Copy
Hanecdote School of He(art) in my handwriting is framing above and below my classic skull. The left side has a pink mechanical pencil and the right side has a red skein of thread. On the skull there is a blue tear drop and a red love heart on the cheeks as well as two gold teeth.
A digital collage in the form of a cork board. A 2nd class stamp, boris johnson as the devil, spiralling energy costs and inflation, Mahjong the lemur, Grandpa Noels grave site, a September 2022 calendar page, a skull illustration with a knocked crown and blood, a small penguin stamp, a photo of me sitting with my cake, a screenshot of Pickle (cat) on facetime to Mew, a stained glass wedding bouquet design, SLUT in green shrek font, my lilac crocs with lazy oaf teddy bear head on each foot, a photo of David Price with Grandpa, a quilt block in cream and pink and an illustraion of William Morris by Edward Burne-Jones.

September 2022

September is a month full of anniversaries for the Hill family! The 2nd of September is my date of birth, mum said I was worth every stitch (of her emergency C section). My loved ones made sure I had a great time despite my low mood the week before. Mum got me tasty macarons to have throughout the week in the lead up to my birthday, she knows me so well, sweet treats will always work. Then nearer the end of the month on the 22nd is my parents wedding anniversary, 32 years together! A few days later on the 26th is the day my Grandpa Noel died, and I had been dreading this anniversary because it has been twenty whole years since he has been gone. Words will never be enough to describe how much we miss him and wish we had more time with him but we made sure to honour his memory by going to Hampstead and having a nice pub lunch at the Old White Bear. 

In other news, mums fig tree produced 5 fruits! I had never eaten figs before, Zoe (Joshes girlfriend) offered them to me once but my sensory issues prevented me from wanting to try. This time I saw Mums face light up as she bit into it and I couldnt resist, especially as Mums love and care is what made them grow. They tasted like honey! Amazing news of my first artwork to be acquired by a museum for their collection, but more information to be shared next month! My classic and iconic Arthur Meme was featured in an article about feminist embroidery and introduced some new people to my work which is much appreciated by my reclusive, invisible self.

The longest reigning monarch died and the country was at a stand still. Colonised and descendants of colonised people were expected to hold our tongue while the brainwashed masses mourned “the countries grandma”. We were told that she oversaw decolonisation (countries demanded independence it wasnt given out of the kindness of the empires heart). We were told any moral or financial debt that britain owed was paid 200 years ago when “they abolished the slave trade” (enslaved people revolted and fought for their freedom, and reparations were pad to slave owners not the enslaved people themselves). There is a lot of gaslighting going on about what the monarch and commonwealth represent, to me an archaic system which says one family is by birth, and by gods will better, more superior, more deserving, more important and much more rich than everyone else.

A digital collage of three pictures, me holding my hot pink national trust passport, me mum and dad in front of the Red House blue plaque and me and mum on the medieval bridge outside Eltham Palace.
A digital collage of four pictures of me opening presents (shrek font slut tee and bandanas) and sitting in front of my chocolate cake.

As mentioned last month, Carnival 2019 was the exact week i had to quit my job because my hip pain was so bad i could barely move and ive known constant pain ever since. This was the first Notting Hill Carnival since the pandemic and a lot of identity crises were combining causing me to have quite the breakdown. I cancelled my birthday because i felt like there was nothing to celebrate. Thankfully my parents and my girls made me feel so special and spoiled me with my favourite treats and activities. On the actual day me and my parents had a heritage adventure revisiting Red House (a William Morris property) so i could get the stamp in my National Trust passport and going to Eltham Palace for the first time, an incredible combination of medieval hall/ruins and Art Deco design. I love William Morris, a british designer and socialist who is one of the most iconic names of the Arts and Crafts Movement which evolved out of a hatred of the industrial revolution in Victorian times. Arts and Crafts creators valued raw natural materials and hand making from start to finish, and respecting the tradition and process of those techniques. Industrialisation meant a factory line with people performing he same task over and over, gaining no personal satisfaction from the making process and disconnecting people from objects made to last. They also appreciated nature both in their design details and for their healing/beautiful properties. A 15 minute drive away is an English Heritage property called Eltham Palace and Gardens,  which we have seen on our architectural shows on TV but never visited before. This palace has surprises around every, a frankensteins monster of a building with medieval hall and ruins, tudor front, and 1930s Art Deco extension. A palace has been on this land since 1305, but the Great Hall was built in 1470s and would one day be home to Henry VIII who made major renovations to the palace. It eventually fell into disrepair and no long was a royal residence. The Great Hall became home to livestock, walls of the original palace can be seen throughout the gardens and the 15th century bridge crosses the moat remains. Stephen (from a textiles/art family) and Virginia Courtauld began building a Modern, Art Deco extension and the restoration of the Great Hall and medieval parts in the 1930s. What was striking was the Art Deco entrance hall with an incredible marquetry design enveloping the walls of different architecture from Italy and Scandinavia as well as Viking and Roman guards. Above this cool, grand space is an glass dome ceiling flooding the area with light. Light is something that stood out throughout the property, mostly in the Art Deco section creating ambiance and a different atmosphere in each room. The sheer scale of the Great Hall gives you an idea of the kinds of functions that would have been held there, reminding me of such scenes in Game of Thrones, the hustle and bustle of big feasts and dancing. I learnt that Harrods used to sell exotic animals (from 1917 till 1976 when the Endangered Species Act got passed), the Courtauld’s had a Lemur called Mahjong who played around the grounds with their Great Dane called Ceasar. Walking around the moat, massive willow trees create an incredibly picturesque scene which almost sends you back to the 1500s! Hundreds of green parakeets flew around us, its common to see them across London, but the sheer amount and how close they came to us was incredible. At one point it felt like it was raining green parakeets, it really took my breath away. 

The next day my girls came over with fauxjito ingredients in hand with gold flakes on top, and the sweetest most thoughtful gifts. I felt so blessed and full of love and gratitude. The isolation of chronic pain/disability plus the pandemic is a lot to deal with emotionally and its hard to know how to navigate but my loved ones were right by my side making sure i didnt let depression consume me on my special day. 💓💓✨

English Heritage, Eltham Palace + Gardens 
A digital collage of a photo of an embroidered panel of a Pre-Raphaelite woman with hair flowing down to hear ankle with a flower wreath over her privates,  a photo of my pink crocs with sparkle charms shaped like hearts, flowers, stars, a moon and circle, sweet treats from the Greek patisserie,  a spliff on a rolling tray with shrek looking judgemental surrounded by cannabis leaves,  me and my three girls raising a toast with fauxjitos with gold flakes.
National Trust, Red House
Digital illustration printed on felt of boris johnsons torso wearing a navy suit, white shirt and red tie on a dark black/grey background. His yellow hair is flowing to look like devil horns, and a red embroidered tail flicking behind him. His eyes are embroidered yellow orange and red and parts of his hair are highlighted with yellow thread.
Digital illustration printed on felt of a long list of the torys crimes including Windrush, Refugees, Starving children, criminalise protest, 170,000 covid deaths, food banks, Afghanistan and corrupt contracts. The list is on fire which is embroidered. Other motifs from Partygate are around, christmas decorations and a present wrapped in barbed wire.

Im so happy to announce that this month its been confirmed that one of my artworks will be acquired by a gallery for their official collection!!! There was a call out for artworks of boris johnson and his time as prime minister so I submitted a few angry illustrations. I will post more information next month when it is announced publicly and the exhibition in London is opened!! Here are details of two of the artworks I submitted, digital illustrations printed on felt and then embellished with cotton thread. Boris johnson in a dark blue suit, represented as the devil with his messy hair, evil sunken eyes and tail flicking behind him. A list detailing the horrors of this tory governments neglect and objects from Party-gate cover a gradient background blending from yellow, orange and red.

A digital collage of self portraits Grandpa Noel took through the 50s, 60s and 70s, studying architecture, doing a painting on the roadside of the view, other staged shots of him sitting at his desk with views across London to post office tower out the window.

26th September 2022,  20 years since my Grandpa Noel died. So much of who i am was inspired by him and the love he gave me. Hours of walking me around London in my buggy describing architectural features, teaching me to look up at the world around me and see all the wonderful details. Im lucky to have so many photographs he took, seeing his point of view decades after hes gone. Seeing similarities between the angles and subject matter he photographed and what I like to capture too, city rooftops, of architectural details and construction happening. I will always have the 8 year old inside me wishing for a longer time with him, feeling robbed of a beautiful relationship and bonding experiences. He never got to see my art but he loved and supported me from when i was scribbling on paper and curated it on my wall. I wish i could have seen more of his own art and gone on adventures to inspire us together. One day we will be reunited in another universe and we’ll eat coffee cake and talk about heritage, architecture and art forever. Here’s a photo he took of me in 2000 days before my 6th birthday, we are in Tate Modern and in the background you can see the Millennium Bridge (which I remember him telling me was wobbly when first constructed, you can see its actually closed off in the distance and remained shut for 2 years to fix the shakiness) and his favourite St Pauls Cathedral as well as Barbican to the right. Another picture I came across was one I took of a book of his with some post it notes in it where he has written about the Hampstead viaduct and how much the landscape has changed in 100 years. This also happens to be where (he chose?) to have his ashes scattered and where we visited first on the day of his passing. Dad grew up in Hampstead 57 years ago, almost 60 years of growth and he pointed out how much nature had grown and changed in that time too.

Hampstead
Photo from Grandpa. 5 year old me in the foreground a shadowy figure. The detail is behind a view of london, the thames, millennium bridge, st pauls and barbican.
A photo of a page of a book. The photo on the page is black and white showing hampstead heath and brick viaduct. The caption reads “The viaduct viaduct, Hampstead Heath, c. 1890s. This was started in 1845 by the lord of the manor as part of his proposed development of East Park, now part of Hampstead Heath. The viaduct was to carry the road to his villas across a swampy valley, later drained to form the viaduct pond, an ornamental lake.” His post it note reds “Viaduct bridge 1890. It is really hard to believe that in 100 years so much growth has taken place!!” Another hand written note on the page says “NOTE: Church spire in distance! Christ Church Hampstead”

When we were young we would visit him every week, i have vivid memories of the drive from N14 to NW3. Driving to Hampstead through the edge of Muswell Hill past East Finchley station, up towards Kenwood House past the massive mansions im sent back to childhood, excitedly off to visit grandpa at 6 well road. 20 years later it is to honour his memory rather than get a big hug from him and hear his big laugh. I am full of gratitude that we can go somewhere and feel his presence around every corner, memories of Dad and Uncle Evans childhood, places my Grandparents and their peers had parties and social events and architecture/heritage projects they were all passionate about.

A digital collage made of three rows of photographs. Top left is me grinning with Grandpa at Grovelands Park playground, top right is me smiling and sitting with Grandpa on the sofa at our house, middle image is Grandpa sitting on his brown sof, with me on mums lap on his right snd josh sitting on dads lap on his left. Bottom row is Grandpa’s yellow VW campervan parked at a VW meet up with my Uncle, Dad and cousin, bottom right is me eating mcdonalds fries in the back of his campervan.

I created these collages because there are thousands of pictures of his to choose from and it would be impossible to share them all but I wanted to show different aspects to him, as a Grandpa, as an Architect/Town Planner and as a Photographer. His photographic eye was very much guided by his architectural mind so those parts of him overlapped massively. He was from Ohio, came to London on his and Grandma’s honeymoon and fell in love with the city. They were able to get jobs in Town Planning and moved to Hampstead. I say that to explain how much Grandpa loved taking photos through his rose tinted glasses at the history and architecture and design all around. I look at so many photos hes taken and they seem like postcards, or adverts for London like the ones of The National Portrait Gallery and Trafalgar Square (before it was pedestrianised), a red double decker bus in front of The Royal Albert Hall and the bright lights of Piccadilly Circus. In the 70s, over 20 years before Mum and Dad bought our house in Southgate, he had travelled here to see our local (iconic) tube stations designed by Charles Holden in the 1930s, amazing examples of his style of architecture. Arnos Grove and Southgate station on the Piccadilly Line, with vintage cars,  blue skies and luscious greenery surrounding them. Grandpas passion for Architecture and Town Planning is reflected in Charles Holden’s approach to designing Southgate tube station which integrated into a bus station as well as shop fronts to merge with the rest of the high street. 

A digital collage of photographs Grandpa took in London. Top corner is a sunset over the river Thames, Temple Barr in a field, and rooftops of houses in Hampstead. Right side is a photograph of The National Portrait Gallery and Trafalgar Square, then a red double decker bus outside the Royal Albert Hall and lastly a view of Piccadilly Circus from above with all the lights and signage shining through a foggy dreary day. The bottom left corner is a collage of three photos of my local tube stations Arnos Grove and Southgate Station.

The final photograph I want to highlight is one of Temple Bar (the stone archway structure amongst greenery). It is one of 8 gates to the City of London (London is the capital city of England, but within that is a smaller area known as the City of London which dates back to the 1100s). This gate was designed by Christopher Wren and made between 1669 and 1672, which was part of a redesign of London after the Great Fire of London in 1666 devastated the city. By 1874 damage was beginning to happen, and it was no longer effective with changes to modes of transport in the 200 years since it was built. A rich man had it taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt on his property/land called Theobald Park where it stayed for another 200 or so years. That was until a committee was formed to reunite the gate with the City of London and Grandpa Noel was on that committee. I have vague memories of us visiting it in Hertfordshire with mum, dad and Grandpa (before my brother was born). I didnt realise that the reconstruction of Temple Bar happened in 2004, two years after Grandpa died so he never got to see it brought back into the city. I cried when I made the connection at 3am, because I can always associate not only St Pauls (which he loved so much) but specifically Temple Bar with his memory and everlasting imprint on my home city, my heart, London. Here is a photograph I took years ago of Temple Bar with St Pauls in the background.

A photo from Paternoster Square, Temple Bar (stone gateway) is in the foreground with the dome of St Pauls in the background against a blue sky.
A digital collage of photos I took around North London, showing billboards with queen elizabeth memorials on them

Having the jubilee and her death in the same year is too much empire nostalgia and monarchy bootlicking than is bearable as the descendant of colonised people. Ancestors who were transported from India by the greedy british empire to their plantations in Guyana, the Caribbean. the british media is very much pro-monarchy and any differing opinions have been squashed aggressively and defensively. Just because people “love” and “respect” the queen doesnt mean i have to take them seriously… its hilariously sad seeing these tributes, some from artists and anti-colonial activists which blows my mind. How did someone born into extreme wealth teach us anything, inspire us to do anything? Most of these tributes are bullshit arselicking and its so hilarious/sad to see celebs and institutions around the world make out like she was a hero. My mum was born in the newly independent Guyana in 1967, but the rest of our family and ancestors were born in british Guiana, the clue is in the name…and before that our ancestors were from british India… monarchy/empire are rotten violence, owning countries/people isnt ok. That violence is within living memory, the violence is still felt across the globe to this day. I have been energised, galvanised and enraged alongside my fellow colonised people of the world who are rightly calling out the violence her family and her represent. Britain stole $45 trillion dollars from India over a 200+ year span, approximately $75 trillion is owed to ex-colonies. 

The only reason there is a “commonwealth” is because britain OWNED our countries. There would be no such organisation if people had been left on their own lands with their own resources. The framing of commonwealth as this global family is disgusting and disingenuous. Charles’ speech about diversity and faith, the service the queen upheld for all across the commonwealth is a disgrace. The world would have been a better place if royals/colonisers didnt destroy it with greed and violence and racism. Our climate crisis would have never happened with Indigenous peoples caring for our planet as they have done for thousands of years. White european greed has destroyed the planet and they have the blood of millions and millions. 

Righteous anger towards these parasites of the earth, who have traumatised and subjugated generation after generation of families across the globe to pain and suffering while they live in their palaces. We’re meant to care and stop everything for someones grandma who benefited from that? No way. No true anti-imperialist, anti-racist, anti-colonial person could ever waste a single tear on her. We laugh at the memes and join together globally as colonised people in this moment but truly no justice has ever been found from the violence and devastation caused by britain and european colonial powers, the destruction is immeasurable.  

How was the queen serving her country when not only was she sitting on blood money she was so greedy as to try to smuggle money out of the country for her own selfish greedy needs to tax havens!!!??? People are brainwashed while their taxes pay for this multi billionaire family who own 6.6 billion acres of land across the globe. They are the biggest freeloaders in the world! Why dont people understand that by the very fact royals exist means theres a system which puts all of us at the very bottom. Their PR is so strong people are convinced the royals serve us?!?! Fuck your imperial family! Fuck your commonwealth!! We didnt choose to be part of your colonial club!!!

250k people were queueing for over 12 hours to see the queens coffin. Houseless people along the queue in central london were moved and discarded while brainwashed jobless zombies stood in the cold and rain and given blankets and food! Many people who queued were angry that celebrities were able to skip the queue, upset that there is a two tier system. I cant comprehend their mindset, the fact monarchy exists in itself is a two tier system!

Screenshot of Hyperallergic wesbite article titled The Feminist Revival of Embroidery by Stefanie Graf. Subheading reads ‘Once denounced as “womens work” with no artistic merit, embroidery is experiencing a revival with a feminist punch. A picture of my Sex-Worker Still Life artwork a desk covered in objects and ephemera representing the community, disability, history, safety, legislations, family, memorial.
Check out this article which features two of my works, discussing the feminist use of textiles in art. 
Hyperallergic Article
A photo of my parents on their wedding day in 1990 outside Hackney Town Hall. Dad in a dark grey suit and mum in a mid length white wedding dress with embroidered details holding her bouquet. Theyre smiling at eachother and covered in confetti.
A stained glass of a bouquet of flowers with roses, ivy, mimosas and freesia wrapped in gold and pink ribbon n a dark blue background. Each corner has 3 pearls in the design.

In 2020 for their 30th Wedding Anniversary, Mum commissioned a beautiful stained glass piece by Flora Jamieson to commemorate the occasion. The design is based on my mums wedding bouquet and each corner features pearls, representing the 30 years theyve been married. Mum trained as a florist and chose yellow and white freesia, yellow and white roses, variegated ivy, ruscus leaves, mimosa and hypericum berries. What a great pair of parents who have created a home full of love, acceptance, creativity and care for me and my brother. I also learnt that the day after their anniversary this year 2022 marks 30 years since they stepped foot inside this house and knew it would be the home they would start a family in. This home is my safe space, I am lucky to have that and wish all people knew love and care like my parents provided. 

Photo of my cats outside. Mew facing the sun with her eyes shut and Ginger on a potting shelf looking down.
Close up photo of Ginger in bed with me doing mashy on the duvet, on the wall behind painted is the cat in the hat and gromit.
A close up side profile of Gingers face.
Selfie of Mew laying in my arm on my lap with her back foot in my hand.
A dark grey background which matches the bottom border. My bubble hand writing which says “Thanks for Reading” in a pink, orange and yellow gradient with pink hearts and sparkles around it. A skull has hearts coming out the eyes in three shades of pink, with happy tears falling from them.
Copyright © 2022 Hanecdote, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Earth

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Hanecdote · 99 Homewillow Close · London, London N21 2HJ · United Kingdom

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp