Celebrating Pre-Raphaelite art at Wightwick Manor

 

The impressive Wightwick Manor amidst our fog yesterday morning. It is an impressive house that still has family apartments even though it is managed by The National Trust. 

I revisited Wightwick Manor on the weekend to pick up my glass art after a recent workshop there, & to revisit the Rosetti exhibition before it closes. 

The Pre-Raphaelite era is one I am rather partial to - the flaming heads & colours that dominate it is rather fetching. 

I have been to several other exhibitions at the Wolverhampton art gallery, the National Gallery in Birmingham & the Aston collection belonging to the University of Birmingham.

The background to this movement is interesting - a small group of London artists setting the tone for the art. The movement found a kindred spirit in the Mander family at Wightwick Manor, where the Arts & Crafts movement is celebrated. The house features so many William Morris patterns & designs that it is almost a catalogue for his patterns. 

Dante Gabriel Rosetti & William Michael Rosetti were part of the 7 founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement in 1848.

The Rosetti family were hugely talented individuals with Italian heritage, living in London. We are mostly familiar with Christina Rosetti & are familiar with her Carol - In the Bleak Midwinter. 

 I learnt of Christina's work with the London Diocesan Penitentiary  during a visit to the Highgate cemetery in London.  The Rosetti family have a family plot at Highgate cemetery. 

The other sister Maria Francesca Rosetti was an author & she became a nun. 

The Wightwick Manor exhibition is beautifully annotated with information boards & enlightened room stewards who explained their part of the wider exhibition. The info helped to process all the art, nicely laid out in sections. 

One section dealt with the artists Elizabeth Siddal & Lucy Madox Brown, spouses of Dante & William Rosetti. These two were artists in their own right & their work is also part of the display.  This is an interesting article on Elizabeth Siddal. She left her job in a hat shop to work as an artist model & her copper haired images are well known. 

Wightwick Manor & Gardens is one of the most important places in the UK to see Pre-Raphaelite art.

Donated to the National Trust in 1937 by Sir Geoffrey and Lady Mander, the house has a deep historical connection to the Rossetti family. Lady Mander was a passionate collector of Rossetti works and formed friendships with Rossetti descendants, helping to establish Wightwick as a centre for Pre-Raphaelite art in the Midlands.

I am so glad that I seized to opportunity to revisit the exhibition before it closes today. 

It is fascinating how one family can be so influential in one field. Several of the Rosetti's struggled with depression & dark thoughts - some of Dante's work shows a disturbed mind but that is perhaps what makes them so artistic - their tortured minds go places we don't & their artistry is almost compulsive. 

This art at Wightwick is my favourite - the colours are stunning & I would happily have it on my own wall - if I had a wall that big. 

It hangs in the large hall & the well placed mirror reflects the vibrant colour of the painting. 

I hope you will think of the talented Rosetti's when you hear the familiar carol - In the bleak Midwinter. 

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed this too, 

Dee 🖼️🎨👩‍🎨

The joy of undemanding November days ...

 

My Instagram feed is filling up with images of Christmas decorating already.  There seems to be a trend to hurry through each month, each season, each occasion without slowing down to enjoy each for what they are. 

I love the undemanding time of November - it carries none of the expectations of December where lists, plans, gifts & shopping dominates. 

November is a welcome sigh, to feel the earth settle, to enjoy the colours of nature as the leaves drift underfoot in a thick spongy carpet.  The morning mists bring a mysteriousness to the day, sounds are muffled, shapes are half hidden & everything feels different, yet the same. 

November has not given way to harsh winter frosts, the biting cold, the icy grip of deep winter. It might be muddy & murky but it has charming colours, yet too few enjoy it fully. 

I enjoy the slowness of it, the busy festive season will be here soon enough, November days are to be savoured for the richness they bring to the year.

I used to do this poem with my younger students & it captures this time simply, but well. 

November comes 

And November goes, 

With the last red berries

And the first white snows.

With night coming early,

And dawn coming late, 

With ice in the bucket

And frost by the gate.

The fires burn

And the kettles sing,

And earth sinks to rest

Until next Spring.

By Elizabeth Coatsworth.

Advent begins at the end of November, I like hold off putting up a tree till mid December because it stays up until Epiphany or Twelfth Night in January. I do not hurry Christmas either.

Slow down,  write your cards intentionally, & enjoy November as the welcome pause ... 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🍁🍂🪾

Remembering with a poppy heart ...

 

A part of my tutoring time that I found inspiring was passing on the importance of Remembrance Sunday & the history behind it. 

There is so much history around the wars but war poetry was popular with my students, especially Shropshire born Wilfred Owen. I wrote about him last year in this blog post. 

The two minute silence has a strong South African connection, having been recommended by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick. 

I will visit Shrewsbury Abbey later in the week & will update on their tremendous effort ahead of Remembrance Sunday. 

I have had it in mind to sew a poppy heart & today while out & about, I paged through a vintage book & saw some phrases that inspired me. 

While on our recent Gentlework sewing day, several people added written words from a vintage book Christine had & it really added to their work. 

The vintage book I found today is printed on heavy card so perfect to use as an additional bit to my stitching.  It was a mere 50p, & I know I will use it for more words in future projects. 

I drew a heart shape on a fabric base, added various fabrics from my stash to it, mindful that the rough brown fabric resembled the conditions many encountered on the battlefield. I added in various stitches & then cut red fabric circles to use as poppies. 

These were doubled up & attached with just a single French knot in the centre of each. 

I stitched some red French knots in other places, it was one of those makes that comes easily & in no time I was happy to trim the edges, then use a sturdy mercer thread to sew up the edges with blanket stitch. The thread blended well, not distracting from it at all. 

I added in a fabric loop, and stuffed it gently when I was almost back at my starting point. 

I turned it over & cut out a few phrases & words from the vintage book. I had to use an all purpose glue to stick them down. 

I am pleased with the impromptu make;  it is appropriate ahead of the services this weekend & a timely reminder to honour the service of those who paid the ultimate price on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee ♥️

Imperfect …

 

Imperfect - flawed,  damaged, defective; the concept so many of us work to overcome. 

It is the one word that brings angst, the feeling that we must try harder to work on our flaws, limitations & mistakes. What if imperfections are the authentic parts of us, the parts that do not demand perfection? 

Perfection is unrealistic, unattainable & it hinders creative thinking that you should only do something if it can be done perfectly. It overlooks the process of learning something new. 

At our  sewing day, Christine said she had a dish of ‘imperfect buttons’ that she was gifted. 

They are buttons that are badly formed, poorly cut - imperfect examples. She invited us to take some & use them. I picked up a few. Some had a lovely smooth feel, others were more rough, all different. Some had bits missing, others imperfect holes.

Today I glimpsed them in the little envelope from our day & an idea came to mind immediately- to celebrate their imperfections. 

I decided to machine sew a tag for it. My sewing machine does lettering, the size is fixed & the results are often … imperfect. 

The imperfects joined each other on a small padded sewing make. 

I will keep it near to where I work as a reminder that imperfect can be fine …

Thank you for stopping by, I always appreciate it. 

Dee 🧵🪡🖼️📍✂️

Pancakes with a hint of ginger ...

We do love a treat of fruit, pancakes, yoghurt & coffee, especially on slow weekends. 

I opened a jar of syrupy stem ginger last week to use when I baked an apple & ginger loaf. 

I still had a few stem ginger balls so I cut one of them up finely to add to my pancake batter - which is this very simple recipe that my mother had always used. 

It can be made thinner with more liquid for larger pancakes, we like the little ones with fruit.

For about 8 small pancakes - 

1 cup of self raising flour 

5/8th cup of milk (about 175ml milk)

1 egg

A slither of butter mixed in (about 20-30g, I never measure)

Mix it all together with a hand whisk, the slither of butter gives the pancakes a nice colour. I added in 1 stem ginger ball, cut very fine. 

Drop several large spoonfuls on a pan to cook, flip over when the bottom side is cooked (it takes less than a minute each side). 

Serve with cut fresh fruit, yoghurt, maple syrup if liked & coffee or tea.

The stem ginger gave a very subtle taste that went well with the fresh fruit. Variations are good & the above recipe is a great standard one that can be made up in minutes. I never add sugar to my mixture because we have them with sweet fruit. 

I hope you have time to make some too. Thanks for stopping by, 

Dee