to make stuff out of.
On Monday we went with Daniella to Codex at Richmond, near San Francisco. She has written about it in her blog and included links to her favourites, which are pretty much also mine, so I will direct you to her blog to explore. It was the first time I had been to Codex, also, and I was knocked out by the quality of the work on display. We only had a few hours, but you could have spent days looking at the beautiful books there.
It was interesting for me, because although I love looking at Artists books, I haven’t really been terribly interested in making them, and I finally worked out why. It seems to me that each page of the book seems to aspire to be perfect, to be completely finished. I feel as if the things I make are just a step on a journey, that its still possible to change them, that they aren’t ‘set in stone’ . I know that there is really no reason why I couldn’t make a book of fragments, of impressions, and perhaps someday I might. But up until now, it’s seemed like too much of a statement!
The building the Fair is held in is very impressive, a huge industrial building with floor to ceiling windows as well as skylights. The light floods in, and on a sunny day, it is beautifully warm in there.
From the forecourt of the building there are views across to San Francisco.
Angela has only cried twice since she arrived in Venice: once over lunch, and once over breakfast, neither of which I cooked. I don’t think it was anything to do with disappointment over the quality of the meal. I think it was an excess of emotion, perhaps related to the beauty of Venice, and the effects of jetlag and Prosecco. Yes, at breakfast.
She has shot lots of photographs, but as yet her efforts at shopping have been, to be frank, a bit underwhelming. Mainly food, alcohol, and gifts for her children.
Nicki and I had an encounter with the Italian John Cleese, who runs the only cafe on Isola de San Giorgio Maggiore. We decided to call him Basilico. He could barely contain his rage at the stupidity of his clientele. Enquiries as to the nature of the Primo Piatti on the menu were greeted with incredulity. There was toast on the menu. Nicki asked what this was, meaning what came with the toast. ‘Square pieces of sliced grilled bread,’ he said.
We had gone to the island to ascend the campanile, which has a wonderful view of the whole of Venice. You can see how small it actually is. We recommend that you go after midday. The bell tolls the hour, and if you are not prepared, you may find your ears ring with the sound of the bells for days afterwards – best to have only one or two, not eleven or twelve.
This afternoon, we went to Ca’ Rezzonico, a beautiful museum of seventeenth century Venice. the walls are covered with damask and velvet in beautiful patterns and colors. Many of the ceilings were painted by Tiepolo. There was an extensive gallery of paintings by early Venetian artists, furniture, mirrors and curtains. Together these things gave a real sense of how life might have been for the rich and powerful in Venice.
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A view from the campanile.
BOX OF BIRDS 