Staying with the local theme, when we were at the Mill in Haworth we met someone who runs one of the local magazines. In the small world that it is, we realised that we knew her through ‘networking’ with the business and my prior work. Anyway, she liked one of the pieces and thought it would be topical for this months edition. So it made the front cover! The photograph makes it very much like a 3D Mondrian. It is part of the cubist collection (see if you can spot the others in earlier blogs!) The harmony between vertical and horizontal is an important feature in my husbands work. The straight lines and angles in this piece displays it clearly. In other pieces it is not so apparent but it occurs through his practice even the curvy pieces. With the olympics approaching and here in the UK this year it was a natural subject to explore. We will see people push their physical limits in strength, stamina, determination, flexibility and endurance. Perhaps whilst the rest of us watch restfully from home in a more horizontal position!
(For those of you who are local you may get one of these through the door or you can pick it up from local shops and business. If not then www.airevalleymag.co.uk)
On a Sunday we usually spend the day at home, after a busy 6 day week for my husband, Sunday becomes a day to mellow at home. Sometimes for the boys and I, that is also just what is needed, I have started to make Saturdays busy and with the school run during the week, actually it is nice to stay at home for the day. However, that said we went on a little adventure yesterday to Haworth. One of the contacts my husband made The Other Art Fair is a local furniture designer Anthony Hartley who happens to have a fantastic mill space. So last week, the works we have here in Yorkshire went along to join the show ready for the Haworth Festival this week. It’s an inspiring place. We met some lovely people and had delicious home-made cakes and tea. It was great to be able to see my husbands work in a space locally and take the boys. Haworth is really picturesque spot as we discovered on our way back taking a rather long route home.
I am having to stay local again today as the car is in the garage but we managed the long walk back from school up hill passing various breeds of sheep, cows and horses on the way. It made me think again about country living and how reliant we are on using the car. I am very aware that we could be a little ‘greener’ in the way we shop too. We do get milk delivered to our door by the local farmer, and I have been collecting eggs from local small holdings who leave their eggs in a large tub full of egg boxes at their door with an honesty box for your £1 (again using the car!). But there are other things that we could buy more locally – it is often just that little bit more expensive. Anyway I digress a little. If you are local and can get to Haworth…by car or public transport then do take the opportunity to call in on the open studio at Damside Mill.
It was a rare moment last night when I slipped into the living room undisturbed and switched the television on and happened upon the last set of the Nadal v Rosol match. I was almost biting my nails. Could Rosol keep his cool? Could Nadal be any hotter and drip any more sweat into his towel to delay his devastating defeat? It was one of those moments when you knew history was in the making.
Rosol certainly could keep his cool. Composed he was serving a series of aces and returning down the line like he was merely on a practice of shooting targets. The 100 ranked Czech didn’t seemed phased by the centre court limelight or the ‘winner’ opposing him. We can often put barriers in front of us, be it other people or other ideas that prevent us from being able to overcome our own hurdles and reach the dream. We can all control our emotions if we put our mind to it. We can keep our cool under pressure and we can temper our ‘hot headed-ness’ when we need to. We can so easily put ourselves down thinking that ‘other’s are better’ but we are all only human. Rosol is that proof that even in adversity one can rise to the challenge of a great opponent and steal the show. Rosol so aptly put it in his post play interview, that his opponent was, after all, ‘only human’.
‘Little man’ at BIB&SOLALittle Man at BIB & SOLA‘Mother & Child’ at Rupert Cavandish Antiques, Fundraising Exhibition and auction for the Young Master’s Prize‘Pregnant’ at Rupert Cavandish Antiques, Fundraising Exhibition and auction for the Young Master’s Prize
I am guessing at these events it’s a lot about words spoken and pictures taken and then what follows. Words are not flowing from me right now but thought I would put up a few pictures which review last weeks events. There are also a few links which will take you to the photos taken at the events – BIB&SOLA event. and information about Young Masters.
For those of you who were wondering what my husband did wear in the end (see the B&S link)…I will leave it for you to spot, no hat ..but it was hot, well that is the excuse anyway 😉
‘Wordless, Part of the Keyhole Family collection’‘Wordless’
I read something today that was stating that when it comes to fashion men either give credit to their wives picking it out for them or it happened by accident, they have no relationship with what they are wearing. In America if someone is well dressed they would say, is he gay or is he British? Apparently British Men are more dapper !?
Well, what about an Egyptian born British Sculptor, whose wife is certainly not dressing him. Last night he was in ‘atypical male fashion’ having a dilemma about what to take with him to London. Hope he won’t mind me for saying this, it resulted in, a ridiculously big bag, in my opinion being taken out of the cupboard so that all options could be taken. All this is quite absurd to me, who perhaps conversely is a untypical woman, but also spending most of my days bumbling around with children in Yorkshire. I am not overly offay with the fashion world (perhaps a little more so since being married to someone who is) however it is not a preoccupation of mine. I spent a very happy three years at University in rowing gear which for me was comfy but also carried the street cred without having to worry about it. I look back at my early twenties and half think, what was I thinking, why wasn’t I interested in shopping. However, it is very different for woman there is so much more wrapped up within the fabric of ‘dressing’ (That’s another blog). I am now learning there is a lot to dress code, in the sense that there does need to be a certain degree of dressing well. People do make judgements, rightly or wrongly. First impressions do count. There is no point in still throwing on the comfy jumper that has been washed endlessly it no longer has a shape…is there? You never know who you might bump into.
So in trying to get to the bottom of my husbands concerns about ‘what to wear’ I asked him what the dilemma was exactly.As I write, he is at BIB&SOLA (which I blogged about yesterday) upmarket event at Mayfair.
So, my husband said there was a need to be looking both smart for the collectors but without looking like a ‘banker’ and with a fashion edge to relate to the arty types. Then, tomorrow night he is at the young master’s auction in Kings Road, the space is tight and so it’s going to be hot, people need to be smart but cool, as there isn’t going to be the space people will be more face to face talking than physically observing. He was thinking of all the variations, scenarios, impressions…even down to the facial hair and the hats I may add. Shoes…well, trust me it is not just woman who like shoes.
It would appear ones dress code is an art itself. I began to see why he needed his wardrobe with him. If he wasn’t a Sculptor, he could be someone’s personal shopper. I don’t know whether it is the eye for what goes together in the 3D form or the eye for design but it’s great to take him shopping. Wonder what he is wearing….
I had to look this up: IMBUE I didn’t even think it was a word. It’s a great word. Imbue takes meaning from the word imbibe, which means “to absorb or to be filled with”.I was imbued with energy yesterday after spontaneously going on a beautiful walk alongside a fantastic river in the woods. The sun was radiant through the trees, shading us from its heat. I felt energised. Today I have reverted to my more usual mood of tiredness. Imbued by a little inspiration to write as this show is on from tomorrow and my husband is spending a few days in the ‘plusher’ part of London. I think his works in this setting will imbue those able to attend. I am going to merely imagine….
“Being Egyptian, I can never quite shake the legacy of my country’s history. Durability and beauty are very important to me.”
‘Mother and Child’
When you see my husband’s work and make the connection he is Egyptian you can see the Egyptian influence in his work. The obilisque ideas, the geometric shapes, the pyramids! The strength and power behind the works. One of the reasons why the ancient Egyptian artefacts have lasted perhaps better than their Roman counterparts is because the Egyptian ones are solid. Solid in that there are no gaps, between the bodies and the arms, for example. There is no space for the elements to radically erode the stone. This technique is very visible in my husbands’ work. This use of old techniques and method and recognition of the past is the philosophy behind the Young Master’s prize’s. Next week my husband is off on his travels to London again to put two pieces, this one above, in an exhibition and auction to raise money for this prize.
(On 18 June to 4 July, the Young Masters initiative is hosting a fundraising auction and exhibition at Rupert Cavendish Antiques, 610 King’s Road, London SW6. On 21st June, from 6.30 to 9.30pm they are hosting a fundraising reception and auction of selected works from the exhibition, to be hosted by Kate McKenzie, one of the Christie’s auctioneering team.)
I, on the other hand am not Egyptian. I am quintessentially English. However I do feel Egypt is in my blood. My first taste of it was when I was a student and had gathered my pennies and worked millennium Eve to afford the flight and travel around Egypt. excited and independent my journey there was an adventure in itself. I chose to be ‘bumped off’ the plane from Amsterdam to Egypt to gain a little more cash and naively failed to tell anyone what I was doing. After being put up in a hotel in Amsterdam and then due to fog, having to fly back to London followed by delays at Heathrow, I was, therefore,rather late arriving in Egypt. Perhaps all would have been fine, except I was being met by a fellow student and when I didn’t show at the airport phone my worried parents who couldn’t track me as I had boarded and flown out of Leeds successfully. So I almost filed as ‘a missing person’. Lesson learnt; always phone home.
However, the rest of my travel around Egypt was successful and once I had floated on a felucca on the Nile, there was no stopping my return. I remember the dusk dusty departure, weeping for no apparent reason other than I had fallen in love with the land. Little did I know then that I would fall in love with an Egyptian in my small yorkshire village, marry and have two sons. We have since had a few trips there and back. With my eldest I had a substantial stay for six weeks with my Sister in Law and a ‘real egyptian experience’…that’s another story.
For me, there are no borders and boundaries on the world. We can find a place so foreign that somehow feels like home. On a day-to-day level now we have little taste of Egypt when we listen to arabic music, when we cook Egyptian food, a few weeks ago when we had a blast of heat. In the evening it would smell a little like Egypt. These are the things that are missed, the smells, the sights, the sound and the sisters.
So, there is a little flavour for now. When we will physically return there who knows.. a country currently in change.
This work was the pre-cursor work I mentioned in a recent blog using plinth and figure which has now grown into the new work of abstract figure and plinth blended together. The philosophy of the work has also taken on a more abstract but more cheerful approach.
Perhaps this is visually a little depressing but it doesn’t have to be viewed that way. Sometimes we need to take that plunge into the unknown for a glorious ‘after plunge’. Being deep in thought can be lonesome but it can also be uplifting. We sometimes need that time to rebalance ourselves. Gather our thoughts and re-address. I’ve backtracked a little by putting this image up but it seemed very appropriate to our current situation. My husband is ‘waiting’ which requires a calm, a patience and serenity. These are not his forte but he is so far managing well with it. He is so busy juggling business and the art world and making a large body of new work. There are two or three exciting projects happening from next week but it is whether something will come from these that gives him the next boost. Again, he is sitting on the edge of ‘something’. In any pursuit of a goal, though, there is a constant reaching a peak and therefore always being on the edge. It is unfortunately the nature of clambering after a dream. If this is my husband then, I am stood just a little to the side, looking out to what is ahead hopefully reassuring that the next mountain is not so high. There is, or can be someone behind us, to the side of us or indeed above us to support, guide and encourage.
This sculpture of five pieces present five different emotions we all share, we all go through. Sometimes, we pass through them; sometimes we get stuck in them. Beyond our differences of shapes, colour, education we all share the similarity of emotion and experiences. The focus behind this collection is to highlight the similarity between all of us; whatever we try to hide or expose, admit or deny. The ‘keyhole’ symbolises our vulnerability and if someone manages to find the right key then they find our weakness.
I haven’t sat and written for a while as it has been so hot, too hot to do much! These five little men making up The Keyhole family has been bought and now live in someone’s house. So I thought I had better write a little about them before the next generation are born. I had an image of these little men half buried in a desert like landscape being discovered after thousands of years and a new age of people or alien beings discovering them in the midst of desolation. Like archeologist discovering Egypt’s ancient treasures. What would ‘they’ understand about ‘us’. Cheerful, happy faces vibrant colours on the surface everything is alright. The individual design shows a deeper level of thought displaying some of the issues of humanity we face.
Confused???
We get confused from time to time….
Sweet Kiss
All of us sometimes relies upon the sweeter person within us and this person deserves a kiss!….
Philosopher
Nations and cultures have built themselves on some words of wisdom and some of us chose it as a path….
Mr Hot & Mr Cold
Represents our sexuality level and how this changes and how some people can control it like a tap….
‘Sam Shendi Sculptures. The Other Art Fair. May 2012
I had been anxious about taking my two small boys on the train to London by myself. Armed with a number of activity books, crayons and pencils and a picnic lunch to feed the train I was more than prepared. Catching the train back was a little more dramatic with 55 minutes to get a bus ride to Brixton and then an 18 minute tube journey to Kings Cross. Needless to say, with large rucksack on my back, pushchair with toddler in front and small boy holding my hand, we ran like we have never run before. As we jumped on the train the doors shut behind us and pulled off from the station. My face was beetroot. Red (like my last blog entry).
As I took my eldest to school on Monday morning in the car, I contemplated how we would get to school without it. In rural yorkshire I am so dependant on my car. Public transport in London was an adventure all by itself. Journeys take us to the destination and we see it as a means to an end but the adventure is often as much in the travel. It made me reflect on my husbands long journey to get to the point he was at, at The Other Art Fair this weekend. It has taken him almost 12 years to get the body of work he now has together.
With the insistence on using high quality material and with no external funding the financial side has taken a while. Along side, the development in his practice has also been a journey. Starting mostly with clay he manipulated this material to form his pieces. It was always costly to cast them one night many perished in an almighty crash when the table they were on collapsed under the weight and shattered probably near on 50 clay works. This prompted a move into wooden shapes with small figures ( see earlier blog entries) and took a direction that made his works larger. Looking back these works were precursors to the pieces we have now, which almost mould together abstract shape and figure into one. Linking both the clay work and larger work together. With the final splash of colour we have the body of work which was shown at The Other Art Fair, London. What a success. The journey still continues with lots of exciting propositions and projects ahead.
Like in life the adventure is the journey you just have to focus on the present to make the most of it.
THE SCULPTOR'S WIFE 