Midsummer God

Three Chairs and a Stool

How many chairs do you really need in an 8 x 8 studio?

Several that's what I say! You never know when you'll have guests ;-)

Welcome to my recent obsession with chairs...

Three of which I have lovingly rubbed down with wire wool and beeswax...

The Painterly Chair

...and the other I have left in all its paint splattered glory, because it tells the story of its previous owners. 

The Merrie Men of Morris

I went to the Morris Ring in Thaxted this year, where after touring around Essex dancing at various pubs they congregated at the top of the hills either end of Town Street.
  

The evening's events began with a procession of Morris sides from Cambridge, Westminster, Winchester and several others, dancing down the road lead by drums, fiddles...

 and various beasts - hobby horses, unicorns and even a pig! 

 There was also a clown on a unicycle...

... and the all important Fool with bladder on a stick to hit the dancers he considers aren't putting in enough effort.

They eventually met in the middle in front of the magnificent guildhall at the foot of Stoney Lane, where they did a massed dance, handkerchiefs waving, bells jangling...

... and some with flowers in their hats.  

All made merrie in olde englande for the afternoon.

Morris Minor

Later at 10.15pm all was hushed as Thaxted Morris side did their special Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.

A haunting and measured procession down Stoney Lane led by a lone fiddle player in tattercoat followed by six men holding deer antlers, a man dressed as a woman, an obby oss, an archer and someone ringing a chime on a triangle.

(Shame it's so hard to take photos of it!)

A Shed of One's Own

After my recent post about needing a place to paint, Creativity Ensconced, I took the plunge and spent all my savings on a rather fancy garden shed.  Of course I fell in love with a slightly unusual version with a Dutch barn roof. This gives extra storage space above and makes it feel a lot bigger and more airy, as well as being very attractive.


For me it is more than simply a space of my own; it is a commitment to my creativity, a way of honouring that deep need to connect with the inner worlds of my imagination, a refuge from day-to-day life.  The timing was perfect, the pieces of flat-packed 'shed' heavy in the rain arrived on Beltane, the time of burgeoning growth and the flowering of potential.  

It took a couple of weekends to build because we dug the base ourselves, which was exhausting, but once that was done the actual build took a warm sunny day. Then the extra bits such as fascia boards and corners, hooks to keep the doors open and electricity finished it off a couple of weekends later.

Still some things to do such as cutting out a second window and putting in some old carpet, but for now, here are some photos telling the story of it's coming to fruition...

From foundations...

...to floor...

...to walls...

...and walls...

...to roof...

...to felting...

...to fruition!

Regal Fox

I painted the picture at the bottom for an exhibition called 'Tribal' at the gallery I run. The idea came from a doodle...

Regal Fox © Amber Caspian, 2012

...trying to express how majestic I find Foxes.  Sitting in a patch of sun, with their thick winter coat just glowing like wildfire...

...and I'm interested in our past, our ancient English tribal culture. In asking questions, such as - what is my tribe and where are its native symbols? Have we really lost all the old songs and stories from this part of our land? 

Our beautiful English countryside

I realised that I believe these things are encapsulated in some of our indigenous animals - Fox, Hare, Deer, Crow - in the way they still roam free despite the destructive changes to our countryside...

 Spinning in the Holistic garden

...and I also looked for patterns and markings in local crafts that are still with us, if we choose to look...

Pargetting Patterns

...such as patchwork, weaving, and pargetting...so that my Fox could wear his own cloak of regal colours and patterns...

...and I surrounded him in gold, so he glows like a Russian icon and we can revere him in a patch of sun or by candlelight...

Rauðr Foa Rogg © Amber Caspian, 2012

...so I named him in, probably very bad, Old English to celebrate his old English story - Rauðr Foa Rogg, which means Red Fox Rug (shaggy tuft). And so was born my 'Animal Icons'...