Back in 1989-91, Paul and I lived in Libreville, Gabon, where he was the deputy US Ambassador and, since I wasn’t allowed to work under him according the State Department rules, I was on leave without pay (which was fine by me).  Our nearest neighbors and dear friends were the British Ambassador and his wife, Mark and Lynn Goodfellow.  Mark passed away years ago, but we keep in touch with Lynn.  We were to meet her on Tuesday afternoon, so in the morning Eli and I did the hop-on, hop-off tour of London (which took HOURS), then met Lynn for the afternoon and evening.  It was if 23 years evaporated–such fun!

With Lynn and Eli at Lynn’s home in Putney Heath, near WImbledon, after a lovely day

And I apologize in advance for so many photos, but gosh, this is maybe five percent (or less) of the photos that I took–things to remember and design inspiration EVERYWHERE!

Some of the things I noticed:  how CLEAN the air is compared to 30 years ago.  Gone are the diesel-spewing lorries and busses.  The vehicles have much stricter emissions, many are hybrids, and the air is actually CLEAN!  No more coughing on choking exhaust.  And the building–there were huge construction cranes and building and upgrading going on EVERYwhere.   Alas, I had told Eli to expect people to queue up nicely, no pushing, to wait for lights and so on.  At least in London that is no longer the case–it’s more like a big city anywhere.  And the dress:  in 1978, Americans looked American, Brits looked British, the Germans German and so on.  Now, MAYBE some of the French flair will pop out at you, but otherwise  from Japanese to American to British to generic European we all dress alike.  Except for the Muslim women in veils, but even there is a wide range!

Imagine, design inspiration even on the double decker buses, here on Regent Street in the heart of London. Loved this take on steampunk!

This beautiful building reinforced the dictum to “Look Up.”

Look at that cool critter up on top and the ornamentation in the base.

I wish I had thought to switch the camera over to video, here on Regent Street at Oxford Circus. A “Circus” is a roundabout or traffic circle. This was about 10 am on a Tuesday morning. Talk about a swarm of humanity…it made me laugh, and really glad I was on the bus and not IN the swarm!

SWOON–that half-timbered building is Liberty, as in Liberty of London, as in all that glorious fabric and more. We did get back there but only for half an hour. Just as well, if I had stayed longer I would be even more broke and have needed a suitcase!

Coming up on Picadilly Circus, traveling on Regent Street. Notice the done on the building on the corner.

Look at that utterly amazing sculpture up near the dome, a woman diving…way cool!

So much of the old architecture is laden with inspiring ornament, but even new buildings proved interesting. Think how dull this modern building would be without that design up the front. Hmmm…that could get translated into a really cool thermofax screen now that I think of it….

Soon we came to Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery, St. Martin in the Fields church, Lord Nelson’s column, and this blue rooster. This plinth (base) has been the home for some rotating art. I’ll let you google to find out more about it… but a big blue….ummm…let’s go with rooster…..someone has a sense of humor!

National Gallery on the left….

And take a look at the design work on that dome. What a great quilting pattern or background design!

Next we went into the City of London, the original small city. This clock is at the Inns of Court, the justice departments.

Here’s the fairy-tale-like building to which the clock is attached:.

Next we drove along Fleet Street, home to the London press. LOVED the dragon!

And for my friend Jacquie who loves owls, this clock on a building on Fleet Street.

One of the old narrow b uildings next to the raised light rail lines–if you look up a bit, you’ll see the trains. I used to take the train in from Lewisham when I was in school in the 70s.

The old and the new: the Tower of London (another place we regretfully decided to skip because it was wall-to-wall people), with the modern building called the Gherkin behind it.

Going across Tower Bridge. The Bridge is a stunning architectural beauty!

A neighborhood (Belgravia or Chelsea I think) in London

A most stunning artwork-in-progress at The Tower to commemorate those slain in World War 1, as this is the centennary anniversary of the start of that war. Learn more about this Sea of Red  installation here and here.  Red poppies, which grew in Flanders Fields, are traditional in the UK to commemorate those lost in war.  These are ceramic poppies; the last will be installed on November 11th, 2014, armistice day (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, our Veterans’ Day).  The Smithsonian article (the second link) said “All told, 888,246 poppies will flood the Tower’s moat, equaling the number of British and Colonial soldiers who perished in the war.  The project, titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, comes from the creative minds of ceramic artist Paul Cummins and state designer Tom Piper.”

At 1 pm, we met Lynn at Westminster Pier. She said she’d have on a hat. Well, as we walked up I saw a woman in a hat with her back to me in a stance that looked SO familiar, so I called out and indeed it was Lynn! We went on a cruise ship up the Thames from Westminster (home to Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey) to The Tower and back. It was tons of fun!  Lynn on the left, Eli wishing I would stop taking pictures with him in them.

I also had a lot of f un taking pictures of chimney pots everywhere.

The Golden Hind, a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship. Depending on which side of the sword you were on, he was either a hero of Britain or a miserable marauding pirate. He explored the San Francisco bay area and the main artery near where I grew up is called Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, and the public high school is Drake High School.

American theatre impresario Sam Wannamaker is a hero in England for his successful efforts to reconstruct Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, complete with thatched mossy roof, on the banks of the Thames. We didn’t get to any plays…maybe next trip?

London Bridge is not falling down, and is still in place. It is also NOT the beautiful Tower Bridge, but this rather bland thing. At least I can now say I’ve been under, over and ON the Thames.

Eli recognized this building immediately as having been the location for MI6, the spy agency, in the last Bond movie, Skyfall. Luckily, it did not really blow up, as it is the new Charing Cross Station (rail and tube). The boat guide told us there was a design competition with the goal to design a building that has train-like…I can see the hint of the old engines in this–can you?

And our next day, the first Wednesday, was a day to remember for a lifetime….stay tuned!  I’ll blog about it in two parts…..

The Sutton Hoo Burial Treasures at the British Museum, London

In 1978 I spent a semester in school in London.  It was pass-fail, not grades, so I passed.  But my time and interests were elsewhere:  I went to museums and the theatre (inexpensive same-day tickets) every week.  Every weekend, well almost every one, I went somewhere in the country by train, staying at youth hostels.   It was a most amazing few months, and some of the images have stayed with me since I was 19.  Some of those images are from the British Museum‘s exhibit of the phenomenal Sutton Hoo Burial Ship treasures which date to about 724 AD.  A decade or so ago, I learned that one could now VISIT the site where the ship was dug up, and that began my quest to return to England.  Before Eli and I went to East Anglia, however, I wanted him to see what had stayed with me all these decades.  The buckles above are just two of the samples–the intricacy of these small works is simply phenomenal, the imagery enticing.

We reached the museum mid afternoon, having been up well over 30 hours (overnight flight in a too-warm airplane included), so Eli kinda hit the wall and didn’t look much.  And it was crowded.  Beyond belief crowded.  The line into the ladies room took over half an hour–Eli actually sent a text wondering what had become of me!  I wanted Eli to see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles since he is studying Latin.

This is the horde of humanity around the case with the Rosetta Stone. UGH. Too many people!

Eventually, we got close:

THE Rosetta Stone

Yep, the one, the original, the stone that helped humanity learn to read Egyptian heiroglyphics.  But what crowds.  We ended up being too tired to find the Elgin Marbles that day.  By the time we returned to London, we decided that we couldn’t cope with the hairy hordes and did not return to the Museum.  I hope some day to return, but I think it will be during a snowstorm in January just to avoid the masses!

But I did get to take many photos up in the Sutton Hoo exhibit, where the display cases and signage are vastly improved over 1978.

Just LOOK at this amazing ring pin; this one is probably almost 4 inches in diameter, and that pin could be lethal!

The case with a selection of items, the above pin is on the left.

The most stunning item from the Sutton Hoo find is this mask. They believe the ship was for the king of the Anglo-Saxons in East Anglia and dates to circa 724 a.d. These are the remnants of the helmet.

Based on the fragments and knowledge about contemporary helmets and design, they have made this piece to show what it would have looked like at the time of burial, including the garnets on the eyebrow ridges. Simply phenomenal artistry and craftsmanship.

More every-day implements and artifacts.

And I am always intrigued by how people lived in olden times. This pot would have been hung from a ridgeline/rafter post over a fire.

The original gourd had long since rotted away, but the intricate metalwork survived, so they made this wooden vessel to go with the metalwork and show how it was originally made.  Just think of the designs–in calligraphy, quilting, you name it!

Another buckle component. Look at the faces in those round areas!  If I recall, this is probably three inches or so tall?   The level of detail and workmanship simple awes me.

Then back to the hotel to collapse! Time for a good night’s sleep before a long and happy Tuesday. I took this picture of Notting Hill station (remember the movie with Hugh Grant? Yep, that Notting Hill, which is a district in London not far from our Tube stop).  It is one of the stations that hasn’t been gussied up and still has its old character.

So those are the artifacts that sent me back to England–I wanted to see them again, not just in photos, and go to where they had been found.  That would happen on Thursday, but we had two phenomenal days before that one!  There’s more to come!

Some of you may have already seen some of these photos on Facebook, but many of you haven’t.  So in the interest of re-living a trip of a lifetime, here’s the first of many posts with our trip, inspiration, visual feasting and whatnot!  We left the house about noonish on Sunday, arrived at London Heathrow at 6:30 am (3:30 body clock) and kept going until just past supper time in London.  Going on adrenaline!

Some years ago I wrote a blogpost titled “This is not a minivan.” It is still not a minivan: this is the view from the inside of the 9 passenger prop plane we take from Owl’s Head–about a half hour’s drive from home– (Cape Air, love them!) to Boston, from which point we can get anywhere in the world. That’s Eli up in the co-pilot seat.  One does not put feet on footpedals!  Seat assignments are by weight so that the plane is balanced.

Here’s an aerial view of Maine as we left midday:

The Maine coast just south of Owl’s Head/Rockland as we headed East “across the pond.”

Methinks Paul was a tad nervous watching us head off on our great adventure. He didn’t want to go to England, so he stayed home and minded the house and critters so that Eli and I could have fun.

First and foremost:  thank you to Paul and Eli.  Paul for minding the home front, Eli for actually WANTING to go on a trip with his old mom!  Joshua and Ashley, you’re next.  Edinburgh and points beyond, the Smiths are returning to the UK–probably not for a few years (gotta teach and earn enough money to save up and pay for another trip like this!), but we are coming back!

Compare the cabin and view above and below:

Very clearly, this is NOT Cape Air, but in fact the British Airways flight nonstop to London. The cabin was warm, and tho I dozed an hour or two, Eli didn’t on this overnight flight.

I LOVE the in-flight maps. Here you can see the big picture, from Boston to London. I was tickled to see Vigo, Spain. I’d not heard of it before recently, but a classmate in the Sketchbook Skool has shared some of his drawings of Vigo. Fun to see it on the map! Can I say again how much I love the internet?  How I have met people and learned so much?

As the plane ducked under the cloud cover at just past 6 am local time, we got a spectacular aerial view of London, with the Thames, South Bank on the Left, more of the mass of London on the right, The London Eye (the big ferris wheel), Parliament, Big Ben, the Tower, and so much more in clear view.

The fields and hedgerows of England on the approach to London. A bit more countryside! Let there be quilting!

Rather a difference, eh?  One of the things Eli most wanted to do was run at Olympic Park, in the stadium if possible.  Alas, it was under major re-construction, but he got to take a refreshing trot.  That’s him coming around the corner next to the pink sign post. The velodrome is in the background.  The skies would look like this pretty much every day:  blue with clouds, some of which would sprinkle on us momentarily but–with the exception of one day–no real soaking rains.

We got exceptionally lucky and were able to check in early. So we ditched our bags and set out to see the sights, starting with Olympic Park.

This ended up being the only real running Eli got to do.  I don’t think he counted on Mom’s ability to go-go-go when on the road with things to do, people to meet and sights to see!

Eli under the Olympic rings after his run.

Then we took our Oyster cards, re-loadable fare cards for the London Underground (Tube / subway) and light rail system.  WAY easier than the old day of buying paper tickets!  After a bit of lunch, we headed off to King’s Cross.

King’s Cross Station, site of the somewhat-imaginary Platform 9 3/4 of Harry Potter/Hogwarts fame.

The above is the old part of the station, but with the old funky platform signs swapped out for the modern ones that report what train is coming in at which platform and when.  Easier for travel, but not as much character.  The photo below is the VERY new part of the station.  Beautiful, but…sigh…. I miss some of the old stuff.

The new part of King’s Cross station. Both the Tube and rail lines come in here. King’s Cross is the departure points for points north, like York, Leeds, Edinburgh and the fictional Hogwarts. Thank you to J.K. Rowling for giving such a wonderful world to all of us!

I had read in my guide book that you could visit Platform 9 3/4 at the station, which is why we went.  WHAT a disappointment!  It was on a wall between two shops, not the actual platform.  Of course, given the queue, I can see why they couldn’t put it between platforms 9 and 10, but…. it was the back half of a luggage cart with old suitcase.

Platform 9 3/4 is under that white tube thingy, on the other side the crowd waiting to take pics.

If you wanted to stand in line–on this day about an hour–you could wear a Gryffindor scarf and take your picture there.  Since Eli and I had been going for about 36 hours, that was SO not going to happen, but we snagged this photo instead.

Me, with some of the crowd behind me and the Platform sign barely visible. Happy to be there anyway!

Our next stop that day, just about as we hit the wall from tiredness and collapsed, was the British Museum.   As we would discover about all of London in August, it was PACKED with tourists.  But I’ll save that for the next post because the reason was one of my major reasons for taking this trip.  And yes, it involves art and quilts!

Those who know me on FaceBook know that I post regularly photos from my dog walkies.  But since some of you aren’t ON Facebook, thought I’d share them here.  As you read this, Eli and I are in ENGLAND!  We’ll have wifi and will likely post to Facebook, but not sure I’ll be able to update the blog until we are home (hubby will be there tending the critters…he didn’t want to go to England…can you imagine?).  Anyway, we’ll be able to use Facetime to keep in touch!   So here is some local beauty:

Even weeds can be beautiful. I tweaked this photo in Photoshop to create a thermofax screen, so hope to do some surface design this fall!

And another of the grasses:

What a great design this will be. Wonder if I can make a “plaid” by printing the screen at right angles , or create a diamond…hmmmm

One day Eli had a summer pre-season cross-country team run in Rockport near the Children’s Chapel.  I walked in the garden and got these photos:

Glorious poppy seed head and flower

I’d never seen seed pods like on this tree, aren’t these cool?

And a close up

Back at home, the milkweed pods are growing. There is SO a milkweed quilt in my future.

Evelyn Chagnon, this is for you: baptisia with seed pods. I’m hoping to bring some seeds to you at Quilt Festival as well as mail you a chunk of the plant in Fall.

And I discovered it isn’t just wild blackberries, we have delectably TINY wild raspberries. YUM. Yes, I ate this one.

And a summer’s evening dog walkies to close things out. The light is from the entry/kitchen door to our house.

Of late I have been busy with many things, one of which is Sketchbook Skool, an online cast of a gazillion students and, each term, six different teachers.   This past week’s lesson was with Brenda Swenson, and the use of single colors of watercolor on paper, letting them mix and play has been a revelation.  Since my last post, about the new Series 1400 of Quilting Arts TV, featuring little ol’ me in three episodes talking about making a quick bag as a gift, machine quilting, and correct needles/thread, was the last post, I thought I’d continue with the Series 1400 theme, creativity and inspiration.  (To see the information on the series and the ongoing bloghop, please click here to read about the series and visit all the creative, inspiring bloggers who just happen to be guests on this season!).

The completed sketch by me–contour drawing with fountain pen with non-waterproof ink and watercolor.

To begin at the beginning, we were to do a contour drawing, 3 minutes, of an item.  Then 6 minutes for two items, and 10 minutes for three.   Here’s what I did in my “everyday” sketchbook, which happens to be a Stillman & Birn Epsilon, 7 x 10 inch size.  This sketchbook has a hot press finish, about 100-lb paper; they are available at Binders Art Supply in Atlanta (google up the website) and Dick Blick (ditto), among other places.  I didn’t know where I put my Tombow marker (water soluble), so decided to use my Flex Nib (Noodler’s Creaper pen) fountain pen with R&K Alt Goldgrun ink (LOVE); both pen and ink came from the wonderful Goulet Pens.  (Note:  I’m not advertising, just anticipating questions!)

Timed contour sketches of fiestaware pitcher, tea-for-one teapot/but from my friend Marie many years ago, and a bottle of deAtramentis Roses scentted ink (heavenly color AND scent, also from Goulet Pens). I used R&K Alt Goldgrun in my fountain pen.

Today, I rushed a bit and the pitcher is seriously tipsy, but I’m pleased, especially with the way the reds and black merged on the label on the bottle.   And the more I practice / make art, the more I am embracing  the idea that I do not need to be absolutely freakin’ perfect, that the wobbles and imperfections are what give something individuality, just as our handwriting varies from those cursive letters above  the blackboard back in second grade.

Here’s the in progress, with the items behind the sketchbook on a dining table that I should have tidied before the photo but of course did not. Truth in blogging…..

Notice the difference between this page and the one at the top–what a difference a little “framing” makes!  And I LOVE that green ink!

And for more inspiration, I just had to add this.  Last night thunderstorms rolled in, so of course we lost satellite signal and everything started to pixillate.  Immediately I tried taking a photo with my iPad (on which I was trolling FB or playing solitaire), but the camera just c ouldn’t capture the incredible colors.  So I dashed madly for the camera in the next room and got this photo at the last second before the picture returned to normal.  THIS is inspiration…aren’t these colors glorious?  I’m not much of one to enjoy abstract art, but this is enough to make you want to grab tubes of paint, several palette knives  and go to town.

Our pixillated TV screen. Isn’t this incredible? The COLOR!

So that’s my life the past 48 hours (plus helping to hang the quilts for Maine Quilts, the annual quilt show here).  Art and inspiration!  And check out my previous post (link above) if you’d like to scope out the bloghop for the new Series 1400 of Quilting Arts TV, featuring yours truly in three episodes!

As for sketching and watercolors and contour drawings, I have a lot to learn, but it is so much fun, and it inspires me to make more art, including of the textile kind!