akan proverbs

a while back i learned a bit of twi off the back of working with a colleague from ghana. there's a bunch more people from africa at work now and, for various reasons, i thought it'd be a laugh if i could surprise them by actually saying hello in a language from back home. and in doing so i find many things i don't know!

currently igbo is a stone i stub my toe on, shona is lovely, and zambia, i find, is a place to get linguistically lost in. but, until recently, no twi speakers. but off the back of that i found this gem (and from that the realm of the proverb battle, but that's a whole other thing!)

*i wasn't going to but i'll mention in passing that another part of the reason i started doing this was the staggering amounts of racism i'm seeing at work now, all of which seems to have been somehow normalised. and that upon a historical bed of racism. with regard to african linguistics try ordering some books and see how far you get. very saddening.

do it yourself - anthotypes, cyanotypes etc

 i've been mucking about with anthotypes and the like this summer but, now we're into august, and today my sunny cycle appears anything but, i'm aware that the days of being able to put plates outside and developing an image in a couple of hours, are running out quickly.

the solution - a lightbox! you could buy one for quite some amount of money. or you could just make one. like this. easy!

lesley richmond

 i'm not superconvinced that i'm overly into these but the more i look at them the more i find myself beguiled. fearsome amounts of attention to detail by lesley richmond

sibil la ensemble

 

this is outstandingly lovely

catalina vicens

 

not like anything else!

charlotte greenwood

 

i know a bit about some of the processes but i have zero idea how charlotte greenwood produces these!

charles bukowski

i found myself getting irked the other day by coming across, again, bukowski described as the laureate of lowlife. i never really found hin so when i was younger - i liked a drink, had rubbish jobs, (still) love a day out at the horses - but i never considered myself a lowlife. and this before i started liking bukowski, a poetic 'i' seeming so excoriatingly honest compared to just about everyone else i knew in poetryland. and likewise, as i got older, i don't know anyone else who captures disappointment and loss quite so well. happy days then to discover these readings

predictably enough there's plenty in the comments that toher people shouldn't be reading, that their accent is wrong, that it doesn't sound 'lowlife' enough! one of these days i'd like to take a bunch of his later poems and have them read by older women, just to hear what that sounds like. you'd think it was a simple idea but poetry types don't like that sort of thing, not one bit.

all of which lead me to this guy and some hard spanish practice! 

hong-yi zhuang

 i'm feeling the love for hong-yi zhuang right now

Zhuang Hong Yi Solo Show at HOFA Gallery from HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art) on Vimeo.

botanical plaster casting

i've been changing my practice of late and, to keep myself motivated with longer term projects, i've been trying my hand at other things that i might not have done before (see the wire trees) but have thought about on and off for, in some cases, years. botanical plaster casting is a case in point. this is an excellent video showing the process 

more wire trees

 

after last week's wire trees video here's another one. the amount of wire is bigger - i do favour sectioning and then twisting the trunk - but be aware that this is hard on the hands and, if you're using coloured wire like this if you use pliers you'll break the coating and, potentially, break the wire. i like the foliage technique in this. it's quicker than using pliers (and see above) and makes pleasing foliage.

again, it's all in spanish. i think it would be pretty easy to follow even if you don't speak spanish so give it a go. if it's your first tree you may not want to use quite as much wire and definitely don't go for coloured wire!

pjamahuset

 

get your friday started with retro swedish easy listening

jan schlegel

 there's no possibility i wouldn't love these pictures from aliens, mermaids and medusas by jan schlegel either by subject or process.

frederick douglass

the day after the fourth july it's worth a read of frederick douglass's reflections upon it. not just as a historical document but, where ever we may be, to reflect on what's going on today

 

darius hulea

 

after the wire tree post the other day up posts this from darius hulea. i have no clue how he's done the face! top skills! it's worth having a google to see more of what he's done. or, give it a go, and see just how skilful this is. 

tour de france

but geology! it's not my favourite race to be sure but the tdf is so popular it attracts all sorts for all manner of reasons. as well as being a constant dive into the landscapes and history of france here's a chance to get into the geology!