Highlights of the week

Saturday - yesterday! - brought sunshine, and sunshine brought energy. Weeks, rather than mere days, after buying fabric for a tablecloth, I finally got around to making it. Only a hem was needed, but this required clearing a space in front of the sewing machine, moving boxes of Tom's painting equipment -

Once the drawers could be opened I rediscovered lost tools and thread treasures, including enough prewound bobbins to last a lifetime -

Turning, pinning, mitring, sewing took less than an hour (including interruptions). Result! -

Then it was off across town in a zipcar with Tom's painting equipment, to Wrentham Avenue: site of the next job, and to  collect another carload of stuff (house still hasn't changed hands) -

 followed by a quick trip to Waitrose Finchley Road to get a few food treats -

and probably my last-ever whizz round the underground parking, with its careful-how-you-go pillars -

 Treats included these "happily handmade" elevenses (raw fish for elevenses??)  on the way back across town -

Other highlights of the week were three talks -

Things found in houses ... why were they put in walls and up chimneys?
https://theconcealedrevealed.wordpress.com/
https://www.historypin.org/en/person/66740

Curator's talk about the current landscape exhibition in British Museum Room 90

At Barnard's Inn, a Gresham College lecture on the history of sourdough

Between the two latter lectures I filled the empty hours with a visit to the Syngenta photography exhibition at Somerset House, emerging to notice rather a lot of helicopters hovering noisily - Westminster (and the shocking events earlier in the afternoon) being nearby.

Also last week, another medieval art & architecture class - before which, and after a haircut, came lunch at the British Museum, with an ever-changing [yet ever the same, somehow] view of the courtyard -

and a first visit to the American Dream show of prints - by the time I'd looked hard at Dine, Rauschenberg, and Johns, whose work I love,  I could see no more, and "did" the rest of the show by planning to return (it's on till 18 June), and noting down some names new to me or largely unfamiliar - Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Bechtle, Al Taylor, Edda Renouf, Fred Sandback, Richard Estes, Yvonne Jacquette, Craig McPherson [enormous mezzotint], Philip Pearlstein, Carroll Dunham, Richard Bosman, Robert Longo, Sussan Rothenberg, Chris Burden, Keith So...[can't read my own writing], Orvind Fahlstrom, Donald Sultan, Willie Cole, Emma Amos... The teachers' guide is here.

My fave in the show: Jennifer Bartlett, Graceland woodcut (via)
(another state, monochrome, is shown here)

This week is also notable for the sun coming out and the temperature starting to perhaps feel more springlike. A succession of trees have been coming into blossom, wonderful to behold, a feast for the soul. Soon blossom season will be over and the re-leafing will start ... which brings to mind the Philip Larkin poem and various people, now departed alas, associated with it. (It's been a reminiscent time, one way and another.)

Tuesday's drawing session was at Museum of London, more about that on Tuesday. That was the day I left my backpack in the loo but fortunately was able to retrieve it from the Security office at the museum. Duh. Thanks to Jo and Sue for calming me down! 

Wednesday included a talk about photographing your artwork at Islington Art Society, held in the little gallery at Cass Arts Islington, where committee members were showing some work.

Amanda Eatwell gave the talk - she has work in the London Independent Photography show just over the hill at Crouch End Library, till 2 April.

Took out subscriptions to the Royal Institution (talks about science) and Picturehouse Central (rooftop members' bar - and discounts on film tickets). With the lighter evenings, there's no excuse not to get out. 

Out on Saturday afternoon to meet "the hookers" - rag rug hookers, that is -

A few more pre-ceramic pots were made -

Inspired by my little bags of coins, Tom decided to sort out his collection -

The bag of coppers weighs 8 kg.

Banks allow only three bags of change to be deposited at one go; what's your guess on how long that bag will still be with us?

Disaster of the week - the little brown jug from Cambridge days -

Clean breaks, though; which superglue would you use?