A Bench of Gratitude

Working with this bench at West Dean College on a Land Art Course, became a very meaningful process for me. It also led me to make other pieces of Land Art in different locations around the garden.

This is the third post about it, you can see the first here and the second here.

The bench is, under a Lime Tree, in the front of the college and therefore seen by all the garden visitors and college students. Not the sort of place I thought I would have chosen at all – but it chose me.

After weaving in the first bunch of grasses, I walked back to the tulip tree to gather more. I counted my steps as I went. It took 150 steps to get from bench to tree.

As I counted out loud, I was reminded of my Welsh maternal Grandfather.

I did not get to sleep easily as a child and he used to pat me whilst counting out loud, very quietly, to help me get to sleep. I could choose how many pats 100, 150 or 200. We had a very close relationship – I had not remembered the patting for years and years. I felt very close to him as I was walking and a feeling of gratitude that I had him in my life, washed over me.

I picked just what I could hold in one hand, walked back and wove the dry grass through the back of the bench. Back for another handful and this time I placed it as a bunch to the left. This referenced sheafs of corn and also flowers left on benches and other places, in memorium.

My intention was to gather more grass to bulk up the sheaf, but after a walk around the garden, I saw some cut grass and decided to gather this to create some sort of spiral or other path, leading to the bench.

As I raked up the cut grass, I made a meandering path, which became my second piece of Land Art.

I came to like the spin off pieces more than what happened around the bench, but if I had not started with the bench the others would not have been created.

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Seahorses to Give Away!

I’m in the grip of another mini craze – it is such a great feeling when the tide of creativity sweeps me off on a wave of delicious delight – it’s a teeny bit like falling in love – do you know what I mean?

So this is how it happened – I created a crochet pattern, the Woodland Hoodie,  for Master R, then aged 4. He loves the hoodie and wears it all the time, still! He’s 7 now. Master R has grown and the neck, which has always been a bit tight became impossible to get over his head, I cut it and bound the edges with bias binding, which works but I need to adapt the pattern to make a larger opening for the head.

To work out and improve the pattern with a neck opening, I made the larger size for Miss E, now aged 9. Her favourite colour is blue. We are in the middle of a Beach Clean Art project, so I call this new pattern the Beach Clean Hoodie.

I ask Miss E if she would like me to crochet a fish or something to go on the hoodie and she requests a seahorse.

I look up Seahorse and lots of wonderful images appear.

I find a link to the Seahorse Trust and become a member. Miss E and I ‘adopt’ a seahorse called Usti, found on the Dorset Coast. We get a whole pack of goodies.

I have created my own pattern.

In order to work out a pattern I need to have several trial runs. I make lots of seahorses in different colours so that Miss E can choose which she likes the best. Then I just keep making them, each one slightly different with its own little personality.

The creative mind wakes up and wonders about putting them into the Beach Clean paintings – hmmm – they look better in cotton – more trial runs – now the tail needs to be longer, now the snout thinner. Now I need to buy more colours in cotton!

Result lots of seahorses. What am I going to do with them?

I will give each of my Grandchildren (age range 5 – 9) a seahorse for Xmas – but how should they be presented? – appliquéd onto something, mounted on canvas, as a single hanging decoration?

This is where you, my lovely readers can help, with all your wonderfully creative ideas.

What can I do to make them Special? Unique? Individual?

Your reward is a chance to win a Seahorse in a GIVEAWAY!

Leave me a comment with a suggestion of what I could do with the seahorses –  go wild, go whacky, go sophisticated, go classic, go where your imagination takes you, have fun!

Let me know which colour you would like and why.

Would you prefer cotton, wool or acrylic yarn?

And if you were to have one of these little cuties what would you do with it.

I will give away 3 seahorses on my birthday, the 11th November.

Please feel free to reblog or share this post and 3 new followers between now and 11th November will also get a seahorse.

Joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along, where you can find all sorts of wonderful yarnsters and  the books they recommend.

Now I MUST go and crochet a few more seahorses, because I love them!

UPDATE: The pattern for this seahorse is now available in my Etsy and Ravelry shops.