There is a hand coloured satirical engraving by William Heath (1828) at The British Museum entitled Monster soup commonly called Thames water, being a correct representation of that precious stuff doled out to us!!! It’s a great image! A title […]
I went back to the river today to dig up the linen I buried 2 weeks ago. I was feeling concerned that it would be a)washed away or b)torn to shreds. Happy days! It was still there and […]
I took some linen down to the river today and buried it. I’m hoping it will hold marks made by the water and stones, soil and other bits of debris from the riverbed. The current can be quite strong, especially […]
With all the rain we have had this month, this was the first week I wanted to brave the river – the flow has been really fast and high. Not much marginal plant life at this time of year – […]
I really enjoy the conversations that come up at exhibitions. At Brentford Creative Mile this month, two lovely snippets of Crane history came out of the many amazing conversations I had… One was that there used to be a freshwater […]
I’ve been thinking about making my own ink using oak galls and materials from the river for a while and then the other day I came across some oak galls and decided to get started. I couldn’t believe how easy […]
Brought over in 1839 for its exquisite flowers, Himalayan Balsam is now ravaging our river banks. It grows rapidly and spreads quickly, smothering other plants as it goes. As you walk along the River Crane, you see it standing in […]
Looking at the plants on the river bank and thinking about which to draw, I’m reminded of a painting that I keep going back to – The Great Piece of Turf by Albrecht Dürer, 1503, painted in watercolour and […]
On my visits so far, I have met a few of the local residents who’s gardens back onto the Crane. We have conversations about herons, ducks, kingfishers, high tides. One woman told me about the writer A G Linney […]
There’s a slipway that I can access the river by, saving me the walk along the Thames. Once again I silently blessed my friend for her waders as, stepping off the side of the ramp (the submerged bit looked too […]
Charcoal seems to me the most suitable medium for the plant drawings. I like its crumbly fragility, making each mark vulnerable and susceptible. You can smudge it, move it around, make it incredibly black and dense or barely a whisper. […]
For the last 3 years, I have been making large drawings of wildflowers in charcoal on paper. I have had several exhibitions and so I put off this project until I had a bit more time and space to work […]