Sunday, 20 August 2017

Oxford Today

Today has been eventful. It started at 7 am and by 8 we were on our way to Heathrow, Terminal 2. Dorothy is off to Brittany for a week's quilting with her favourite  person, Rayna Gilman. Actually I think highly of herself.  Anyway Dorothy was collecting Rayna from a US flight, and escorting her to City airport in London where they successfully left for Brittany. I was quite jealous when I left her because it sounds like a nice place. But I, on the other hand, Zigzagged round London and drove to Oxford. The objective was to view the Designer Bookbinders international exhibition which is very high indeed. Every entry of about 70 is immaculately crafted and some of the techniques used are awe-inspiring. A very international set of competitors. Only the UK has a society of this sort and I have seen their exhibitions where 50% were from the USA.

This is one of my favorites. I splurged on a copy of the catalogue which has high class colour photos of every entry. I took some photos but they are bedevilled by reflections and shadows as you can see in the above photo.

There was an extra. The Bodleian is having an exhibition entitled 'Bodleian Treasures'. I'll say! Handel's conducting/working score of The Messiah in his handwriting. One of Yates poems handwritten and amended by Yates. Huge books with panting of tropical birds. Illustrated mediaeval manuscripts  and - -  a First Folio of Shakespeare's plays. All in one small room. It was very subdued lighting and there was a guard prowling about all the time.



I took a load of photos of Oxford which is swamped with tourists who all seemed to be 16 and noisy.

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About Me

I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.