Coral and Choral

On Thursday, we had a lovely day out in Salisbury. I know 'lovely' is an over-used word, but it really was. Look at the photo - there was sunshine and everything! After my January inactivity, I felt like a grumpy grizzly bear coming out of hibernation to sniff the spring air. It was warm enough to sit outside on a bench to eat sandwiches, and feed the swans.

It was definitely time to get out and about again, as I find it all too easy to stay at home and go nowhere, (literally and metaphorically). So a day out was ordered, and I chose Salisbury. It was partly because we hadn't been there in a long time (the last time Mr Kitsch and I visited, I think John Major was still in power!), and partly because the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef was on display in the Arts Centre.

I was fascinated when I heard about this project last year, and tried a bit of hyperbolic crochet myself. It can be quite time-consuming, as you double the stitches on each row. This means that even if you start small, you are soon crocheting hundreds of stitches on the row. This creates the ruffled shapes that grow in the same way as coral.

I really enjoyed seeing the display, although I think it might have been more impressive in one large 'reef'', instead of the smaller sections that it was split into. I added my own small contribution (with permission, of course!), and was very pleased to have contributed my bit.

Of course, you can't visit Salisbury without taking a trip to see the cathedral, and we were delighted to discover a wonderful light installation there by Bruce Munro. The cathedral cloisters have been taken over by his Water Towers, large structures made of water-filled bottles, with fibre-optic lights inside. The coloured lights are more visible at night, but I really liked the clear bottles anyway, and thought it was a wonderful response to the space, echoing the columns, and the light. It also had something other-worldly or alien about it, heightened by some eerily beautiful music that was being played.

In the cathedral itself is another light installation (which I didn't photograph). As we sat there to contemplate the art and architecture (but mainly to rest our feet), we were lucky enough to hear some choir practice. Choral music is always so beautiful, and wonderful in the huge space of a cathedral.

And if all that wasn't enough, I managed to find some fun things in the charity shops too. (I'll share those with you next time.) See - I told you it was a lovely day!

Say Cheese!

I can't tell you how much I love this tin I got recently. It's just perfect - a photo of a doll, in a chalet style window, with very artificial flowers. And on a biscuit tin. Love. It. I was so excited when I saw it on ebay, and so delighted when nobody else bid on it!

Here's another splendidly kitsch photo of a doll. I've been collecting vintage postcards and greeting cards with kitschy photos of dolls and toys for many years. I really prefer them if they're quite badly executed and the props are all to different scales.

This mad-looking moustachioed teddy is a classic. Teddies in general seem to feature a lot. Like this card...

I love all the little details in this. I've wanted to try to take some kitschy doll photos for ages. So the other week, I finally did some little set-ups of my own. I posted them on my Flickr photostream, so apologies if you've already seen these. The first one was a Mexican doughnut shop. (Because I like the Mexican doll and his moustache.) Here's one corner of it.

The second is a more traditional afternoon tea. Hmm, I think that wallpaper is a bit too 'busy'. I'll have to change it. I'm definitely going to try some more!

(By coincidence, Jane over at Things to Make and Do has been taking doll photos too, but in a slightly more sensible way!)