6. Napkin Diary For November 2014

Thursday, 13th November

Tonight, I went to the private view of the Discerning Eye exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London. One of my napkins had been selected. I was over the moon that my work was chosen, but had been dreading the private view. I have no idea why. My work, appropriately, was on the outskirts and looked a little out of place. If you are in the area, and would like to see the exhibition you still have a few days left, as it finishes on 23rd November.

The paint brush was taken from a leaflet that my friend picked up at the exhibition. It is a detail of Seven Brushes by Lilias August RI.

New Readers:

I like to make art from stuff nobody else wants. Stuff from the bin. Stuff with a secret history.

I absolutely never cut up books which could otherwise be read, or clothes which could otherwise be worn. Nor, do I erase the blemishes left by life. I cherish life’s blemishes.

A few years back, I bought six vintage linen napkins in a charity shop, for the meagre sum of two pounds. So far, I have turned three of my napkins into sewn diaries, using fast food leaflets, old magazines and books.

Each of my napkins represents a month, with a different entry for each day. For example, the day Lynda Bellingham died, I added the Oxo box from my kitchen cupboard.

November is my fourth napkin this year, the others are June (exhibited at The Mall Galleries 14th-23rd November, 2014), May and October. Some of them can be found in my shop.