Staring at the Sky

For argument's sake, 

lets pretend we could stop arguing

Over which of us is wrong 

and why it isn't you

Golden Age of Aviation, The Lucksmiths

We're barely awake before your head's up in the clouds again

There's nothing you like more than having nothing much to do

Golden Age of Aviation, The Lucksmiths

 A passing interest in the past

 I'll never forget the morning we went running around before the sun came up, so new to this town

We stood together but there was some reason we never kissed

And it was something akin to being in love

I guess it's love

We left it up in the air

We left it to fate

We left it a little too late

Before the sun came up, The Lucksmiths

And even though the weekend doesn't really make much difference

You spent Thursday on your backside whistling "Friday on My Mind"

Smokers in love, The Lucksmiths

Holyrood

Queen Mary

 Mayflower 1620

Gateway to the World 

 Community Gardening in the City

 Getting about in Southampton

 Sailing

Southampton at war 

Changing face of Holyrood

All art from Holyrood Estate, Southampton, UK

Weston Shore - Big Beach Clean Up - August 8th

Sarah O'Donnell, Weston

Author Philip Hoare recently tweeted about an early morning swim in a calm and lulling sea; and described an oystercatcher flying by as a "benign exocet in orange, black and white" @philipwhale.  It's a beautiful, evocative description conjuring an exotic location.  It reminded me of Ian Curtis' words "If you could just see the beauty, these things I could never describe".  Finding the beauty in the ordinary, looking at the world anew.

I might be wrong but I think this is where he was swimming.  Costa del Weston.  It's not that exotic.  In fact, the area ranks as one of the most deprived areas in the UK.  Here's some facts and figures from a Southampton City Council document.  

where 1 is most deprived

It makes for disheartening reading but, hey, facts and figures only tell half a story.  To the west Weston merges with Woolston and the Itchen River, to the east is Tickleford Gully, Westwood and Netley Abbey and to the south, Southampton Water.  Every drop of which is liquid history (may contain contaminants).  

A little while ago part of one low rise block of flats fell down.  Just like that.  A walkway just collapsed.  There was a door, it just opened on to nothing,  If you had come out of it you would have just fallen to the ground. I didn't take any pictures because, although it was a striking image, it seemed like a cheap holiday in other people's misery.

They demolished the flats.  They're building new ones.  They look pretty good.  When the building started we were told Vibrant, hand painted hoarding boards will also be erected on site, which were created by the Weston Church Youth Project to enhance the look of the site hoardings during the demolition works and inject a sense of local ownership to the development. 

That didn't exactly happen.  This is what we got:

What would Jesus do?  Weston Church Youth Project

However, recently that has been replaced with a number of new pictures, some by local children, some by local adults.  I think they show the same skill in bringing out the beauty of the ordinary that Philip Hoare's line did. 

When dinosaurs roamed the estate, Unsigned

The Friends of Weston Shore have organised a beach clean up for Saturday August 6th.  

Here's some info:

This year there’s another chance to tackle an environmental problem everyone can get a grip on – Litter! The Friends of Weston Shore are back in action on Saturday 8th August 2015 between 10am to 1pm helping to clean up the shore and are looking for heroes to help join them.

Weston Shore is truly one of Southampton’s hidden gems. It is designated as an international Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the importance of the inter-tidal mudflats, which each year attract thousands of wading birds including egrets and curlews.

The Friends of Weston Shore would like to invite everyone with an interest in protecting one of Southampton’s most beautiful locations to come along to their annual “Big Beach Clean Up” and show their support for the area by helping to take part in a short litter pick along the seafront.

Litter pickers and bags will be provided but please wear sensible shoes and gloves if taking part. Come along at any time between 10am and 1pm. The starting point will be near the car park near to the former Pitch and Putt course on Weston Shore. For more information please contact the Friends of Weston Shore at WESTONSHORE@GMAIL.COM

Big thanks to all the artists whose pictures I've used here.  I would love to give you all the credit that you're due but there is no info attached.  Let me know and I'll fix it.

Morning has broken, broken my heart

Morning has broken,

broken my heart

Darwin spawned a monster

Circle of support

they saw the Messiah

(I guess I missed Him again)

look both ways before you cross me

the trick is to walk in backwards 

like you're walking out

my heart is touched

by awakening faces

I am free from hatred and blindness

I have a secret

and I'm gonna keep it

the pictures on the walls

the art of QE2 Activity Centre

the pictures on the walls 

   

 Over the past two decades the walls of the QE2 Activity Centre's sports hall have been canvasses displaying some mighty fine artworks.  The majority of these have been painted by Centre staff, sometimes with more inspiration than technique, sometimes with more technique than inspiration, always without utility.  There have been works inspired by Mondrian, Warhol and Hockney.  There have been works painted from photos, from the imagination and from the hip.   Some of it has been to brighten, accentuate or hide the climbing walls.

The current crop of art on the walls is dominated by a commissioned piece from outstanding grafitti artist Eldon Griffiths.  It shows three of the Centre's regular users, portrayed in a bright, almost comic book manner.  

 

Alongside this is an old master by Old Master Pete Dunnings, a silhouetted climber against a Tuscan sun. This was painted in 1995 and has survived the purges that have occurred annually since then.  That's because we like it.

    

For 2013 we have gone for a different style, based on the palettes left behind by the Hacienda Club and Shakeaway cup design teams.   Simple bands of colour, like a breath of fresh air, wafting through the building.

Ars longa, vita brevis, so they say, but here at QE2 Activity Centre the ars is brevis too.  Pictured below are some of the paint jobs that have graced the walls and climbing walls at QE2 Activity Centre.  Painted mostly by Centre staff - what a clever bunch!  However all of these fine art works are gone.

not a Mondrian

 

       

Dum de dum de dumm de dumm, the Archer, Pete Dunnings

  

in the style of A. Warhola (although those that painted it didn't know it)

  

 a nod to the mod, Tetris, Lawrence Parker 

the hills are alive. an attempt to bring mountains to Hampshire

 

Mondrian a go go

 

24 hour party people

 

Snakes & Ladders, B&Q

   

Shakaway (Kerry Lees), QE2 (Great Oaks School), Aaron (Kerry Lees, Emily Weller, from a non original photo and idea)

     

Great oak (Lees), Aaron (ibid)

   

 Jigsaw, Phil & the Green Team

   

boats, thenewcornpoppy

read it in books

This work fuses chaos with order, with lines and shapes laid randomly - at first glance. Closer inspection gradually reveals that a set of rules governs the placement of shapes and the choice of colours. Thus, the artist challenges the viewer to explore the rules encoded in the subconscious that shape our aesthetics, to consider why we find beauty in the juxtaposition of chaos and order.

Rather than any implied meaning or message, the minimalist nature of these paintings encourages the viewer to consider the visual qualities of the work - the composition, surfaces, textures and the relationship of depicted space to line and form. In simplicity, art becomes more direct and incisive in its dissection of the human mind, a more lucent mirror of our collective subconscious.  Kent Wang

 

 Aaron by Aaron, Aaron by Lees, Weller

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