A herd of mountain ponies

Up on Hay Bluff this morning, the air full of skylark song, and a fresh breeze.

The sky was wonderfully moody, with a massive cloudscape. It really is a huge sky up there.

There was a small herd of  ponies resting, with some foals lying down, and their mothers standing together.

One little foal saw us, and pricked up his ears.

The stallion with them was a handsome chap. He kept an eye on us, but wasn't too concerned. He's on the far left of the picture.

And then, he lowered his head and rounded up the mares, the foals scrambling to their feet, and the herd set off. He walked at the back. They looked marvellous against the cloudy sky.

It was a great way to start the day.

Rosa Mundi the striped beauty

Rosa Mundi is the most beautiful of roses with its striped petals and golden heart. It only flowers for about six weeks, which I think makes the pleasure more intense as its such a limited time.

Reputedly named after the Fair Rosamund, who was the mistress of Henry II, its Latin name is rosa gallica versicolor, proclaiming it as a sport of rosa gallica. 

Now, rosa gallica is also known as the Red Rose of Lancaster. Remember the famous story of the noblemen from the Houses of York and Lancaster plucking roses to show  their allegiance? The Yorkists plucked rosa alba, the lovely scented white rose, and the Lancastrians plucked - well, a frankly rather gorgeous pink rose! It's the same pink as the darker pink you see in the stripes of rosa mundi.

These photos were taken in my Mother's garden a few days ago, and she told me that they are her favourite flower. Mind you, she says that about snowdrops and fritillaries. She's a woman of very good taste!
Happy summer.

Are you being pursued by a bear?

Exit, pursued by a bear is one of the most famous stage directions in theatre history, from Shakespeare's Winter's Tale, Act II scene iii.

I wonder how it was done in the Elizabethan theatre. I have decided to celebrate it with letterpress and knitting.

I am rather proud of my mohair bear, with eyes and a nose - a nose most unusual for my knitting, but it had to be done.

And poor Antigonus, looking a little dejected, with mad crazy orange hair, and a motley body.
It's printed with a lovely big wooden font, with stylish buttons to loop the puppets into place.

I sometimes feel like there's a bear chasing after me with a list of thingsI have to do, brandishing deadlines and expectations and frantic stuff. Hmm. But I suppose if it's a mohair bear with no teeth then that's ok.
Exit pursued is in my Etsy shop, and is coming with me to the Dinefwr Festival this weekend. http://etsy.me/1yhxTxu

A Guilty Pleasure. Game of Thrones.

Well I do have one or two guilty pleasures, and one of them is Game of Thrones! I'm not really a fantasy fan, but this is just wonderful. I can't begin to describe how much fun it is to watch this detailed, over the top, colourful and outrageously plotted series.

So of course, I have started to arrange wooden letters in my printing shed, and here is the first result.

Rather stylish, I feel! The letters printed so nicely,

showing their history,

and displayed against the wooden type in the shed.

I have put the cards into my Etsy shop. I wonder if any G.O.T fans will find it there?
etsy.me/1y9B9ej  Winter is Coming!

Getting Shakespeare ready for an outing to Dinefwr

Back into the printing shed, and preparing for the Dinefwr Literature Festival on 20th to 22nd June.  Today I am getting some Shakespeare cards together.

I really like the come-on-get-on-with-make-your-mind-up tone of this quote, when you leave off the final to be!

The cards are laser prints of the letterpress original, machine stitched onto a white card. I have given up trying to get adhesive to behave, so I have reverted to the sewing machine. This old wooden font gives a lovely print.

I have used a big wooden O for the Muse of fire quote. I really like it!

It's also been used for an O brave new world print, still hanging up to dry. And then the fluttering pennants of words draping down for the inspiring once more unto.

That middle E is really showing us its history, I love it.

And then, from As You Like It, all the world's a stage, using four different types of letter.

A couple more to go, and then moving on to Dylan Thomas.

And after that, preparing my own poetry, although I hardly dare admit it, in such exalted company!
The cards are in my Etsy shop, with a few more images, if you'd like to look.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/quarto17

Musical Extravagance. SEA DOGS, a pirate tale!

One of the best days ever today, performing my musical pirate story for children SEA DOGS, with a great brass ensemble of young players at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. I really like the building, and to perform there is a pleasure.

 Composer Gareth Wood and I wrote Sea Dogs about four years ago, and it's been performed many times, always with an excited audience of children dressed as pirates! Gareth is a wonderful composer, and his music illustrates my story brilliantly. Here I am gazing upon him fondly. I always introduce him to the children as 'the genius Gareth Wood' and he protests, so I tell him it's true, and he's got to live with it!

 Between Monday and Wednesday this week, I visited the eight schools who came to the Millennium Centre to the performances. I taught them a sea shanty and another unaccompanied pirate song, which we sang before Sea Dogs. Here I am with a group of restrained and calm young pirates,

We were actually opening the Ty Cerdd Music Centre for Wales Conference. There is an interesting programme planned for the Conference, but I don't think anyone will have as much fun as we did today. We were in the foyer of the building, which has great acoustics, and is a lovely informal space for children, many of whom are hearing their first live musical performance.

When both performances were done, I walked to Penarth Marina, across the barrage. It's an interesting area, some of it very developed, but still some parts wild and scruffy. I tried to picture Cardiff Bay in its heyday, but couldn't really  get a sense of it, as the sun shone and lots of people walked, cycling, jogged, picnicked and sailed around. New buildings, leisure boats, and clean water. 

This wonderful sculpture commemorates those lost at sea.

I sat and looked at this for a long time.
Home now, and unbelievably tired. But so so happy.

You can hear Sea Dogs on Soundcloud if you'd like,
https://soundcloud.com/francescakaypoet/sea-dogs-a-pirate-tale-for

Walking up Hay Bluff. Eating ice cream.

 I started my preparation for a huge week of school workshops and performances by striding up Hay Bluff.

 The ascent is quite steep which makes me feel as though I am really exercising, and the views from the top of the ridge are astonishing. That's PenyFan in the distance, looking very one dimensional.

The hawthorn is in full flower, and there were splashes of white wherever I looked.

 The air was full of skylarks singing. Swallows swooped below me as I sat on the top, and a hang glider twirled in the breeze.

Usually there are only sheep, some cows, and ponies as company. The foals happy resting in the sunshine. Bees buzzing, even at the top of the ridge. A skylark walked past me as I sat very still. I've never seen one close up before.

Today is the last day of the Hay Festival however, and it's not raining, so the car park was full of people eating ice cream and feeding their sandwiches to some of the more friendly ponies. I love the contrast of the jolly ice cream van and the dramatic sky behind it.

The ice cream seller and I agreed that it was great to live here.
I'm nearly ready for the week!

The Print Shed, Madley, 20:20 Art Exhibition

A great exhibition at The Print Shed in Madley.

It's an art exchange, where members of print studios each make an edition of prints, 20cm x 20cm, and then there is a massive exchange between studios and artists! If you take part, you receive a lovely little box, filled with a wide selection of prints from a variety of people and places.
The walls of the The Print Shed are completely covered with prints.

It's impossible to give a clear idea of how much is on the walls,

 and there are lots of little boxes with more prints in to look through as well. It's an amazing experience, to see so much stuff!

Here is one of my favourites,

and this caught my eye as well,

I didn't take a photo of my own print, but it has a poem letterpressed on it, of course.
Here's Jill, relaxing after putting up this massive show. She's with Kate Dawson, who makes wonderful ceramics.

Worth a visit, for the huge range of styles and ideas, and Jill's warm welcome.
http://www.theprintshed.net/
http://www.ceramakate.co.uk/