Category: 2023 Weekly Project

Week 4 – Ten Favourite Pieces of Classical Music

In No Particular Order

This week’s project is a real treat. Drawing up a list of only ten pieces is not as easy as it sounds though. I often hear the guests on Desert Island Discs say how difficult it is to make their limited selections taken from a lifetime interwoven with their personal story.

I took the view that I would choose ten pieces which I personally cannot image never having heard. As though they had never been written. And what a loss that would be.

My Personal Choices

Concerto for two Mandolins in G Major – Antonio Lucio Vivaldi

Canon in D Major – Johann Pachelbel

Romance from The Gadfly – Dmitri Shostakovich

Trumpet Voluntary in D Major (The Prince of Denmark’s March) – Jeremiah Clarke

Elizabethan Serenade – Ronald Binge

The Humming Chorus from Madam Butterfly – Giacomo Puccini

Minuetto – Luigi Boccherini

Jerusalum – Hubert Parry

Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana – Pietro Mascagini

Bella Figlia Dell Armore from Rigaletto _ Antonio Lucio Vivaldi

Change the Genre

The genre can be changed to reflect your own musical choices. Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1980’s, Swinging 60’s, the 10 best Number 1’s, Musicals, the music of an individual performer, group, band or a mixture of 10 pieces that resonate with you.

Music is Good for Us

It was a real pleasure to sit down and pull out pieces of music and just listen to them. Even though I have listened to these pieces many times, they are still wonderful. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy listening to music at the touch of a button. It would be interesting to do this challenge again next year to see if these ten pieces are still on my list. Or maybe I will find some new pieces over the course of the year. There is lots of lovely music out there to be discovered and enjoyed. So much to do .. so little time.

Week 3 – One Canvas Embroidery Stitch

One Stitch – Repeated

For this week’s project I had to choose one canvas embroidery stitch and repeat it over and over again. That sounds quite straight forward. Even quite simple to achieve. What I had not anticipated was the choice of stitches and the need to make a decision and stick with it once the needle and thread went into the canvas for the first time. After much consideration I chose the Double Plaited Cross Stitch. It required 16 manoeuvres for each stitch. I began tentatively counting and recounting the spaces. But once the first row of 6 were in place – in the right place, further rows and stitches joined together nicely.

Repetition and Memory

I didn’t know this stitch initially and had to closely follow the guidance given in the book. I chose three different coloured embroidery threads. Using three strands for each stitch. As my confidence grew I began to mix the colours of the three strands and with continued repetition I soon knew the stitch so well I could keep working away whilst the television was on.

So Many Stitches – So Little Time

I so enjoyed doing this exercise. It required accuracy, focus and patience. But it has ignited my desire to learn some more stitches. My piece of aida fabric with 14 holes to the inch has plenty of space to fill with many other stitches. It provides an opportunity to build on what I have already completed. I will however have to make another difficult decision – which stitch to choose next.

Week 2 – Read and Study a Work by Shakespeare

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

By coincidence this encourages my New Year’s Resolution to make time to read at least one book every week. Any book. So why Twelfth Night? I haven’t read it before. I seem to recall seeing a travelling production, staged outside one summer’s evening, many years ago. It challenges me to read something I would probably avoid if at all possible. Sensibly I purchased a modern edition which provided a good introduction. Always helpful in setting the scene. On each page the awkward words or unusual phrases were numbered. Beneath this is a straight-forward translation and it helped me to better understand the characters and the plot as it unfolded.

Memorable Line

There is always one line or phrase which we know, often without knowing where it comes from. In Twelfth Night it’s the opening line. If music be the food of love, play on. The story is about love. Mistaken identity. The fascinating relationship of twins and, as with any comedy some larger than life characters.

Happy Ending

Yes of course. It all worked out just fine in the end. The text was not overly long – 75 pages in total. I was delighted to find a scene by scene analysis and further information to enhance my enjoyment of reading a work by Shakespeare. The play was possibly written and first performed around 1601. Has it time travelled to me here in 2023 or have I stepped into the time machine and gone back to the start of the 17th century? It is timeless and will continue to be so for centuries to come I hope.

Week 1 – January Weaving

The Back Story

Since the pandemic my life has changed. I miss having the time and energy for any creative space in my busy life. To counter balance this now, I have come up with 52 creative, engaging, inspiring or fun ideas. One for each week of 2023. I wrote the ideas on slips of paper, put them into a pot and drew them out on New Year’s Eve and assigned them from week 1 to week 52. Each one will be shared via this blog.

My January Weaving reflects the feel of January. There is a glimpse of the first daffodils which I saw on New Year’s Day. They were delightful and offer the promise of more to come as we move towards the spring.

My finished piece measures 9cm x 26cm. It has been hand woven and is made from mixed fibres. My other source of inspiration are a series of photographs taken in my garden during a previous January.

Moving Forward

I am looking back for references in order to move forward. I will be going through my sketchbooks and I am confident they will provide me with further inspiration and become part of this on-going process. Completing a piece of work is so satisfying and weaving has endless possibilities. Worked by hand there can be no two identical pieces. Using found wools, threads, fibres, cords, plastics or anything you can source from your own stock of materials or by asking family or friends for unwanted bits and pieces gives this a monetary cost of next to nothing. The sense of achievement and enjoyment during this cold dark first week of January is priceless.

An Invitation

So why not join me? You can use my ideas or come up with some of your own along the way. You can change the subject or theme and mix and match as the year progresses. I am sure I will want to give more time and energy to some of these ideas as I work through them. Starting small with something achievable and enjoyable is the first step. Regular engagement with my creativity is just what I need in 2023.

Happy New Year