Virginia Woolf

“You cannot find peace by avoiding life”.

This is the fifteenth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

Virginia Woolf, writer. Born in Kensington in 1882 (thanks Hilaire). Died in 1941, by her own hand.

Here is the only surviving recording of her voice, 1937.

In keeping with recent posts’ Fleet Street link; when Virginia and Leonard were first married (1912) they ate their daily meals at The Cock Tavern, having rented rooms at nearby Clifford’s Inn.

The square was cut from a National Portrait Gallery members’ booklet. The photograph was taken in 1927, but the photographer is unknown. Copyright: Mortimer Rare Book Room Neilson Library, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Boat Racers

“I can’t see who’s in the lead, but it’s either Oxford or Cambridge,” John Snagge, 1949.

This is the fourteenth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

These are not so much faces, as backs of heads. Although, ironically, ‘boat race’ is rhyming slang for ‘face’.

The Boat Race started in 1829, and is 4.2 miles. The official start and finish lines are marked by stones on the Thames. I have never seen these stones, but intend to go looking for them.

The square was cut from Vintage Sporting Posters Calendar 2015. Printed and published by J. Salmon, 2014. Artwork, I think, as it’s very difficult to read, is by Waterlow and Sons. This is likely as they did a lot of work for London Transport. Copyright, Transport For London.

 

Elizabeth 1

“Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak, you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind”.

This is the thirteenth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

Elizabeth 1, born in Greenwich, 1533, died in Richmond, 1603. Reigned, 1558-1603.

When she was young, her father had her mother executed. Elizabeth was imprisoned in The Tower.

There is a statue of Elizabeth in St. Dunstan’s Churchyard. It is thought to be the only statue carved in her lifetime, although the date (1586) is barely legible. It has stood in this spot for over 170 years.

It once stood at the bottom of Ludgate Hill, not far away from its present site.  After The Great Fire in 1666, it is said to have been moved to the basement of a nearby pub, where it was forgotten about. It was rediscovered when the pub was demolished in 1839.

St. Dunstan’s is on Fleet Street. The same street where my 11th square, David Bailey, worked at the age of 15. The churchyard, where in 1605 you could buy copies of Hamlet by Shakespeare, subject of my 9th square. Also, Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of my previous square, regularly used to drink at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, on Fleet Street. The alleyways in that area are said to be the inspiration for ‘The Adventure Of The Red-Headed League’.

The square is cut from a leaflet for the exhibition Elizabeth 1 & Her People, National Portrait Gallery, October 2013/January 2014. ‘Ermine’ Portrait attributed to Nicholas Hilliard, 1585. Copyright, Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House.

Sherlock Holmes

“London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained”. A Study In Scarlet, 1887.

This is the twelfth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective.

A Study In Scarlet was written two years before my first square, Charlie Chaplin, was born.

When I was about fifteen, I became a bit obsessed with those Conan Doyle stories, reading each one quite a few times. I passed this obsession on to my sister. We fancy ourselves as experts. We both like to think we know more than the other. It can get a bit nasty. Possibly the worst argument we have ever had  (we have had plenty) was started by Sherlock.

Just to keep with the Fleet Street connection of the previous post, the Cheshire Cheese pub was a favourite haunt of Conan Doyle.  The alleyways in that area are said to be the inspiration for The Adventure Of The Red-Headed League.

The square was cut from a leaflet for an exhibition at The Museum of London. Sherlock Holmes, The Man Who Never Lived And Will Never Die. It was a great exhibition, the entrance was disguised as a bookcase. There is no mention of the designer.

Mick Jagger and David Bailey

“You wake up in the morning and you look at your old spoon, and you say to yourself, ‘Mick, it’s time to get yourself a new spoon’. And you do”.

This is the eleventh square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

Mick Jagger (born 1943), student of the London School of Economics. Also, a Rolling Stone. Also, nice and warm.

Photographed (in 1964) by David Bailey, born in Leytonstone (same as Hitchcock, my 7th square), in 1938. He left school at fifteen and became a copy boy on Fleet Street. The same street where, in 1605, you could buy copies of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (my 9th square) in St. Dunstan’s Churchyard. I like these little connections.

This square was cut from a leaflet for Bailey’s Stardust, an exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery, February – June 2014.

Singing People On The Southbank

“He who sings scares away his woes.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

This is the tenth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

These singers are from Voicelab, Southbank Centre’s initiative, inviting everyone to explore their voice. Unfortunately, I cannot name the singers.

The square was cut from ‘Let In The Light’. Photographer unknown (to me).

William Shakespeare

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”

This is the ninth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1660), poet, playwright, actor. Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.

We will be seeing a lot of him this year, on account of it being 400 years since his death.

Here is Withnail doing some. Chin Chin.

This square is cut from ‘2015 Concert Season, London Philharmonic Orchestra’. I didn’t know there was a concert season. I do now.

Sleeping Child, 1931

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”   Frederick Douglass.

This is the eighth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

A girl asleep on a porter’s trolley, Victoria Station, London, 3rd July 1931. Photographer, uncredited. Girl, unnamed.

My patchwork girl was taken from ‘National Railway Museum Diary 2015’. Frances Lincoln Limited. Published in 2014. Printed and bound in China.

My mam was given the diary as a present last year. She has not used it. Apologies if you are the person who bought it, but she prefers a feather-light diary, preferably bought in January for 20p. I am trying to put it to use now, as this square was taken from it.

The Viaduct. Southern Railways Poster, 1925. Artwork by TD Kerr.

Alfred Hitchcock

“There is nothing more stupid than logic”

This is the seventh square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980), film director, was born, in London, one year after Chaplin (my first square).

He directed over fifty films. I like his work, although I hear he wasn’t very nice.

Here he is showing us around the set of Psycho, one of my favourite films. I especially like the scene where Janet Leigh is driving the car.

This square was cut from a BFI leaflet, 2012.

Giraffe

“Does the giraffe know what he’s for? Or care? Or even think about his place in things? A giraffe has a black tongue twenty-seven inches long and no vocal cords. A giraffe has nothing to say. He just goes on giraffing.”  Robert Fulghum.

This is the sixth square of my London Faces Patchwork. It is a patchwork of papers gleaned from the pavements of the city in which I live. There are twenty-five squares making up the whole piece. You can see it here.

A giraffe from London Zoo, who has a name but they failed to print it on the leaflet. Same with the photographer.

This square is for my daughter, who loves giraffes.