Category Archives: Postcards 2023

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The way art can make you look a little longer

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I love looking at art, and so enjoy visiting the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham. I drop in every so often, and when I do I’m never looking for anything in particular … just looking.

The recent surprise was the Surrey Artist of the Year Competition (SAOY 23). I hadn’t realised that it was on, so it was an extra bonus to find the gallery full of especially selected arts and crafts, all chosen by the public. Apparently nominations are put forward to the gallery by those who have visited artists and creators during the Surrey Open Studios in June.

It was such a treat to walk around the selection. The hard part was trying to decide who to write on the slip of paper as our choice for overall winner. We each chose differently and I kept changing my mind every two steps. How do you choose? The colours, the images, the ideas, the skill, the precision, the freedom – the art in it all. The glass in the photograph, by Joanna Lloyd, happened to be catching the light as I walked past.

Midday on 27 October is the last day for the public to vote.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Meeting up with school friends

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It’s a long time since we’ve seen each other. School is where we met, and plenty has happened in between. We’ve also come a long way.

Now some of us live in London, some in Paris, others in Madrid, some in Sydney, and some in Auckland. It’s been a summer of catching up, with another couple still to join us from Toronto. It has been such a pleasure discovering that whatever the distance and years apart the old classmates can still be found. So much has changed, and yet so little has changed. We are older, but our foundations the same, although possibly an accent has been tweaked here or there.

Now we are about to scatter again, but we’ve remembered, and it’s been fun.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Life at Full Tilt – I love the title for a start

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This arrived in the post today, and I am so looking forward to reading it.

I opened the front cover of the book and discovered a map of the world with arrows racing out from various points on different continents, each arrow ending in a book written by Dervla Murphy. I counted 24 in total, and those may be just the ones from which extracts have been taken for this book. That’s a lot of ground to cover.

There are just two titles that I recognise, and have read, from those listed on the inside map. The last one I read was Wheels within Wheels in which Dervla describes her family and early life, and the circumstances that led to her setting off on her bicycle – the trips getting longer and longer.

It must have been quite a task to choose a selection for this book. I hope to have the time to savour them slowly.

Thank you Eland.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023