Planet Ruby Starrs

On what was originally hailed as the hottest day or the year Dr Fred and I headed to Upper Teesdale to investigate a new temporary art installation by Steve Messam called Hush. We had a lunch/breakfast at the Bowlees cafe to gather some calories to consequently sweat off as we head up first through the forest and then across the fields to a wee valley festooned with yellow flags. A 'hush' is a mining term.  When miners found interesting minerals in the hillsides they would make an artificial dam across the top and collect water and then release it so all the soils would be washed away - this was called hushing.  It leave a channel cut into the hillside and Messams idea was to celebrate the mining community, nature and how it can be used as a contemporary art form. long distance view The flags certainly stand out, as you come over the hill from the cafe they are evident from quite a distance.  Up close you can see the simplicity of the installation,  over 5 kilome

This is a warning.... I am going to try and update the blog, a wee bit of redesigning and tidying up.... last time I did this it went all haywire and has never worked properly since - so I'm hoping I can review and repair ... hoping to do this some time in the next week or two so any helpful comments or tips would be well received Thanks.. Watch this space

some people made their own version of Saturn V Dr Fred, myself, and our extended family and friends spent a wonderful weekend camping at the Girsby and Over Dinsdale Village hall. We were part of a team helping to run a festival to celebrate 50 years since the first man walked on the moon.  The Festival was organised by the Go Stargazing team   https://gostargazing.co.uk/   check them out for future events. the lull before the storm It was an action packed couple of days - after shopping for personal and cafe supplies we had to put up an enormous tent to house the Leeds tribe who came to help with refreshments.  Then we had to arrange  the Cafe At The End of the Universe to serve pop, crisps and hot dogs whilst running a crafting Giant Alien Robot building centre for the under 20's - We weren't strict about the age limit, and, in fact, found although the people involved in building Roobarb the Giant Alien Robot, and making pictures of aliens and rockets were averagi

15 or so years ago I went Christmas shopping in Marrakesh with an old (as in long time) pal... we had a great time and I just totally fell in love with Morocco. I loved Marrakesh - the culture mix of french and middle east  - sometimes overlapping but often very separate all in one fantastic city. My friend decided to visit the coast for the day but I was so enamored with the sights and smells of Marrakesh I decided to stay and explore - I couldn't bear to miss a single moment of this amazing city. I wandered quite happily around the souks - the colours the textures, sounds, smells all incredibly enticing, exciting and  buzzing with energy.  I was determined not to buy anything... at least not in haste ha ha. The souks are divided into various sections determined by what they are selling so all the jewelry shops are grouped together or all the metal stuff.. all the leather stuff... they go on for miles and seem at first like a vast maze but believe me a couple of days wande

great visuals and lighting Lost in the Woods gathering once again... in a secret location near Darlington, another pleasant weekend spent lounging about in the sun with good company.. my weekends are very varied at the moment, the Royal albert Hall, Natural History Museum and then a wee field in the middle of Teeside listening to dub music whilst lazing in my comfy deck chair. notice there is fruit on the table!!!! There were lots of different bands playing, lots of different DJ ing after hours but the highlight for me was defo Dr Freds first live spoken DJ set in partnership with DJ Horace Zontal.. what a pair!!! It was great live poetry with crazy backing space tunes at its best. extremely effective alien on stilts - a tad scary  Meanwhile hovering around the site were Daleks and an alien creature roaming - all good entertainment -  the weather was kind and the setting was grand... I have to say I do prefer music in a field but sometimes needs must and the show must

I absolutely love the Natural History Museum... its crammed full of everything!  its art, nature, science, beauty, gore, history, past, present, future and everything all combined under one amazingly beautiful building  - always a joy to visit! I traveled to London with a fellow student and we did manage to see and do an awful lot of things  in the three days and two nights we had there.  We went to New Designers in the Business Centre Islington, The Royal Academy, -I went to Chelsea Harbour to look at Designers stuff, we took a boat ride down the Thames and saw Tower Bridge opening to let a big boat through.  And as an aside we  learnt that Waterloo Bridge was built entirely by women during the war!!! We had a curry on Brick Lane and on our last day we spent it at the Natural History Museum in my continued search for the right concept to concentrate on in my final year at  college. This concept is an issue for me - I really want to get it right - I'm hopelessly conscio

I'm trying without much success - and the summer is running away with me... to settle on my concept for next years college work and I have so many ideas I'm finding it difficult to commit - It needs to be something I can work with throughout the whole year, something I can get me teeth into - and develop - and lose myself to .... I think may be I need a little bit of space and a bit of R&R before I make a decision that my whole years work may be based on so in the meantime I shall just wander and sketch and hope the idea evolves so with this in mind I headed to the Royal Academy for further inspiration.  I went to the Summer Exhibition a long time ago and for some reason never quite got round to revisiting.  I decided to make it my mission this year having seen the variety at New Designers I felt that the variety presented at the Summer Exhibition 2019 would really complement my summer culture fix! I wasn't wrong!  the 2019 summer exhibition was an eclectic mix of

A second trip to London  in less than a week. This time it was college connected as the main aim was to visit the New D esigners   exhibition  at the Business Design Centre Islington. The third year graduates  from the Northern School of Art were displaying their  amazing collections as were the creme de la creme from many art colleges across the country -   it was like going to every ones 'best bit' degree show.  The Northern Art stand looked vibrant and well displayed and stood among t he huge amount of other work on show.  Across the whole building the designs, collections, displays were  extremely  varied, very well presented and inspiring. There  was a lot to look at. Many different disciplines  based on textile design and embellishment . I really enjoyed seeing the variety in weaving and embroidery. There lots of colour and textile  just an Aladdins  cave for an aspiring textile student.   There was so much to look at and the hard work and talent was evident and in p