Art, Religion, Food - Part I

My brain is slowly being assimilated by Ancestry and Gedmatch. Eventually I will no longer remember how to blog, how to sew, how to talk to living people. I am writing this as a last gasp of self-direction, telling myself it is Wednesday and therefore a writing day. Then again, can you call it writing if the starting point is to look at your photos? Perhaps I should call it journaling instead.

Vivien and I got together on one of our increasingly rare days out and the planned activity was to visit a fashion exhibit of Northumbria University students on display at the Discovery Museum. 



It wasn't a large exhibit but we examined every item (most of them black), chatting and (me) snapping as we circled the room.




There were old clothes, new clothes, old items, a slide show, some photos and sketches and a bit of text:

"Re-Fashion showcases sixty exquisite objects from the museum collection made between 1701 and 1916.  These objects have been selected as a starting point to explore the idea of real and imagined histories inspiring future garment design. Fashion Students and Lecturers from Northumbria University School of Design have researched the collection to develop the final garment designs which will be exhibited in May."

I'm fairly fascinated by the idea of re-fashioning clothes. Who doesn't have a bunch of old clothes they hang onto because of the lush colour, the superior fabric, the potential usefulness, never quite realized; blame it on (formerly) blogging, (currently) family history addiction. Well, OK, maybe it's just me.  






I've no idea what design students go through. So much of the verbiage that accompanies art is meaningless, at least to me, nearly imprisoned in my left-brain. Mind I can twaddle on myself just fine. This post started out as "Day Out in Newcastle", then became "Fashion, Cathedral, Patisserie" and  I even considered "Seeking Sustenance". What grandiose gabble I can produce.

Oh, while I'm thinking of it, I recently read Gods and Kings, by Dana Thomas, and I highly recommend it. The book is pretty much a biography of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano and it is fascinating. I also think it might put anyone off being a really successful fashion designer...



I gather that academia requires documenting certain steps in the creative process, like developing mood boards or sketching ideas or draping fabric, researching background something or other. I can sometimes see the point but most of the time I think I would lose the will to create. But no matter, I'm not going back to school. 



There were indeed some exquisite objects on display, particularly the Victorian and Edwardian age dresses, suits and shoes. 

Of course one doesn't normally see a lot of old every-day clothes worn by ordinary people. Those will have been worn out and used up and probably made into rags. The clothes in museums tend to be ball gowns or special dresses saved in someone's closet for decades. 

After scouring the exhibit we did the same with the shop. I love museum shops. I don't buy much but I do sometimes take photos of the books in case I want to look for them elsewhere. I can often just list them on my Amazon wishlist and be satisfied by the Look Inside! feature. 

The best things in this shop were the silly children's toys and I'll likely return nearer to Christmas. Bill and his adult children are highly entertained by such things. 



We had a bite of lunch at the cafe and with no particular plan that I recall we happened to drop into St. Nicholas' Cathedral. But that is another blog post.

Cragside Garden

I learned a new word as we walked through the woods to the stone garden to the greenhouse and the lawn that looked down on the village of Rothbury.

Pinetum (pI-NEAT-um) - a plantation of pine trees or other conifers planted for scientific or ornamental purposes.

Suffice it to say they had a few confirs dotted around the place.

The next surprise was that some mad gardening lady (Bill's term) was working at planting designs outside the greenhouse to match designs inside the house.



We spoke to one of the volunteers who explained the plan. As with a lady inside the house, once he got started talking it was hard to escape. I had the impression they all study quite hard to be well informed about the house or grounds and it must be frustrating to not have more opportunities to impart that knowledge. So I tried to be patient and to ask questions.



Actually, it was interesting (and a bit crazy) that they play with the designs in this garden all the time, planting different shapes in keeping with various themes; for example, planting the Olympic rings the year the games were in London.





In the greenhouse I spotted some lovely soft fern that turned out to be fennel. I don't care for it as food, but I do love fern in a floral arrangement.




Mom used to have a bed of what she called asparagus fern. 





There was never any food, sadly, but plenty of beautiful, soft, feathery fronds.





I snapped this photo of an iris also because Mom grew loads of them at the house where I grew up.

Bill and I were both taken with this strange coloured rose.




We had a wander around the sweet little bell tower, then headed for the car. I bet we walked several miles that day!

Items of Appeal

I've discovered that I can look at a lot of things and no longer 'need' - or even strongly wish - to own them, if I simply take a photo. I have an odd feeling that if the image is in my camera the thing is 'mine'. Crackers, I know.

Before we leave the house to visit Cragside's garden, I thought I would share some of the items that really grabbed me.





This unusual table is oak and it can be expanded by replacing the long straight pieces with wider ones.












It sits in front of an enormous Inglenook fireplace in which there are four stained glass windows, representing the seasons, designed by William Morris himself.
























What to love best? 



The ornate screen, the wooden lounge chair, the crystal decanter or the silver cigarette box? Or how about just the fact of having a sauna in the basement of your house?




I'm not generally that fussed about china, but I thought this was exquisite. 


A butler's tray,  easily acquired at many antique shops. 

Then I'd have a use for Bill's mother's many tray cloths.



Down in the kitchen, a whole row of ceramic hot water bottles! 




And a row of copper watering cans. Can you imagine what these might cost these days? I'll settle for my large, functional green plastic 'can's. Bonus: they don't need polishing!

Floor to ceiling cupboards. With nice little dust-catching details, but I don't care, I think they are lovely.



In the butler's pantry, a tray for carrying wine bottles. First I've seen of this design.




A dressing table. 



Love how the curtain 'puddles' on the floor. You see that a lot in National Trust houses. I'm sure it is one of those 'conspicuous consumption' things.

The cheval mirror, the lovely shaped chair with lush embroidered fabric, the funny bay window in the alcove.




Another dressing table, in the window but not right next to it. I hate seeing the back of furniture in people's windows. The incredible hexagon patchwork quilt, a shallow couch just the width of the bed.

Oh, this desk and its accessories! 




The leather inlay, an embroidered folder for 'Telegrams', the scales to calculate postage, pens, ink bottles and blotter. The sweet little book case, a holder for notepaper and, best of all, the letter holder that reminds me of the opening credits of Downton Abbey. My grandmother had something similar at one time and if I ever find one like it, I shall make a purchase!

 And of course, a crystal vase (not vAs, like I say it, but vahz) with flowers.


Not to forget, illumination provided by a brass standard lamp with long silky fringe.

Is it a sign of mental illness that the details of these little stairs lift my heart? The neat cream paint, the simplicity of design, and especially the bottom step wrapping around just does me in.

Bill and I both snapped photos of this beautiful screen, silk fabric below and exquisite woodwork and glass above.



I'm not expert enough to tell if this bedspread is machine or hand embroidered, though being in an Arts and Crafts house, the latter is quite likely.

Being a book lover I guess I'm allowed a passion for book cases. You see these around and I'm always charmed. Can't say whether they are a less or more efficient use of space/just a different shape perhaps. Probably a terrible temptation for small boys to swing on.



Another leather inlay desk and bookcase, but this one has brocade folders for letters. How sumptuous is that?

Well, I enjoyed going back through my photos and remembering the day. I've been several times to Cragside and yet I forget how lovely it is.

If you'd like to see more of the collections held by the National Trust, you can view them online here. 

Cragside Walls

I found myself snapping photos of wall coverings at Cragside. Many of the wallpapers were of William Morris design. 




I can never decide about his designs or about the Arts and Crafts movement either. I tend to think they are lovely to look at but I'd never want to live with them.



Perhaps my house just isn't large enough?



Or is it because it is all just so bright and busy?



I really do think you can have too much of a good thing.

Bill couldn't believe I liked the tiles. 

Well, I did and I didn't. I liked the colours and the patterns, but tiles on a hall wall seemed rather cold, particularly in a house built of stone.




I think I looked at them and saw counted cross-stitch, which I used to love doing; or maybe my next granny square project? I would wear some of these patterns, say on a blouse or even a jacket.

I found it quite exotic, different to my painted walls at home. 



I've just realized I've posted a wallpaper sampler!

Cragside Continued

Decent photos inside Cragside were mostly impossible owing to the dim lighting. That said, the place was lighter and brighter than I remembered it from our last visit. 

As though they had cleaned a layer of grunge off the whole place.  It wasn't sunshine, since it was overcast outside. No idea how that happened.




I'm obviously sharing some of the lousy photos anyhow. You'll get sort of an idea of how the place looks.

I generally gasp over the architecture of the National Trust places, and certainly I loved a lot of this about Cragside. However, I'm never going to own anything one-millionth as grand, so why long for it? I can certainly aim for smaller bits, like lamps.

Mind, I'd think long and hard about selecting some of these. I loved the idea of the hanging lamps with long fringe, but it does suggest you know exactly where your furniture will be placed for the next 100 years.

Rip some pages from a book, stitch to a frame. Done!

I like to keep my options a bit more open.




Some looked like a potential craft project and others just were lovely to look at.






One lamp in particular has become an iconic symbol for the place.

Making a Chain

Absurd post title, given this is about links I want to keep for myself and thought I'd share. I blame Bill, his sideways thinking has rubbed off on me. Not a fan of 'linky love' and the like. In the past I've added blogs to my bloglist but never found the specific posts I liked so much again. 

So trying a different approach. 

Six Ways to a Slow Summer

Edible Landscaping

Forgiveness

My New Year Starts Anytime I Want

Visiting London Soon

Every post deserves a picture