Monday, April 10, 2023

Stream of consciousness post

I was so excited on Saturday night about my planned exhibition (see last blog post) that I couldn’t get to sleep. Really. I was lying there trying to go through my paintings in my head and deciding which to show and counting them to make sure I had enough. Is 35 enough? I think so.

And now I have the date: Saturday June 3rd and Sunday 4th,  2 - 4 pm. Dave and I are already planning how to arrange our downstairs rooms to best show the paintings. And I am planning where to store everything that’s in there now, and I’m not talking about furniture. As just one example, Dave’s stained glass will be staying, but not the six wooden clocks still resting against the dresser, waiting to be given homes. 

And talking about being given homes, how distressing it is to see the government sinking itself deeper and deeper into the moral mire over its vilification and treatment of people in distress. I am not the only one who feels like this. I just read a powerful piece in the paper by the writer A L Kennedy. I’ve never read anything by her before and this piece begins in a baffling way but - to me - becomes more and more lucid and powerful. It includes clauses such as

“People with broken empathy shouldn’t be allowed to hold up a country.”

“Billions vanish into a vast fraud vortex, our rights vanish, our alleged Tories interview each other on Schrodinger’s GB News, while our alleged socialists are fine with Thatcherism”.

And the comments are worth reading too. My favourite begins

“Compassion, generosity, support and, wherever possible, happiness and gratitude are revolutionary acts.”

And talking of reading, I’ve just polished off Anne Tyler’s latest novel French Braid which I found highly entertaining, and having loved Claire Keegan’s ‘Small things like these’ I am embarking on her slender book ‘Foster.’

What have you been reading lately? Any recommendations?

My sister Jen gave me what turned out to be my favourite mug the last time I saw her. It was plain white and had the simple motto Silence Please. She gave it me because I like quiet so much. I dropped it yesterday, and Dave sweetly insisted he will do a Repair Shop job on it. He’s currently researching epoxy resin. Where is Kirsten Ramsay when you need her?




But Jen, being Jen, had bought a spare and is going to give it to me at the weekend on the sibs’ trip. I wish you all had such a sister. 

I’ll leave you with this photo of me having got back from the framer with one of my favourite paintings and being so delighted I asked Dave to take my picture.





8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where will the exhibition be, Sue. We’d love to come and see it x

Sue Hepworth said...

Regular readers of the blog are very welcome to come. It's going to be held at our house which is why I have not invited the public, and why I have not put details on the blog. If you have my email address then please email me. Or contact me via DM on Twitter. Or send me a message on Instagram. Or as a last resort, email me at hugs.hepworth@gmail.com
I would love it if blog readers came! I want to meet you!

marmee said...

Lovely painting, lovely pic! I will look out that Anne Tyler. I recently re read her Ladder of years with great pleasure. I also went back and read Time to be in Earnest, a fragment of autobiography by P D James. What a pleasure to read her clear and measured prose. Take more pics on the day of the exhibition and share those with us!

Jaine said...

You should kintsugi the mug. I've always fancied a go. Although I fear it's the sort of thing Dave may get utterly absorbed in!

Sue Hepworth said...

Actually, kintsugi has been discussed, Jaine. Oh, I see what you mean…he might like it so much he breaks a few things just to keep doing it…

Hello Marmee- I will take pictures to put on the blog. And I enjoyed Ladder of Years too. The police report at the beginning when none of the family knows the colour of their Mum’s eyes was hilarious.

Shafia said...

Book suggestion - Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It was so good, and a bestseller in Japan apparently.

Lina said...

A wonderful picture of you and your painting and I'm going to follow all the reading recommendations.

Sue Hepworth said...

Thank you so much Shafia for the book recommendation and thank you Lina for your kind comment.