Bruce Lacey

This week has been full of Mr Lacey and I am very happy about that.. We went to a screening at the BFI 'In an English Country Garden', and have just got back from visiting his show at Camden Art's Centre - if you can make it I couldn't recommend it more, it's a great mix of his automaton machines, and ritual aids. The posters for various performances are beautiful. The BFI are releasing a DVD of his films if you cant make the show.

Reynolds Stone 1909-1979

Anyone that has a British passport will have their own little work of Reynolds Stone. He was a highly noted english wood engraver, engraver, designer, typographer and painter. Throughout his career he designed the the crest on the front of the British passports (The Royal Arms). The famous clock logo for the Times. The Minerva typeface, many stamps, more fonts one fondly named Janet after his wife for private use, the £5 and £10 notes, did the letter cutting for the Winston Churchill memorial as well as the huge art advocate for London Transport Frank Pick. Taught briefly by Eric Gill at the Royal College, he also in later life carved the gravestone for Benjamin Britten! Wow.

Niki de Saint Phalle

A bunch of images of work by the amazing Nikki de Sainte Phalle as well as some stills from the film Femina Riddens (1969) for which she created the amazing opening legs and the vagina dentata.

Chagall at All Saint's Tudeley

At the weekend we visited the only church in Europe that has had all it's stain glass windows designed by the Russian artist Marc Chagall. One of the windows was commissioned as a memorial window to a girl and friend who died in a sailing accident off the Rye coast, and depicts an image of her ascension to the after life. Well worth a visit if you find yourself around Tonbridge.

Woman's Hour 7 - Street Beat

Neighbours

I have just been making my way through The story of Film programme that was aired on More 4, amongst some amazing things came Neighbours, a Norman McLaren film from 1952 which I had not seen but is very well known. Picasso was a big fan of this.

Beltane New Follower

Happy Beltane!

As a may giving here is Baron's new video for New Follower..a splendid ambiguous rural ritual.