In my other life as a treasure-hunter, I came across a roll of exposed negatives in a charity shop. When I scanned them later I was delighted to find these candid wedding photographs, probably from the late 60s here in Aude. The person taking these, not the official photographer told the true story; the one that actually celebrated that day. The body language and the expressions give so much. I wish I could find the bride and give these back to her.

If you get time to spare today, go and look at the photography of Joanna Pallaris.

thirteen

Today is exactly thirteen weeks since Luna came, and because thirteen is a good number and I want to celebrate, I have made a list of thirteen things that make up her strange personality (dogality?) quirks:

* Her muzzle is too short for her stupidly large tongue and so it always spills out when she's sleeping, making her look idiotic

* Also when sleeping she lies on her back with her back legs up on the furniture, the wall, Arthur, our legs etc

* Guards the bin and would defend it with her life if needed

* In a staring-down contest, she will attack starting with your nose, then ears and hair. All us girls now have nicely split ends

* The only dog I've ever known that actually does chase (and catch) it's tail. She runs round and round in a circle holding onto it and whining. The evidence.

* Relentlessly winds up the obnoxious and aggressive terrier dog next door while wagging her tail

* licks the guinea pig, the more he squeaks the rougher she gets

* Although she's always frantic at her impending meal she then lies down to eat it, takes her time

* We did an IQ test. She couldn't work out the treat was under the cup, even though Arthur showed her how to do it again and again. She couldn't work out how to get out from under a blanket either. Officially thick

* When I take her for a walk she has to sniff Arthur while he cocks his leg and always gets pee on her head, so I have to wash her face when we get home

* Also while out walking she barks at nothing, straining at lead and yelping at the air

* Steals loo roll off the holder, eats it all including the inside cardboard roll

*  Is the 5th dog I've had and is by a long, long way the cuddliest, most affectionate one ever

Yep, she's a good one. 

everyday is like sunday

Southend-On-Sea. Grey skies and a filter over the sun. Faded former glories, quaint and eccentric Englishness…..

Inside my head I am thinking of the line: the coastal town they forgot to close down. In January everything is shut until the season gets in full swing. Bolted doors, padlocked fun parks….

the beauty and the ugliness

 …...and some delightful splashes of colour. Not to mention excellent chips with a cup of tea. Hair dangled in it is optional.

***

Some of these pictures were taken with the end of a roll of Fujifilm Superia and some with a roll of Kodak Gold. I have a very strong preference for one over the other. I've whined about Kodak Gold before but decided to give it another try. My friends, never again!
I love you Kodak, I'm so sad about your demise and a life without Portra, Ektar, T-Max and my beloved D-76 developer will be unthinkable, let's hope this guy is right. But you really screwed up when you made Gold. I'm just saying.

for my father

Do you remember this book I was working on for my Dad, that I said I would share on my return?

I was reluctant to show it before in the unlikely chance he dropped by here…….I have a feeling none of my family stop by actually. (If any of you do, let me know!)

He loved it, by the way…….

It is always of interest to me how other artists work, and for me I find these days I rarely keep an actual sketchbook as such. Oh yes, I collect images that I pin on my studio wall or my computer and sometimes thumbnail out an idea but I prefer to allow pieces to evolve and take on a life of their own. I realise this is probably an appalling inefficient way of working and if it's true that time is money then no wonder I'm that typical struggling artist. But I find that things keep changing constantly because I have no final vision and I have to allow that to flow and unfold as I work. For me the process is the most enjoyable part of creating.
Although I don't keep a traditional sketchbook, I do scrawl notes either in my sketchbook, often as mind maps or larger maps and spider diagrams I can stick on the wall that I can add too. It's not unknown for me to leap out of bed in the night and scribble on one.
Whether you are an artist, photographer, crafter or designer do you have a particular way of working? Do you prefer to keep a sketchbook or go with the flow? Just being nosy but I'd love to know……
Also, I am delighted to be interviewed here about my film photography, so if you want to know how I work in that way too go take a look.

mane of the black shining horse

the glorious land

I am back from my short visit to England. It was quite odd after more than 4 years absence from the country I grew up in. Thankfully I am no patriot and have no allegiance to anywhere in particular so that's made it easy to move around. I guess I must have gypsy blood flowing through my veins along with God-knows-what-else. Anywhere I lay my head and all that. But weirdly, there were times when England felt so foreign; the day to day things I take for granted, the daily signposts and triggers, the mundane and the idiosyncrasies of my adopted country are a bigger source of comfort than I realised. I took Milla with me, she was only 7 when we left so for her it was very unfamiliar and rather exciting.
However, spending time with my family as we celebrated Dad's birthday was very special to both of us. It's funny how with your own flesh and blood you can just slot straight back in as if you just saw each other yesterday, sharing silly jokes, arguing about music and generally taking the mickey.
While in London we met up with the beautiful femme chocolat……….

 …..swung by St Pauls and Occupy London…...

….went to Tate Modern…….

 …..and got somewhat blown away by the sheer scale of Tacita Dean.

all Pentax Spotmatic/Fujifilm 400

I took the dogs into the garden in crisp, windy sunshine and the defiant roses inspire me to adopt the word "bloom" for my 2012 philosophy. How wonderful it will be to grow and flourish in the coming months, not to mention one of my favourite songs to help me on my way. I will not let the fact that 2012 is not an odd or prime number put me off, besides it's much easier to sign than 2011, so that's a good thing for a start.

So here's a little look at my worktable. In a few days I am taking a short trip to England for my Father's birthday. I have a storybook of his from his childhood, the rather unfortunately named "Gay Company". He probably doesn't even remember I have it, but I am using images and text to make him an accordion book, without destroying the original which is now very tattered and torn.

As you can see, the book is covered in his own little drawings and handwriting, and he had coloured in some of the pictures too. Yes, those are my glasses…….I have had to bow gracefully to short-sightedness when working in detail. Joe tells me they are the same as Le Corbu's, so that's OK then.

This is where I am with it at the moment, I will show you the finished book when I return next week.

sparkles and twinkles, big wheels and carousels

Carcassonne: Praktica/Fujifilm 400