Collaborating with St Anthony I

On the whole, work-wise I am just about achieving what I hoped I would do and on some fronts (Ashby Archive) more than I had expected. I have been a little concerned though, that things between St Anthony and myself weren't working out as well as I had hoped. Since arriving here I have lost two quite important things: my favourite hat and my monthly bus pass for April. I did rather hope that he might intervene (particularly with the hat) but it obviously wasn't to be and there are times I do feel when you just have to let favourite things go and hope that they are giving pleasure to whoever new has found them...

Anyway, it has been playing on my mind quite a bit; how on earth can I make a grotto for him out of odd socks when I have only found one so far?



Imagine my delight then, in finding one and a half odd socks at the weekend! I say a half, partly because it is one of those very small sporty socks and also partly because I have been eyeing it up it for the last three weeks while it was sitting in the laundry room unclaimed - so when another sock turned up on Sunday alongside it - I seized my opportunity and claimed them both. I have three now, so I could make a start..



It is going to still be difficult to make any sort of sizeable grotto, out of 2 and a half socks, so again I am realising that some kind of divine intervention might have been taking place without my knowing it. These things can catch you unawares..

Anyway, around the time I found the first sock - I also found a (rather badly damaged) sunshade



I just had it knocking around the studio, on hand so to speak, while I thought up something to do with it. It really is such a load of old rubbish though, that I have been at quite a loss in coming up with any kind of creative output for it. So once again, I was caught unawares (while searching for a photo lab to test out some images) and I found this wonderful archway and through it, this incredibly mad looking house..




And on the way back from looking at the house, I noticed above me inside the arch these flowers..



And when I turned around - what should I see but an umbrella which had just been left on the railings behind me. It is one of those men's ones which are bit springy and won't close properly (probably why it had been abandoned) I hadn't noticed it when I walked through the arch the first time!



and it made me realise that one of the other really iconic lost articles apart from socks, is umbrellas! It also made me realise that my grotto doesn't have to be so traditional...