Cambridge exhibition and more walking....

On Friday evening I went to the preview of Angie Lewin and Rob Ryan's exhibition at Cambridge Contemporary Art. It was a fun evening with lots of people viewing the fabulous work. In my head I spent a lot of money!!

 I met Angie Lewin, it was interesting to talk to her -  I know Kate Sullivan who works with Angie and Simon, Kate is the daughter of friends of mine. Also had a chat with Rob Ryan, an interesting character - meticulous cutting.

Day 3 of Offa's Dyke

This was a long day - 17 miles to our B and B beyond Pandy.

We walked through this Bulmer's cider orchard, lots of apples but they would taste awful of course!!

We had our picnic lunch at White Castle, an impressive ruin.

Stunning scenery all around and inspiration.

 Our B and B didn't do evening meals and would drive you to a pub 1 or 2 miles away but you would have to walk back (in the dark, rural Welsh countryside) - surprisingly, another 1 or 2 miles didn't appeal so we had bought a salad that morning - not quite what you needed but tasty!! Also our room (up 39 steps!)! was designed for midgets. Beams everywhere, as you stepped over them in the floor you hit your head on the one in the ceiling! BUT there WAS a bath and the breakfast was good.

Day 4 will follow!

A morning in Saffron Walden and good news.

On Friday I spent some time with Helen at the Church Street Gallery in Saffron Walden showing her some of my prints. I'm glad to say she liked my work and chose several prints to sell at the gallery. I've always loved Saffron Walden and visited the gallery a few times, so it's exciting to have my work there. Thankyou for the coffee Helen and the tweet on Twitter!!

http://www.church-street-gallery.co.uk/

 I then went to the Fry Gallery to view Chloe Cheese's exhibition, I love the spontaneous nature of her work. I'm taking a course with her at the Curwen next week.

Oops!! My last post I didn't preview and check and left it mid sentence asI suddenly realised an item I was watching on ebay was about to end!! (I won it!!).

So this is to continue the last blog....

On the outskirts of Tintern there's an old railway station, made into a cafe where we bought our packed lunch (no shop in Tintern!).

In the grounds there were some examples of chain saw art, I liked thisWelsh knight and his faithful dog - it was a really sad legend, no wonder he looks so unhappy.

Fabulous scenery all around and lots of ups and downs!! It was on the way down to Monmouth that I discovered I'd hurt my knee when I slipped in the rain the day before - it was really painful going down, but OK going up or on the level. What a very long High Street Monmouth has!! I was limping badly by now, luckily we found a chemist open and I bought a knee support and pain killers. Our B and B turned out to be clean and basic, I wouldn't stay there again, we were the only guests!! but at the end of a day walking (13 miles) almost anywhere will do!! A huge plus was the BATH - HOORAY!!! We had a lovely meal at a pub nearby and the cooked breakfast was delicious.

Photo shoot oportunity - this is Sue at the bridge over the Monnow before setting off for Pandy; 17 miles ahead!!

My long walk - half of Offa's Dyke day1 and 2

In September a friend and I went off on a long walk; actually there was a train journey first, otherwise we would never have got to the start point!! The picture is proof that we were carrying all our stuff!! We left from Stevenage early one morning and by lunchtime arrived in Chepstow.

This is me at the start of the Offa's Dyke walk, at Sedbury Cliffs in Chepstow, about a mile from the railway Station. At this point it started raining, so walking the 7 miles to Tintern was not a good start! Luckily the B and B people dried all our wet clothes and the next morning was bright and sunny.

Our B and B was at the opposite end of Tintern to the Abbey, so we walked a mile to the Abbey which was beautiful; an an ideal remote spot for a religious community all those years ago.

There was a sense of peace and quiet with few visitors.

Lots of inspiration for printmaking....

I liked these decorative bosses - horse chestnut leaves I think.

Our 2nd day was walking to Monmouth, part of the route was along the River Wye. On the outskirts