Wednesday 16 July 2008

Miranda and Meryl, Prospero and Pierce

I have always loved Islands and the sea, and I am a lover of Literature, so when last year I was part of an exhibition at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, I combined the two and made these 5 panels illustrating Calibans Speech from 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare, set on an Island, where Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been shipwrecked.
I embroidered the text from the speech onto the silk paper seascapes.

The isle is full of noises
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt notSometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices That if I then had waked after long sleep will make me sleep again;
and then in dreaming the clouds methought would open and show riches ready to drop upon me
That when I waked I cried to dream again'


(Apologies if you have already seen too much of these last year on flickr)

I am also obsessed with Greece. I went to Greece as one of a gang of students over thirty years ago. We arrived in the middle of a sleepy fishing village near Kavalla with our tents and our noise, and our summer dresses. The only women we saw were swathed from head to foot in black. We had a great time but I suppose in the eyes of the local people our behaviour (Although very restrained by todays standards) was scandalous. Certainly the young men of the village were very entertained.
In an innocent way I must add.
A few years later I went alone, and visited a friend who had moved to Athens. I visited Delphi and Sounion and the usual sites. I loved it.
That was 1976 and it wasn't till 2006 I went back to Greece with my husband. I'd been afraid of flying for all those years, and afraid of finding it was too busy and commercial and not the Greece of my imagination.
We found a company called Laskarina who specialise in smaller more 'Greek' islands. We went to Skopelos in 2006, I shed a tear when we landed ..not relief..but happiness at being in Greece again.
Then Laskarina closed, so we were very brave in 2007 and booked our own holiday, to Symi and Tilos, much hotter than Skopelos, further south and east, and the water was like this:

Heaven.
I am a late learning swimmer and now I find it hard to stay out of the water, especially from a boat moored on an uninhabited island.

Back to Skopelos..our first Greek Island.

There were lots of beaches but this was the quietest, Kastani,the one we liked the best.

No facilities and just look at the crowds....
and that little dot in the sea is me.
I have just discovered something about Skopelos. Click Here and here and I'm sure on any other search results for 'Skopelos' you will see what I mean.

Now go back and read the speech again. This Island was not full of noises when we went there, but I fear it might be now.

Perhaps not.

21 comments:

Genie said...

Wow!! Beautiful work, and lovely memories

Victoria said...

Beautiful work, Jackie!
I long to go to Greece, as my grandfather was from Chios and my grandmother from Sparta. My father went back on a pilgrimage of sorts a few months before he died, and I hope to one day go too.

Mary Welsh Hubbard said...

What a beautiful place to visit! I suspect that with all the movie advertisements/publicity that soon flocks of people will be visiting the area and it will no longer be as you remember it. Sadly.

hens teeth said...

Great, interesting post Jackie ~ I can see why you love Greece so much.

arlee said...

Sigh, i do love those pieces, so lyrical (not a pun by the way), so dreamy and evocative......
I envy those of you who live in the UK and Europe, able to go to those places so easily!

arlee said...

PS your tags made me laugh :}

Lindsey said...

Aaah bliss. Let's hope it doesn't get too spoiled after the film's success.
The panels are fabulous. How are they framed out of curiosity?

Pat said...

Well. Beautiful scenery......gorgeous! Glad you got to take this trip......and, as always your work is gorgeous too! Pat

Maureen said...

The panels are beautiful Jackie.

liz said...

Fantastic post:) Makes me look forward to my trip all the more. My friend ha told me I'm not allowed to see Mamma Mia in case I decide not to come back:)
Liz

Chris Daly said...

I have always admired that piece of work. It's so lovely and work catures the spirit of the them perfectly. Lucky you to have such wonderful memories of brilliant blue seas.

Linda Vincent said...

Amazing work Jackie - as always. As you already know, I am a huge fan of Greek islands and have visited Skopelos twice - its a gorgeous island. I went to see Mama Mia last night - its fantastic! Everyone came out of the cinema laughing and singing. Can't wait to go and see it again!
Linda x

jude said...

never to much of this....sad how some things change when discovered.

Lorie McCown said...

wow, what a nice post! I want to go, and do art there! I'm sure the hub-bub will die down, and you can have the nice, calmness of before. Gorgeous photos.

ArtPropelled said...

Beautiful embroidery and beautiful sea!

silverpebble said...

Utterly beautiful - I think I might have used that superlative before on your blog but who cares! Just gorgeous - the colours in your work have echoed the colours in that sea. I feel all poetic and inspired! In fact I need a lie down now.

Wabbit said...

Your pieces remind me of the water in the photos. I don't think I've ever even seen water that perfect!

Thanks for stopping to read and comment. I was thinking that the hands would be fun to do in free-motion embroidery. Marilyn

Anonymous said...

beautiful - both the embroidery and the place. this post didnt come through to me in googlereader either - but other people are obviously finding you based on the number of comments...so maybe it is just me :(

Mermaid's Purse said...

Beautiful work - I love the way you have interpreted the landscapes!

Digitalgran said...

Wonderful work Jackie and who could ever get tired of looking at it?

Sara lechner said...

so nice panels with the lines of the water!



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