Pam Holland Designs and Productions

New Gallery

Gallery

I've just added a gallery of photos taken on a tour down the river today...

I hired a boat just for myself..... it's a little difficult photographing from a moving boat, but... I got some interesting photos...

These are mine.

Flowers and Silk.

It's a perfect morning here today. I can see  lot of Bangkok from my balcony and it's spectacular.

I'm going to have some time on the river today and I hope to visit Jim Thompson's house, the flower market in China Town and a fabric market in China Town....

Who is Jim Thompson?

I was introduced to Jim Thompson fabric some 35 years ago when I first came here to Bangkok.

A dear friend of mine would go to his factory and collect the scraps from the floor. She, and another group of British ladies taught the women who lived in the slums of the Soi (street) to make silk flowers and sell them. She also taught them how to make quilts with the silk.... (grandmothers flower garden pattern) That was the first time I ever saw a patchwork quilt.

Our eldest daughter, Suchada lived in that slum and learned how to make those flowers with her Thai Mum.

My friend Joy, passed away a long time ago... but I'm always reminded of her when I come to Bangkok.

Once when I was visiting her, I met a young English man, Peter, who was a friend of her sons. He was in his very early 20's. He said he was coming to Australia... I said, "Oh, you must come and visit" He did, for a year, he's in his late 40's now, lives close by and although too old to be a son, is as close as a son can be.

He's head of the wine Institute in SA. (or something like that)

If you take the leap, you never know what the future brings.

I've visited Thailand almost every year since then, so the average tourist haunts don't do anything for me... but I've not been to the flower markets before... so I'll give it a go.

Bangkok

This is a small portion of the view from my room on the 45th floor.

It's rather an amazing site.

I got here safely, along with my luggage.

On the road again....

I'm in the club in the airport in London on my way to bangkok...

It was cold here today preparing me for the cold at home I think,  but Bangkok will be another story.

I think every man and his dog was in London today, I've never seen so many people. They kept bumping into my camera.... my face was getting redder and redder. So I went and bought a fold up back pack. Now they have to slap me on the back to get to it....!!!

I thought I would do a little test at the bus stop. I stood very still and 4 people just bumped into me, I mean  I wasn't even moving.   I GAVE THEM THE "WATCH OUT" look, but it didn't do much good.

I visited Westminster Abbey.  What an amazing building. Edward the Confessor and his workman, did a marvelous job. I told him so today....!!!!

Then I went and sat in the Church, St Martins in the Fields in Trafalgar square. I listened to a Baroque concert rehearsal. There were 15 violins, a base, 2 cellos and a harpsicord and they played Vivaldi. It was wonderful. There were a few homeless people who joined me. Every time the music rose they woke up with a start .....

I gave up the violin at 10, to take up the harp.... I wasn't too good at that either... my hands were to small to span an octave. I wasn't too good at the piano and guitar either, so I'm going to buy a Dobro when I come back to Houston. I reckon I can put everything \i've learnt together and I should be able to play that.

PRAY MY LUGGAGE FOLLOWS ME TO BANGKOK....!!!!

My Artlife blog.

I just updated my website and thought you might want to check it out. To visit, just click on the links below or paste the URLs into your browser.

Outstanding.

Take a look and let me know what you think!

Capturing the day - London N0 2.

Capturing the day London from holland on Vimeo.

The image of Ophelia by Millais

I had quite a few comments about the painting Ophelia... I've added a video of the painting of Ophelia, you might find it interesting.

John Everett Millais, Ophelia, oil on canvas, 1851-52 (Tate Britain, London)

Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker

Smarthistory, a multimedia web-book about art: discussing The Pre-Raphaelites<br>Millais' Ophelia.

I hope.

Two days of work.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

I have had to shelve some of the plans I had.

Mainly because of the weather and partly because I just can't summon that extra organizational energy that I need to make it work.

My Sister Heather and her husband arrived in London yesterday and I got to spend a whole day with family today... and an evening with a nephew last night.... A little bit of home, it was wonderful.

Yesterday I went back to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

I think one of the pieces I enjoyed seeing most was a 13th century Quilt.

 

Made around 1360  - 1400, in Sicily, this is a stunning piece of art.

It's quilted linen and padded with cotton wadding. The thread is brown linen for the outlines and lighter color for the quilting.

It's huge, Height 320 cm, Width 287.

In 14 scenes, it tells the story of the legend of Tristan and Isolde and the oppression of King Languis of Ireland and the battle of St Tristan.

Can you imagine how this quilt would look on the bed in candlelight... ?

Look at the quality of the linen.... how many years is it?  650 years old or even older.

Of course part of my study has been to look at linen and I'm absolutely amazed at how resilient it is... I wonder if the fabric produced today will be around in 600 years time.

I photographed linen from India, Britain and France. Illustrations by Beatrix Potter, William Morris, and other artists... what a joy.

I'll create an album and put the other photos up there....