Wednesday 29 April 2009



I have nearly finished my latest module which is a good job as AS levels are about to start which means Kirsty will be going into meltdown mode.She is so desperate to get into nursing that I really hope she does well .
I have just got to 'flesh out' the contextual part of this module and make sure all the 't's are crossed and 'i's dotted and I think I've done as much as I can before 'moderation' on 16th May. Its certainly been quite a semester all things considered but I have enjoyed this module immensely which has been a great relief after the last 2 and all the problems surrounding the course. There's piles of work but I'm putting up a couple of pictures to show you the final conclusion. Now all I've got to do is dig out my work area from under the 10 ton of books, materials and other stuff I tend to accumulate before the next semester starts!

Tuesday 14 April 2009






I shouldn't be doing this really, blogging should really come second to degree work but I am telling myself that, as I spent 13 hours on the embellisher working on a sample for my latest module over Easter plus doing some hand stitching to it, I can allow myself a few minutes to blog as there won't be any more time to this week. I wasn't housebound all Easter though. On Good Friday we visited Kentwell Hall in Suffolk (again) where they were having one of their reinactment weekends. You can see a picture of the extremely rare 'Kirsty bird' who usually is only seen nowadays in a flock of similarly aged teenagers. Poor Kirsty she always gets hauled out to participate in things like this and if she actually sees this photo will probably migrate south yet again! Kentwell was looks particularly lovely at Easter when the daffodils are all out (notice OH likes his camera too) and the walled garden has some really old espaliered apple trees just covered in texture. I couldn't resist popping in the picture of the lamb.
On Sunday I had a really rare treat when we went to a pub for lunch down at Heybridge and we were able to eat outside by the water.As usual I pocketed my camera and whilst walking lunch off got some great shots of some of the old rotting boats accompanied by family remarks of 'why on earth are you taking photos of those?' . I don't care - when/If I ever finish this degree I certainly have a lot of material to work with from my photos.

Thursday 2 April 2009


Today I am feeling a bit sad. I have been drawing together all my ERTF stuff in preparation for standing down as Chairman at the conference in Ipswich on Saturday. Since I came up with the idea for the forum just under 2 years ago it has been a major part of my life and it is amazing to see how it has grown in such a short time. I can't say I am altogether ready or a 100% happy to 'hand it on' as it were, but I know deep down it is the right thing to do. I would have loved to have chaired the Forum through its first exhibition in September but the best guests at a party always know when to leave don't they?
It has been a fairly grotty past 6 months for me so I am just hoping that Easter will live up to its resurrection promise and I can have a new start with the spring. It feels fortuitous that my current module is all about about a pentecostal altar cloth and I can almost feel it breathing a new fire into my own work. The new degree school -which we refer to as JC- has now truly risen from the ashes of OPUS with its validation and far closer connection with Middlesex Uni. now in place. The whole thing shows a great promise and an exciting new page is being turned.
So Happy Easter to you all and lets hope the spring lives up to its promise.