My first post about Reginald James Lloyd who was born in Hereford in 1926 and died in March 2020, he was primarily a painter but also worked in print, ceramics and stained glass.
'What is the Truth?' was a collection of poems by Ted Hughes a friend of Reginald James Lloyd. The book was illustrated and designed by R. J Lloyd and was published by Faber in 1984. It was marketed as a children’s book and won the Guardian’s Children’s Fiction Award. Lloyd and Hughes also self published 'The Cat and the Cuckoo'
R. J Lloyd has work is included in collections of the Tate Britain, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Maritime Museum London, and many other municipal and private collections. It amazes me that an artist and man of so much influence has passed without obituary. Reg also collected ceramics throughout his life and his collection was bought with national lottery funds for £300,000 in 2008 and held in Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford.
Rob Sayegh JR like many artists has been very creative in lockdown. Here are some examples of his 'Draw the Curtains' window drawings to uplift and entertain using a mix of paint and collaged cardboard and paper. I have made windows for Christmas and Halloween and I highly recommend it, as a cheap, fun way to engage with your neighbours, have some fun and hopefully share some joy.
"I wanted to create a living alphabet – something we could plant – to literally make words matter." Katie Holden
"Words Matter. Truth Matters. Science Matters. Facts Matter. Black Lives Matter. Democracy Matters. It all matters. We are all matter. But what is matter, we may ask? The word itself is suggestive of what’s at stake. The etymological roots expose a tension. The Latin materia suggests “timber” while mãter means “mother” or “source”. So, matter is a hybrid, a woody, fleshy fusion of living tissue with a semiotic heart. The heartwood, if you will." Katie Holden
I found the incredible work of Japanese artist Hajime Emoto last week. He creates 'museum specimens' from paper and bamboo, here are some of his fish and sea creatures. Initially, Hajime worked with print as his medium Lithography and etching until in 1999 his attention turned to creating a bestiary.
"I’ve been dyeing yarns with random flowers and other dyestuffs to experiment with 'preserving' memories of events/people/things through colors, due to recent losses of loved ones.The tangible materials are such a solace when everything else is so digital nowadays, and the dyeing process has been the only few things that get me through these gloomy days (literally and figuratively). Most dyes are not good in quality, and they fade easily (already showing differences in shades after two weeks). But the visible change through the passage of time is somewhat reflective of the intensity of the emotional responses to the losses, which I find rather comforting." Jessie Wei-Hsuan Chen
A beautiful meditation on colour, love and loss. beautiful subtle and healing in its contemplative process and nature.
