This week we are ‘Seeing Red’………My husband has returned from Switzerland but not without hiccup. He rang me from the airport on Sunday, I anticipated to tell me he would be seeing us soon. Shocked he told me, that he had discovered when asking a lady at a desk where his flight was, that it was the day before. It was going to cost a good £1000 to fly via Amsterdam that day. So he (still at cost) had managed to get one for the following day. Don’t ask! The good news, however was that the gallery owner he met really liked the ‘Red Man’ so a proposed series for an exhibition is being put together…shame he can’t get on with the ‘making’, money went on flights instead! The gallery, ‘Gallerie Life in Art’ seems an apt title for my blog too!
Conceptual pieces sometimes panic people ,not always sure what to think, how to react, or conscious that they are supposed to do so in a certain way. Personally the point is just to ‘think, what comes to mind?, what ideas, what emotions does a piece evoke/….so on and so on… So without telling you about this piece, (apart from the fact it does reference another Artist, Marcel Duchamp) I will write about a little thought process I went on whilst thinking about this piece.
How do we bring up this new generation of babes into the world without exposing them to too much and without depriving them of tools they may need in order to ‘survive’ this modern-day jungle. Did my own sheltered childhood prepare me for the world and to what gain and to what disadvantage?
I had a sheltered upbringing mainly due to the fact that we grew up in a little village in Yorkshire, pretty idyllic really. We were brought up in an environment of peace, love and tranquility. A strong emphasis on education and family. However, is being protected and ‘perfected’ the very best way of living. Even the very phrase a ‘sheltered upbringing’ has a negative connotation. Definition one “to have a life in which you are protected too much and experience very little danger, excitement or change” and definition two, “someone who has had a sheltered life has not had the usual unpleasant experiences that most people have in their lives”.
For me, my upbringing seems perfectly normal, most people around me had a similar one and friends and family were all doing the same. I travelled but always in a ‘safe’ way. We did have a big change when we moved house from one county to another, and sure there is always excitement when you are a kid. I was, therefore, interested in these definitions as it seems to suggest that ‘most people’ have unpleasant experiences, and that it is usual to experience ‘danger, excitement and change’. I guess there are many ways of defining these later descriptions.
So when thinking about raising children now I can understand the need to avoid danger… but excitement and change is important to really appreciate life is it not? When I think about what I want my children to be exposed to, I do think I err on the side of extreme caution. They do watch TV (quite a bit) but if i had it my way we would perhaps have no TV! I wonder about future internet access and video games. Will I let them go out by themselves, how old should they be? I think this is accentuated because my husband is almost opposite on these ‘worldly’ issues. In my opinion he has led an exciting, adventures life so he will give my boys that balance.
To contradict a little,I am not all caution and in fact more so than my husband not so worried about letting them ‘learn through play’ themselves. After school this week as I was letting my boys climb the most brilliant climbing tree in the school grounds with their friend; an elderly lady came up and told the friends Mother and I that the other week a boy had got stuck and so it was very dangerous! I gathered from these ‘wise words’ that the boy must have been much older and on his own. After the elder lady had left us with the boys still in the tree, in an attempt to make sure we were responsible parents the mother and I agreed with each other… it is very necessary that boys do climb trees, we can’t say ‘No’ all the time! After all a bit of danger and excitement will help not be so sheltered?!
We can shelter our emotions, my own observation is that we British are terrible at masking our real feelings out of so-called politeness and this causes us to live in a shadow of our real selves. We lack a human connection which I have seen in other ‘warmer’ climates. Will save that discussion for another post…
Of course, the piece itself is of an umbrella and the history of the umbrella is a fascinating one and can actually be found ” sculptured on the monuments of Egypt”. The story behind the making of this was that after ordering and buying several umbrellas thinking they would be the right shape, give the right look, the one used here was a gift to me from mu husband from Denmark and was a beautiful white unusually shape. It had got damaged though so I wasn’t too disappointed in the dismantling of it. The stool however, to cut a long story short was a gift to my husband from myself. Being very difficult to buy for, I stumbled into an antique oriental shop thinking I would surely find something beautiful. Surrounded by a number of stunningly coloured items and huge piece of furniture I couldn’t decide. This stood out? (Perhaps, now I realise for the wrong reasons). Driving home with this ‘ancient chinese stool’ in my boot I suddenly had this realisation that in the shop it may have looked fairly impressive but perhaps it wasn’t going to look so authentic in our house and I may have found the simplicity and humbleness of this old stool to be appealing but would my husband?. No. Indeed, as he pointed out he could find it in any shop in Egypt or could throw one together with a few bits of wood. Where was the chinese mark? Did I really pay that much for it???? I had been conned! We debated about whether to take it back or not and then mainly for humour’s sake kept it. Well at least it has now found a good home.
Home. One of the main ideas that ‘shelter’ conjures up, a place where we can rest, stay dry, stay safe. Often with a temporary time frame associated with it and yet so many people in the world live in something that is simply a shelter. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3).
So I should be worrying less about the future of my own children with all their comforts and privileges and thinking more about those children that don’t have the basic requirements, safe water, health and a shelter.
One happy little boy took his ‘Solar system’ sculpture into school this morning. The perks of having Baba as a Sculptor is that Mummy’s more primary school approach to making planets got taken over into a more ‘professional’ approach. Fun was had in trying to find the right size balls. Makes a good guessing game as to what we have used! Result : rather impressive looking planet model and a 4-year-old who knows the planet order by heart. One anxious husband preparing for some gallery visits and interviews. First stop, Switzerland.
With the exhibition over and the work back in store, we have had various conversations and discussions about how it went. There was an air of disappointment because nothing was sold but more so because there seemed to be a lack of publicity and the concerns we had had about the space after the first show were not improved on a second visit. However things were learnt, website to improve, a stronger sense of identity in terms of what work really represents ‘the sculptor’ and a realisation that we had to TRY a little harder.
In that vain, I am celebrating that I have actually kept blogging for a year and have just had my ‘first year blog evaluation’. I started writing with caution and almost with a secrecy which one year on has turned into my usual critical inner voice of, why can’t I write better? why can’t I get more style? How do I get more readers?, How do I get more comments?, How do I…etcetc. Over the New Year period I always find I become a bit melancholic coupled with the fact that it has rained almost constantly so my mood is permanently dampened. I start over analysing the past and then get a little bit fearful of the future. In a rather negative stance it does seem a bit more doom and gloom this year, the situation in Egypt is looking a bit dark, financially things don’t look great and hey ho we are another year older and I am still no further on choosing my own direction.
Following the exhibition we were a bit disheartened as to how to proceed into 2012 with enthusiasm. However, a promising opportunity has appeared and we are hopefully that something may come of it to push my husbands work in a better direction and gain more connections. It is amazing how something small can lift the spirits and we do have to start small sometimes (better diet, more exercise..starting very small at the moment), a walk with a friend, finishing a ‘first small novel’ with my son, baking a cake. Which, by the way to evaluate Herman was a delicious success until I then messed up my final mixture and lost the thread of continuing to have him permanently in the house. Good job really, would not have helped my new healthy diet to begin. So I will sign off and have a cup of tea and a chocolate bar!
So whilst I am sat here writing, my husband is at the opening of the exhibition. I am eager to here all about it but also aware of all I have to do here. For some reason in his absence, I am using my cold as the reason for all things today, cleaning and tidying has gone out the window. I have been up since the crack of dawn and was fairly productive before we set off for school. However since then I have quite successfully eaten my way through the day with the mantra ‘feed a cold’ darting in and out of my head, sure you are not supposed to take that quite so literally. Well, in that vain I am thinking that I will use the rhubarb from the freezer and make a crumble. So I use a hammer to bash the ginger biscuits too much like hard work to get at the rolling-pin. I try to pour them into the pan with one hand, 16 month old baby on my hip with the other hand results in biscuits all over the cooker. Manage to scrap most of the crumbs into the pan and carry on with the recipe. Only a little later does it dawn on me that I have put all the sugar needed into the biscuit mixture when actually only two tablespoons were needed. Oh well, it’s all going in the same dish anyway I think as I step in the neatly swept pile of crumbs (and other food bits my toddler likes to throw around on the floor) not yet put in the bin. He is now dragging something sticky around the floor….great! the kitchen looks like something has exploded in it.
So sprawled out on the living room floor that looks like it’s been burgled we are ‘playing’ when there is a knock at the door. A friend of mine is at the door, I invite her in (despite the mess am I mad! I usually hurry around making everything spick span before anyone is allowed in – where have I inherited that from I wonder!) She can’t stop but leaves me with Herman.
The other day my husband came home early and I was upstairs and I was a little while getting to the stairs, in fact our baby was there shouting ‘baba’ before me which gave me the jitters. Don’t worry I got there in time, scooped him up and then came down stairs and noticed a puzzled expression on my husbands face as he pointed to the pair of large mens shoes neatly parked next to the sofa as if someone had taken them off. Is your brother here he asked? and I realised the slight concerned tone in his voice. Obviously I have never bought shoes as a gift before (not the most gift giving person ever) and I always think shoes is an odd present as it is so size and fitting specific. Anyway I totally shocked and relieved my husband with this welcome new gift.
My sort of point here is that although I am never too sure when my husband will be home day to day, the house is in some sort of order, maybe chaotic order but here I am sat writing when the kitchen still looks like something has exploded and it could quite easily me be next as the crumble didn’t go down to well with the boys and I seem to think it is ok to finish off the lot! Not only is the living room still a mess we have just done bath and bed time and I have neither the energy or inclination to set too on it.
So where is Herman in all of this are you wondering? Herman is not actually this digital piece although I feel he does look like Herman. This piece is hanging at the BRICK LANE GALLERY whilst Herman has quietly sat and observed the madness and messiness of the day.
He is supposed to sit on my worktop for the next ten days. I can’t put him in the fridge or he will die and if he stops bubbling he is dead. Herman the German Friendship cake is a sourdough cake. I have instructions for day 1 to 9 and then I have to split him into four and give three away to my friends. What a great idea!
So in a few days time I will be making more mess in the kitchen. It is a good job I am expecting my husband back tomorrow and not at the end of the exhibition on the 19th otherwise goodness knows what mess I would be in!
December and cold, I have a cold. December and Exhibition time again. So I am at home alone feeling little bit sorry for myself! My husband left early this morning, thankfully no longer snowing, with his art work and his man with the van and set off to London.
This new Digital piece will be now very visible in 196 Brick Lane gallery window. So if you are bustling the busy streets in this December cold, in London and suddenly find yourself being watched by this very living looking face have a little wander inside to see some more of this new phase of work. or better still head to the opening tomorrow evening at 6pm!
The purpose of these works (more to follow) is to bring life to the sculptures using digital images, to show the intention for creating each piece, capturing the meaning behind the sculpture. Each work is printed on industrial material (acrylic) creating more depth to the image.
This body of work reflects the observations and experience of humanity in our time, to capture the moment that most of us are unaware of, or don’t stop to take time to appreciate. Situations which are happening to us all on a daily basis, and in a second when you stop and stare there is a translation of body language, emotion, expressions that give us a message. I have probably written that before as it is the thread through all the work he does.
I found it a real struggle today but I managed to just stop still under a duvet with a book this afternoon to rest and try to shift this head cold…….I recently read an article about how we have used antibiotics so much that they no longer really work. We use medication to treat illness as though it is a solution to a problem, we can easily mask it with medication and plow on. Sometimes there is a reason. Stillness is sometimes needed for our body to recover. So I am attempting to stay still……..
Why are we always rushing? I realise sometimes in the moment I am rushing my son to put on his socks, hurry hurry hurry. Ok, so perhaps there is a need to rush in the morning when trying to get out the house and get to school on time but I am not so sure I need to be so militant about it.
Why do we do so many things at the same time with out failing to stop and notice what we are doing? Actually that ‘idiot abroad’ summed it up quite well after his japanese tea ceremony experience. How often do we finish a cup of tea without really noticing we’ve drunk it. How often are we doing a few things at once and not really paying attention to any of it. A friend was telling me how her mum whilst on her allotment will boil a kettle over a fire, it takes a while to make but the process is all part of it. Whilst I flick the hot tap and get a cup of tea in an instant. Not always taking the time to appreciate how I have come to get that warm drink. It is the same with our food – you can just shove a packaged dish in a microwave and get an instant meal but the gratification of that meal is not the same as going out and hunting for it. Not that I know what it is like to go out and hunt and gather my food and then skin and prepare it; but even home-grown food tastes so much better than shop bought.We no longer have to spend days washing and ringing out we just bung it into the machine press a button and go – saving us time? So what do we do with time? Emails, instant messaging, Speed of travel, have things been invented to save us time or speed us up?
I have been rushing ‘blogging’ not really taking the time to read back what I have written ( I have always done that and consequently grammar and spelling not a strong point making me believe that I can not write)
I rush at the things that need time taking on them and take too much time over things that actually could be done in very little time. I am little bit out of synch……or sink? shame I can’t use ‘urinal’ in that expression. I think we are all a little out of synch, hence why we rush. Is there a feeling we aren’t quite where we are supposed to be? Actually I have noticed here in the west we do have that ‘urgency’ feeling where as dare I say it, in the middle east there is a much more relaxed approach. On this note, I have to mention the current situation which I unfortunately don’t quite have the political know-how about but have all my Egyptian family and friends close at heart.
Is benefit of that rushing feeling that you lot more done? Does multi-tasking mean we lose the quality of focus? Do we achieve more? Next time you sit on the toilet with your mobile phone sending a text message have a think about the ‘Urgency’ of which task you are focusing on 😉
ps; I have amused myself a couple of days letter re reading this and noticing the littering of mistakes towards the end, will leave them in for comedy value as it makes clear that I really have rushed at the end ! Oh dear, note to self, take more time !
My husband is a dreamer,I think you have to be to create. However, he is the achiever dreamer, the dream is almost ambition rather than a lofty otherworldly dreamer which I would describe myself as. Perhaps this is again tied up with being Egyptian, his mind is always on the horizon always thinking, practically grounded. To me it is as though he dreams and makes his dreams become reality in both daily living and in creating. This sculpture is ‘The sleeper’ originally titled the dreamer but he changed the title. Why? Good question, there will be a philosophy behind it but he is not here to ask.
I am for the first time in a while having a little time to myself and in the child related sleep deprivation state I am currently in; not picking up the brush to sweep the crumbs off the floor or tidying the organised chaos that I am surrounded by…I just do not have the energy and am in an almost ‘dreamlike’ state. I am less in the lofty otherworldly dream mode than I used to be, not sure if that is due to age or children but I am the kind of person who can quite easily stare out the window watch the wind blowing the leaves on the trees and get lost (helped by listing to Debbie Wiseman’s Piano Story’s…I just got the CD for my Dad).
I sometime have those daydreams of a parallel life, so I will be wandering through the narrow streets of Paris and stumble into some cafe for hot chocolate and a croissant and sit and stare out the window there..(that makes me think about the film ‘Inception but I digress) and perhaps I continue with the next chapter of my book. Of course that is based upon some kind of past reality, my memory of something I have done, well except for the book writing bit, that’s the real dream! I find it harder to dream about something that I haven’t had the experience of or dream about where I want my life to go and then… go for it! My husband does that, I find it shocking and amazing…what so really you can have a dream and then achieve it!? then it’s no longer a dream!? As I learnt from my eldest child’s half term film treat ‘Tangled’, you move on to the next one, now there ‘s a novel idea (pardon the pun!)
So as I think my day dream is made up of some memory, Eugen Tarnow suggests that dreams are “ever-present excitations of long-term memory”, perhaps I am on to something here! Tarnow’s theory is a ‘reworking of Freud’s theory of dreams in which Freud’s unconscious is replaced with the long-term memory system’. Freud believed everything went back to our child hood. I wonder if the ‘Freudian’ way has slipped into our subconscious and we are guilt-ridden into believing that we have such a long term life long effect on our children. To use my husband as an example though, he is very much a product of his childhood but also the inverse that he has overcome or reached something way beyond what his childhood would perhaps have ‘normally’ dictated. For sure, to use a brilliant quote from yet another great cartoon movie, “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere” and then to paraphrase, it is difficult to imagine more humble origins than that of my husband’s but nothing less than, in my opinion, and perhaps one day many, “one of the finest artists of this time”. Well, we can dream……..
I have realised with the time away from blogging for a while I was going off track a little and not really writing much about being ‘The sculptor’s wife’ which relating to this piece has meant various visits from a guy who has been involved with the painting of this piece. The finished product arrived on our kitchen table and looked pretty impressive. I do like the bold coloured pieces. We had a wooden painted piece outside our house for ages until the wind and the water totally dismantled it (people now get confused as to where our house is still looking for the sculpture!)
There is sometimes a blur between being the ‘sculptor’s wife’ and the ‘Egyptian’s wife’ where culture and artistic temperament entwine. We have just had my sister in law to visit which was great to have her here, first time to europe, first time to travel alone, first time to our house. I was official tour guide and english cuisine cook but it was great to have the Egyptian language light up the house and the laughter and some delicious dishes and it always helps to have another woman in the house!!
Back to the top images… the latest project is manipulating images of sculptures which we are hoping to make into a new project. Here is an example but if I can get my act together…more to come. So don’t forget to take a visit to this blog everynow and again to see what’s new.
THE SCULPTOR'S WIFE 