gooseflesh

Scotland and Ireland

I've been here

and listened to this.............

Now I'm here..............

and made these............

Yarn made from Sainsbury orange plastic shopping bags

Yarn made from Marks & Spencer chartreuse plastic shopping bags.

New York Highlights

Meret Oppenheim's Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure), 1936, Museum of Modern Art.

Spring blossoms.

Home of Project Runway.

A gold peak seen from Madison Sq. Park.

Rockefellar Centre ice rink.

Squirrels.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel.

Sharing a table with a Yoko Ono look-alike.

An introduction to two identical French poodles, dressed in blue, cabled, knit sweaters, by a man with a voice like Truman Capote's.

Cafe Mogadon, listening to Nick Drake.

Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Garden.

On Location in New York

Cephalopod and my other plastic bag crochet sea creatures made the long journey to New York. I decided not to show them with the Toxic Reef. They looked out of place and overwhelmed. Instead I took Cephalopod on a location shoot overlooking the Hudson River, with the Statue of Liberty just visible on the horizon.

The Rubbish Vortex Debut, New York

The opening reception was held Sunday afternoon in the spectacular Winter Garden, World Financial Centre.

There was a good crowd, including my dear brother, Sam. He flew in from Austin, Texas, to spend the weekend with me.

The Rubbish Vortex was in good company, namely, The Chicago Reef from the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and The New York Reef made by members of the New York Crochet Guild and the Harlem Knitting Circle. Also Inga Hamilton's spectacular "jellies" and coral mounds.

There are also four glass vitrines which I haven't taken photos of yet.........next post.

L to R: Inga Hamilton, me, Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim. Looking very serious. The curatorial strain beginning to show. The Rubbish Vortex in the background.

A sister reef was exhibited at the Broadway Windows, NYU. Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.
The podia were made of stainless steel and the tops covered in black sand. My pieces are scattered in between the fluffy corals. Many women contributed to these reefs.

The Bleached Reef.

Say no more!!!!!!

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef,
Winter Garden, World Financial Centre, New York City. April 7 - May 18.

The Sister Reef, NYU Broadway Windows
Located at Broadway and East 10th Street, April 6 - May 18.

The Coral Garden Hat

Some photos of the Coral Garden Hat which I wore to the opening reception at the Winter Garden, WFC on Sunday....... it was a hit. I sat sewing and crocheting in my hotel room that morning, trying to finish it in time.

More photos of the show coming.............

Crochet Madness in New York City

New York city has been home for a week. It was a marathon flight.

The first week was spent setting up the Crochet Reef.......... which was exhausting. The Rubbish Vortex was rehung and looks quite good in the space. The Winter Garden is beautiful with lovely soft light pouring in through the thousands of glass panes. Opposite is the very sad looking Ground Zero.
I've met lots of wonderful people, including Inga and Andy Hamilton of rockpoolcandy. They make me laugh and have become great friends.

Other highlights....... an interview with The New Yorker and a mention in Time Out.

Did I mention the food? What can I say ........ it's of the highest quality and very reasonably priced. Had a pretzel from a street vendor the other day. The servings are gigantic.

Photos of the exhibits to come.

The Hyberbolic Crochet Reef

Only a few days before I leave for New York city.

The Rubbish Vortex and my Crochet Sea Creatures will be on show as part of The Institute For Figuring's Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. Come and see................... there will be coral and sea creatures made by women from all around the world.

The Winter Garden, The World Financial Centre . Opening reception will be held on Sunday the 6th of April from 2-5 pm. The show be on until May 18.

Please come and see this and the sister reef in The Broadway Windows, NYU.

Hope to see some of you guys there. Come and say hello.

A Crochet Vacuum

A box full of crochet sea creatures are on their way to New York. Fedex picked up the box this morning. I'll take the rest of the pieces with me in the suitcase. It feels strange now to have some extra time......... crochet withdrawal perhaps.

An anemone:

Regina Anemone
Crocheted preloved tapestry wool.

Three Coral Gardens:

Grey Ascidian.
Crocheted preloved tapestry wool.

Purple Barnacles
Crocheted preloved tapestry wool.

Pink Sponge
Crocheted preloved tapestry wool.

Violet Ascidian
Crocheted preloved tapestry wool.

Black Beauties

Continuing the black and white theme.........

Beach Detritus

The Elvis Costello Specs are my favourite.

A bracelet crocheted from one black plastic bag from Estyn and a teeny left-over red plastic piece.

A black motif from the same plastic bag

My all time favourite beach finds........ shark egg-cases. From the Port Jackson Shark, I believe. The tendril anchors the egg to the sea floor. The little baby shark lives inside.

Enjoy the weekend my maties.

Secret Strangeness of the Ocean

Some of my books are treasures of secret strangeness. One in particular is old and was found thrown on a pile of rubbish on the road. It sits comfortably on my bookshelf waiting to be opened and admired at regular intervals. For at least 25 years it has been a source of inspiration to me, a portal to an imaginary world. Some of my favourite images are black and white and have a wonderful lithographic quality.

Two young Puffer Fish (Diodon histrix)

Coelographis regina

Elatomma juniperum

Lithocircus magnificus

Orosphaera serpentina (I love saying the latin names out loud)

The bottom four images are skeletons of radiolarians. Radiolarians are ancient microscopic traces of life dating back 600 million years. These secret little creatures are the precursors to all marine life. Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) studied their perfect symmetrical structures and did exquisite drawings of them.

These images are models of radiolarians blown from glass by Herman Mueller in 1940.

........ the degree of difficulty crocheting my crochet sea creatures fades into insignificance compared to these little beauties.

Wildlife of the South Seas, F.A Raedelberger, and V.I Groschoff, Verbandsdruckerei Ltd., Berne, 1967.