Remember Me

Janey Levitt

As part of my exhibition "Remember Me" which starts next Saturday August27th at Old St Stephens Church Robin Hoods Bay I have recreated Janey Levitt's garland. Janey was the last maiden for whom a garland was made, in 1859. For years her funereal memento mori was hung in the church but it disappeared during a period of garland conservation in the 1980s. Luckily Peter Brears had examined the garland closely and was able to come up with diagrams and notes as to its construction. I have followed these instructions carefully, using the correct measurements, stitch details and colours wherever possible.

I can't wait to see it hanging in the church!

Glandford Shell Museum

Home to Norfolk and a trip to revisit The Shell Museum at Glandford (www.shellmuseum.org.uk). This is a really special little museum which was purpose built by Sir Alfred Jodrell and is home to a quirky collection of donated objects as well as shells and shell related objects. If you are visiting the North Norfolk coast and are interested in cabinets of curiosities then check it out. It is small and very quiet as visitors become totally absorbed in the displays.

Good for Gardeners

I visited the most delightful place today full of tempting gardening accessories and plants. The Capable Gardener is run by Philippa Hodkinson who is a professional National Trust gardener and is responsible for the up keep of the Gertrude Jekyll walled garden at Lindisfarne Castle. Not only was she stocking locally grown hardy annuals and perennial plants but had a little shed stocking a range of covetable gardening bits and bobs which were displayed to perfection. The Capable Gardener is at Kirkharle Courtyard ( www.kirkharlecourtyard.co.uk ) which is close to Wallington.

Minsterley Maidens Garlands

More on these on my Memento Mori blog at mandypattullo.blogspot.com

Scrap Books

Someone gave me this leather bound scrap book today.

It appears to be late Victorian but the scraps have been pasted on to fabric pages rather than the usual paper support. The fabric is a cotton sateen and has been hemmed around the edges.

The pictures look as though they have been taken from books and there is some intricate cutting and thoughtful compositions

Many of the pictures look as though they are engravings which have been hand coloured.

This picture would make a great starting point for a Paula Rego painting!

I too did scrap books as a child and teenager. Here is one I did in 1970 when I was obviously an avid reader of Jackie magazine.

These pages remind me of the excitement of going to Chelsea Girl for the latest gear and spending hours at the 17 make up counter.

I still cut out pictures and enjoy organising them into inspiration books. So glad I kept this one from 1970!

Work in Progress

I am working on a garment which will be displayed in Old St Stephens as part of my Remember Me exhibition. Its not finished yet but here is how it is looking so far. It has a long train of ribbons and rags which I hope echo the maidens' garlands themselves. I am writing some text to go with the show which explains the history of these extraordinary memento mori. You'll find it on my other blog at www.mandypattullo.blogspot.com