Medieval

I am sorry I seem to have lapsed in my blogging habit, but  things have been very busy with a number of events ( Viville And the European Patchwork Meeting 20th celebrations in Ste Marie aux Mines and teaching in Heidelberg and France) It has also been an exciting two- three weeks with barely time to take a breath!

I went to Seyselles to see my friend Karen de Leon Jones who with her husband Phillipe has purchased what was once a convent. The house needs lots of work but actually dates from  renaissance times when it was probably a merchants house before being taken over by the Benardine nuns who stayed there until the revolution at which stage their orders across france were dissolved and only two remain in Switzerland. The house also exudes all sorts of charm and mystery, so I was lucky to enjoy my brief visit.

We had a lovely walk around the village and visited with local artist  Nathalie Lambert for aperos ( unfortunately she does not have a website)


 Later that day we visited Le Train Rouge the marionnette theatre and creators  of marionnettes, Marie Coste and her mother, Lydia Marie Coste. What a delight to be shown their marvellous creations and to be taken to their  respective ateliers. Marie's mother creates the faces/heads and hands and Marie the intricate costumes.


























Then onto Heidelberg and teaching and then to my friends Christine Moulin's to work on the translation for the book .

Then a reacquaintance  with the  Middle Ages in the Musee Cluny. I just love this museum, there is something new you notice each time you visit.

 But sometimes it is the visitors which offer new insights-yesterday whilst sitting and absorbing the wonderful and marvellous Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, and everything was pretty hushed, a couple sitting nearby were discussing the fox in the tapestry, top right corner ( You have to adopt a texan drawl for this and I am sorry Texans)
Husband- "I think that is the fox" ( they were reading the museum explanatory notes)
Wife- " No I think that's a raccoon" it was really hard not to laugh- does it really look like a raccoon?

And I did photograph the captions but all i can read is the dates as the museum has very subdued lighting to protect their treasure. So the image on left is a detail from a quite large painting form 1449 and the tapestry is from 1490. I love the couple in the  tapestry- I think it is from a wedding pageant but I love  their expressions.

 I love old books and this lovely example of early printed books  which is dense with imagery.










I also went to Paris and visited the Joop Stoop Print store , and finally found some Pfeil linocutting tools which I have been coveting for some years. I did not want to buy the whole set, as some tools I rarely use and what I  have will do the job, and it was difficult to see the size of the gouges on the internet, so I am a little in heaven- they came with wine cork protectors as well- as they are sharp!

And on that note- I shall be starting an on-line linocutting course at the beginning of November- in fact Monday November 3. A number of people have said they would like to do this course as I have not done one all year so if you would like to join simply email me . If that link does not work try me on my gmail address- just my initial and surname@gmail.com.
The course consist of a number of exercises to improve your skills and to help you design your own linocuts and also to explain  the process of printing on fabric and I will set up a facebook  private group for discussion and sharing.