Day One

This might be condsidered as bordering on insanity at a time of year when there is more than enough to be doing. But when I was filling the little bags for our advent calender I had an idea... one that wouldn't go away...

What if I did a blog post every day in December as kind of blogging advent calender? A virtual countdown to Christmas day. It was a very silly idea that shouldn't have been given head space. But it was an idea that wouldn't go away so here goes...

I know... it doesn't just border on insanity... it is stark raving bonkers... but that's just me! Anyone else bonkers enough to join me?

Lacuna

My work has been about the missing parts of stories... women's stories. A Lacuna.

Initial visual research led me to the conclusion that gender differences are arbitrary, socially constructed. The textile acquires masculine or feminine traits through association. Lace has feminine associations in both dress and the domestic environment yet has been worn by both sexes throughout history.

I was particularly struck by the similarities of the feminine lace petticoats that form part of traditional Mexican dress and the lace garment worn as part of papal vestments. Lace is a textile of strong contrasts; masculine and feminine, delicate yet strong, demure yet erotic... revealing and also concealing.

It is a textile that does not tell the whole story.

The holes in the lace are a metaphor for the missing parts of stories, the gaps in our knowledge. The idea of looking through holes to see deeper layers led to the idea of pages in a book. The book is a powerful communicator, inviting conversation with the spectator.

Book pages were constructed from pieces of donated lace, each piece bringing with it a story, a history, yet in each case an incomplete story with parts missing. As I stitched the lace together, stories were stitched into the surface becomming embedded within the pages, present yet hidden, revealed yet concealed.

The narrative becomes the thread that holds the story together. The spectator is invited to fill in the missing pieces, the holes, the lacunae. Nothing is obvious.

I could not have achieved this without you:

Sam, Angela, Sue C, Isobel, Carol, Cathy, Celia, Theresa, Lyn, Muriel, Sharne, Julie & Grace, Susan, Maria, Joanna, Linda W, Jan, Gill, Linda B , Val, Lesley, Sue R, Suzanne and Michala.*

Thank you.

* If I have left anyone out or left out a link please let me know

Routines

There is a rhythm and routine to Sundays during the winter. After walking the dog, I come home and bake bread.

This week:

Multiseed rolls

I then make a batch of soup

This week:

Curried parsnip and apple with parsnip crisps.

And finally I bake cake

This week:

Blueberry muffins

And there is a warm comfort to this winter routine. Plus of course, there is enough left over that it means there is something good for lunch on Monday too.

Cakes, Brownies and the Nature of Blogging

Whan I posted about my brownies last week I had a request from Virginia to share the recipe, which I am happy to do:

Double Chocolate Brownies
3oz butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

In a saucepan, melt together the water, butter and sugar, bringing to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly and beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift flour and baking powder together and stir into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips. Pour mixture into a greased and lined 9 inch (23 cm) square tin and bake for 30 - 35 mins at 170 deg C. Cool in tin, turn out and cut into 16 squares.


This is the recipe I discovered when living in the US, it always works and is one that I have used faithfully for the past 24 years. But every so often I like to be unfaithful... and then I turn to Nigella again and make a huge decadent pile of her brownies, laced with walnuts and white chocolate. After some extensive tasting this week, I have decided this is the recipe I prefer.

On a completely different note, after reading this post from Alice, I decided to investigate and as a result I heard yesterday that my blog has also been selected by the British Library to be included in its UK Web Archive. It will be available for the future to represent aspects of UK documentry heritage, available to researchers and anyone who might be interested. This is hugely exciting for me and for a while I was worried that perhaps my blog should assume a weightier tone, providing an intelligent, witty, erudite and insightful view of British life today... but then common sense prevailed and I realised I would probably just continue with frequent photographs of cakes.

It did prompt some thinking on the nature of blogging though. Although my initial reason to blog was to document my degree course it soon became apparent that was not the complete story. If that was all it was, then I could just as easily keep a private journal but blogging is a public endeavour which requires an audience. There is very little point without readers and commentors and as ever I am always grateful to everyone who takes the time to read and/or comment, whether regularly or occasionally. For that I thank you. One new commentor on my blog has written about this far more eloquently than me, and you can read his thoughts here. As for me... I think I'll stick to cake!

The Final Straight

At last, after another six hours of machine stitching today (I started at 8 am) I have finished compiling the last page of my lace book and the final few pages are laid out to dry... without stopping once to make more cake!

Every single piece of lace has been stitched together and every story has been included. With a bit of luck I'll have everything put together and ready to send to my tutor by the end of the week.

My thoughts have now turned to the covers and I've taken inspiration from the books we saw in the Vatican museums. Beautiful embossed metal that looked just like lace.

I'm not quite there with my samples yet and my "gold" looks more like "beige" but I'm confident I will find a solution that will enable me to use the last few pieces of coloured lace that I've been given.

I've been putting my sketchbooks in order too, making sure I haven't left anything out and it is interesting to see those sketches that have been developed into my finished piece...

as well as those that never got beyond the drawing stage...

Although I still quite fancy a pair of lace Doc Martens!

Carrot Cake

Did anyone happen to watch "Nigella Kitchen" last Thursday?

If so, I am happy to report back that the Venetian Carrot Cake...

tastes every bit as good as it looked. Especially with the marscapone cream!

More of a pudding than a cake really. But then who's to say you can't have pudding for afternoon tea. Recipe here if you fancy giving it a try. I didn't have any rum so substituted brandy which seems to work. Might have to try it again with rum though!

Cake Break

Is there anything better than a intensely chocolately, dark, dense and squidgy brownie... especially when you should be doing something else? I'm going back to my stitching now...