My First Exhibition

[UK Islands Project] Lundy Island Stampy Treasures

One of the delicious things I discovered about Lundy as part of my UK Island Project, is its status as having the longest running private postal service in the world. It was started in 1929 by Martin Coles Harman, who owned the island at the time and from what I've read about him, he was quite the entrepreneur. 

This discovery really struck a creative chord with me. I wanted to know more about the stamps, the artwork and artists who created them. Was there a collection of artwork and stamps? If so – Where were they? 

Turns out that the Landmark Trust, who’ve cared for Lundy since 1969, had a collection which they’d given to the British Library.

Right I thought. I need to go to the British Library. I wasn’t able to fit it in last year, but finally went last month and was able to meet up with two friends at the same time. Stamp artist Scott Thomson who runs Positively Postal and Illustrator/Comic creator Michi Mathias (do check out her current project: A graphic novel based on a 1897 travel adventure called Cycle and Camp). I’ve known Scott online for a few years as we’ve done some of the same 30 Day challenges, but we’d never met in person. This was the perfect opportunity.

To see a collection at the British Library requires an appointment. I’d been in touch with Paul Skinner head of the Philately Department and on arrival had to enter via the Staff entrance at gate 8 to collect my special pass from security. I was met there by Richard Morel, Paul’s colleague, and taken up to the third floor where the stampy treasures are kept under lock and key.

The room was compact and filled with boxes and files. A trolley full of Lundy stamps and artwork was there waiting for me. I was to have an hour or so to myself before meeting Scott and Michi at lunch.

The British Library holds two collections of Lundy stamps – The Landmark Trust which I’ve already mentioned and one by an avid collector called Chin Chie. Chin Chie’s collection consists mainly of sheet upon sheet of stamps which actually looked fantastic all together. Something about the image repeated and the perforations made each sheet a work of art in its own right.

Lunch called. Time to meet my friends. 

Having already been up to the philately room I was entrusted with getting us back there to ring the bell and be let in. That didn’t quite go to plan. We got the passes, went up in the lift, exited the lift and then promptly got lost.

We found ourselves in the ‘behind the scenes area’ of the library with lots of corridors and books but no one around. All the desks were empty…Finally someone walked past us and we could ask for directions, but they were new and didn’t actually know where to send us, so she went off to find someone else. We stood about giggling nervously as it was rather comical and typical for me to get lost so easily. Eventually she came back with a colleague who proceeded to take us back to where we’d gotten out of the lifts and took us through an opposite set of double doors. 

Here I realised my mistake. I’d turned left when should have turned right. Suddenly we were back in the Public library and a familiar space! Hurrah now I knew where we were.

After introductions we sat down at the large table and more boxes were lifted out of the trolley. Two folders in paticular were full of artwork. One name that kept cropping up on the stamps was John Dyke, and now here in front of me I could see his exquisite artwork. Some in pencil, some ink and some in what looked like gouache. 

Some pieces were around A6 size and very detailed and vibrant. Looking at the original artwork and then the stamps I have to say that some of the impact is lost when reduced to stamp size. Being able to see the actual artwork in its original state was a real thrill. 

There were some fragments of information about John Dyke on the backs of the first day covers, but not a great deal. I’ll have to search elsewhere for that. Richard, who has a particular interest in the stamp artist Victor Whitley, discovered that he’d actually designed two stamp sets for Lundy. It wasn’t just me discovering something new that day!

It was fascinating hearing Richard and Paul talk about the history of stamps, their role in capturing social history, the most expensive stamp in the world (The British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta that sold for £10m as there is only one in existence), stamp forgery (which was rife during the 1900s) and learning about other artists who’d designed stamps. I hadn’t appreciated how much a stamp could tell you.

Having seen the Lundy stamp artwork it occurred to me that actually, I’d like to create some stamps myself. Handy that Scott already does this...!

I have to say a huge thank you to Paul and Richard at the British Library for being so brilliant, helpful and kind. It really was such a fun and fascinating day at The British Library! 

Have you ever been to the British Library? 
Or, to an impressive library somewhere else in the world? 
What were you researching? 
What did you discover?

PS – Thank goodness I asked Mr CA to read this though. Otherwise we’d have ended up at the Phallus room.

Having stayed at Lundy Old Light and loving maps this is one of my favourites of the collection

[UK Islands Project] Half-way through & planning fatigue

I'm just over half-way through this year-long project and I've hit my 'planning peak' (have you experienced something similar?) and since June (after Avalon actually) have been suffering from planning fatigue. I've been feeling below par for a number of weeks and basically All Planned Out. 

Not so long ago I was not a planner at all, in fact even the words 'what's the plan'  would send a cold shiver down my spine, ugh. Since my Art Relief Volunteer Adventure I'd become a slight planning ninja and had been enjoying it - until hitting this peak. Time to stop. I didn't want to plan a single thing anymore. So I stopped. For a while at least.

I looked at what was coming up - a holiday to Snowdonia, followed in quick succession by two Islands - Anglesey then Skokholm and decided to let go and just see what that was like. Most of the planning had already been done for these trips so its wasn't as hard as I thought and it's helped me to figure out what things I like/need to have planned to lower my anxiety levels about stuff and what I'm not so bothered about. Its been really useful.

Only useful though by having taken the time to consider and notice what was going on and to ponder on it. How about you? Do you need to stop and reflect/consider something yourself? Just taking half-an-hour out and writing or doodling down your thoughts will help. Trust me.

Having made this discovery and figured out what to do about it, I'm feeling more perky about the rest of the project and also about the pieces of writing and artwork relating to each island I've yet to create. I've also had to make some other decisions which would have seen me feel stuck before as it meant changing my plans.

One island I’ve had to ‘carry-over’ is Caldey.* I had an email a few weeks ago to say that all retreats were to be cancelled due to the refurbishment of the retreat house. That was a blow, as I’d been especially looking forward to that Island experience. The one snippet I’ve managed to glean as to why it was closed is that the managers left rather suddenly so there was no one to run the retreat centre for the guests booked in for the rest of the year. Curious though so if you’ve any info of the exact details – do let me know!

I did consider visiting for the day on my way back from Skokholm last week, and had even packed my bivy bag with an idea to sleep overnight there, when it came to it though we didn’t get back from Skokholm until later than thought and I just felt rather worn out so decided I’d come straight home and save that Island for its proper exploration once the retreat house is open again. Next year hopefully.

This brings me to looking at what Islands I've actually explored so far, and what’s next.

Here’s the run down (some pictures at the bottom of this post)

1. January - Isle of Portland - Tick!
2. February - Isle of Sheppey (via the Tate) - Tick! 
3. March - St. Agnes (Southernmost settlement of the UK) - Tick!
4. April -   Lundy - Tick!
5. May -    Skomer - Tick!
6. June -   Avalon - Tick!
7. July -    Anglesey Tick! & Skokholm Tick!

Still to come are:

August – Bardsey
September – Looe
October – Jersey & Kirrin Island (Yes, Really!)
November – Brownsea aka Red Squirrel Island
December – The Island of Reflection

I'll be creating art postcards from each island - so if you'd like one created just for you click here to sponsor one ;-)

Having reached my planning peak and worked out what helps me get through it (Stop, review & take intelligent action) I'm feeling positive and excited again about the rest of these Islands and the project in general. Toot Toot! Yes indeed - the spark is back ;-) Even writing this blog post to you has helped, so thank you. 

Each Island is Different

Each experience has been so different and each Island so rich with history – both social and natural that at the moment I don’t have one I love more than the others. Well, erm, that’s not strictly true. My first experience of seeing Puffins ("Look there are sooooo many F**king Puffins", I exclaimed excitedly as we arrived at Skomer) is very special, and not only did I get to hang out with Puffins on Skomer in May – I had the chance AGAIN on Skokholm just last week. That’s Skokholm – off the coast of Pembrokeshire, not in Sweden..(do go find it on a map). The Puffins and their Pufflings, yes their young chicks really are called pufflings, are set to depart any day now, in fact they’d already started to change their behaviour in readiness for their own ‘holidays’ out at sea whilst we were there. Skomer and Skokhom, two islands so close together and yet so totally different.

I’ve got some breathing space before my next Island (Bardsey in mid-August) to write up about these Island explorations and also create some artwork. I’m discovering that as each Island is different each medium I use for each will be different, something I think I’ve touched on before. Skokholm felt very textural – like an embroidery or tapestry piece was calling about to be created, although there was also a hint at a stained glass window as there is such a beautiful one in one of the compost toilets on the island! That could even be another project...Toilets with stained glass windows..or interesting toilets of the world...[Off on a tangent]

If you are already following along on social media (I post on Instagram mainly as I love the photo format) then you’ll have already seen pictures of these island explorations. If we aren’t connected yet – do come and say hello - @morwhennawoolcock

Coming up

Aside from UK Islands Project, I’ve a couple of other things coming up:

One this week (Thursday 27 July) – a Local Creative Adventure in Burrington Coombe – details here and I was interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol about these creative adventures – which you can listen to here – (my chat starts at around 1.25.40 (ish) before Amy Winehouse Valerie - which is what I've called my car! Valerie Volvo!! - spooky) then a there's bit about a lawnmower museum (interesting) - then it's me! Thanks to Becky Walsh for this.

Then starting in September is the ‘How to be a Creative Adventurer’ Exploration(course) I’ll be sharing more about this as I gear up to this over the next month. If you’ve any friends you think might benefit from discovering how a spot of Creative Adventuring can help them in their daily life – please do share it with them.

Bye for now!

Pip Pip

Morwhenna
xx

ps - can you tell which picture is from which island?

UK Islands Project - Making Progress

'Hanmers' on Lundy Island. Copyright MGW Sept 2016

Hello!

As you may already know my next Creative Adventure is all about islands, specifically islands around the UK, you know - those lumps of land you see off the coast as you shielded your eyes from the sun, but rarely actually go and explore? This has been true for me anyway. From 2017 this is set to change as I embark on an adventure to visit at least one island a month for the year. More if I can manage it, totally depends on time and funds to do so. 

I actually have a list of 60 Islands at the moment but am fully aware there are in fact 267 inhabited Islands and over 2,000 uninhabited islands or just bits of rock around our shores. I worked out the other day that if I stick to one Island a month and just visit all 267 inhabited Islands I'll be 64 by the time I complete this project. Heck I thought, 64! After an initial freak out I went back to my list of 60 and thought - so what if it takes me that long? And made my goal achievable by deciding to make a start with one Island a month. 

I want to explore each Island and get to know its character as well as the people that live and work there. I want to discover how the island has inspired artists, writers, musicians..and then I will create something myself in response to that Island.  

So far I've booked six islands to stay on. Hurrah!!

These are: Lundy (yes this will be my third visit!), Skomer, Skokholm, Bardsey, Looe & Jersey. 

Ideally I want to stay at least one night on each Island I visit as I don't think you can really get a sense of its character and the people that live there in just a day visit. This, however, might involve camping. This is not so good as after my experience in the peak district earlier this year I had to admit to the fact that I'm not a camper anymore (unless I have a cosy bed to sleep in). This pained me to admit. So I'll either need to harden up or look at sleeping in a hammock. This could be tricky as a lot of these islands appear to be treeless. Hmmm. 

I'm keen to run a Creative Adventure on at least one Island I visit next year (like Lundy 2015) so if there are any you'd particularly like to join me on, or would in fact like to partner with me to run such an adventure - let me know. I'd love to hear from you. I'm keen to encourage others to join me and be a part of this great expedition around our shores to these miniature lands to uncover their treasures!

I'll also be offering my unique postcards again as part of this adventure so look out for details about that if you liked them from my B2M adventure last year. ;-)

Bye for now & Happy Adventuring!

Mx

ps - Have you got an adventure you long to go on and need some encouragement? drop me a line and lets see how I can help you. x Think BIG - Start Small x