You didn't know I was married to Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall did you?!

Our weekend also saw some non-supermarket bought scoffing of good food! Basically home grown or foraged! The foraging always puts me on edge, but Ivan (Mr Bicknell) hasn't fed me anything too poisonous yet! First of all whilst looking over my New Designer's catalogues on the deck, I decided that it would be a good move to gather as many of our cherries as possible, given that every single wretched bird within a 10 mile radius had got wind of our rather magnificent tree and it's delicious fruit! Just as well I did, as by Monday morning our fine feathered friends had completely cleaned us out.......

Ah well, better luck for us next year! But what we did get were delicious!

Ceps - according to Ivan (Mr Bicknell), these are "regarded by Italian chefs as the second most prized mushroom in culinary use" hmmmm, our local amazing veggie grower Fred, who I consulted prior to actually consuming these mushrooms the first time Ivan arrived home with some, calls them Penny Buns - sounds a bit more Worldham to me!!! - These were huge by the way, almost saucer sized in diameter!

Ceps a la Ivan (Mr Bicknell) with a rocket salad and his own rather intoxicating mojitos - that was the deal - if I am to be poisoned, I need a great deal of alcohol!!

Le Weekend..

Last weekend saw a rare thing - Ivan (Mr Bicknell) and I out walking together... Well almost - apparently I was walking too slowly - actually he was walking as if on a life or death mission, but the landscape was lovely, he had made some nice sarnies and I survived yet another fearful cow experience! So it's not all work, work, work you see - except that those schemes of work are not going to write themselves......

Exton - South Downs way, I reccomend it!

These are handy, especially when your husband goes the wrong way and then swears blind that the map is completely wrong! See below.....

Now why aren't all cows as docile as this? Also helps that they are in a field I wasn't forced to walk through!!

Flora

So, you can take the boy out of Worldham, but you can't take........! Ha!  Welome to my world - I can't tell you how many trees I have stood under......

Full of Glee.....

Thursday also saw my rather pathetic and immature side get some indulgence, as after a bite of lunch and checking out the shops post exhibition in Islington, we skipped over to the 02 for a spot of glee! We had fab seats - not that anyone actually sat for the whole show - 20,000 nutters all leaping about like loonies! Never have I been part of a real Mexican wave before - fun!! The Glee cast put on a great show and we had seats very close to the stage, but although this was amazing in most ways, the big screen was directly above our heads so if we wanted to see any real close-ups we had to step out into the aisle - the 02 staff are not keen on this it would seem as I was placed back in my official space 3 times!! I do wish we had gone on Wednesday though as Gwyneth Paltrow had joined them on stage and Naya Rivera had been well enough to sing too, which she wasn't on Thursday, however a fine time was had by all!  Here is a selection of my badly taken photos....!

I am positive that Kurt is waving at me!!!

And some better ones that other people took on the night!!



New Designers 2011

Thursday was a good day!

Fortunately for me I am not currently timetabled to teach on a Thursday so I arranged to meet a bunch of my ex-students at the New Designers exhibition in Islington. I always look forward to this, but normally go on a weekend when it is totally packed and you can't talk to anyone, so it was a real treat to go in the week. The only problem is that it is a bit depressing seeing so many talented people just embarking upon that exciting journey that I took nearly 20 years ago when I exhibited there. Don't get me wrong - still wouldn't change my life, it is absolutely what I love, but being approached by prospective employers and being in the hub of things is fabulous! It does spur you on though and hopefully the conversations that I had will have some impact on my newbies in terms of the right courses to choose etc, and I am even more eager to get printing with the new screens I exposed on Wednesday! My Mum came too and seemed to really enjoy it  -  a bonus! So here is a bit of what was on show.....

The Bucks uni graduates - very proud of my lovely girlies! From L - R - Sarah, Charlie, Laura (Me), Sammi and Lou.

I didn't get shots of these 3 at the private view with their work - so here it is now..

Charlie

Laura

Sammi

I also caught up with Sadie, who studied with us 4 years ago, I put her on the blog last year at ND, but this year she was selected for the one year on room - clever, clever girl - Sadie, I am serious about you making me a ring you know!!!

Here are some other graduates who caught my eye......

Alice Wolfe - Incredible bird sculptures stretched in hand knit and at £800 pounds each I think they are worth every penny - sadly too many pennies for me to part with!

Edward Taylor - Bath spa - very refreshing to see a chap for a change! Edward uses stitch to paint and produces both 2D and 3D outcomes - already out of business cards on day 2 in encouraging huh?!

Emma Jones - Laughborough, stunning prints based on coastal Wales

Also from Laughborough, Olivia Streatfeild-James.

STUNNING drawing, it is rare that I part with cash at ND, but this year I did and ordered 3 beautiful prints - have already picked out a place for them! Watch this one, she will go far....

Staffs always puts on a good show, there is a lovely gentle quality about their student's work.

Amy Dransfield

Charlie Locking

Charlie Locking and Laura Ann Burger

Olivia Turner

My Mum colouring in one of Summerr Morgan's creations!

Grays school of art

The big picture - yep, lots to get through.....

Graduate Season

The only pain about being a lecturer is that at this time of year our own final show extravaganza clashes horribly with all the fab degree shows that take place - at least the fabulous Bucks kindly shows ahead of us so that I can go and drink beer and coo over all my clever ex-girlies!

We did run a "school trip" to Winchester however, which was cool and Pip and Rachel seemed to enjoy it too - watch out for these two - they are going to be part of my next year wannabes! Hooray a boy again - should keep the girls in line, and Rachel, well she's going to be a hoot!



So, I always look forward to New Designers - all that talent under one roof! This year I get to go in the week which will hopefully mean it's not so busy and meet up with piles of my ex-students where with any luck I can get a proper chance to grill them a bit over their courses - priceless stuff to pass on to next year's cohort! My Mum is coming with me too which will be fun, she has no idea what to expect either, so it will be refreshing to get a fresh point of view on things! If you find yourself at a loose end between Thursday and Sunday then please pop along it really is worth a butchers! Watch this space for some pics and comments..........

http://www.newdesigners.com/

Oh and I might just be going to the 02 in the evening too - it should be Glee-ful - see what I did there? And, I never, ever, proclaimed to have any musical taste did I?!

I so want this book!

I love the Design Sponge blog - in fact it is one of the things which inspired me to create my own little offering - this book is going to become a bit of a bible for design enthusiasts if you ask me! Go - pre-order it now!

Design Sponge at Home (Official Book Trailer) from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

Barbara Good eat yer heart out!!

Yesterday saw me trying to tame the jungle that our garden had become - it also saw me getting very red and covered in horse fly bites - you have to love these evil insects don't you? No? No, me either! However, dinner last night did consist of spoils from my very own veggie patch - at least this weekend was rewarding in one way!!!