In a quiet place- an exhibition with haiku

For the last 2 weeks I have been involved in an exhibition 'In a quiet place' in Rye with two good friends, Ali Stump and Birgitta Wilson. They are both very talented printmakers.

We share a love of nature, of stillness and quiet, and of words.

So in the quiet times between customers, what better way to spend our time than by writing haiku about the works hanging on the gallery wall.

The format of a haiku is one of three lines, with five, seven and five syllables in that order.

Short and sweet.

A not too challenging way to pass time.


Starting with Conversation Piece 1 ...

Conversation Piece by Caroline Fraser

light on a small stream

dances across the water

speaking silently

and then for some bowls and jugs

upon the table

fine white china jug and bowl

remind me of home

prints by Ali Stump

'all is calm' by Birgitta Wilson

deep in the forest

branches coated thick with snow

lie quietly sleeping

Olive, my typewriter has typed out quite a few of our creations, but then decided to do her own thing....

olivetti type 5x7

She is a bit obsessional.... and enjoys patterns more than poems...


And then there are the sea wall stories.

sea wall stories and other works 

For these I have written a longer poem, which is going to get me started on making my next book.

I will share it when the book is ready, which might be a while. 

 sea wall story 2019

 sea wall story  2019

 It has been the quiet times, sitting in the gallery that have allowed new words to be written, and new ideas to form.

For that, and for the friendship that I share, I am truly grateful.

gallery view 'In a quiet place'

I will leave you with some words shared with me last week;

'The present is a magic time'.

And so it is.....

A to Z of bookishness - a book by Olive Etti

Olive (my typewriter alter ego) has been busy.

She was set the challenge by the Instagram group  #areyoubookenough to make a book on the theme of alphabet.

What better way to address the theme on the subject of A to Z than an A to Z of bookishness she thought.

So she popped to her favourite shop in London, Shepherds for some suitable paper and started compiling a list of book related words.

She got stuck at Z, and it occurs to me now, that she forgot that the book is printed on Zerkall  paper. Ah well, next time.....

Next she searched for some photos....

The internet has a wonderful supply of images available under creative commons licence.

She started her search here, and rapidly disappeared down a rabbit hole of wonderful old photographs.

She particularly likes this self portrait taken in her days of working for Bell telephones.

She rather likes the way that her right hand rests nonchalantly on her left thigh while perched at the top of a ladder in high heeled shoes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14569555060/

And then she set to work.

A rather unplanned process of typing and experimenting, in the way that only Olive knows how.

Each time she made a mistake, she tried re-typing. each time she re-typed, she made a new mistake.

So using her motto 'good enough is good enough' she settled for far less than perfect.

She found an old scrap book and pilfered a few images from there, as she knows that people enjoy looking better at pictures better than reading words.

Her old friend, Frenchy has such a marvellous smile. And she used to have a bit of a thing for the Prof.  So she cut them out and did a bit of sticking and glueing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14743606386/

N is for nonsensical notebook

V is for verso, W is for well thumbed

She got sloppier and sloppier as the project progressed, and eventually sewed the pages together.

Shocked to find that she had fogotten how to do coptic stitch, this took longer than it should.

Luckily Pinterest saved the day.

A to Z of bookishness

She had no time to make a cover, as the deadline was approaching fast, and she couldn't think of a suitable way to cover it anyway. She created a very nifty hanging thread instead.

And here it is.....

my new ( old) Olivetti typewriter

olivetti lettera 22

Now here's a choice.

New dress or old typewriter?

Guess which I chose......

Meet Olive Etty. My new friend. She comes from George Blackman typewriter repair shop in Bexhill, and is a dainty little Lettera 22 from Olivetti.

Designed in 1950 by Marcello Nizzoli, she is classic enough to find a place at MOMA, and light enough to carry from place to place.

She has a tidy zip case, and a very delightful yellowed plastic cover.

Why a typewriter?

I hear you ask.

OH (my other half) has been less than enthusiastic, informing me that it will be a two week wonder.

To which I replied that it has already, in just three days,  given me much more pleasure than any dress that cost the same amount ever could.

Added to which

• it was already on the planet, just going to a new home
• I have wanted one for ages
• It has many advantages over a laptop for the purpose of writing.

Just ask Tom Hanks..... he has over a hundred, and has written a book about them.

He has also made a typewriter app, which I have enjoyed in the past, but not in the same way as hitting those keys and seeing real ink on a real page, smudges, mistakes and all.

It is the physicality that appeals.

Mistakes are glaringly obvious and the smudges are apparently due to there being too much ink on modern day ribbons. I have to keep typing until the ribbon gets less inky, and then I can make something a bit more sophisticated.

And there is more.

No wires. No power required.

No software updates. No flat batteries.

And as others have said, 'all it can do is write'.

No worries about what font to use or whether my sleep will be disturbed from too much screen time.

No temptation to check my emails or look up words on the internet, leading me down a rabbit hole of exploration.

No. It just writes.

Mostly drivel, but that's my fault.

And how wonderful to have a key for 1/4 and 1/3...... I am sure there must be a use for those if only I can think of one.

So what will I write?

It doesn't really matter.

Time will tell.

https://kaiteoreilly.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/london-paris-berlin-dusseldorf-border-control-at-tanzkongress/

And if I can't think what to say, I'll do some therapeutic key bashing.

olivetti lettera typeface

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