My beloved and well worn horses (one is a donkey) standing on the shelf next to a ‘Fairy Egg’ placed in a miniature glass to keep it safe. Behind the toy animals is a set of 1940’s (?) glassware- a painted decanter and matching small glasses.
More patterned miscellaneous ceramic pieces and a few tiny examples of PEG work- I am a member of the Whitstable Profanity Embroidery Group and a couple of these pieces were exhibited in a show titled ‘Domesticity’ back in February 2023, in an appropriately scaled space, a dolls house.
Close up of some dust on a glass jelly mould- I love these intricate forms and used to use them a lot when my children were younger. Behind that is a photo of my grandma holding my dad, this would have been 1942 or 1943. There is one of the little ceramic pots on show here and an early oil painting from my friend Angel of a dresser- I do love dressers!
Tiny framed photo of my Grandma- Rose and Grandad- Ron, the other black and white photo tucked behind it is of my nan’s garden at Four Oaks, Luddenham, it is one of those photos that crops up out of nowhere and is an insight into their life. With a magnifying glass I can make out a figure standing under a rose arch, who is it and what are they holding? Maybe we will never know.
The little ceramic cherub is from her and Ron’s wedding cake, it holds a tiny heart and is ‘garlanded’- (is that a word?) with tiny wax flowers and buds. The turquoise ceramic form next to it was found at a flea market- what is it? A hedgehog? From the front it looks very Egyptian, almost like a Sphinx. Anyhow, it is a curiosity and will stay here. The drawing behind is also on of Angels’ and you can just see the head of a ceramic white horse behind the hedgehog. I love white horses as they remind me of Kent (our insignia- ‘Invicta’ is one) and the turf cut chalk beauties of Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.
Some of the books on my old library shelves are to do with gardening, growing herbs, keeping bees- (still a life goal) and the books are a rich mixture of old and new.
Quite a large selection of Ian Fleming books- 007 titles, these Pan copies have super groovy 1960’s images on them. Ian Fleming lived in Kent for a while and gave the agent a local bus service number. The National Express coaches that run to Dover from London and back (via Whitstable amongst other towns) are ‘007’.
My collection of Native American books. One day I would love to have a tipi, here I have a book that explains how to construct one with some excellent diagrams and information. I am fascinated by other cultures, especially indigenous ones as we have so much to learn from them.
My original and re-found (in charity shops) collection of children’s annuals alongside some more recent ‘Far Side’ cartoon books, and a couple of old ‘Goodies’ annuals.
A piece of my artwork that now forms a corner to the new larder/fridge freezer storage area. It was originally exhibited in an exhibition at ‘The Beaney’ in Canterbury about 10 years ago. It was the perfect fit- I had painted the image on a reclaimed floorboard and it catches the sunset beautifully over midsummer.
Coloured ‘Bubble’ vases in ‘Le Corbusier’ inspired window alcoves- see his work at Chapel Ronchamp to see how I was inspired to recreate this here in our domestic extension. Please note, I have not styled anything before I took photos today, this is as it is- tbh, I would have at least cleaned the window, space and glassware and rearranged a bit if I thought this photo would be a stand alone testament to my home. But I haven’t and here it is- warts and all- well- dead fly and all in next image…
See caption above regarding the unclean and un-styled reality of my home!
Many apples on a garden table, so many this year.
Autumn Crocus poking through the long grass in our wild garden, one of the only reminders of the original formal garden we took over back in the 1990’s. It was mainly lawn, straight concrete paths and no trees at all. We have added so many since we moved in, it now has 3 ‘forest garden’ areas and the land is far more ecologically varied than when we took it over.
Purple painted floorboards in the fairly-newly decorated bathroom.
Corner of the bathroom, showing colours chosen, part of the large ‘was window, now storage area’ cupboard and another of my pieces of artwork- ‘I Dream’.
Detail of pot plants on a metal cake stand in a corner of the bathroom.
Twinkly sunlight coming in through the fuchsia bush outside The west facing window shines light onto a wall of the living room and hallway. This wallpaper was from a Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen collection put up prior to the birth of my youngest son, who is now 20!
Twinkly light shining on a detail of one of my oldest and largest paintings- ‘Inner Landscape’.
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