Linda Bell, Author at

Pas de Deux : A Dance of ‘Art & Life’

BARBARA HEPWORTH AT FONDATION MAEGHT

The exhibition ‘Art & Life’ at Fondation Maeght commences without the conviviality of a raised curtain, the spine-tingling sound of an orchestra tuning or even a resounding applause at its close. Yet this special exhibition of the work of Barbara Hepworth feels like a performance. One wherein the audience themselves move across the stage between elegant performers of poise, balance and energy.

From a portrait of Hepworth painted by Ethel Walker to some of her most celebrated pieces, many of the artworks in this show are on loan from the Hepworth Wakefield and private individuals. Curated by Eleanor Clayton, this well-presented display demonstrates how Hepworth was inspired by life events, her surroundings and deep respect for ancient history.

Located in sunny St-Paul-de-Vence – a stone’s throw from the Matisse Chapel and well-appointed La Colombe d’Or – Fondation Maeght first exhibited Hepworth’s sculpture as part of ‘Ten Years of Living Art 1955 – 1965’, presenting ‘Two Forms in Echelon’ (1961) and ‘Figure (Walnut)’ (1964). Hepworth donated the latter sculpture to the foundation, its oval form and highly polished finish now a highlight in this current exhibit.

STAGE SET : AN ARCHITECTURAL BACKDROP

Fondation Maeght was completed in 1964 to Josep Lluís Sert’s design. Just like his later 1975 project, the Miró Foundation in Barcelona, this architectural masterpiece is completely in tune – in quick-step – with the artworks displayed upon its Mediterranean-warmed walls and balmy terracotta floors.

Slivers of water dotted throughout the interconnecting gallery spaces reflect majestic pine trees above. Sky-high, their bushy green needles seem almost cloud-like in these minty reflections. The gentle chirp of cicadas mimics the rustle of programmes in this, the domain of the ‘upper circle’.

And then the prelude, the opening scene. Giacometti’s make their sinewy presence known upon the open-air stage just beyond the foundation’s glass-trimmed entrance foyer. There is something of the feel of a Greek amphitheatre about the way the architecture frames and melds around the artwork.

Meanwhile, each vaulted gallery ceiling of elegant white half-domes gives the impression of spotlights and follows the lead of Hepworth’s curvaceous forms. These semi-domes not only recall sun bleached cupolas atop salt sprayed chapels in Greece (Hepworth visited Greece twice during her lifetime) but from the outside conjure the impression of funnels on a steam ship. A backdrop then for ‘Anything Goes’ or even ‘Sailor Beware!’. One moment we are sailing westwards in the Atlantic, the next looking to dock in St Ives, Cornwall.

Beneath these unforgettable roof-top sails – concrete appears to billow as though the whole building is being swiftly pulled along by a trade wind – the gardens of Fondation Maeght spread out like a promenade deck. Complete with café and shaded seating areas, there is also a chapel boasting some of the most sophisticated Stations of the Cross and a dazzling stained-glass window by Raoul Ubac. Whether you do imagine yourself out at sea or feel reassuringly tucked up in Colline des Gardettes, this stage set fosters the mood for clarity of thought, freedom of feeling and focus for looking.

Up in the shadows cast by these impressive sail-like forms a panoramic view – so entirely different to Hepworth’s native Yorkshire and beloved Penwith – evaporates in a haze of heat. Not just the most divine location for an art foundation but entirely part of the viewing experience. These curving whitewashed parabolas are performers too in the choreography of this sculptural spectacle.

Fondation Maeght is therefore a harmonious setting from which to stage this comprehensive exhibition. Greeted with a larger-than-life portrait of the artist (not too dissimilar from billboards of movie stars or their likeness as cardboard-cut outs) we can sense Hepworth’s keen eye – her look for tone, form and line – and imagine the feel of the sculptor’s hands which gave life and movement, dance, to stone.

MOVEMENT & MEANING

As we wind ourselves around each sculpture their arrangement leads us in an improvised pattern of ‘enchaînement’ steps. A fluid trail instigated by the curvature and very loops of Hepworth’s creations. Between this well-toned troupe of stretching, turning, leaping principles and chorus members, we the audience are privileged to participate through the act of looking.

More than just a biographical account or a survey of Hepworth’s artistic finesse, this exhibit tells the story between artistic practice and the artist’s life. We watch as the two blur and morph into one, a fine pas de deux of dizzying complexity.

CURVES OF RENEWAL

The show really gets going after Hepworth’s early experiments. We find her in her stride by the time we sashay towards the juggernaut ‘Corinthus’. Information panels (which take on the role of Narrator throughout the entirety of this ensemble) inform us that this heavyweight player was made following the death of Hepworth’s eldest son Paul in an air crash.

A lament for her son, ‘Corinthus’ possesses a dense volume like a gravitational force, sucking all air, light and emotion into its cavernous, carved-out heart. Evoking birth and death – the empty womb, the empty cradle and the spirit leaving the body – the work broods on the torment of tragedy and the cycle of life.

To overcome her grief, Hepworth visited Corinth in Greece where there is both a Roman amphitheatre and an ancient Greek theatre. Upon her return, Hepworth received a gift of enormous logs of Nigerian guarea from a friend. The resulting sculpture is a confluence of art and life. ‘Corinthus’ is a twisting, nebulous form where the artist’s sorrow meets the influence of deep history and traces of ancient civilisation.

Much later in 1970, Hepworth said :

‘My sculpture has often seemed to me

like offering a prayer at moments of great unhappiness.

Whenever there has been threat to life . . .

My reaction has been to swallow despair,

to make something that rises up,

something that will win.

In another age. . . .

I would simply have carved cathedrals.’

In the dance of art and life, ‘Corinthus’ affirms Hepworth’s early allegiance to Christian Science and her later Anglian beliefs. This sculpture is a living soloist, a performer fashioned from wood. A powerful, grounded and contained stance transcends the material world to that of the spirit, revealing the artist’s anguish.

OPEN LINES - TENSION & RELEASE

Transfixed, we almost fall headlong into the deep, limitless blue of ‘Sculpture With Colour’ (1940). The work’s hypnotic Azul shade is as electrifying as Yves Klein’s (1928 – 62) take on the cobalt blue Nicoise skies above and as divine as Giotto’s chapel of lapis lazuli.

Hepworth’s hue is heightened by the presence of dusky red strings. Reminiscent of diazomas these also serve to accentuate the sloping sides of the void within. The sculpture seems improbably, Tardis-like deep! Set at taught diagonals across the opening, Hepworth’s use of string alludes to musical instruments, from harps to cellos and guitars. She may also be referencing fishermen’s lines and lobster pots – once familiar sights along St Ives’ harbour – thus indicating the artist’s deep connection to her Cornish community. A factor which could have been explored further in the curative contextualisation of this exhibition.

The modest scale of works such as ‘Sculpture With Colour’ is due in part to the war and Hepworth’s domestic responsibilities as a mother to young triplets at the time. She was only able to work in the evenings, producing ‘child-friendly’ scale sculptures alongside numerous drawings. ‘Art & Life’ includes prints and drawings from this period to demonstrate how Hepworth explored complex forms in 2D on a flat surface. Several, such as ‘Forms (Brown, Grey and White)’ (1941) are soft and radiate a sense of delicacy, presented here as an adagio to counterbalance the virtuoso sculptural forms.

However, the candy-coloured screenprints installed upon the walls in the final gallery space are mostly a distraction from the real stars of the show. As flat and unflattering as the clog dance in ‘La Fille Mal Gardée’, these framed works do not attest to Hepworth’s great vision or sensitive materiality. In the context of this exhibition this range of lithographs from ‘Delos’ to ‘Cool Moon’ seem somewhat superfluous, like an over-use of stage props.

Following on from ‘Sculpture With Colour’ we observe how Hepworth’s integration of string develops across time and motifs. Costumes from ‘The Midsummer Marriage’ (premiered 1955) are presented as a suite of photographs and show the white lines like archer’s bows, recalling the structure of ladies’ Victorian hoop skirts or even the interior ‘string-scape’ of a piano.

We see how Hepworth’s lines develop into intricate networks in pieces such as the sublime ‘Orpheus (Maquette I)’ and ‘Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Maquette I)’, both from 1956. The eye refuses to rest on these criss-crossing vibrating lines; the sensitive form of a wing, a bird in flight, materialises. A swan about to leave the watery world to join its wedge up in the sphere of the sun and moon.

Like a ballet dancer en pointe, these strings are an attempt to defy the laws of physics. Just as dancers leap through the void of the air, a sensation of strain and pressure is induced and made visible by these criss-crossing tracks. Indeed, Hepworth explained that the addition of string represented

‘tension between myself and the sea,

the wind or the hills.

A connection between figure and landscape

and what happens when the two unite.’

The strings therefore tether Hepworth’s performers, pinning down her abstract forms like the Giant in ‘Gulliver’s Tales’. Even the coiling construction of ‘Curved Form (Wave II)’ is doubled over, steel rods suggesting both weightlessness and tensile strength. A breaking wave becomes a solid mass like the smooth hollow of a shell or deep cave.

THEATRICAL TONE

As the exhibition proceeds and we lose ourselves in each undulating form, void and pierced plane, we study Hepworth’s performers closely. The works seem to move before our very eyes. Energy becomes visible as abstract forms emerge not just from the block but from rhythmic, musical folds. We witness their contortions as though a celebrated Big Top circus legend; feats of flexibility; ‘impossible’ gravity-defying balance and superhuman endurance. Instead of spotting beads of perspiration rolling from the forehead, caked behind the veil of a made-up face, we spy instead indents of the chisel, the veins of marble and even a crack like a streak of lightening spears ‘Tides II’.

Highly influenced by dance, Hepworth took over the Palais de Danse in 1961. The site of the first cinema in St Ives, the building was once owned by William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, husband of Britain’s wealthiest heiress. Within this luxury of space, complete with a stage and long mirror reflecting each sculpture, Hepworth could literally ‘dance’ her work around, each piece on wheels to perfect the formation. A dance of wood, stone, marble and bronze.

Much larger than her studio at Trewyn, the Palais de Danse enabled Hepworth to complete works such as her public commission ‘Winged Figure’ for the John Lewis Oxford Street store in London. The maquette for this is displayed as part of ‘Art & Life’ though it would have been more impactful if a photograph of the final version were readily accessible for audiences to study. Perhaps that is what is missing from this exhibit – a showstopper, a larger-than-life outdoor sculpture to firmly justify Hepworth’s legacy.

PERFORMATIVE QUALITY

We raise our eyes then to take in the leering form of ‘Torso I (Ulysses)’, one of the larger pieces in this show. Another connection to Greek classicism, it appears this work has been cast as the villain in this Act. The torso rises from its plinth as though a wavering ghost cast by a magic spell. Its bone-like hulk takes on the form of a blacksmith’s anvil, a Medieval artefact, or a primeval relic from a lost lair in the Dune franchise. Brooding over all, ‘Torso I (Ulysses)’ evokes the presence of Rothbart or Petipa’s Carabose. Complete with a hunchback-esque form, the surface of indents and pitted texture evokes volcanic pumice and may be considered akin to the warts and wrinkles of a classic stage ‘baddie’. A performative quality in striking contrast to Lluís Sert’s white arena.

‘Curved Forms (Pavan)’ from 1956 rests close by like a flower opening or a piece of bleached coral. A Sleeping Beauty. Yet movement resides; repeating curves and harmonic folds in frothy white spin out in swirling loops from the centrifuge, like Odette performing her breathtaking fouettés.

UNIVERSAL RHYTHMS & A CORNISH CODA

The show continues with ‘Singe Form (Chûn Quoit)’. Displayed against a backcloth of gently swaying plants in silhouette through a window, this sculpture evokes the Cornish landscape so influential for Hepworth’s practice and vision. The minimal oblong shape of this piece is a clear reference to the standing stones dotted throughout the southwest of England. Named after one of the best-preserved examples of Neolithic dolmens – the top ‘caps’ of the structure associated with a legend of giants playing quoits – this sculpture of guarded stillness resounds with the idea of a figure standing in a landscape.

‘Art & Life’ shows us how Hepworth was inspired by the first moon landing and advances in technology but it is works like ‘Chûn Quoit’ which echo her sentiment:

‘ A totem, a Talisman, a kind of touchstone

for all that is of lasting value . . .

Something that would be valid at any time,

or would have been 2,000 or even 20,000 years ago.’

‘Single Form (Chûn Quoit)’ confirms how the Cornish landscape, its history and spirit is inherent to Hepworth’s handiwork. Once again, perhaps it would have been helpful to include photographs of dolmens or standing stones for the benefit of international visitors.

The calm and mysterious presence of ‘Single Form (Chûn Quiot)’ is echoed by the little assembly ‘Three Magic Stones’. These not only relate to ‘Corinthus’ and the idea of motherhood – a stone for each of the artist’s triplets with Ben Nicholson – but again show how Hepworth would draw influence from Cornish tradition.

These curiously slanted cubic-flanked stones of silver seem of cosmic origin. Placed in a vitrine they become artefacts from another world with an inexplicable magic force. Indeed, their polished silver surfaces reflect each other for eternity, like an otherworldly epilogue to ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’. Alchemy is afoot. In a corner of England where folklore festivities are still celebrated; a land frequented by pirates, giants, and supposedly even King Arthur, a tale can be spun as to the mystical powers of these sacred charms. Is this piece evidence of a narrative behind all of the dancing dramatics?

A FITTING FINALE

In the closing scene ‘Sea Form (Porthmeor)’ makes its entrance. A fitting finale to this show prepositioned in the gentle hillside above Nice, the Cote d’Azur glinting in the distance. Rather like a piece of seaweed, this bronze looks about to dive in – we somehow believe it is sure to float! Gaping holes and curled edges recall organic strands of kelp, dried by the sun and wind, whether washed up along the Cornish tides or released from the Mediterranean’s ebb and flow.

Provence’s unmistakeable glow and Fondation Maeght’s proximity to the sea seem to rhyme with Hepworth’s working practice in St Ives. As she explained:

‘Every work in sculpture is …

either a figure I see, or a sensation I have,

whether in Yorkshire, Cornwall

or Greece, or the Mediterranean’.

Perhaps this is why this exhibition works so well. We feel the pull of the sea, the rush of the waves, perhaps even the cry of the seabirds and the sorcery of the stones – a universal connection to landscape.

Amidst turbulent times Hepworth’s primordial sculptures present a true escape from challenging events. ‘Art & Life’ is a unique opportunity to consider how the life of an artist is locked in a flowing waltz with Nature, death and ancient history. This exhibition is a dance, a swaying ring we can step into for an hour or two – a circular carole in the screeching square of unjust times.

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Margate, The Muse : A Review of Two Exhibitions Presented By The Yale Center For British Art

on margate sands . . .

” On Margate Sands

I can connect

Nothing With Nothing.

The broken fingernails of dirty hands.

My people are plain people, who expect Nothing. ”

~ ‘The Wasteland’, T. S. Eliot

The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) heralds an unexpected duet following two and a half years of renovation. The refreshed third floor of Louis Kahn’s (1901 – 1974) sun-filled museum of planed wood, poured concrete and veiled Dutch linen is devoted to an orderly and mesmerising display of treasures by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851), highlights from Paul Mellon’s collection.

Yet visitors to the YCBA are welcomed into the impressive entrance foyer with a neon yellow script proclaiming ‘I Loved You Until The Morn Morning’ in a loose and slightly scribbled hand. This glowing remark or confessional statement is a fluorescent text piece by British artist Dame Tracey Emin (b. 1963). With the word ‘Morning’ first misspelt and crossed out, this artwork bears the title of Emin’s solo exhibition at the YCBA on the second floor.

Presented on a semi-industrial backdrop, Emin’s glowing fluorescent piece recalls sweethearts’ messages left in lipstick on a mirror, while the script itself the kind of graffiti we’d expect to see in school bathrooms or American locker rooms. A perfect spot for a cheeky selfie, this textural work of light also alludes to all the fun of the fair. Visitors from the UK may associate this piece with the sea-side vibe of amusement arcades, lighting up the esplanades of resorts all along the coast, gleaming like colourful pearls through grey mists and reflected in the ocean’s breath.

The nineteen large-scale paintings of Emin’s exhibition ‘I Loved You Until The Morning’ are autobiographical, referencing the artist’s recent battle with cancer as well as her experience of rape and abortion. Despite Emin’s exploits as one of the ringleaders of the Young British Artists championed by Saatchi in the ‘90s – along with her earlier controversial works ‘Everyone I have Ever Slept With’ of 1995 and ‘My Bed’ of 1998 – this exhibition demonstrates Emin’s commitment to painting.

ROMANCE & REALITY

Meanwhile, the ‘Romance and Reality’ exhibition follows the evolution of Turner’s work. In the 250th year of the anniversary of the birth of Turner it is only fitting that the largest collection of British art outside of the British Isles has opted to present a special exhibition of this master’s legacy.

We marvel at the extraordinary detail of Turner’s early works demonstrating the European influence of Claude Lorrain (1600 – 1682). His masterpiece ‘Dort or dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed’ of 1818, is a focus of this exhibition which also encompasses the artist’s only complete sketchbook located outside of the UK and a series of exquisite mezzotints. Finally, we are introduced to some of Turner’s later works, his seemingly abstract visions of light, smoke and water in paintings such as the somewhat amusingly titled ‘Squally Weather’ created between 1840 – 1845.

MARGATE, THE MUSE

However, during a visit to the YCBA, visitors may struggle to comprehend why Turner’s sublime works are presented in tandem with Emin’s emotionally charged canvases. Is it intentional that the Master of Margate is paired with our Dame, or it is merely a calendar cross-over? Although there appears little connection between Turner and Emin, even less to bridge the span of centuries, could it be that more than the salt streamed vista of Margate Sands unites this duo of exhibits?

Turner declared the skies of Thanet to be the ‘loveliest in all of Europe’ and this perhaps helps to explain his frequent visits to Margate. Within easy access of London, first by boat and then by train, Turner’s ‘love affair’ with this Cinque Port began in 1786. Aged 11, Turner was sent to live with his uncle, a fishmonger in the seaside town. Turner attended Thomas Coleman’s School until 1788; a Blue Plaque celebrates the formative years Turner spent here. Later, in the 1820s, Turner would make frequent visits back to Margate, staying at The Ship Inn owned by Mrs Sophia Booth.

Situated on Cold Harbour, Mrs. Booth’s guesthouse offered direct views of the expansive skies and sea. The Turner Contemporary museum, by David Chipperfield, was built in 2011 and is located on this very site. Following the death of Mr Booth, Turner and his landlady became long term companions. Local artist Ann Carrington’s sculpture ‘Shell Lady’ has looked out from the esplanade to the sea since 2008 – not only a nod to Margate’s mysterious shell grotto beneath its streets, but a meaningful tribute to Mrs Booth and her love for Turner.

The small watercolour simply titled ‘Margate’ from the series ‘Picturesque Views of the Southern Coast of England’ is displayed in the ‘Romance and Reality’ exhibition. This detailed watercolour demonstrates Turner’s deep connection with the town. Beneath an Azul sky of sprawling transparent clouds – a blue echoed in the cobalt patina of Carrington’s sculpture – the slight arc of the Georgian seafront frames the harbour and scores of men hauling a shipwreck onto the sand.

You can spot windmills and the lighthouse on the Harbour Arm, which still stands today, whilst another merchant ship seems to lurch in the shallow water of the Bay. To the left, tall chalk white cliffs appear on the horizon, almost like the cliffs at Botany Bay, perhaps revealing Turner’s artistic license in this maritime scene?

The crumpled sail of a stricken ship appears strewn across the tideline. Saturated with brine, it lies like the scaly skin of a dead sea monster as the wreckers hastily salvage the galleon’s goods. Turner may have been illustrating the risks taken by sailors and merchants as they ensure the amenities expected by middle-class visitors are readily provided, thus hinting at Margate’s status as a fashionable destination. The seaside town is forever captured by Turner’s brush, the scale of this piece reminiscent of a sepia photograph. A historical moment captured in paint for William Bernard Cooke’s special publication.

'MAD TRACEY FROM MARGATE'

Like Turner, Emin was also born in London. She grew up with her twin brother Paul in Margate where her father owned a hotel on the seafront above the Winter Gardens. A manipulator of her own public image, Emin’s mythology as an artist is intertwined with Margate, as expressed in her 1999 ‘Mad Tracey From Margate’ documentary and memoir ‘Strangeland’.

A sense of nostalgia radiates from Margate; a postcard vision of Georgian charm pasted over with violence and decline parading as glamour. The town’s recent seedy seaside past – the once salubrious esplanade adorned with a beguiling clocktower and lido, awash with sex shops, anti-social behaviour and brash vulgarity – is synonymous with Emin’s own self-invention. Her boozy self-parody may be considered akin to that of Andy Warhol’s cunning act. Margate is more than just a muse to Emin. Margate is paramount to Emin’s identity, her raison d’être as much as her ability to place the spotlight on herself. Margate is Emin.

For the most part, the works included in ‘I Loved You Until The Morning’ depict lone females in crawling, sitting or standing poses. Whilst the figure’s face is scrubbed out in ’Black Cat’ these females often seem unaware of the viewer, their gaze cast down at the suggestion of blood pouring form their bodies. They often seem caught unawares, such as in ‘I wanted to Be Clean’ where a nude figure stands under a shower spouting a red shroud enveloping the nude as though the membranous outline in a Medieval Icon. This perhaps contributes to the unsettling sense associated with these paintings; have we unintentionally stumbled upon the figures during very personal and emotional moments or are we creeping up and spying on them?

In a slightly similar fashion, Turner’s figures are depicted absorbed in various activities. His great merchant ships often seem to sail off into the distance, almost dissolving into the luminous seas and skies of the artist’s vision, off into the very weft and weave of the canvas itself.

Emin’s painting ‘A Rose’ was once fondly titled ‘Turner Eat Your Heart Out’. Emin’s use of impasto and layers of thin acrylic creates an almost snowy appeal. The effect becomes synonymous with Turner’s atmospheric effects on the 3rd floor. However, there is a sharp jolt of red remaining from an earlier stage of the painting process. This appears like a stuck out tongue – an allusion to a sexual act – or indeed a fragile rose petal, swirling in a mist-clothed garden.

Taking centre stage, this smear of red may recall Turner’s antics at the Royal Academy in 1832. To the astonishment of the crowds Turner added a bright red buoy to his cool toned ‘Helvoetsluys Seascape’ so as not to be upstaged by Constable’s cadmium rich bridge scene hanging in close proximity. This moment is interpreted to great effect by Timothy Spall in Mike Leigh’s 2014 film ‘Mr Tuner’. The addition of the red spot brought Turner’s entire seascape into new focus and it certainly seems like Emin was inspired by this story! Here, her reference to Turner is a playful one, welcome light-hearted relief from the frankness and unsettling honesty of some of the other paintings presented in the exhibit.

‘A Rose’ indicates there may be more at play between the ‘Masters of Margate’ than just the time each artist has spent in a historic fishing town. ‘Romance and Reality’ juxtaposed with ‘I Loved You Until The Morning’ enables us to see how Turner’s painting technique and ability to make a statement has inspired Emin – a factor which certainly could have been emphasised in the contextualisation of these con-current exhibitions.

ALLURE OF aMERICAN ABSTRACTION

We are perhaps caught a little off-guard by Emin’s ‘From the Mountains to The Lake’. With no hint of red, this work strikes a different chord. It is as though the female form becomes the landscape, the light watery wash reminiscent of Turner’s thin layers of glaze, echoing how he would often thinly apply oil paint as though handling watercolour. Whilst the limbs and buttocks of Emin’s figure are outlined in deft brushstrokes, the upper body merges into the landscape beyond.

Meanwhile, the title of this work may reference the American abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler’s (1928 – 2011) ‘Mountain and Sea’ of 1952 – an interesting interpretation considering ‘I Loved You Until The Morning’ is Emin’s first Museum show in the United States. Mountains are often associated with transcendence and the notion of receiving a ‘higher wisdom’. Emin’s figure appears to crawl towards this vision, perhaps emerging from the depths of a lake and the tangle of pondweed to the majesty and serenity of the mountain; is this the artist on her own journey towards enlightenment?

But it is not just echoes of Frankenthaler we see in Emin’s paintings. Undoubtedly there is a strong connection to the work of American artist Cy Twombly (1928 – 2011). From Emin’s whitewash effect and colour palette to her definite – confident – brush marks, there is a strong resemblance to Twombly’s own paintings inspired by Greek classicism. Even the text embedded into Emin’s canvases, sometimes half hidden behind ghostly layers of paint, as in ‘I Followed You Until the End’, where the bride’s dress becomes a sea of prose, reminds us of the daily ritual of ‘journaling’ and can be considered a direct reference to Twombly’s own inclusion of written prose.

With influences of Frankenthaler and Twombly alongside inspirations of Turner, it’s clear that ‘I Loved You Until the Morning’ has been curated with the expectations and visual language American audiences can readily connect with. This enables a sympathetic reading of Emin’s work and her personal struggles in spite of her ‘Mad Tracey of Margate’ persona.

POETRY & PROSE

Writing is an integral part of Emin’s practice and the special publication for Turner’s ‘Romance and Reality’ exhibition contains a fold-out love letter from Emin. Almost like a secret pact between the two artists, Emin emotionally, melancholically, writes about the magnetic pull of Margate, its ‘grey sky’, ‘Prussian blue deep’ sea like ‘walking on flat ice cold sand’. A beautiful and meaningful way to tie these two exhibitions together, it would have been more impactful and successful if Emin’s ‘Love Letter’ was actually part of the display rather than hidden in the gift shop.

Despite T.S Eliot’s (1888 – 1965) belief that he cannot connect one thing to another on Margate Sands, it seems that both artists transform intense personal experience into paintings with universal appeal. Eliot composed a section of the ‘Wasteland’ whilst taking refuge from the bright sun at the Nayland Rock shelter along the seafront at Margate and presents us with a fragmented, fractured vision of civilisation. Margate appears as a broken and dysfunctional place in his portrayal of declining human history. An abandoned place where nothing quite adds up. However, it would seem that the work of Turner and Emin does share a common spark, a thread of connectivity across two centuries.

SOAP SUDS

Turner’s dramatic painting ‘Staffa, Fingal’s Cave’ is another highlight of the ‘Romance and Reality’ exhibition. We are presented with the artist’s personal experience of Scotland’s infamous caves, the ancient geological marvel of vertical basalt stacks glowing in the sunset as a reminder of its volcanic origin. We can almost hear the wistful melody of Mendelssohn’s (1809 – 1847) ’Overture from the Hebrides’ or ‘Fingal’s Cave’ as we take in the scene. With the timeless appeal of the low-lying sun and geological wonders, there is a sense of spiritual connection to the Natural world – the clouds appear to part as if a divine light radiates from the saturated sky.

These towering clouds dwarf the silhouette of a steamship which most likely brought visitors such as Turner to this very site. However, soot and smoke belch from the ship and stain the sky as though in an effort to rival Nature’s own creations – a symbol of the Industrial Revolution. The first work of Turner’s to have entered an American collection in 1845 when purchased by the New York collector James Lennox, Turner almost prophesies today’s climate change crisis.

Once derided by critics as ‘soap-suds’, Turner’s 1845 oil painting ’Stormy Sea Breaking on a Shore’ captures the moment a single wave crashes across the horizon, sending spray flying through the cloud-thronged air. We can almost taste the salt on our lips and feel the cool brush of the wind as we study each fleck of froth. Bemusing critics and the public alike, Turner sought to faithfully render the grandeur and power of nature, rather than offer a beautified or purely romanticised version. The turbulent layers of paint show a deep sense of respect for the wild, uncontrollable power of the sea, whilst hinting at human frailty and insignificance.

Meglip may have been added to provide a sculptural quality to the piece, though evidence of this would have been lost during early restoration work. The painting would have been completed around the time that Turner is believed to have tied himself to the mast of a ship for four hours to experience stormy conditions firsthand. This act of extreme research enabled Turner to find a universal truth in this personal experience – we can only imagine how terrifying this must have been!

However, as an unlikely feat for someone in their sixties, no solid evidence has been found to confirm Turner’s experiment. Either way, this famous narrative of British art history does set Turner apart from his contemporaries. Is this story an act of self-mythologising? An added layer to a life lived in paint? A strategic way to bolster the critics’ claims that Turner was a madman?

MASTERS OF MARGATE

Both exhibitions remind us that painting is always full of stories. As the great ecological emergencies of our time plunge us into a challenging and uncertain future, Turner’s paintings are a stark reminder of the beauty, the power of Nature and the natural world upon which we rely.

As we watch genocide unfold in the middle east, Emin’s exhibition also comes at a crucially timely moment. Her use of red becomes the blood and gore, the pain and suffering of war as well as a record of personal trauma. In ‘You kept It Coming’ a female figure crawls on her hands and knees as though through an abyss. Do we feel helpless in front of these works? We may wish to run up and embrace Emin’s figure, vulnerable and alone, or blot out the toxic smokestack beside Turner’s Fingal’s Cave, to save humanity and Nature from the trauma of the brush.

At a time when the very principles of democracy are threatened and the rights of women are eroded and curtailed, it is admirable that the YCBA has staged this exhibition of Emin, an artist who has very publicly shared her experiences of having an abortion. The abortion, of course, being the very birth of Emin’s art practice – her gift to us – rather than becoming as she once put it, ’another single mother’.

Viewed in its entirety ’I Loved you Until the Morning’ could be considered a transfiguration of the artist’s 1998 unmade bed: strewn panties transposed into poetical prose; the dribble of an empty vodka bottle now the drops and drips of paint. Creased and crusty bed linens resurrected as scrubbed brush marks of generous layers of acrylic. The imprint of the artist’s own body, once laid amongst the detritus of pain and turmoil, is now present in the form of Emin’s own fingerprints and faint signature – displayed at the bottom of each work in light pencil. If Emin’s bed was the cocoon for a moth drawn to the flame of fame, these canvases are chrysalides for a kaleidoscope of butterflies. A metamorphosis of rebirth. We witness figures struggling to emerge from the paint, female forms being born from the womb of violence and loss into the realm of the spirit.

The turbulence and frantic brush marks of Emin’s nudes also allude to the moody, atmospheric effects of Turner’s paintings. Figures crumple like the clouds above Turner’s landscapes; pools of blood spread like the glowing light in sunset depiction. Emin’s emotional works mirror the weather and the tension of Turner’s paintings, possibly highlighting our human connection to the natural elements of sea, light, sky and air. An expression which is perhaps physically experienced in a place such as Margate, where expansive skies meet a seemingly endless spread of sea.

With the success of ‘Mr Turner’ (though not actually filmed in Margate but Cornwall’s Kingsand) surely it will soon be Emin’s turn to make her debut on the silver screen? After all, Emin’s story has it all – rebellion, trauma, a dance with death and the hope of an incredible recovery. Furthermore, Emin’s story even offers An American Happy Ending, of candy cotton fuzz as she becomes a ‘hometown proud’ pillar of the community of Margate.

Pouring their lives into their work, both Turner and Emin somehow ‘fit’ our ideals of what an artist should be. Visionary, daring and generous in spirit.

At the time of his death, Turner bequeathed over 100 finished paintings, almost 200 unfinished works and around 20,000 sketches to the British public. Emin of course has established her Foundation, two artist residence programmes, the TKE studios as well as gifting properties to local businesses in Margate. She has been largely responsible for the uptick of cultural flair the town currently has to offer. With its entertainment park ‘Dreamland’ riffing off the United State’s Coney Island, Margate is now a place for dreaming, for cultural connections. A muse rising from the ashes of its own nostalgia.

Only in the USA is there the cultural foresight for such an exciting duet of exhibitions. This con-current spark of curatorial brilliance illustrates how the YCBA is already leaving the political and identity concerns which have befallen the art world of late. Displayed in tandem, the work of Turner and Emin reveals how Britain’s painting legacy continues to go from strength to strength.

PENDOUR PICKS

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29 - 05 - 2516 - 08 - 25

Katy Brown : ‘Enchanted’

Linda Bell was invited to write an Introduction to ‘Enchanted’, Katy Brown’s solo exhibition of new abstract paintings presented by the Russell Gallery in Putney, London. This exhibition runs from 29th May – 21st June 2025.

Are you ready for Katy’s immersive paintings to transport you to a magical realm?

Read on!

FAR, FAR AWAY . . .

Where a winding river meets the turbulent tides of a vast Ocean lies the Earldom of Mount Edgcumbe. Above secluded beaches and smugglers’ coves formal gardens of yew and rose intersperse mystical oak and camellia forests. Verdant terrace lawns sweep down from the pink-hued ancestral Tudor home to the waters’ edge. Open skies, wind, war and waves have all left their mark upon this ancient kingdom. And it is here, nestled within the parkland of deer and duckponds, alpaca, butterfly, bat and bee reserves that Katy Brown casts her magic on to canvas.

Katy’s influences can be traced back to the varnished grandeur of epically proportioned landscape paintings by Claude Lorrain (1600 – 1682) and Nicolas Poussain (1594 – 1665). Depicted in luminous vistas, ruins of Rome and ancient antiquity allude to classical, formal perfection. Katy revisits such Arcadian portrayals; only instead of expansive landscapes punctuated with doric-pillared follies to shelter frolicking gods – Apollo, Diana, Minerva – we instead perceive the impression of lush meadows, bronze-toned puddles, silent mists and wave-worn pebbles.

In works such as ‘Sacred Trees’ and ‘Where The Nymphs Play’, Katy reimagines the tradition of landscape painting and captures fleeting, ephemeral moments. She elevates and enrobes the contemporary estate of Mount Edgecumbe in the majesty of antiquity.

Meanwhile, ‘Blue Cadence (Ode to Frankenthaler)’ pays tribute to the seminal 1955 painting ‘Mountains and Sea’ by Helen Frankenthaler (1928 – 2011). Katy’s turquoise blue is thin, like a wash of aquamarine watercolour imbuing Frankenthaler’s ‘stain technique’. However, Katy’s handling of colour is more intense, her experiences of coastal living possibly echoed in the work. A wave rushes up, as though a giant swell of paint about to crash within the dimension of the canvas. Even the sparse layering of ‘Promise Of May’ displays echoes of Frankenthaler’s style, whilst Katy’s fresh tones and composition allude to the opening of buds and the breath of new life. A close-up of a plant unfurling, yet an entire landscape proposed within a single brush mark.

Yet how should we interpret

the scale and proportions

of this painterly world?

Katy’s focus into the little details of her surroundings is almost Ruskinian in approach. She delicately renders the twists of overhanging branches in ‘Leafy Boughs (Mount Edgcumbe)’; a dense network of individual brushworks becomes a lively thicket in ‘A Gentle Breeze’ and a lush flower border in ‘Amongst the Starflowers’ all seem akin to John Ruskin’s (1819 – 1900) elaborate Victorian studies of rocks and ferns. Flecks and clouds of ochre in these pieces are inspired by tones of Jersey Granite, geological charms collected from Katy’s birthplace.

Even tufts of grass-like marks make a sort of fairy ring or entrance portal in ‘Amongst the Angels’. Whilst golden shades take on a soft yet subversive, divine disposition, the mineral rich sheen of a miniscule chip of Cornish Amethyst lends its lustrous appeal to the glistening path and pearlescent flower-like forms of ‘The Earl’s Garden’. Katy scrutinises quiet little details easily overlooked in everyday existence. Forms, colours and textures are explored to become the nuclei of new, painterly worlds.

Such delicate details make their presence known, rising up to the surface through iridescent hazes of colour as in ‘Fairy Realm’. It is from these brush marks, the way one colour layers over another in a nuanced fashion that the whole tapestry of each painting is woven. From one incidental mark Katy conjures a whole kingdom with its own identity and rules and physical place in space – an actuality in the fabric of existence.

We crawl through the undergrowth of ‘In The Glen’, a dense grove of layered golden greens, shadows cast with rich umber. We wade through the suggestion of rock pools in ‘Enchanted (Mount Edgcumbe Parklands)’, then criss-cross the impression of sunlit gardens beyond, shifting pale rustic pinks in the distance. We can almost breathe in the vapourish essence of ‘A Gentle Breeze’ and ‘Mercurial Patterns’, streaks of frost and dew reminiscent of damp mountain mists settling upon the craggy slopes of Oriental scrolls.

We venture through shimmering brushstrokes in works such as ‘Earth In Tones’ and ‘Mercurial Sky’ where seemingly endless veils of tonal contrasts radiate softly, as nuanced as a sea-mist sunrise. The activity of ‘inhabiting’ Katy’s paintings enables the inner life of the work to emerge. Unification of sublime grandeur and intense detail gives an identity to each painting. We navigate these hybrid worlds, these Chopin Nocturnes conducted in paint, ripples of sound now a wash of cerulean or carnelian, delicate lullabies on canvas.

Mapping out historic gardens, atmospheric skies, plant-like forms and eldritch coastlines, we too can join Katy in the familiar terrain of her native Jersey and her Cornish home; a shared appeal of place. An appeal of wild beaches, sea-salty air and misty forest glades festooned with swathes of incandescent bluebells.

Even Katy’s studio, the Old Cricket Pavilion of Mount Edgcumbe, becomes an extension of such loci and tiny incidences; flowers lilting on the breeze gathered under a gnarly tree; kelp forests swathed by a fog-bound tide; water eddies gushing out from behind a moss-laden, sun-dried stone. Katy’s work is a portal to such kingdoms of existence and memories of specific moments across the vast plane of the changing of seasons.

These are tangible places. Believable and actual in their painterly physicality – where the feel of the brushy texture of grass, the silk of catkins and the spike of hawthorn and rose are evident; yet seemingly as fragile as a dreamscape in our subconscious.

Katy’s paintings are places where fairies and mermaids could well dwell, where giants may hurl islands for stepping stones and perhaps nymphs can play in the cool, sparking waters of ‘Leafy Banks’.

Yet these apparitions are only ever suggested, just as the legends and folklore alluding to such sightings wander into the otherworldly and the frontiers of the undocumented. Katy’s paintings fill this void: a void which abstraction can sustain.

Just as the stars hung in the night sky are more than mere decorations sparkling in a velvet dome, these are paintings which enthral our imagination. The fluttering of fairies’ wings is perhaps implied, the lair of a frog prince evoked, whilst watery reflections and a symmetrical elipse in ‘Earthen Portal’ may remind us of a mirror –

‘Mirror, Mirror upon the wall. . .’

Katy’s search through layers of paint uncovers the possibility of a mystical awakening and glimpses of folklore. Layers of glazes, smudges of pigment and traces of what has been rubbed away – like the ghostly watermarks on a tide line – invite us into a world that feels strangely familiar and yet oddly new. With her brushes and mediums, the tools of her sorcery, Katy lifts the veil from what is absent in our everyday. She reveals what is and has always been there, beyond the reaches of our quotidian prism.

We enter a secret, even sacred realm.

A realm of the Enchanted.

Could there be a more happily everafter?

Katy Brown‘s solo exhibition ‘Enchanted’ continues at the Russell Gallery until 21st June. All visitors will be made very welcome!

Russell Gallery Address :

12 Lower Richmond Road

Putney

London

SW15 1JP

Telephone : 0208 780 5228

E-mail : ru*********@*ol.com

Connect to Katy’s website here.

Read an article about Heath Hearn’s exhibition at the Russell Gallery here.

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02 - 04 - 2502 - 10 - 25

Pendour Purchase : The Silk Collection

Disclaimer : This Pendour Purchase article may contain affiliate links. This means Pendour may earn a commission should you chose to sign up for a program or make a purchase using our links, with no extra cost to you. We love the companies featured on Pendour Living and are sure you will too!

We’ re thrilled to feature The Silk Collection in this Pendour Living post! Linda Bell recently took a fancy to their sumptuous silk eye masks and pillowcases; here is her Pendour Purchase review.

Watch her unbox her silky new arrivals in the video below!

HYPNOS HYPE

Forget The Sandman, Ole Lukoje and Wee Willie Winkie!

The latest Hypnos (the kindly Greek god of sleep) is The Silk Collection!

“O, Hypnos,

divine repose of all things!

Gentlest of the deities!

Peace to the the troubled mind,

from which you drive the cares of life.

Restorer of men’s strength

when wearied with the toils of day.”

~ Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book XI (1 AD)

Far from the ambience of a dark, silent grotto of poppies surrounding a bed of ebony (Hypnos’ lair on the Greek Island of Lemnos), The Silk Collection reinvigorates our daily journey through the Gates of Horn and Ivory and into the world of dreams. . . . . .

The Silk Collection’s wonderful products elevate the everyday ritual of sleep so that in our contemporary age a good night’s rest is something we can take great pleasure and indulge in!

FROM SLUMBER WITH LOVE

An independent, London based luxury lifestyle brand, The Silk Collection offers high quality products at affordable prices to aid rest and relaxation.

Established during the Covid Pandemic, The Silk Collection enabled friends and family to send special self-care gifts to one another to show their support during lockdown. Fast forward to 2025 and The Silk Collection is having a moment to shine as lustrous as their silk hair ribbons and robes!

Indulge in the soft splendour

of sublime silk :

A safe-care essential!

With a well curated online presence, I discovered this wonderful company when researching the benefits of silk for skin and even the environment, compared to non-compostable synthetic fabrics.

Showcasing an array of stylish eye masks, hair bonnets, pillowcases and more, I instantly admired The Silk Collection’s overall, no-fuss image and outstanding reviews. A 10% welcome discount also helped to seal the deal!

I had previously ordered an eye mask and pillowcases from another online company, but they never updated me as to the delay in receiving my order which then never arrived. I had to keep chasing them to receive a refund. As such, I was a little nervous at first to purchase these products, but I’m so pleased to say that The Silk Collection has far exceeded my expectations in absolutely every single way!

ORDER & DELIVERY

After placing my order for a silk eye mask and a pair of 100% 22 momme mulberry silk pillowcases, I received a couple of emails updating me as to the status of my order. It was really lovely and almost more like receiving notes from a friend!

The Silk Collection very quickly dispatched my order and when tracking with Royal Mail I realised it was due to arrive at my home address before I was! I was able track and delay delivery easily but it just goes to show how organised and efficient The Silk Collection is when it comes to customer service. Small independent businesses like this really go the extra mile with the added personal touch!

PRESENTATION PACKAGING

Two gorgeous boxes of duck-egg blue safely cased my lovely new products – a look fit for royalty! The minimal aesthetic of these slim line boxes displays The Silk Collection logo. Inside, the silk mask and pillowcases were protected by a sleeve of crisp tissue paper. The colour and overall feel oozes luxury and refinement – even the experience of unboxing your silky new arrival is elevated and special, a moment to be enjoyed!

This presentation packaging is perfect if you wish to treat a friend or family member to a little self-care something, but be warned! You may fall in love with this gift yourself. . . .

The Silk Collection offers a variety of Gift Bundles, as well as a handpicked Bridal offering, so you can mix and match your favourite products but also save a few pennies too!! I wonder if they may soon release silk hair ribbons for children too?

The graceful blue boxes were placed in a larger cardboard delivery box and cushioned by little ‘foam’ noodles. These packaging noodles are water soluble and easily dissolve – much kinder to the environment than any plastic or polystyrene based packaging!

Overall, I was very impressed by The Silk Collection’s highly manicured and eco-friendly packaging choices. The complete absence of plastic stresses the luscious appeal of this brand and highlights the quality of its wonderful products.

AS SOFT AS SILK

The Silk Collection predominately uses 22 momme, 100% mulberry silk for its stylish goods. This type of silk is very highly quality and it really shows!

I was first struck by just how smooth and soft the silk felt lightly running my fingertips over the mask. The fine weft and warp of this fabric is so delicate!

The silk really shimmers in the light, it’s so captivating and a delight to admire! Both the lustrous look and touch owe their beautiful appeal to the high weight, or momme, used to weave the silk for this mask.

Anything under 20 momme is usually considered lightweight silk and The Silk Collection‘s use of 22 momme is a midweight weave. Anything over 28 is categorised as heavy silk; the higher the number, the thicker the yarns and the more yarns have been used per square cm in a tighter weave. 22 Momme uses 16% more silk than 19 momme, making it more durable and luxurious.

My silk eye mask in pearl white feels plush and exquisitely made. I had previously used a silk eye mask several years ago, but the stitching and lustre would have been no match for The Silk Collection’s offering!

The silk eye mask really is perfect – the shape fully covers your eyes and much of your cheeks and also wraps around the side of the face. The amount of silk padding is generous, cushioning your eyes for beauty sleep without being too restrictive or feeling too heavy on your face!

Matching the look and feel of the eye covering, the elastic head band is also enrobed in soothing silk. Initially a little tight for me when lying down, I noticed after about a weeks’ wear that it started to expand slightly. I also think a gentle handwash using The Clothes Doctor silk and delicates detergent helped to loosen this up a little!

As you can see, I went for the timeless snowy pearl white shade, but The Silk Collection’s eye mask is available in a whole rainbow of colours – from emerald green to champagne, French navy and even pistachio – so there’s a shade to suit every personal taste and style!

Boasting the same high quality as the eye mask, the pair of silk pillowcases are also expertly crafted and feel just as luxe! With no zipper, the pure silk can be slipped over your pillow and lightly secured with a little sleeve, precenting your pillow from gliding out during the night.

Even the little duck egg blue label continues the branding and presentation packaging theme, which is a very sophisticated touch! Carefully stitched and placed, it does not disrupt the streamline aesthetic of the product.

Gloriously soft, the silk feels so sumptuous against your skin – cooling and smoothly delightful!

THE SILK ROUTES

Favoured across the centuries for its shiny shimmer and lightweight, floaty quality, entire kingdoms and civilisations have been shaped by the trade of silk!

From around 130 BC a network of trade routes between X’ian in China and Rome in Italy enabled silk to be transported westwards from China and for wool, spices, gold and silver to travel east. Silk became a highly sought after textile – China was even known as ‘Seres’ by the ancient Greeks, which means ‘the land where silk comes from’!

Spanning over 6,400 Km across the Takla Makan Desert, the Pamir mountains, Afghanistan and even the Mediterranean Sea via ships, these routes helped to shape the modern world. The trade of silk encouraged the sharing of ideas and traditions, the cross-fertilisation of culture, music, architecture, art, religion and language across different civilisations. The trade of silk broadened our understanding of the world.

Even the the closure of the ancient Silk Routes in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire at the fall of Byzantium initiated the Age of Discovery. Tradesmen began to take to the Oceans to transport goods instead of across land, leading to the discovery of the Americas and ‘The New World’.

It is impossible to imagine the development of the modern world without the impact and demand for silk!

HYDRATED SKIN

Silk has so many benefits for your skin!

Its smooth, almost slippery texture means that your skin easily glides over the surface of the fabric as you move in your sleep. This significantly reduces the amount of friction compared to a standard pillowcase, which can cause abrasion and the delicate skin on the face to crease. Wearing a silk mask or lying on a silk pillowcase reduces skin tugging and so can help to prevent wrinkles developing over time.

Silk fibres are protein based and so less absorbent than the cotton or synthetic fabrics used in standard pillowcases. They absorb less moisture from your skin whilst you sleep, helping to keep skin hydrated and looking firm and plump in the morning!

And as silk is less absorbent, it helps to keep any face creams or oils, such as Ella Organic’s Overnight Treatment, from soaking in to your pillowcase. This means skincare products can work their magic on your face rather than all the goodness of your routine being rubbed into your pillow!

Hypoallergenic, silk is a natural fibre and favoured by dermatologists. It’s great for sensitive skin so you can rest easy, knowing you’ll look radiant and hydrated in the morning!

Healthy Hair

The hydrating properties of silk don’t just do it for your skin, they also help to banish ‘bed-head’!

As silk is less absorbent than cotton or synthetic materials, it helps to retain moisture in your hair as you sleep, stopping it from drying out and getting its frizz on!

The smoothing properties of silk also enable hair to glide over the surface, reducing tugging and pulling as you move in your sleep. All this friction can cause hair to become tangled, leading to the hair shafts becoming weak and damaged. The Silk Collection’s 100% mulberry, 22 momme silk pillowcase and cutesy hair scrunchies help to prevent friction to reduce frizz and damage. Your hair stylist will thank you!

The Silk Collection also offers hair bonnets to help keep your new style in tact as you enjoy some shut-eye. Their heatless hair curlers come in two different sizes and enable hair to be styled without the use of damaging blow dryers or curlers. Meanwhile, The Silk Collection’s scrunchies and head bands stop hair breakage throughout the day.

enhanced sleep

The new Hypnos of slumber, The Silk Collection softens skin and hair for a sumptuous sleep!

Naturally thermo-regulating, silk is light and breathable, helping to regulate body temperature and moisture. Silk can offer cooling properties in the summer and comfort during the winter. This all helps towards a good night’s sleep, whatever the season!

For those with sensitive skin, silk is hypoallergenic, meaning it does not cause irritation or discomfort. Unlike synthetic fabrics and cotton, it is naturally resistant to dust, mites and mould.

The luxurious feel of silk offers unparalleled comfort. Its soft and smoothing texture aids relaxation and elevates your sleep routine, perhaps to match that of the god of sleep and dreams!

OEKO-TEK & ECO

All of The Silk Collection’s products are OEKO-TEX® approved. This means they have been validated by a set of third-party certifications to ensure that they do not consist of any harmful chemicals that are toxic for humans or wider eco-systems.

Displaying the STANDARD 100 label and logo means that every component of The Silk Collection’s pillowcases have been succesfully tested for the absence of harmful substances. The chemicals tested for are both regulated and un-regulated and in many cases the limits are more stringent than any national thresholds. New scientific knowledge and requirements are taken into account, helping brands to stay on top of the latest fabric toxicity data.

Using an outside body for valuation gives confidence to consumers so that they can sleep easy, knowing that The Silk Collection’s operations and products have been checked against a strict set of regulations. The Silk Collection’s customers can therefore be assured that they are buying a safe product which has a ‘transparent value-creation chain’ with improved sustainable production.

However, it would be good to know more about the Silk Collection’s production and manufacturing processes, such as how their silk is harvested and the working conditions for those who manufacture their delightful products.

Ahimsa, or ‘Peace Silk’ is a method of harvesting which enables the silk worm to complete metamorphosis into the moth stage of its life cycle. Unlike traditional silk production, whereby the cocoons are boiled as soon as the cocoon is completed, killing off the paupe, no insects are harmed in the Ahimsa method, the cocoon harvested only after the moth has hatched and flown away! Of course Ahimsa silk does come with a loftier price tag, but the manufacture of silk is a complex process dating back thousands of years. It would be wonderful to think that The Silk Collection use this method of harvesting silk, but no information on this is provided on their website.

Similarly, no information is given as to where the products are actually made and the working conditions for those who made them.

Furthermore, there is no suggestion that The Silk Collection off-set their carbon footprint in any way, which is always an important consideration when shopping online!

silk care

Each product comes with a little card offering tips on how to wash The Silk Collection’s luxury self-care items. It is recommended to use a silk-friendly detergent – I always use The Clothes Doctor because of their plastic-free and eco-friendly credentials!

I have also found that after hand washing it’s beneficial to squeeze out any excess water, though it’s important not to twist or wring the fabric, as this can disrupt the protein based fibres of the silk. Placing the wet silk on top of a clean towel may help to absorb the moisture and speed up in-shade drying!

Note : Don’t leave your silks to dry on any wooden furniture or chair arms, as this seems to leave a stain on the silk!

I’ve also read that adding a few drops of white wine vinegar can help to maintain the lustre of silk, I’ve never tried this, but if you have, let us know how it worked in the comments below!

A 'MIND'FUL MOMENT

5% Of all of The Silk Collection’s profits are donated to the mental health charity Mind. Therefore, every self-care purchase helps to raise awareness for mental health and helps others in need!

FRIZZ & FRICTION FREE

So how have I got on with my silky new arrivals?!

Well I have found that wearing the silk eye mask has been helping me to drift off much more quickly with fewer tosses and turns. As I do travel quite a bit the eye mask has become a reassuring element to my sleep routine – no matter what kind of room, bed or even country I’m in it offers a sense of familiarity and continuity, contributing to a more restful bedtime!

Wearing the mask has also enabled me to fall asleep even if my partner is still reading with the light on!

Even after a short time of dosing off with the mask on each night I have noticed that the creases around my eye area are not quite so prominent. I do think that the silk helps any creams and ointments to soak in and stops my skin from tugging or being ‘weighed down’ by sleeping on my side.

The silk pillowcase has definitely reduced the knots in my hair and I’ve certainly noticed less need for my frizz-ease shampoo lately!

Overall, I feel my skin appears smoother and plumper since elevating my sleep routine!

A PENDOUR PAMPER P.S.

Ready for some serious sleeping?!

Hit snooze and embrace the the silk! The Silk Collection’s gorgeous eye masks and pillowcases really make you feel like royalty or a film star as you drift off!

Sleep becomes something sacred, aided by the healing powers of silk : adorn yourself with the sumptuous eye mask, lay your head on this magical fabric. Such preparations and rituals have quickly become paramount to ensure total rest – to recover, unwind and dream!

The Silk collection really highlights the importance of sleep and celebrates the joys of this daily ritual. I can’t wait to shop with them again and try out some of their hair scrunchies and curlers!

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10 - 03 - 2516 - 08 - 25

Villa Rucellai, Italy

‘Casa da Signore
con torre a
modo di palagio’

(Gentleman’s House with tower in the fashion of a palace’)

AN ITALIAN WELCOME

Skip back to the 15th century and enjoy a night or more of Italian luxury at Villa Rucellai!

Through the gates and up the winding levels of the hillside this turreted mansion transports guests to the fuzzy realms of a sepia photograph.

That, or the lucid mirage of a creased and dog-eared watercolour study on the back pages of a European Grand Tour folio.

Draped in wisteria the large windows, chimney stack and sand-coloured walls are haloed by a rooftop belfry. Arranged in a rough ‘L’ shape the entrance is shielded from the strong summer sun.

Ferns and plants with curling leaves unfurl wabi sabi up the ancient stone staircase. A set of glass doors leads into the imposing vortex of the entrance hall. Akin to the honey-coloured hue of a beehive’s heart, a rustic gold warms and refreshes. Illuminated leaves of a lemon tree dance in piercing shafts of light as bands of white slide down in diagonals, contrasting the curving vaults of the historic ceiling high above the harpsichord and harp. These first impressions magically transport you to the vision of a bygone age.

Your time travelling expedition into this lair of Renaissance Italy is consummated with a fine Italian welcome. No photocopier or computer in sight, your details and passport number are manually entered by hand into a yellowing, deep bound ledger, seemingly from another world. Revel in the scratchy patience, the calligraphic loops of each letter inviting you deeper into this dream of decadence.

And in the spirit of oldy-world-y time keeping, be sure to note your arrival time as accurately as you can when you make your booking to ensure preparations are finished in your personal part of this palace!

CAMERA DA LETTO

Spacious and cooling rooms are ornately furnished with antique and traditional marquetry furniture. From the grandiose vanity tables enlayed with ormolu detailing to the chaise longue, the bedrooms sparkle with opulence and Italian charm. Magnificent looking-glasses will make you wish you had diamonds and Cinderella slippers for the leading role in a period film or mysterious novelette!

With no televisions to ruin the look and sense of escape from the 24/7 stream, even the wifi is a tad patchy so you can finally finish that chapter in your book or write postcards to tell your friends all about staying in a palacial hotel!

As the velvet of night begins to fall, the gentle sounds of the water jets outside merge with the soft ambient lighting, a stately setting for sweet slumber!

EXPLORE THE ROOMS & GROUNDS

The open space of the entrance hall contrasts with the decadence of Villa Rucellai’s lounge. From the chandeliers above to the carpets below, there is a feast for the eyes!

Gasp in wonder at treasures from days gone by. Framed engravings and watercolours all add a personal, human element to the opulent finery. Intaglio prints and limited edition portraits all tell stories of Italian life and culture.

Help yourself to a drink from the mini-fridge honesty bar!

Sip as you slip outside to sit on the historic balcony and admire the views framed by the ancient stone archways. Feel like a duke or duchess from long ago as you survey the rolling hills stretching into the distance. Under blue skies this reverie into a bygone age is broken only by the rattle of a passing train in the distance beyond the proud, sentinel Cyprus trees.

Take a stroll through the gardens, admiring the Del Tovaglia coat of arms still displayed above the door on the southern facade. Elegant statues intersperse the blossoming roses and lemon trees, all thoughtfully arranged. Gateways and viewing platforms lend an essence of majesty and hint towards secrets of romantic rondez-vous as though fleeting memories.

SILENCIO

An elusive sense of soft, still silence eminates from Villa Rucellai. A sense of silence which rests in the creases of the curtain drapes and shifts with the shadows, sweeping across one framed mezzotint to the next.

A sense of silence which hides in the backs of chairs and the arches of a stringless harp. A silence which follows the curves of the picturesque archways on the balcony before vanishing into the manicured landscape below.

PENDOUR PRO-TIP

Take the bus into Firenze for a further history boost! Staying a little further away from the city saves navigating so much traffic, and you can still enjoy the peace and quiet of the Italian countryside – the best of both worlds! Plus, you get to enjoy the view of the city, rather than just the views from within the city!

Flixbuses depart from Prato Piazzale Del Museo frequently throughout the day, it’s only a 15 minute ride into Florence! If you don’t have a car rental for this Park & Ride, take a taxi into Prato, or enjoy the hour and a half walk from the villa to the bus stop!

SWIM & RELAX

Dive in to Villa Rucellai’s inviting pool to cool off!

This is one of the best pools I’ve enjoyed in a historic hotel! Once a fish hatchery, the water is wonderfully deep. All signs of fish have long ago vanished, so you can get your lengths – tumble turns included! – without interruption in these sparkling turquoise waters!

Emerge from the water refreshed and ready to catch some sun in the nearby deckchairs. Matching tasselled umbrellas enhance the aesthetic and ensure the poolside offers a serene experience!

RESTAURANT

There is a delightful looking converted out-building opposite the pool, Villa Rucellai’s restaurant. This perhaps gives an almost ‘village life’ appeal to the grounds but unfortunately was closed on the day of my stay due to a National Holiday.

*Do check before making your booking!*

As an alternative, the staff offered the chance of a freshly prepared picnic dinner to take out at sunset and enjoy the gardens or little seating areas dotted about the gardens and olive grove of Villa Rucellai. However, they did not seem to know quite what the picnic consisted of, so I ended up going to the outskirts of Prato in search of a locals’ friendly little restaurant!

PENDOUR PRO-TIP

Don’t miss an opportunity to crash land back into the twenty-first-century by visiting the Centre for Contemporary Art in Prato! Designed by Italo Gamberini, this futuristic exhibition space has a wonderful permanent collection with over 1000 works of art dating from the 1960s to the present day (don’t miss the Julian Schnabel); an archive; library; bookshop and restaurant with regular temporary exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, film and installation.

If you don’t have a car rental you can simply order a taxi from reception for a few euros and enjoy a trip down to this vibrant and dynamic art hub!

I did of course sample the breakfast buffet which was rather more hearty than the usual Italian affair! Served in the airy morning room with a delightfully rustic feel, you may take your meal out to the Villa Balcony if (unlike me!) you get up early enough and take in the crisp blue skies.

Villa Rucellai also harvests and presses its own wonderful olive oil. Be sure to sample at breakfast time, poured over fresh breads, eggs and salad! If they have not run out and you have space in your luggage, you can even purchase a bottle to take home with you. . . . A little taste of the Villa’s sumptuous appeal!

A PALAtIAL P.S.

Admittedly, this incredible place to stay may need a little attention here and there – understandably a never ending task – but this in no way affects the queen-like quality of your stay!! The overall feel and spirit of the property is evidently well cared for by the Pique family, so as to ensure an exceptional and memorable stay of palatial proportions!

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‘Into the Labyrinth’ : Steve Joy, solo exhibition ‘American Sublime’

Garden of the Zodiac Gallery, Omaha, USA

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PENDOUR PURCHASE – The Best Eco-friendly iPhone Charging Cable by Wave Case, Cable C’Mon

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02 - 03 - 2514 - 08 - 25

Pendour Pamper : Review of Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream

If you’re looking for a daily facial moisturiser that protects your skin from the sun whilst being free from additives and harsh chemicals, your search is finally over!

Featuring organic rose and lavender oil from Alteya‘s farm in Bulgaria, along with jojoba and shea butter, there’s plenty to moisturise and care for your skin.

This is my daily go-to cream (I hope you’ll love it too!). I always have a bottle or two on the go – one at home for a mini morning ritual and another in my go-bag to top up when I’m out and about, especially on a sunny day!

UVA & UVB PROTECTION

Let’s start with the SPF factor of this rosy cream. At a concentration of 18%, Non-nano Zinc Oxide is the active ingredient. Too large to be absorbed through the epidermis, the molecules of this mineral filter sit on top or on the outside of your skin when applied and behave like tiny mirrors reflecting the sun’s harmful rays. Non-nano Zinc Oxide effectively blocks the rays by creating a physical barrier over the skin.

In contrast to chemical sunscreens which are absorbed by the epidermis and usually contain harmful ingredients such as oxybenzone and octinoxate (endocrine and hormone disruptors), Non-nano Zinc Oxide is safe for sensitive skin and it has never been found to have entered the human bloodstream via the skin. Non-nano Zinc Oxide provides Broad Spectrum SPF meaning it reflects both UVA (which burns the top layer of the skin) and UVB rays (which penetrate the middle layer of the skin and lead to melanoma). Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that the Broad Spectrum protection provided by Non-nano Zinc Oxide can offer a ‘shielding’ quality against blue light emitted from our phones, laptops and devices.

And if you’re heading out for the beach or a bit of wild swimming, of course the toxins in chemical sunscreen can enter the water and are responsible for coral reef bleaching and harming aquatic ecosystems. Not only that . . . but showering off chemical sunscreens further enables these harmful ingredients to enter the water ways and even our drinking supplies!

On the other hand, Non-nano Zinc Oxide is reef safe and has been proven to be non-toxic to humans. Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream is therefore a safe and effective barrier against the skin-damaging effects of the sun!

COMING UP ROSES

And now for the Roses!

Alteya’s organic farms are located in Bulgaria, where the most prized roses and rose oil can be found.

Nestled between the verdant slopes of Sredna Gora and the Balkan Mountain lies Bulgaria’s Valley Of The Roses. The first rose plantations were established in this region in the 16th century around the city of Kazanlak. Since then the area has developed, now offering the world’s most sought-after blooms.

Land of the Tharacian Kings, the fragrant Valley of The Roses erupts into euphoric colour every May – June during the rose harvest. This wonderland of blooms is famed for its treasures and many festivities are held during the harvest, inspired by the beautiful abundance of the roses.

This idyllic setting provides favourable growing conditions for the most celebrated of roses. Over half the world’s rose oil is produced here. More expensive than gold, over 3,000 pounds of rose petals are required to produce just one pound of rose oil!

Alteya Organic‘s rose gardens can be found in the very heart of this sheltered 87 mile long valley. Fluffy clouds deliver just the right amount of rain (and shade) while the air humidity and protection from the mountains ensures a mild winter climate. Rich sandy soil also contributes to the rose bounty, unrivalled in its radiance.

Alteya does not use any harmful pesticides or herbicides on its organic farms, carefully controlling the production of their flowers to benefit both Nature and your skin!

The delicate roses are harvested in the early morning whilst it is cool before the heat of the afternoon sun evaporates the precious rose oil. Picking roses is a labour intensive and skilled task performed completely by hand and timing is crucial. Freshly harvested petals are immediately taken to the Alteya distillery. Distillation is a complex procedure but ensures the high quality of Alteya’s unparalleled rose oil. The process is strictly controlled to maintain USDA Organic standards throughout.

The freshly plucked rose blossoms are placed in a still where low pressure steam is used to release the essential oil. This aromatic vapour is then cooled to enable condensation. As the vapour condenses the oil and water separate because of their different densities. Alteya’s special distillation process ensures a high quality rose oil, reflecting the luscious nature of the organically grown rose petals.

And what a glorious effect this rose oil has on the skin blended with the Non-nano Zinc Oxide in this daily Damascena Sunscreen Cream!

MOISTURISING INGREDIENTS

From coconut oil to aloe vera leaf juice there’s an array of skin-loving ingredients packed into this lovely lotion to soothe and moisturise.

Complimenting your usual facial serum and moisturiser, this ‘top coat’ provides much needed sun protection and an extra layer of nutrient rich pampering for a luminous, dewy finish. Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream can even work as a gorgeous primer for make-up.

Several of the ingredients such as acai fruit oil and seabuckthorn fruit extract are rich in antioxidants. This helps to prevent premature ageing whilst keeping the skin nourished and protected from the sun.

All this, from one little glass bottle

to make you feel as luminous as

a beautiful Bulgarian rose!

Within about two weeks of using this cream every morning over my usual Ethique serum and Ilex Wood moisturiser, my complexion transformed! Smoother, with fewer blemishes and outbreaks, my skin started to look much clearer and I’m sure this is down to the goodness of the organic rose and lavender oils!

Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream is lightweight and non-greasy with a thick, viscous consistency. Compared to other Non-nano Zinc Oxide sunscreens which have to be thoroughly rubbed in, this has a lot more flow; it effectively melts into the skin. The cream’s slightly cooling effect produces a soft, dewy finish with the refreshing feel and scent of crisp, fragrant rose petals.

Breathe in that rosy radiance!

Gentle enough to close your eyes and transport your senses to the flourishing bouquets of the Valley Of The Roses. . . . .

With no sulphates, parabens or nasties in sight,

you can indulge your beautiful face in the

organic radiance of this rose-hearted Sunscreen Cream.

PENDOUR PRO-TIP

It’s recommended to apply this cream 15 minutes before heading out into the sun. With an SPF of 25 I find it beneficial to team up with Raw Elements or Sol de Ibiza’s Sunscreen and a hat for added protection when out in the strong afternoon sun for a while!

IN THE PINK

Non-nano Zinc Oxide has been known to leave a white, chalky cast. However, for this luxurious product iron oxides have been added – not only to slightly increase the SPF value – but to offer an attractive sheer pink tint for your nose and cheeks! Gone are the days of looking like a milky white ghost!

The first time I applied this cream I was a little anxious by the colour!

Afterall, it is a rather bright shade of pink . . . . In fact, I wasn’t even sure if I liked it at first! All childhood memories of camomile lotion aside, once smoothed over my face the intensity of the shade did fade after a few moments. As I’m rather fair, I find that this pink tinge actually works wonders for me. The tone adds light and depth to any pasty patches. It’s especially perfect in the winter months (whatever time of year or climate it’s now recommended to wear SPF every day, even indoors) but is perhaps a tad bit too pastel-y in the summer when my natural bronze glow is go. In which case, I add a little All Earth Mineral Bronzer!

However, if you have a darker complexion I’m not sure if this pink tinge would be a bit much? Let’s hope Alteya soon release this product in a few different shades!

And did I mention that this Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream makes an amazing makeup primer? It’s a super base for foundation and behaves almost like a full-face concealer, offering enough ‘grip’ for All Earth’s Mineral Foundation. I do not wear make up on a day-to-day basis, but the sheer tint makes my face feel slightly less. . . . naked.

Honestly, I rarely go out now without having put this gorgeous organic facial sunscreen on. I think it gives the impression that I have put an undercoat of makeup on and that I’ve taken more time, care and attention in my appearance than I actually have!

PENDOUR PRO-TIP

If you have to put eye drops or contact lenses in, or need to brush your teeth, be sure to do this before you apply this soothing cream, or wait a good 20 minutes so that the cream has time to dry and soak in. Otherwise, tears may cause the pink finish to run and look a little streaky if it hasn’t fully ‘set’!

PACKAGING

Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream is packaged in a slimline pink box with a hint of sparkle. This outer packaging is thin card, which can be recycled. However, it would be good to know if eco-friendly inks have been used.

The glass bottle inside contains the glass bottle of mesmerising rosy-pink cream and easily slips out. Its dark shade compliments the pink label; the product looks classy and sophisticated!

Although the glass can be recycled, the cream is dispensed by a push pump. This of course is plastic, as is the little removable locking cap. Although this system allows a little to be pumped out each time, I’m not sure so much plastic is entirely necessary and that the Sunscreen could instead be in a glass jar with a wide opening to fit your finger tips in to scoop out a small amount. Additionally, there is always a little bit left at the very bottom that you can’t quite reach!

Moreover, the cream is perhaps a little to thick for the pump system and on several occasions has blocked the tube.

However, this is still the best organic facial SPF I’ve found with no nasties, nor dreaded Xanthum Gum, so these points are only minor drawbacks. I look forward to how Alteya expand and whether they will continue to uphold their commitment to the environment by reducing reliance on plastic.

The outer packaging is usually a large cardboard sleeve which is not only lightweight and easily recyclable, but always seems to offer great protection for the rose infused products inside!

DELIVERY & REWARDS

When buying online directly from Alteya there is a delivery cost of £3.95 for all orders under £49.99. For free delivery, spend over £49.99. Orders are dispatched by Amazon logistics, which might be a bit quicker than other carriers, but possibly not so environmentally friendly! I think we’d all love it of Alteya could find a way to make deliveries at least carbon neutral by off setting credits in some way.

Alteya also offer a Rewards System. This is quite new so I’ve yet to enrol and will update you on this.

ALTEYA ORGANICS

Alteya is committed to organic farming and building a sustainable agricultural model to protect the very special Valley Of The Roses. By incorporating traditional, organic farming and distillation methods, the air, soil and water are protected whilst products are free from any residues of harmful chemicals!

With over 300 employees, Alteya has worked hard to support the local population, ensuring economic survival for many families in the region whilst striving to maintain the area’s agricultural identity.

This is just another reason why I find Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream a must have for radiant skin and respectful farming practices!

A PENDOUR PAMPER P.S.

Unfortunately I manged to knock a bottle of Alteya’s Bio Damascena Organic Rose Otto Face Sunscreen Cream over to create a wonderful mess on my friend’s bathroom floor! In future now I will now transfer this rosy cream to a refillable aluminium tin, which also makes more sense when travelling as there’s no risk of broken glass.

Be sure to check out some of Alteya’s other blissful products using organic rose and lavender oils for beautiful, delicate scents and luxurious treat for your skin!

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PENDOUR PAMPER : Ella Organics – The Anti-aging Eye Treatment Of Your Dreams!

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10 - 01 - 2514 - 08 - 25

Pendour Pamper : Ella Organics – The Anti-aging Eye Treatment Of Your Dreams!

Organic, responsibly sourced and lovingly crafted . . . Ella Organics’ Overnight Eye Treatment is a velvet dream for youthful eyes and sensitive skin.

After reading many good things about Ella Organics and this vegan Overnight Eye Treatment, I was so excited to try it out. A year later I haven’t looked back!

This little jar of liquid gold is an elixir

for sweet dreams &

a guaranteed sunrise smile!

EXCEPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Let’s begin this review by looking at the luxurious ingredients carefully distilled to make this sumptuous treatment :

Organic Buriti Oil :

Harvested from the rainforests of South America, Buriti Oil deeply penetrates the skin’s surface to smooth and soothe. Thought to be one of the richest sources of natural beta-carotene (Vitamin A) this powerful oil packs quite a punch with an abundance of anti-oxidants to fight free-radicals.

Organic Caycay Seed Oil :

From the heart of the Amazon rainforest to your bedside table, caycay is the perfect addition to this night-time reverie! Caycay contains high levels of Vitamin E and retinol, boosting collagen production and encouraging skin renewal. From preventing age spots to nourishing your delicate under eye area, this miracle maker is having a moment to shine due to its many decadent, skin-loving benefits.

Organic Cucumber Seed Oil :

A versatile ingredient containing high levels of linoleic acid and Vitamin E to maintain the skin’s protective barrier. It’s beneficial for sunburn and reducing dark circles after jet-lag, late night reading or an evening on the town!

Organic Maracuja Seed Oil :

More commonly known as passion fruit, this ingredient is native to south America. The cold-pressed oil is extracted from the seeds of the fruit to brighten dull skin and to alleviate inflammation. Rich in Vitamin A and C this fruity member diminishes the signs of premature ageing and relieves irritated and sun damaged skin.

Organic Prickly Pear Oil :

Not as ‘prickly’ as it sounds! Harvested from the deserts of Mexico and Morocco, the oil contains a impressive 150% more Vitamin E than Argan Oil. Softening the skin, calming redness and inflammation, the oil contains potent betalains to protect skin from ageing. Now to be seen on You!

Organic Tiger Nut Oil :

(Growl!) Favoured by the Ancient Egyptians, tiger nut oil is rich in Omega-3 and Omega-6. A fabulous moisturiser for dry and dull eyes, the oil burns bright in the fight against wrinkles, acne and skin damage. Anti-oxidant tocopherol fights free radicals to preserve, nourish and protect the wrinkle-prone skin around the eyes.

Organic Watermelon Seed Oil :

This powerful ingredient not only opens up pores to keep them clean, but repairs DNA damage and maintains skin elasticity – paramount for taming those fine lines!

Mmmmm!

A magnificent cocktail of skin-rescuing, wrinkle-smoothing oils.

So divine you can not only see but really feel the nourishment . . .

SWEEP N' SLEEP

It really is a delight to apply this golden treatment. It’s the ultimate lullaby before your beauty sleep!

Tips for applying Ella Organics’ Overnight Eye Treatment :

– Ensure skin is cleansed and moisturised. I apply this gorgeous treatment last, after a lovely serum and moisturiser. Ella Organics’ Overnight Eye Treatment is the cherry on top!

– Ready to release the radiance?! Press the little white pump so that a few drops land on your ring finger – I find one pump is actually generous enough for both eyes.

– Lightly dab about half the oil around one eye and then onto the next, coming back to the first eye to gently press it in a little more.

– Don’t forget to do the side of the eye where fine lines tend to appear, this area needs pampering too!

Be careful not to run this treatment into your eye, I’ve found it can cause a little irritation lasting about 5 minutes.

– Once your eye area is nicely oiled up, allow to soak in for a few moments!

– For an extra skin loving treat, drift off wearing a silk eye mask!

EYE DIFFERENCE

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for!

Does this treatment work, does it help to reduce eye bags and wrinkles?

The first few times I applied this gorgeous treatment I really felt all the goodness soaking into my skin, nourishing, smoothing and calming. I have been using this oil for about a year now and it definitely helps to maintain a healthy look! I do feel it makes the creases under my eyes less prominent, much more plumped and firmed in the morning. However, it’s difficult to gauge the effect compared to not using the Overnight Eye Treatment.

If I skip a few nights (either I’ve run out or I’m living out of a carry-on suitcase!) I do notice that the skin under my eyes begins to feel a bit dried out, literally calling out for this tempting treatment! Such withdrawal symptoms really illustrate the nourishing goodness of this carefully crafted oil and how much my skin has come to rely on its potent properties.

Out of all the different eye serums and oils I have previously tried, this is superior by far. This product has much a much more dramatic effect at tightening the eye area. I believe this must be down to the 100% organic and natural ingredients in the treatment, with no additives to upset the delicate balance.

After a long night flight this Overnight Oil Treatment is especially restorative and certainly helps to reduce puffiness and dark circles so you can quickly feel and look your best!

Combined with a healthy lifestyle, diet and water intake this rich treatment can work wonders!

ELLA ORGANICS' ETHOS

The cornucopia of skin boosting ingredients contained in this little jar are certainly some of the finest natural oils you can find in this price range along with an honest and caring culture behind the label.

All ingredients are certified organic. Ella Organics is committed to produce a skin care range of the highest quality – free from additives, parabens, colourings, fragrances and preservatives. Sourced from ethical and sustainable farming and harvesting practices aligned to strict guidelines, this luxurious treatment has been beautifully blended to maximise the healing power of Nature!

Co-founder Linda Auksmukste developed Ella Organics in response to the organic lifestyle enjoyed by her grandmother. Inspired by her grandmother’s respect for Nature, Linda has travelled far and wide across the globe in search of botanicals traditionally used by local people to enhance their youthful appearance. Linda discovered that a wholesome approach and exclusive use of organic ingredients without the use of questionable preservatives or harsh additives produces amazing results.

Suitable for everyone, of any age and skin type, the vital molecules and minerals naturally contained in the organic oils provide a rare opportunity. Ella Organics is one of the few skin care specialists inviting us to enjoy a cruelty free, never tested on animals, ethically sourced skin care range with 100% organic ingredients with a minimal use of plastic packaging.

DELIVERY & PACKAGING

At the moment, Ella Organics is only available online, it would be wonderful to see their lovely products in store so as to reach a wider audience!

My Overnight Eye Treatment arrived swiftly within a few days in a recycled cardboard box. Within this is a nest of recycled and compostable shavings, protecting this holy grail of youth! Should you be interested in gifting this gorgeous product, the glass jar sits attractively in this nest-box shielded by a compostable bio-bag, its wooden collar elevating the rustic vibe.

Of course the jar is easily recyclable and the wooden collar could be composted in the garden or perhaps used for childrens’ craft projects?

The design is very on form, yet I have to admit I’ve had a slight problem as one of my orders seemed to have leaked ever so slightly during transit. When travelling it is not the easiest container to fit amongst others in your 100ml liquid bag and the white cap which prevents the pump accidently loading has come off on more than one occasion. As such, I always aim to keep this special dispenser upright when on the move.

Inside the jar is a spring mechanism. I’m not sure this is completely necessary, and wonder if a glass dropper with a squeeze top would be more appropriate for ease of travelling?

However, these points in no way change my mind about the quality of this luscious treatment!

COST & FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

With a price tag of £45 this is the most expensive product I regularly use as part of my daily routine. I do find it can last 4-5 months; it’s worth every penny and of course I’m careful not to lose a drop!

Understandably, ethically sourcing all these miraculous exotic oils and ensuring they are of organic origin is no mean feat! The research and attention to detail that has gone into the formulation of this eye treatment will be evident as soon as you awaken to pampered eyes and glowing skin!

A PENDOUR PAMPER P.S.

The finest skin-loving organic ingredients from across the world have been carefully researched and beautifully blended to create this magnificent serum expertly restoring the skin around your eyes. A champion for wholesome living, Ella Organics demonstrates that completely natural and organic products out manoeuvre the synthetic, lab-produced competitors whilst respecting and protecting the natural world.

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PENDOUR PURCHASE – The Best Eco-friendly iPhone Charging Cable by Wave Case – Cable C’mon!

PENDOUR LIVING, Linda Bell

05 - 01 - 2514 - 08 - 25

Pendour Purchase : The Best Eco-friendly iPhone Charging Cable by Wave Case

Disclaimer : This Pendour Purchase article may contain affiliate links. This means Pendour may earn a commission should you chose to sign up for a program or make a purchase using our links, with no extra cost for you. We love the companies featured on Pendour Living and are sure you will too!

CABLE C'MON

These bio-based iPhone charging cables by Wave Case not only charge your phone, but help to protect our planet!

CABLE CONUNDRUM

We’ve all been there, tangled balls of wire with the USB and Lightning ports all shredded and falling off, dangling like old rags and slowing down charging time. Before some one gets an electric shock it’s time for a new cable!

Instead of reaching for the phone company’s own standard plastic-coated cable, there’s a new wire riding this wave!

With reinforced joins for extra longevity and a strong, bio-based coating to support fast charging speeds of up to 3A and data transfer rates of 480 MBit per second, these cables by Wave Case really push the boat out!

MAKING WAVES

Based on the north east coast of England, Wave Case founders John and Ross know only too well the devasting impact plastic pollution has on the marine environment. They decided to take action against the tide of plastic consumption by developing an inspirational range of phone accessories and cases.

Fashioned from wheat straw instead of petroleum based plastics (such as thermoplastic elastomer aka TPE), Wave Case’s charging cables enable us to join the ripple of small change which eventually makes waves for the good of our planet!

Along with their collection of lifestyle products from bags to bottles crafted from sustainable materials, Wave Case is enabling us to rethink our reliance on plastic.

DESIGN & DURABILITY

The first thing I noticed about these cables is how much more robust they are than those supplied by the iPhone manufacturer! Those joins are so much stronger and solid. I think these cables will last a considerably longer time before fraying sets in. Extending the lifetime of a phone cable saves resources and energy, something we’re all for here at Pendour!

The wire itself is slightly thicker and less slippery than the standard plastic-based cables we’re accustomed to. Meanwhile, the patina of the wheat straw provides a slightly dappled texture to the surface of the cable. Yet, this still allows for the same malleability you’d expect from an ordinary charger.

At 1m long the wire bends and can be easily moulded for your own personal use and preference, whether charging in the car, at your desk or whilst on the move!

Wave Case offers a range of charging cables to match a variety of iPhone generations :

– USB-A to Lighting

– USB-B to Lightning

– USB-C to Lightning

As well as the latest

– USB-A to USB-C and

– USB-C to USB-C ports.

The charging cables come in an off-white shade. It’s a neutral tone, soft and un-commanding.

However, Wave Case’s aesthetic prides bright colours in sunrise-style shades. I feel some brighter shades may help to entice a wider range of customers and help to highlight the importance of this product.

Let’s hope they’ll soon release some rainbow colour ways for their cables so we can mix and match their signature shades to compliment their offering of wonderful phone cases!

SUSTAINABILITY

Wave Case’s bio-based phone charging cables have been thoughtfuly designed to ensure our need to charge our phones will not cost the Earth!

These plastic-free wires are fashioned from wheat straw, which photosynthesises as it grows, transferring carbon dioxide into oxygen. This contrasts the petroleum based, carbon intensive process of manufacturing plastic coated phone cables.

Additionally, while plastic coated phone cables may take hundreds of years to decompose (if at all!) these bio-based coatings ensure less plastic ends up in landfill and in our beautiful seas and oceans!

There is a lot of information on the Wave Case website – however, it would be good to know more specific details as to where their products are manufactured and the working conditions for those who make them.

There are several other sustainable considerations which ensure Wave Case goes a long way to help protect our planet!

Packaging :

The first and most obvious of these is that there’s no unnecessary packaging – at all! These wonderful cables are kept from getting tangled by a sleeve of recycled card and that’s it! No plastic film or bulky presentation box, so you’re ready to plug in and get charging as soon as your lovely cable arrives!

Shipping :

All deliveries are carbon neutral. Wave Case has teamed up with Climate Partner to calculate the Carbon Dioxide produced from shipping each order. This is then offset by supporting Plastic Bank to assist in ocean clean ups. So far, over 2,000 kg of Co2 has been offset.

Charity :

As members of the 1% For The Planet scheme, 1% of Wave Case’s sales are donated to environmental non-profit charities. Customers are therefore also helping to protect the environment on a global scale whilst charging their phones!!

Proud supporters of Surfers Against Sewage 250, there’s even more reason to praise this wonderful brand, their excellent products and commitment to protecting the marine environment.

Circular Economy :

You can return your old protective phone cases to Wave Case for composting or to be made into new phone cases. Let’s hope they soon introduce a scheme to return old charging cables as well!

COST & FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

At £9 each these cables don’t cost much more than your average charging wire. But just think how much further your money goes instead of lining the pockets of big corporations!

Wave Case often runs promotions on their cables, which makes them even better value with all the environmental benefits compared to the phone manufacturer’s cables!

If you sign up to Wave Case’s friendly newsletters you can receive a 10% discount on your first purchase.

Wave Case also offers a range of other products:

– Gorgeous Phone Cases – check out my Pendour Purchase review!

– Sustainable Roll-Top Bag

– Air Tag Case

– Plastic free Water Bottle

There is a minimum spend of £25 for free UK delivery using Royal Mail. In both my experiences of ordering from Wave Case this has been very easy and quick.

Worldwide shipping is also available for a flat rate of £5, though there could be additional customs charges.

PENDOUR PRO-TIP

Why not order several of these bio-based cables? They make excellent gifts for friends’ Birthdays, or Christmas stocking fillers! It’s a practical present as it seems you can never have too many cables. . . Your family and friends will not only be impressed by the sturdy design of the product, but your thoughtful efforts to support a small business and the environment! (Just be sure to use eco-friendly wrapping paper.)

FINAL NOTE

We love a Wave Case phone case here at Pendour so it’s no surprise we’re so impressed with their bio-based charging cables too!

Help to protect our seas and oceans from the scourge of plastic pollution by supporting Wave Case. Small changes like this enable a step in the right direction for the sake of our planet!

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WANDERLUST, Linda Bell

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04 - 01 - 2514 - 08 - 25

Pendour Purchase : Wave Case

Wave Case – the most durable and sustainable phone case?

Protecting more than just your phone, the colourful pear-drop shades of Wave Case‘s mobile phone covers not only suit your personal style and palette but help to protect our seas and oceans!

making waves

Based on England’s north east coast Wave Case founders John and Ross know only too well the devastating impact plastic pollution has on the marine environment. They decided to take action against the tide of our addiction to plastic by developing an inspiring range of phone cases fashioned from wheat straw. This biodegradable material means fewer phone cases end up in landfill and in the sea when they reach their end of life, or you upgrade to a new mobile phone model.

Plants, such as wheat, absorb Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. This helps to reduce the levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere in contrast to the petroleum based manufacturing process of making plastic phone cases.

Along with their collection of lifestyle products from bags to bottles crafted from sustainable materials, Wave Case is therefore making more than just ripples when it comes to rethinking our reliance on polluting plastic!

When you want to protect your phone

why not also protect our seas and oceans?!

SECOND WAVE ROUND

As the owner of an ‘older’ iPhone 8 I was so pleased to find this company who design cases for a whole range of models – from Galaxy to Google – so I was surprised they still had the correct size for my phone in stock!

Despite being dropped numerous times and even being stolen and then miraculously returned to me a year later (!) my phone still works perfectly fine thanks to this wonderful company! I’m now on my second Wave Case as the first one was lost during the theft. At least it’s good to know my first Wave Case is already in the process of naturally biodegrading rather than hanging around in the sea or a field for hundreds of years shredding micro plastics as a standard plastic phone cover would!

Design & Durability

Wave Case’s signature aesthetic prides clean lines and graceful, curving corners. This minimalist style offers unparalleled tactile smoothness which slides into any pocket, pouch or purse. A classy colour palette offers a touch of bo-ho sunrise style (think beachy vibes, Zamas Hotel, Tulum). You may find it hard to believe Wave Cases are not made from polluting plastic!

This time I went for the gorgeous aqua shade . . . . Nice and bright to find when hunting for my phone in large pockets or in a bag.

There are little speckles in the material, an attractive feature for this particular colour, calling to mind the beautiful, delicate shells of blackbird’s eggs!

The Wave Case is sturdy yet provides enough give to easily clip around your mobile phone. This flexibility makes it a doddle to push your phone into the moulded case, it slides in so it’s cosy and secure. You’ll find it fits like a glove!

Everything lines up perfectly: the charging port, ‘silencer’ switch, camera and flash are accessible through precise gaps in the case. Even the cover concealing the on/off and volume buttons, which may sometimes be too firm or not adequately aligned on other phone cases, is neatly moulded to ensure optimum use.

A 2mm lip runs all the way around the edge of the phone. This sits neatly, framing the main screen to offer full protection for the edges. If the phone somehow lands face down, the raised lip means the case makes the first impact so your screen should not crack! However, just to be on the safe side, I’d recommend adding a screen protector such as this one made from recycled glass by Wave Case.

Yes. Weighing 30g it’s perhaps not the lightest phone case out there. This product does add a little more solidity to your device but feels so good to hold!

Seemingly smooth in appearance, the case is slightly textured from the patina of the wheat straw. This provides welcome grip to stop your phone from slipping out of your hands or off of the pages of a glossy magazine!

And as this case is a single piece, there is no outer layer or ‘skin’ which could crack, disintegrate or turn brittle on impact from a fall.

There is also an ‘etched’ version available for certain device models, with an attractive engraved appeal. Great if you want that little extra touch of personalisation.

My first Wave Case in sunrise yellow certainly protected my phone very well against any bangs and drops. All the corners are fully protected by the Wave Case and I’m sure my new case in exotic, turquoise blue will keep my phone safe and looking A1!

sustainability

Circular Economy :

The use of wheat straw is the main selling point of this product. This not only reduces our reliance on plastic but helps to prevent plastic pollution in our seas and oceans and landfills. It’s a far more responsible product than those offered by the top mobile phone manufacturers!

However, no specific details are given as to where Wave Case manufacture their products and the working conditions for those who make them. Manufactured from the versatile bio-plastics PBAT and PLA, it would be good to know more about the manufacturing process to allow for comparison with other eco-friendly cases.

Wave Case has several other sustainable considerations which go a long way to protect our planet!

Packaging :

There is none! That’s right, no unnecessary packaging – at all! At first it actually seemed a bit weird to receive the case in a 100% recycled envelope with no . . . . protective sleeve/tissue paper/box/case to first remove and then dispose of. It’s so nice they’ve kept things really simple. And makes a lot more sense!

Deliveries :

Are carbon neutral. Wave Case has teamed up with Climate Partner to calculate the Co2 produced from shipping each order. This is then offset by supporting Plastic Bank to assist in ocean clean ups. So far, over 2,000 kg of Carbon Dioxide has been offset!

1% :

Surfers Against Sewage :

Proud supporters of Surfers Against Sewage 250, there’s even more reason to praise this wonderful brand and their excellent products! Not only calling plastic polluters to account, but the deplorable mismanagement of the UK’s water companies.

And . . . if you do require a new case for a device upgrade you can even return your old Wave Case! How dreamy is that? Old cases are either industrially composted under controlled conditions or recycled into new . . . phone cases! How is that for circular economy?!

So there you sea (!) Wave Case have it all sussed and should be supported in their endeavours to protect our phones and planet!

COST & FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

At £25 each these cases are not the cheapest, but you can’t really put a price on protecting our seas from plastic pollution!

If you sign up to Wave Case’s friendly newsletters you can receive a 10% discount on your first purchase and look out for the fantastic seasonal promotions they offer now and again!

With so many colourful shades to choose from – some funky floral designs or marbled rainbows too complete the mix – you could purchase a different design for all the family! Select a range of different colours if you have more than one smart phone so you can tell them apart, or a different shades to match your look!

Wave Case also offers a range of other products :

– try their bio-based charging cables, read my Pendour Purchase Review

– Sustainable Roll-Top Bag

– Air Tag Case

– Water Bottle

There is a minimum spend of £25 for free UK delivery using Royal Mail. In my experience this has been great and very fast! Worldwide shipping is also available for a flat rate of £5 though there may be additional customs charges.

FINAL NOTE

It’s so refreshing to be able to purchase a product that’s used everyday by millions of us which makes such a difference to the environment.

Help to protect our seas and oceans from the scourge of plastic pollution by supporting this small business! Wave Case is a company to look out for and we’re so glad to feature such a great all-round eco-friendly brand on Pendour!

PENDOUR PAIRING

Brice Marden

Study for the Muses (Hydra Version)

1991-1997, Oil on linen, 83 x 135 inches, 211 x 343 cm, Private Collection

Just look at the wavy lines of this painting. Not only do they give the impression of ripples on the surface of moving water, but the colours seem to echo the pear-drop shades of Wave Case’s phone cases!

It’s enough to make you wish you could sail away to Hydra!

Several images in this Wave Case review feature this painting on the cover of Brice Marden’s monograph of paintings from the 1990s.

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01 - 12 - 2406 - 05 - 25

INTO THE LABYRINTH

This is a written response to Steve Joy‘s solo exhibition ‘American Sublime’ at Garden of the Zodiac Gallery, Omaha, NE USA.

The exhibition began on 3rd October 2024 and closed 1st December 2024.

A m e r I c a n

S U B L I M E

I

Carlo Scarpa’s ‘Olivetti Showroom’ in Venice provided welcome shelter for artist Steve Joy as the chilly afternoon rain began to fall. Reflecting the mechanical components of a typewriter, the building’s architectural voids of empty space cocooned Steve’s latest idea – the concept of a new painting.

Angles, atriums, passageways and mezzanines all replete with Scarpa’s signature detailing aided the conception of Steve’s silver hued ‘An Afternoon in Venice, (Olivetti)’. The rhythmic form of the painting’s cubist, sculptural in-out pattern is reminiscent of urban infrastructure. The grooves of the work echo the voids of Scarpa’s design, like the notches of a key, complementary to a lock of the unknown and the unfamiliar.

Shining. Like the weak sunlight trapped within Saint Mark’s Square, raindrops glittering beneath the watchful gaze of Venice’s winged lion.

Meanwhile, the essence of the wild hills and towering castellos further south in Umbria are captured rather serenely in the painting ‘Architecture of Silence (Umbria)’. Radiant stripes and a regal section of magenta become harmonic stanzas to the silvery sections and earth-hued bronzes characterising this stately piece.

We may think of Medieval Icons, simply displayed in the soft hush of Perugia Museum. Aged and cracked. The Medici realm transposed to the time and place of another. The settings of Judea, Gethsemane and Galilee transferred to the manicured pastures of Medieval Italy. In a similar fashion, Steve’s painting transports the emboldened palettes of saints’ robes to a time and place both current and new, past and familiar to retell miraculous stories of Byzantine origin.

The horizontal bands of two-toned marble forming the flying buttresses and architectural supports of the Duoma di Siena find their own contemporary inversion in the stripes of the sunken section in Steve’s ‘Architecture of Silence (Umbria)’. Magnificent medieval architecture is reimagined in oil and gold leaf. This painting is a fitting if somewhat nostalgic response to Steve’s time living in Italy during the late 1980s, admiring the ambitious abstract painters of America from afar.

Located in a quiet, still corner at the back of Garden of the Zodiac Gallery a delicate piece fashioned from three shallow boxes – once lens cases of an unknown optician – floats on the wall as though a pale, soft cloud. Wisps of aqua intersperse the veils of porcelain white and brushed lettering of ‘St Francis of Assisi’, the title of the work. As fresh as a marble altar piece gleaming in a cavernous Basilica, this painting recalls the snowy white feathers of a dove, once preached to by Saint Francis himself.

Italian influences find a new sense of being in Omaha, a city which lies on the same latitude as Rome.

II

‘American Sublime’ may refer to the work of the Hudson Valley School. Painters such as Jasper Francis Copsey (1823 – 1900) and Stanford Robinson Gifford (1823 – 80) created large scale, panoramic landscape paintings to capture the seemingly boundless opportunities of ‘The New World’.

Stretching back to the British tradition of Romantic landscape painting as established by Constable and Turner amongst others, the ‘American Sublime’ not only rendered the grandeur of the native American landscape but suggested a sense of continuity. Principles of European visual culture from the ‘Old World’ could be linked to the frontiers of the ‘New’.

A once ‘unknown’ continent could be depicted so as to feel familiar by employing techniques of classical landscape painting. The use of exquisite luminosity and elegant graduations in light and tone recalled the Arcadian paintings of Claude Lorrain (1600 – 1682). Explorers and god-fearing settlers of this immense new continent could be depicted in paintings of the ‘American Sublime’ as though the heroic Grecian gods of a century before.

America’s pristine views and immense wilderness also enabled painters to blend notions of time with landscape. Past and present could stretch both forwards and backwards in such works, connecting Europe of the ‘past’ to ‘The New World’ of the ‘future’. Expressing national and cultural identity, ‘American Sublime’ paintings ensured self-preservation and engaged strong emotions. Spirituality was seen as enshrined within the natural world, reaching out beyond the seemingly ceaseless horizons to the west.

Described by Immanuel Kant as a ‘sort of tranquility tinged with terror,’ the concept of the ‘American Sublime’ finds contemporary relevance in Steve’s large scale paintings ‘Tlön’, ‘Orbis Tertius’ and ’Garden of Forking Paths’.

Whilst these paintings are titled after the short stories, the ‘Ficciones’, of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) in ‘Labyrinths’, their scale, sense of past merging with present and veil of otherworldliness are akin to the ‘American Sublime’.

III

In ‘Orbis Tertius’, the largest painting in the exhibition, horizontal bands of gold rest along the top of the focal, grid-like structure on canvas. More stripes lead downwards along the the left side of the work, collaborating with those above as though the trunk and overhanging branch of an ancient tree, its bark smoothed and golden in the glimmer of sunset.

Leaning a-symmetrically – simultaneously part of the painting yet also framing ‘Orbis Tertius’ – these zips of gold echo compositional techniques utilised by 19th century ‘American Sublime’ painters.

Literally and figuratively framing the canvas, these stripes of gold border the painterly layers like a crest, or illuminated lettering surrounding a Book of Hours. Steve’s use of gold leaf and varnish is technically inspired by Byzantine Icon paintings.

Glowing, as if to denote sunrise or clouds parting during the hour of sun down, ‘Orbis Tertius’ merges the Eastern shores of the ancient Byzantine world with the historical and ideological frontier of the west.

The central canvas section of the painting unfolds before our eyes, as though a creased map from Lewis’ and Clark’s expedition. Bars of soft blue and deep gold rise and fall. Offering no clear route, are these blocks of colour sign posts as to the way, or obstacles along a mysterious pathway? Mirrored and mazed, our eyes follow these ‘corridors of time’, these ladders and angular roads that fork and split.

A labyrinth of paint. A labyrinth of Time. Sometimes pushed into the background, like the wispy forms of a medieval church mural surrounded by tromp l’oeil, these markings converse with one another. These sensitively painted layers – sometimes rubbed away and brushed over – recall the speckled and fragmented remains of a medieval fresco buried beneath centuries of plaster.

‘Orbis Tertius’ shares its title with that of the ‘provisional title’ of an encyclopaedia. This encyclopaedia details the ‘splendid history’ of an illusionary world – the fabled planet of Tlön – as told in the short story ‘Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius’ by Borges.

Translated into English, this encyclopaedia was originally written in one of the invented languages of the planet Tlön. In Borges’ short story we as readers are informed by the narrator that the extraordinary undertaking of creating a fabled planet with its own rules, laws, literature and languages took a secret society of intellectuals many years to achieve.

Steve presents us with a possible visualisation of this peculiar encyclopaedia and all its contents in the form of a magnificent abstract painting. We wonder within this subliminal landscape, in the artist’s labyrinth. Like the narrator in ‘The Library of Babylon’ or the dreamer who is a fragment of a dream in ‘The Circular Ruins’ we are caught within the weaving, winding trails of Borges’ imaginings.

Steve’s ‘Orbis Tertius’ is simultaneously an alphabet, a mathematical equation of endless variables and a depiction of an illusionary place, symbolising its history and philosophy. An imagined past of a distant dream merges with the nodes of the present moment. Although features such as a frame bare resemblance to an overhanging tree, the zig-zag contours a maze or the grid of a map, we instead find ourselves within a labyrinth of the sublime.

IV

The calming palette of ‘Tlön’ draws any passer-by in to the gallery from the passageway outside. Minimal and mediative, there is a clear link to the soothing vision of Agnes Martin. Another grid-like form, akin to mysterious runes plotted upon a piece of fabric, inhabit this pink blushed realm. In a similar fashion to Steve’s ‘Orbis Tertius’ painting, oblong marks of gold, white and bronze this time formulate an angular path spreading outwards from the centre of the pink plane. Once again, these markings and pathways control the eye’s route of passage across the lullabying field of pink.

Even the subtle pencil lines echo the early works of Larry Poons. This alternative network is a fainter though no less significant matrix contributing to the overall web of meaning and the labyrinth’s gravity.

A striped edge of white and gold on the left side of the painting becomes a sort of gauge, of distance or time perhaps, or both, or neither, or some other qualifying measurement of Tlön’s being. A striped blind or a curtain pulled away to reveal a portal to another world. This two-tone measuring device offers a sense of proportion to the other linear forms of the work.

Reflecting the tension and complexity of a narrative by Borges, we come to accept the hidden meaning of Steve’s painting.

The existence of the planet of Tlön is justified by Borges in his short story. Through the discovery of a strange compass, books and a bizarre dense metal cone, the world of Tlön is subtly inserted into our ‘own’ world within the story’s narrative. In the same way Steve’s painting radiates an otherworldly energy into ours’.

Could Steve’s painting be a epilogue to Borges’ narrative, a further piece of evidence proving the existence of the apparently illusionary planet of Tlön?

We are transported to a curious dimension where what is real and what is unreal; what is fact and fiction; what has been painted and what has been rubbed away from the surface of the canvas all congruously exist. We fall into and through these many layers of meaning and circumstance as if in a sci-fi film. Our fall is cushioned only by the very existence of this painted labyrinth.

The work’s complementary accents become more than a mere visualisation of an illusionary place. They become the exact and yet approximate world of Tlön itself. A world which exists only in the existence of another. A fictitious labyrinth within a work of fiction. Or a painting within a gallery.

Borges’ Tlön gradually becomes the world and the world gradually becomes the fabled planet of Tlön. As such, we approach Steve’s painting with a sense of the Sublime. In the calm tranquility of acceptance and the metaphysical terror of intrusion from an otherworldly dimension, we receive Steve’s pink-hued painting as a portrayal of the ‘New World’ of our contemporary – and possibility even illusionary – age.

V

Curves and angles perform a choreographed dance both ascending and descending along the central axis of the painting ‘Garden of Forking Paths’. Lines and parabolas echo the brick archways of the Gallery space.

Steve began this painting following a trip to the railroad town of McCook in western Nebraska. The influence of the region’s green corn fields is evident in the soft toned palette and columnar format of the work, reflecting the rows and rows of vertically growing stalks in the American Midwest. A landscape of the Sublime.

Reflecting the mechanics of an unknown object, such as the ribbons of an Olivetti typewriter, the work even calls to mind the pillars and archways of a viaduct. The engineering wonders of the railway swiftly and radically transformed American life. A more connected and accessible ‘New World’ is perhaps represented by the columns and curves of a railroad swooping across a vast plain, possibly symbolised in the green backdrop of the painting. Echoing established conformities of the ‘American Sublime’ and the influence of earlier artists such as Claude Lorrain, the constructed yet fragmented feel of Steve’s painting may even recall the ancient Roman Aqueducts found across Italy and the rest of Europe.

Dappled, like soft rays floating in through a stained glass window, the overall feel of the piece is delicate and mysterious. Gold lines frame the left side of the work; this is repeated on the right, though no enclosure is constructed. The lines are left open as though an entry way on an architectural plan. These partial borders, reflected in the painting ‘Orbis Tertius’ almost enable ‘Garden of Forking Paths’ to take on the form of a modernist style window. A window of a Scarpa design, overlooking a garden home to paths that twist and fork.

Borges’ short story The Garden of Forking Paths tells of a secret agent’s last hours as he fulfils an assassination mission. Full of suspense and drama, the short story plays out almost like a thriller, the hunter becoming the hunted.

The narrator discovers his target, Albert, lives in a Garden constructed by his own ancestor, Ts’ui Pên. Albert reveals Ts’ui Pên’s perplexing compositions – a circular book and maze. Yet the twist in this story is that the book and the maze are one and the same. The first page of the book is the same as the last page, making Ts’ui Pên’s book as chaotic and complicated as a maze. This incomplete but not false image of the universe is imagined and visualised by Steve in this painting.

The diverting lines and painted lanes of Steve’s ‘Garden of Forking Paths’ take on a more complex meaning. Each mark may represent a divulging future, a universe splitting at a particular time as a choice is made or an event occurs. Therefore, it is a painting representing variations of shifting timelines. Yet, here, as with Ts’ui Pên’s circular book, the forking paths represent the idea that every single option in a given moment occurs, leading to the generation of new paths that fork themselves. . .

Within this sublime view – whether from a window, or the pages of a circular book – is a lost maze of time. Rivers, provinces and kingdoms may be discovered within this painted velvet. Flooded, washed away and rebuilt, great landscapes of continents and sublime mountain ranges within gardens all reside within this painted construction. An infinite labyrinth engineered to spread between the future and past, reaching beyond the stars. A universe within a maze within a garden.

Just how the answer to Ts’ui Pên’s perplexing compositions are revealed in Borges’ short story in the danger of a secret mission, Steve presents us with an idea of sublime grandeur. We are presented with the very notion of something being beyond our control. Across centuries and centuries events only happen in the present moment, just as ‘Garden of Forking Paths’ finds itself inside a gallery with a garden – the Garden of the Zodiac Gallery.

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