Latest posts
-
No popping out for a sandwich in your lunch-break
“The compound housed” “cafes, shops with luxury products”, “a hospital and even a hairdressing salon, so that, once at work” “employees would never have to leave”
These are selective quotes taken from a paragraph in Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman. In full it reads:
“At first, the Stasi headquarters was just a small collection of offices on Magdalenenstrasse, somewhere to house the fledgling secret police force. Then, over the years, it grew into a concrete fortress, swallowing up the streets and houses around it like a black hole. The windows all had shutters, the concrete walls bristled with security cameras and the entrance was obscured by thick steel so that no one could see in. Inside, the compound housed every activity of secret policing imaginable - not only interrogation rooms, prisons, a training academy and thousands of offices, but also cafes, shops with luxury products imported from the West, a hospital and even a hairdressing salon, so that, once at work, Stasi employees would never have to leave. No popping out for a sandwich in your lunch-break.”
-
More West Pier decay
Storm Austen encouraged another bit of the West Pier to fall away. Over the 25 years I’ve lived here it’s gone from still standing and stable enough for the occasional hard-hat tour, something I regret not doing, to being destroyed bit by bit.
In time I’ll probably look to replace the header image for this blog so it reflects reality.
-
Lino printing week 2
After feeling successful in week one, I returned to Waterstones for another lino printing workshop. This week’s skill was tracing a design: we sketched it first, then used tracing paper to transfer it onto the lino. I stuck with the leaf theme, this time using a leaf I picked up at Winkworth Arboretum as my template.
Overall I’m happy with what I produced in 90 minutes. I’d like to tidy up the area around the stalk and the background. My design had a lot of background to clear before I could print, so that’s something to consider when planning my design for next week.
