Rosemary for Remembrance - Ann Sinclair
artists on closing day of U3A art exhibition at Guildford Institute
With apologies to Mussorgsky.
Sometimes a particular picture catches our eye, and so it was for me, one picture out of maybe a hundred caught my eye. It was a strange picture. It clearly had an Alice theme, but with dark Gothic overtones, hints of Edgar Allan Poe. I was intrigued and baffled. Why the cross and open grave as the centre piece of the picture? It was unfortunate the artist had decide to put glass over her painting as the refections made it nigh impossible to see the work. The title of the work, Rosemary for Remembrance, gave not a hint, far from it, as it seemed in no way connected to the painting.
I was in Guildford for the day, or at least lunch and the rest of the day. It was whilst having lunch at the Guildford Institute surrounded by paintings that I spotted this strange painting. It was part of an exhibition by Guildford U3A.
It was an altogether strange Alice cum art cum Paulo Coelho cum Orhan Pamuk day out.
My day started seeing an American lady looking rather lost outside St Mary’s. I stated the obvious that it was locked, and added that sadly it was rarely open. For her it was a pity as she was in Guildford for the day for its Lewis Carroll connections. There must be many disappointed visitors like her. More must be done to keep St Mary’s open. I like to sit in St Mary’s in quiet reflection, when I find it open that is.
I explained a little of the history of St Mary’s, told her Lewis Carroll had a house nearby and gave the occasional sermon in St Mary’s. And I gave her a couple of websites where more information could be found on Lewis Carroll and Guildford.
keithpp.wordpress.com/ —> Lewis Carroll
www.heureka.clara.net/art/ —> Lewis Carroll
www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/ —> Guildford
I then had lunch at the Guildford Institute where I spotted the strange painting. It was part of an exhibition by Guildford U3A.
I always pop into the library, a lovely little private library. Chatting to a lady I suggested she read Paulo Coelho. I pulled off the shelves one of his books and gave her websites where she could find more information on the author.
keithpp.wordpress.com/ —> Paulo Coelho
www.heureka.clara.net/art/ —> Paulo Coelho
Leaving the Guildford Institute I chatted with a lovely young Spanish woman who was a keen fan of Paulo Coelho. I gave her websites where she could find more information.
keithpp.wordpress.com/ —> Paulo Coelho
www.heureka.clara.net/art/ —> Paulo Coelho
I was then in a bank, more Paulo Coelho fans.
Then a secondhand bookshop where I met a charming Indian who I had never seen before. Any books by Paulo Coelho? Yes. Please show me I said, knowing there were none. Oh, she said, there are none. I then explained I had bought all eight the previous Friday! It turned out she too was a Paulo Coelho fan and she told me that he was a very popular writer in India. She also liked Orhan Pamuk. I was impressed! I gave her websites for more information.
keithpp.wordpress.com/ —> Paulo Coelho
www.heureka.clara.net/art/ —> Paulo Coelho
www.heureka.clara.net/art/ —> Orhan Pamuk
Fancying a cup of tea I thought I would pop in the little tea shop in Guildford House. It has been closed for weeks if not months. Apart from the Tourist Information that has now relocated to Guildford House it all looked closed, so I inquired, to be told, yes it was open. The tea shop was devoid of customers. Apparently few people had bothered to do as I had and inquired, they had walked past assuming it was closed. I asked had they been compensated for the loss of trade whilst Guildford House was closed. No, was the response, and they had still been charged rent!
Walking down the High Street I chatted with a lady who was just finishing a drawing of the Old Town Hall. She said she would be turning it into a water colour. She had come all the way down from Malvern for the day for this one painting. She showed me a photo of a painting she had done in Oxford the previous day. As she had lost her train times, I gave her my timetable, which I said would give her the times of trains from Guildford to Reading. I gave her a website for information on Guildford.
www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/ —> Guildford
All in all, a very interesting day.
Tags: Alice, art exhibition, Guildford, Guildford Institute, Lewis Carroll, Orhan Pamuk, paintings, Paulo Coelho, St Mary's, UA3, University of the Third Age, water colours
Keithpp's Blog 
April 1, 2011 at 9:59 pm |
I returned today to Guildford in the hope of taking a picture of the painting that had caught my eye. It was most annoying to find that several of the paintings had already been removed that morning, even though the artists had been asked not to remove until after lunch, and this unfortunately included as Sod’s Law would have it the one I wished to photograph. But, the lady responsible for the exhibition promised she would e-mail me a file containing all the artwork on show.
I met a very charming Hungarian girl from Transylvania. I recommended that she read The Historian, but as that may prove too difficult for her, I also recommended that she read Paulo Coelho, who it turned out was an author she knew and enjoyed reading. She also appreciated Alice and Lewis Carroll and was eager to learn more.
On my way home, I found a girl sobbing her eyes out. Are you ok, I asked? Yes, she said. Clearly not I said as you are sobbing your eyes out. It turned out she had been dumped by her boyfriend. I offered to take her for a drink in the pub I was just about to pass. She said no, as that was where her ex-boyfriend was. She assured me she would be ok, so we parted and went our separate ways.