Portraits of real country

"The only limitations I should put upon subjects would be upon landscape painters; and to them I should insist on all their pictures being real portraits of real country. I mean I take no interest in made-up landscapes: where is it? is my first question when I see a landscape."                        

From a letter from William Morris to Thomas Coglan Horsfall, April 7th 1881.

I want to come up with a design during this residency that captures the characteristics of the landscape around Kelmscott. So far, I have been drawn to the River Thames and the rows of trees that line its banks. My drawing above was done from the path towards Buscot, looking back to the river that is hidden in the line of trees that I also photographed on my walk to Lechlade.

My favourite DGR item

On the left, my drawing of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's drawing "Pomegranate and Lily", hanging in WM's bedroom. On the right, the silk embroidery by Jane Morris from this drawing, hanging on the other side of the window. I haven't copied a drawing for ages, what I wanted to show in this and my two first attempts below, is its huge glowing 3 dimensional presence in the room.  

The overcoat

The original of the coat that William Morris is wearing in this statue outside the V&A is here in the Manor. I've drawn it three times now, it is hanging in a dark corner of the hall like a joke ghost. I also have an early favourite in the Dante Gabriel Rossetti item category, which I'll be getting in to draw before the crowds arrive on Saturday.

Glass signatures

There are lots of good things in the Red House, Bexleyheath where Jane and William Morris lived after their marriage, including two sets of stained glass windows that seem to have been shoved together in the patchwork style at a later period.  This internal glazed door with scratched signatures, including May Morris', looked very beautiful in the space.

I am thinking of doing something similar with visitors to Kelmscott who would like to leave their mark on a piece of glass.

One visitor this week told me the interesting story of "The Moving Church" in Biggin Hill. This was built in the 1950s by the Vicar, Vivian Symons, from a quite different church in Peckham and he engraved the windows himself with a dentist's drill. Are there any pictures of them out there?

Glass provenances

View fullsize

The finished stained glass window (420 x 910 mm), photographed outside today. I've made it for an auction at The Society of Antiquaries in aid of Kelmscott Manor. The version of the window below shows the provenances of samples and offcuts that I used to make the window, all from my glass scrap box. Like a quilt made of patches from old clothes, this window is full of memories for me. I hope that knowing the origins of these pieces will make it more interesting and therefore more desirable for other people too. Click on the images if you want to see them close up.

View fullsize