Unison founder dies

John Hersey an artist and co-founder of the Unison Pastels workshop has died this week at his home in Thorneyburn, Tarset.
The pastels are some of the best to be had worldwide, handmade and using a special recipe John Hersey created. As an artist he was looking for great crayons and decided to make them himself when he could not find what he wanted for his own work. His wife Kate Hersey will continue the operation out of the converted stable in their back garden, and the pastels go all over the world. A friend of mine, Terry in NYC, uses and loves them!

Rodinsky's Room

I am reading this book Rodinsky's Room at present. It is written by two authors Rachel Lichtenstein and Iain Sinclair and it is published by Granta. They write every other chapter and very much from another perspective than the other. It is a fascinating book. I am treasuring my reading time. Iain Sinclair uses a large vocabulary and I am learning new words too.
This book is about so many things but I can say that it is an autumnal book for those early dark evenings. Slow down and take this journey with these two people.

Autumn

Every year in autumn I feel melancholy. Just like every year in spring I feel filled with hope.
This melancholy makes me look backwards and not forwards like I do in spring.
I don't mind the feeling at all. In fact melancholy is very much a part of me.
Looking back I want to re-connect with old friends. People I liked when I lived in London in the UK and went to art school here. I have found a few and it feels good because I have also re-found some of the self I was then. Parts of our personality can get buried in life and for years even! This happened with me through moving, leaving language behind, culture, common reference points, and history. I wanted that very much at the time. Feeling like an outsider is okay and was okay. I needed distance from my personal life then.
Now I like to re-connect with the parts that have been dormant.
When you are in a relationship and become a parent your priorities have to change, there just is not enough time to keep up. So now is a good time to balance that and re-prioritize.
I welcome the melancholy that helps me look inward and find what I have neglected. Thank you autumn.

Total Immersion

Mama Afrika

Miriam Makeba died on Sunday Nov 9th 2008 near Naples, Italy. She died singing just as she had wished. She was 76.
She was/is amazing, one of the first African singers I listened to as a child. I started listening to female vocalists when I was very young on my fathers old stackable gramophone!
Melina Mercouri, Violeta Parra and she, Mama Afrika, lead me on to many others.
Thank you wonderful heart and soul woman and thank you Nelson Mandela for your beautiful words celebrating her life.

CONGRATULATIONS!

VOTE BABY VOTE!