Trove, Goldsmiths and Dust.

I spent the weekend on a gallery site visit to Trove in Birmingham, had a great conversation with Charlie Levine. We spent ages talking about our love of glitter and, my own personal love, postcards and how the postal system is a complete mystery to us, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Often not working if you try to post anything with HRH Princess Diana on, I have discovered, anyway I digress. The visit was very productive, we talked about the placement of the works and the use of the original plinths that have been left behind from the Old Science Museum exhibits. My friend JR remembers that this room contained a full size railway engine, I can only imagine the wonderousness of this.
Charlie and I also talked about how when the Gold and Silversmiths of the Jewelry Quarter sold up, they would sell the floors separately as this is where the slivers of precious metal end up. The floors would then be burnt and the metal salvaged. They also banned the use of Brilliantine on the goldsmiths hair as the workers used to wipe their hands full of gold dust on their hair, the dust would stick on and when the workers got home they would wash the gold right out of their hair, supplementing their income. I like this idea of trace, moving a miniscule amount of the world around.

Tape,tornados and Tory-blue stitches

I think my friends are jinxed.
This week my sister returned to where her car was parked and discovered it was all taped off with crime scene tape, she thought the worst, however it turned out a tree had fallen on the main power cable into town. So the police, the fire brigade, the electricity board and the council where all looking at it and all she wanted was to get home to her friday pizza tea. They eventually let her move her car, the tree got moved this morning after consultation with all of the above and the land owner ! Pfaff.
My friend H was having a haircut at her friends, a mini-tornado struck, the green house lifted off, they rushed out to rescue it, a concrete tile flew off the roof and hit H on the head she got rushed to hospital and now has 6 Tory-Blue stitches in her head, then she came in to teach drawing, hard-core. I relayed this story to my sister who suggested H wears a crash helmet and to disguise its rather ungainly lines by sticking on a moose, a birds-nest and some eggs ! I have no idea where she gets her ideas from.
I now can't even talk to my other friends just in case.

Amsterdam

Everyone else I know, well nearly everyone, have gone to Amsterdam for the week. I have been on that particular trip 13 times now, so I have experienced most of what Amsterdam has to offer. I have stood infront of the Vermeer's and been overawed by their beauty and wonderousness. The physical scale of Van Gogh's paintings has always astounded me, their intimacy, their colour, this does not come across in reproduction, the images of the cherry blossoms trees are a particular favorite of mine.

Men in Brogues

I have a wish, desire, possible fantasy about men in Brogues. Men wearing proper shoes is very nice, very sexy and very right. Please.

Things in threes

They say that things come in threes, so far this week I have had a broken washing machine, a flat tire (caused by a maliciously placed screw) and some one has cloned my credit card. So I am slipping into a state of melancholia, so have decided to be very Edwardian and take to my bed for the rest of the winter. I feel that this is the safest place to be, I am never going to get money out of the bank, drive anywhere or do any laundry ever again. I think that this is for the best, as I feel that I have the opposite of the Midas touch now. I am wondering whether I should even be using my lap top or even thinking about that might jinx it.
I feel some slippage might occur, but I have a show in Trove in Birmingham to focus on, so this is what is keeping me out of my bed. I am applying silver to my entire world, but I have always liked silver in all it forms.