NOTE:
SAFARI seems to no longer work
for comments...use another browser?

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Wales Album: visiting Meri Wells, part one

Wandering, I find pottery guardians in the garden.
Am I in Wales?  Elsewhere, I think.

A glimpse of the ceramics studio and sheep field beyond,
with a table topped with an old piece of slate
that Meri traded for some concrete blocks.

A headless and quartered creature
pinned to the boards!

Meri Wells's studio, with a view of field and mountain.

Here I am rambling the yard--
earth alive with little scenes,
cunning nooks and crannies and surprises.


Table offerings...

Guard of the boundary between realms?
Warrior shepherd who bars the way?

A peep at the seventeenth-century house.
The thick flagstones inside are laid
directly on the ground, and sometimes
shift when the field mice tunnel underneath.

Maen hir of clay, pierced for looking
into another world.
Monolith among the bluebells.

Tea in the cool Welsh afternoon.
Meri Wells and Clive Hicks Jenkins,
with Peter Wakelin taking his ease on the grass.



15 comments:

  1. Oh, how wonderful. Meri's creations (garden included) are magical.

    It's wonderful to see these. So glad you can share, now. Poo, i say again, on the ipad that did not let you blog while there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Truth is that blogging would have eaten up too much life time!

    Yes, more magical glimpses to come... The garden is wonderful. There's a hill of bluebells and poppies ahead somewhere...

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a maze of an amazing place! That quartered animal is eerie!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welsh poppies!

    True, enough Marly about blogging gobbling...but i'm finding that if i don't blog soon after the moment, it too often gets lost. That may or may not be a bad thing for some. Right now, it seems to be the only record i'm making of things.

    And, i'm selfish! We've waited so long to see these!...but i'm only teasing. Don't let my eagerness to hear from MarlyinWales heap any guilt upon your head or heart. Please see it only for what it is: affection and connection.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lucy,

    Much eeriness and surprise to come!

    zephyr,

    I am trying to work it in along with finishing The House of Words and blowing the announcement horn for events... It's a lot. I don't want to put up so much that people's eyes start to glaze!

    Also, Dave is putting up his images, and some of them might be mine, they are so close. Funny. (Except, of course, he's more into photography and cameras than I am, and that makes a difference!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful setting - and place to live.
    Meri's garden and home are idyllic for artists interested in natural forms and natural materials.
    The table is something I long for!

    These are wonderful photos, Marly.

    Oh... and blogging while away from home. I do not blog, specifically, but use social platforms to unwind. When away from home I like to wind down and post photos and movies and comments in order to share the experience with others. I always feel hard done by if I cannot take an evening or two out in order to do this. It is rather relaxing to share with others, somehow!
    I am glad you also share!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Paul,

    No doubt I would have shared more if I had more than a borrowed iPad along! But I enjoy when you share on facebook, definitely.

    Yes, that table was beautiful and beautifully engraved. It was about to be used for something ignomious in a barnyard when she rescued it...

    ReplyDelete
  8. This place could have come out of a storybook. And yes, those creations ARE amazing. How wonderful it must be to live with them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That whole day was amazing and storybookish!

    Wait till you see the ones I took in her home gallery... Wild.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yours is one of the richest blogs, Marly. Amazing how much you give us!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, that is a surprise! Thank you, zephyr. I always feel that I don't spend enough time with my blog, that I could do better.

    Of course, I don't really have any time to do better, so I am grateful that you find it rich.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, oh, I'm jealous! I've seen glimpses of Meri's place on Clive's blog in the past but yours really zero in on the magical parts all around the outdoors! What a place, what an artist.

    ReplyDelete
  13. marja-leena,

    You would, I think, be especially drawn to her work. The texture of it, particularly... It would have a lot of sympathy with yours.

    I'll do four Meri posts before I am done. So lots more to see! Magic to come!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a wonderful artist's garden! That must have been fun - especially first thing in the morning - if, for instance, there were mists slowly clearing...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Clare,

    Yes, quite splendid. More to come in the garden, too.

    Actually it was late afternoon and evening into dark, but it was magical even so. The sheep will have to stand in for mists and clouds, though they don't rise.

    ReplyDelete

Alas, I must once again remind large numbers of Chinese salesmen and other worldwide peddlers that if they fall into the Gulf of Spam, they will be eaten by roaming Balrogs. The rest of you, lovers of grace, poetry, and horses (nod to Yeats--you do not have to be fond of horses), feel free to leave fascinating missives and curious arguments.