55th Venice Biennale - even more recommendations of what to see before it closes

I did promise a second blog post about our exploits at the 55th Venice Biennale and as it nears its end I though I had better get a move on.
  
Sunny skies, relaxing canals, and plenty to see and do; what more could you want from an art holiday? It also helped that our apartment was fairly central and also being 600 years old it added to the atmospheric Venetian experience. As mentioned in my previous blog post we did get lost often and so my advice is to allow time for everything to take a bit longer than you expect. 

Our perfect apartment in Venice, home for 5 nights in July 

In my first post about the Biennale I mentioned the artist and artworks that sprang immediately to mind when people asked about my favorites and in this post I will continue with more from other memorable biennale experiences. 

Arriving at our apartment at 2pm we still had time to walk through the city to The Giardini and buy tickets in readiness for a full day of art the following day. I was also very pleased  that we were able to hop onto Joana Vasconcelos’s pavilion Trafaria Praia on time for the 5pm sail around the lagoon. Having watched online updates of the Portugese ferry boat being renovated over the previous months I was definitely focused on experiencing it for myself. The gentle sail around the lagoon sitting on Portuguese cork stools and then getting up close and personal with her luscious textile glad grotto below deck were very definitely worth  it.

Detail of the luxurious, textural and sensual delight that was the below deck 'grotto' on Trafaria Praia

The next day we did our best at ‘doing’ The Giardini. The Encyclopedic Palace exhibition which has been curated by Massimiliano Gioni is split in half; half is within The Giardini and the other half in The Arsenale. 

The first item of the Encyclopedic Palace show that you encounter in The Giardini is Carl Jung’s famous Red Book. Photographs of this weren’t allowed but you can see selected images here. However experiencing it was absolutely fantastic; with theatrical lighting and luscious pigments the illustrations in his book are really quite breathtaking and it all felt quite wondrous. The book is especially important as it was during the period in which he worked on this book (1914 - 1930) that Jung developed his principal theories of archetypes, collective unconscious, and the process of individuation. 

His illustrations are records of the visions that he achieved through what he called 'active imagination' - a process that helped inspire his concept of the collective unconscious. It is said to be possibly the most influential unpublished work in the history of psychology. 

Massimiliano Gioni has curated an exhibition which tries to show the amazing breadth and variety of art that has been made by artists (worldwide and over many years) in an attempt to discover what the world really is about. He has selected works by both artists and outsider artists all of whom have tried, or are still trying, to find a way to make sense of the world. And then the question is, "Is it 'The' world or their world?" There are many many possibilities and a sense of the cosmic very definitely runs throughout the show. Some artists seem to take a fairly systematic approach to their explorations where others tackle the subject from many angles at once. They all have incredibly idiosyncratic views of the world; and isn’t this precisely what makes humans so interesting? 

Eva Kotátková’s installation, Unsigned (Gugging), is a visual presentation of the parallel worlds of psychiatric patients, prisoners and people held in (and who feel trapped) in educational institutions. She is interested in their own inner universes. 

Just a few worries as recorded during Eva Kotatkova's research

Faced with such a concentration of visual stimulation as you are in the Biennale you do start to respond by listening first and foremost to your instinct. I fell in love with this painting by Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern, my personal name for it is, 'A bit bitey', (a favourite phrase of mine from the film Shaun of the Dead) but I didn’t read the entry in the guidebook until months later when I noticed that a cousin who is currently at the Biennale was also sharing images of his work online. I decided to find out more- I had assumed that he was an outsider artist and I was right but there is much more to know about him including: that he created his own mystical cult, was admired by the Surrealists and also worked as a dairy farmer and a circus performer during his very strange and eventful life. 

'A Bit Bitey' is the perfect name... in my opinion!

I turned around in the gallery teeming with other Biennale visitors and was drawn to a collection of small dolls house like models; intrigued I inspected them more closely and I observed that each drab and dingy model room seemed to be supported on small funnels. This art required that I open the guide book straight away! So this contemporary artist, Andra Ursuta, has made these in an attempt to purge herself of, "past physic trauma”. These are models of her childhood home in Transylvania where her family made a living from rendering down pig fat to make soap. For me the funnel shaped pedestals/ legs represent the draining away of this fairly repulsive material. Not pretty but very personal. 

The amazing collection of 387 model buildings made by Austrian insurance clerk, Peter Fritz and presented as an artwork by artist Oliver Croy and architecture critic Oliver Elser is very definitely pretty, but for me it is especially of interest because of the story behind it. I personally love the homemade aesthetic of models (flowery wall paper and (now) vintage DYMO tape sign writing) but I would prefer to put more emphasis on and celebrate the creative endeavours of Peter Fritz. What I feel uneasy with is that simply by discovering it and presenting them collectively in an art situation should that give the discoverer of the models (Oliver Croy and the architecture critic Oliver Elsner the elevated importance that they seem to have been given - their names are at the head of page 66 of the Biennale Guide Book. Does discovering work (admittedly after it’s creator had died) and going to the bother of presenting it give you any amount of artistic ownership? 

Spot the DYMO tape sign-writing on this one 

Back out in the Giardini we appreciated not only the art but also the variety of pavilion buildings themselves. 

I have no idea which country this pavilion belongs to but I do love the roofline.

I have no idea which country this pavilion belongs to but I do love the roofline

Talking of roofs, Simryn Gill, representing Australia this year, took the roof off of their pavilion completely. This building was designed by Philip Cox and built in 1988. A new building has been commissioned and will be completed by 2015. This one has done very well as it was only intended to be temporary and has lasted 25 years. 

The building has very appealing curves and also a certain 'open-ness' now. 

Sadly we just missed the last entry to the Republic of Korean pavilion so I wasn’t able to experience the, much talked about, immersive experience. All I have is this tantalising glimpse into something kaleidoscopic, etherial (and sparkly!)

However we did time it just right for the Polish pavilion. Once an hour you hear the very impressive sound art of Konrad Smoleński. Smoleński has composed a symphony using traditional bronze bells, full-range speakers and other sonorous objects (metal lockers with doors which reverberate) and the guide book explains, “By using a delay effect, Konrad Smoleński offers an insight into a world where history has come to a standstill, thereby approaching the radical propositions of contemporary physics with its perception of the passage of time as an illusion”. 

That’s the ‘art stuff’ and now for my description- From outside it doesn’t seem all that loud, then while I sat at the entrance preparing my ears for the thundering, booming, buzzing, vibrations I watched as people exited (some of them with hands over their ears and looking in pain). So I took the plunge and stepped into this magnificent wall of sound; it completely vibrated through my body and felt extremely powerful. Sadly this video does not do it justice at all and when I tried to record it myself my video replayed completely silently as it is beyond the limits of most small electronic recording devices. 

One of the two cast bronze bells, speakers and metals lockers , all part of the Polish pavilion sound art

Sometimes art can be a bit too clever well too clever for art tourists which have a lot of art to see in a limited period of time. We later read that the front of the Danish Pavilion had been modified so it’s no wonder that we failed to find the entrance and so sadly didn’t get to see Jesper Just’s video pieces. This Designboom article shows more pictures of what I was up against and explains that the work was both video and also an architectural intervention playing with the architecture of the space. 

But if you can’t find the door within 30 seconds I’m afraid we had to move on; Pavilions to go to and Art to see!

I really can't find the door!

Would I be blowing the British trumpet too loudly if I said that Jeremy Deller got it just right? Art should be refreshing so serve your weary art visitors tea, show them something really old (and of course present it well) and then give them a chance to make their own souvenir print to take home. He ticks a lot of my boxes!

Neolithic flint axe heads .... and of course beautifully presented. 

I think Jeremy Deller would be happy to know that every time I use my downstairs toilet I am reminded of him and his 55th Venice Biennale show. A do-it-yourself souvenir always wins support!

I still haven’t mentioned all that is worthy of mention so my advice is to either hop on a plane now and catch the 55 The Venice Bienalle before it closes on 24th November 2013 or alternatively plan ahead for the next one in 2015. 

Venice Biennale, a much easier art holiday than you might expect

The Grand Canal looking just as it did in Canaletto's time

Going to the Venice Biennale is much easier than you might expect. Yes there is an overwhelming amount of art that you can see and at times feel that it is your duty to see, but actually it is all in Venice, which is just such a gorgeous place. The water all round is the perfect antidote and de-stresser if the challenge of ‘doing it all’ becomes too much.

Ah and relax.....

My daughter Bryony and I booked our flight and accommodation back in January and then put it to the back of our minds until we made the trip at the beginning of July.
However it was good to do some preparation and research in the weeks leading up to our trip. There are reviews and must see lists published by Axis, Artsquest, Designboom, a-n and others but really the advice from Nicola Streeten in her Axis video interview of 2011 was the most valuable: Take comfy shoes, (even if you are used to walking, you will be on your feet all day and if it is hot you will need comfy shoes even more) and buy a 3 or 5 day travel pass as getting on Vaporettos (water buses) will speed things up a lot. 

Also my own top tip; buy a decent map in the UK before you even leave home. Get a detailed one and even get one in large print if you can. You can try and rely on a Google maps app on your smart phone but we crossed paths with so many people who are completely lost in the tiny labyrinthine streets that I don’t believe smart phone apps can be that reliable anyway- belt and braces is the way to go. 

A typical 'Where on earth are we?' moment. 

Things don’t need to be expensive either; stay somewhere where you can do some of your own cooking and also make packed lunches. This means that you will have spare money for the necessities like afternoon drinks and evening ice creams.

My daughter Bryony and I

Carlo Pistacchi, ice-cream maker extraordinaire, stands in the doorway of his shop Gelateria Alaska. He makes the MOST incredible ice cream and stays open until 9.30pm

The 25 Euro Biennale entrance ticket covers entrance to the Giardini and the Arsenale. You will definitely need a day for each of these venues and even then it is impossible to see it all. We spent time looking at, pondering over, taking photos and reading blurbs of much of the work and then ended our day at the Giardini with only 7 minutes left to literally run into and glance at the final three pavilions. But then when these venues close at 6pm you can just sit and relax and soak up the atmosphere, drink wine by a canal and watch the gondolas go by. There are still a few venues Like The Museum of Everything that that stay open a bit later. 

A friend said to me that there must have been, “lots of wow! art, lots of yawn art and other stuff that just didn’t speak to you”, and she was right. No one blog post can do it justice and already I feel a follow up post will be necessary. 

So which works to talk about in this post; what springs to the top of my mind? 

Humour- I need it! There is so much clever art, making intelligent statements but wow can it make you yawn a lot! So, what an absolute delight to come across Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s large scale collaborative piece, Suddenly This Overview (1981-2012). Every little scene (all made in unfired clay) was a winner. ‘Albert Einstein’s parents in postcoital repose, having just conceived their genius son’, ‘Home from work’ and ‘Small, medium and large potatoes’ are just three of my favourites. 
People were wandering amongst the works and there was such delight on their faces. It was perfect. 

'Home from work' by Peter Fischli and David Weiss

I really enjoyed being in the midst of art that makes us see the world in a new and less egocentric way. 
In the words of the guidebook, “From the start of their collaborative practice Fischli and Weiss’s work has been marked by a playful disregard of all things high-minded. Instead they valourised the childish, the banal, and the wondrous- often to poignant effect.” and it concludes that, “Suddenly this Overview, Fischli and Weiss’s idiosyncratic anthology, celebrates the world in all its ungraspable variety and profusion.” 

After our day in the Arsenale I was feeling quite overwhelmed and in need of an artistic pick-me-up so we returned to experience Bedwyr Williams’ 'Starry Messenger' for a second time. (There is lots more art outside of the Arsenale and Giardini; various collteral events are scattered all over the city and Bedwyr Williams, representing Wales, is just one of them). 

Starry Messenger is an installation and video piece which defies description; starting off celebrating shed-man in the form of amateur astronomers and culminating in a fantastical surreal film which has various tangents and a narrative with no obvious beginning nor end. A film where there is a fluffy cat up on a table licking perfect period gelatine-stiffened Seventies party food (complete with garish piped decoration) which is very up-my-street. And then throw in some bondage costumes, fake leather and Bedwyr’s deadpan voiceover and I’m in love!

The false teeth on Bedwyr Williams' mosaic encrusted forehead; a perfect over-the-top touch

Bryony and I realised that we both really enjoy immersive experiences and the piece presented by Israel was another outstanding piece of art. The pavilions in the Giardini are a whole range of interesting architectural spaces in themselves and Israel's pavillion was built in 1952 (Zeev Rechter) was a surprisingly modern building and also a very interesting space.

Israel's pavilion in The Giardini

Open plan and on three levels you might think it a challenging space to fill with artworks which include physical works, film and in particular sound but what artist Gilad Ratman has achieved for this 55th Venice Biennale is a perfect combination. And the experience doesn’t rely on being explained with text as it reveals itself as you spend more time with it. 
'The Workshop' by Gilad Ratman is a multi channel site specific installation which plays with time sequences and references utopian pre-lingual communities.

Pre-lingual is a concept that I am interested in personally as I prefer to listen to music with lyrics in imaginary or foreign languages (Mi Wawa by Dabe Toure is one such example). In my own art practice I often draw on memories and emotions from my own very early years, from a time before I had the necessary vocabulary to express myself; from a time before words. 

In 'The Workshop' Ratman uses the primal groans, moans and generally very strange noises uttered by the workshop participants (these were recorded while they modeled their own clay busts). He then worked with a DJ who remixed these sounds into something which sounds completely articulate in a musical sense. (An interview with the artist is here.)  It is an artwork that you want to spend time with and walk up and down the various levels of the pavilion more than once.

The curated exhibition of the biennale is The Encyclopedic Palace named after the fantastical museum that Marino Auriti a garage owner and amateur artist designed and proposed building way back in the 1950’s. His architecture model of this crazily ambitious museum (to hold all of humanity’s achievements) is at the centre of the Encyclopedic Palace exhibition (curated by Massimiliano Gioni).

Marino Auriti's model of his proposed Encyclopedic Palace

The Encyclopedic Palace exhibition is across both the Giardini and Arsenale sites and there is so so much to see but if you stay relaxed about it you will be wonderfully surprised. Yes you will definitely miss things but you won’t be disappointed as you can’t help but come across plenty that intrigues and interests you. 

Ron Nagle’s small ceramic sculptures which make up Sleep Study were perfectly placed alongside a selection of Tantric paintings from Rajasthan. I also love the entry in the catalogue which says, “He models them from drawings that he makes almost every night before bed, usually while watching old Charlie Chan movies. In his state of distraction Nagle has observed that the images pop into my head almost like visions.” 

These works are very definitely intriguing and they do feel both personal and universal at the same time. This is something which I aspire to in my own work so they very definitely resonated with me. 

There is another blog post to follow this one which will include more that I couldn't squeeze into in this one. But for now a couple of funny moments; 

A student steals one of the paper boulders from the Sarah Sze installation in the United States of America pavilion and perches it on his windowsill elsewhere in Venice. 

Art collectors come in pairs, wear straw panamas and never carry cameras!

Visiting the 55th Venice Biennale is the perfect combination of holiday and art. I would highly recommend it.

Industrial heritage and faded seaside splendour: Context is everything for Frillip Moolog sculpture photo shoot

Taking my latest large Frillip Moolog beings into the great outdoors and photographing them in specific locations is a plan that brewed slowly. In June 2012 I was commissioned to make Hurgle Lenz and Hooty by Wirksworth Arts Festival and then during the festival in September Hurgle Lenz, Hooty and Mi Wawa spent three weeks inhabiting ancient St Mary’s church in Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It was an eventful three weeks as in the first weekend alone the festival had over 7,500 visitors. Other highlights of the beings’ time there included, an ancient clypping of the church service, a wedding, regular Sunday services and also concert music practices. 

It was unanimously agreed that they looked strangely very ‘right’ in this beautiful and ancient setting. The beings do seem to have an ability to look surprisingly at home in a variety of settings. 

It has been observed that the beings might actually be extensions of my own personality and this is something that may be true. I try to work intuitively when making them and when considering where they might like to be photographed I also keep an open mind; I stop myself from over analysing and listen to my intuition. Where would Hooty like to be, what adventure would Hurgle Lenz like to go on?

I chatted to Kathy Fawcett (Arts Council Visual Arts Relationship Manager- East Midlands) when she visited Wirksworth Festival and I confessed to her that my ambition was to get Hurgle Lenz onto Cleethorpes beach and photograph her/ him (Hurgle Lenz is equally he and she) with donkeys and the pier. And when I explained the very entertaining story I already had of when I got Mi Wawa into a meadow in Lichfield photographed her with the cathedral and cows it became obvious how passionate I was about getting photographs of the other large Frillip Moolog beings en plein air. Over the winter months I started to give life to my plan by sounding it out with more people and I my confidence grew as I realised just how important to me this awkward, madcap idea was. 

As soon as I mentioned including beach donkeys in the photo with Hurgle Lenz people’s ears always pricked up; I mean it is completely common sense to never work with animals and children so why on earth do I even consider these things? 

There is a lot of humour in my work, humour which some people completely get straight away. I was pleased when curator Judith King said that she had laughed out loud when she first saw Mi Wawa with cows and cathedral. Humour is a difficult thing to get right, it has to be taken seriously and Judith realised I was deadly serious. It is an aspect of my practice which needs to be nurtured. 

All the books say that a thing common to most successful business entrepreneurs is that they don’t wait for perfect conditions and they don’t slow down a project by adding extra conditions to it. 

-I could have applied for funding to make this photo shoot happen but instead I decided to use money earned from my art outreach work.
-I could have spent months learning how to use my lovely new camera properly.
-I could have decided that it would only work if I paid for other professionals to be involved.

 But what I did in the end was feel the fear and bite the bullet anyway.

I worked with my two most supportive, creative and reliable people, my teenage children. Bryony and Dom have already lived through the creation of the beings and Dom has already collaborated on my Mi Wawa with cows and cathedral photo shoot. 

No sooner was the date set, van and overnight accommodation booked than the weather forecast changed; rain and gales were forecast but, sod it, we just had to do it! The worst that could happen was that we drove 130 miles each way and sat in a Travelodge looking out at the rain

BUT it was perfect; it was even better than I could have hoped for. Thank you God.

Step one was to scout around Scunthorpe; did I mention that I planned to photograph Hooty with Scunthorpe steelworks in the background? The steelworks are HUGE and have to be experience to be believed. 

As Scunthorpe and Cleethorpes are reasonably close to each other it made sense to use the same journey to get Hooty to Scunthorpe on the same trip as getting Hurgle Lenz to Cleethorpes. Again the realisation that I wanted Hooty photographed with the steelworks in the background was an idea that had brewed over the winter months since last September. 

The security men at Tata steelworks were really nice but they had to ask us to leave.
Because of course we could be terrorists...

I’m glad that I have a strong sense of adventure so as we drove away we tried to stay optimistic and no one mentioned the sense of disappointment that we all felt when we had been turned away from the gates of the steelworks. A quarter of a mile down the road we turned left down a tiny lane signed Ravensthorpe and suddenly we were in a pastoral idyl. 
The scene was timeless, the evening light absolutely perfect there was an overwhelming sense of serenity. 
Bryony, Dom and I were united in our excitement and urgency; this was something that we had to capture and we had to capture it with Hooty in the frame too.

And here she is; Hooty in her perfect pose in the lush green pastures with sheep grazing and the puffing chimneys from the steelworks.

I didn’t anticipate this but it is just so perfect; as perfect as William Williams’ 1777 paintings of Coalbrookdale. I only just remembered these paintings today I but it proves that we do store away these visual memories and they do affect our artistic decisions.

The next day the weather forecast was wrong again, there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining! We drove to Cleethorpes and parked on the promenade. I was scared to look - would the donkeys be there?

They were and yes they were willing to pose for my photo shoot. Three donkey rides costs £7.50 and only last for a scant five minutes so I just had to go for it. 

I didn’t capture a perfect shot of Hurgle Lenz with the donkeys but maybe that's because there is a better adventure waiting for her/him. 

It is important for me to actually take the beings on the journey, to go through the physical experience of carrying them, unwrapping them, really having them in the space. I feel the anxiety of a theatrical performance, the response of the unsuspecting audience- the dog walkers in Mi Wawa’s photo shoot, the sheep farmer in Hooty’s photo shoot and all of the people who were on the beach on Hurgle Lenz’s photo shoot. 

All in all it was a great success. I am glad that I took the advice of those successful entrepreneurs; I didn't wait for perfect conditions and huge budget. Instead I worked with my own children (free assistants!) and invested the money that I did have into buying my own camera; a tool which will be continue to be invaluable in the future. 

Thanks so much Bryony Simcox and Dominic Simcox. 

Collages inspired by Pop Art and Architecture

I feel the magnetic pull of old piers and dodgems. Photo by Kirsty E Smith

So much time is spent simmering creative ideas just below my consciousness. Those moments... hours even, when I am half awake and half asleep, I play with memories, ideas and shapes in my head. I feel like I am experimenting with ideas for new work; ‘drawing’ even. 
But if you don’t use these as inspiration to make a physical piece of work soon (and while the idea is still fresh) do these fragile virtual drawings then get forgotten? Too much worrying about not being in the studio over the winter months I think!

I have been reviewing my photo library and have rediscovered some of my favourite images and I have been reflecting on what it is exactly that I love about each image.

The cafe in the (Norman Foster) Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich. Photo by Kirsty E Smith

I love the stillness and the complete absence of people in tis photo (above), it has an eeriness about it.

Photo by Kirsty E Smith

The concrete legs on this pier - I can imagine it being some sort of huge and slowly moving concrete dinosaur. It feels animated, it's strange; your mind sees what it wants to see.

Photo by Kirsty E Smith

I love the stark diagonals of this supporting steel frame currently on the building site in the middle of Fitzrovia, London.

I enjoy the speedy decisions made about composition that I make when using my camera; it is just an old ‘point and press’ and I use it frequently especially because I have it in my handbag at all times. I would like a better camera but I don’t want to lose the ability to take spontaneous photographs.

I am always looking at everything that I see, it doesn’t have to be a special occasion, daily life is completely full of interesting visual nuggets. Of course we are saturated by images not just in real life but also ones shared online, but even though I occasionally save other people’s images for my image bank, really for me it is not solely the image that I have captured but also about having physically been in that place myself. The image is about so much more: How did I feel when I took it? Was I alone or with other people? Was I cold or warm? lonely? tired? excited? curious?

Actually I am always curious.

In the past I have done lots of life drawing, some painting, experimented with pen and ink and plenty with other drawing mediums. My passion for 3D may have originated from early years of sewing and dressmaking but however much I love 3D there are limitations of only having 3D work to show in exhibitions. 

I am always interested in images, mark making and drawings by sculptors and back in 2008 at the Drawn To Sculpture symposium at Fermynwoods Gallery I was privileged enough to hear Doug Cocker talk about his practice and to also leaf through some of his sketch books.

"I like the idea of drawing as reward.......ie the drawing process is efficacious for me precisely because, within my practice, its the complete opposite to the trials of making. There are aspects integral to drawing sessions which play little part in the making of sculpture..........spontaneity, irrationality, speed of production,self indulgence, unconcern for" accuracy ", "rightness" or notions of resolution............For me the two activities are interdependent though quite different." Doug Cocker 

A couple of weeks ago I was stopped in my tracks by a 2D work by Neville Boden (1929-1996) which is currently on show in Polychromies: Surface, Light and Colour at Leeds City Art Gallery. The piece was drawn and collaged using paint and foil on paper. The shapes were simple and I feel that Boden managed to distill the image down to the perfect combination of colour, form and drawing materials. Sadly because of copyright I can’t share an image of this piece.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery has a renowned Pop Art collection and on a recent visit to the gallery the mirrored surface, bold shapes and strong colour of this 1964 screen print by Peter Phillips jumped out at me. 

Untitled by Peter Phillips 1964. Photo by Kirsty E Smith

Melanie Russell is an artist whose usual medium is paint but she has also made works using collage. She says that she likes to work with the luxurious surfaces of expensive magazines, I like these two collages in particular. 

I like the compositions of some of my own photographs so much that I have decided to use them as starting points for my own collages. 

The interior of the fire station designed by Zaha Hadid, Vitra Museum Weil am Rhein. Photo by Kirsty E Smith

I still want to use materials that are appropriate to the aesthetics of my 3D works (Frillip Moolog beings) so at this point I think that I will start with heavy and substantial card and paper. I know that I have a weakness for sparkle (that is most likely why I was so drawn to the Neville Boden piece in Leeds and the Peter Phillips screenprint in Wolverhampton) so a good supply of mirrored surfaces and metallic pens will also be on my collage supplies shopping list.

The Lumen Centre, Tavistock Place. Beautiful concrete and lighting,  but how will this look in its collage version? Photo by Kirsty E Smith 

It is spring and about time that I had a surge of creativity.