Dear Sir/Madam,
Here is a proposal for an article for the community
Woodbridge, Melton & District News:
I would be fascinated to hear any stories from past
students of the old Melton school. I would love for
the past students to visit the school. Eventually I
would have a meal that previous students could come to
if they wished. Here are some of the things I have
learnt so far:
The history of my studio’s kitchen, the dentist’s
drill had gone in the corner, a little boy had
locked
himself in the space that is now Emma’s studio, but
used to be a cloakroom. The patch of brambles in the
builders yard outside my back door, that used to be
the playground, where Maureen remembered playing
marbles.
The recorder practise in the room that is now the
store room. Frozen milk popping off the bottle tops,
the glass blowing out of the windows in the war. Tap
dancing lessons on the flagstones in the kitchen.
Mrs Dee hiding behind the stack of coke in the place
where I park my car. Dinners being made in the
infants,where a wood saw now stands.
I am an artist, my studio is in the old school,
Melton. I think it’s a beautiful and characterful
place. I am studying for a PhD at present, the
subject of which relates to memory.
Annabel Dover
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25 is a very familiar view to me it is the view from my bedroom window. The rose is called ‘Peace’ and was bred and named after the 2nd world war. It must have been planted when the school was still functioning. I like it because it is a living history and because it taps on my window at night. The flowerbed it is planted in also holds the skeleton of the school cat (a Manx) and a pet newt. I love these stories and I feel affection for the rose and the flowerbed. The roof is of the schoolhouse next door there is a married couple that live there and they argue a lot. There have been many generations of babies born in that house. I like looking at the sky from my window too and the curtains I have are very thin which probably contributes to my insomnia. My grandmother slept without curtains and she had a rose bed outside her window. She was a botanist and my mother used to say that my grandmother (who she hated) would probably bleed to death in her
rosebush. In actual fact she did bleed to death but when she was living with my mother and it was inside which probably disappointed her.
I hate having photo’s taken of myself and I don’t know who took this one. I lived for a while without a mirror and I am getting better at having photo’s taken of myself but it is a conscious effort.
So an insight into my life…. well I am a huge daydreamer and so I sort of half focus on objects while I am in my head really. Jamie is also a huge part of my life and he didn’t come out. My bed also as I say is central!
I hope this is useful email me if you want anything else.
Annabel xxxx
Hi Anna,
I enjoyed it very much and felt inspired to do something akin to this myself. You sent me the camera in half term and so in a way my life was slightly unusual that week. Probably the ones that didn’t come out were the most representative-they were of my bed. I realise how much time I spend in bed as most of the pictures were of that. I draw and eat and email and watch BBC player in my bed-I suppose particularly in winter, as it’s so cold in the studio.
I went to London with my friend Vincent in his van and I find it very exciting going around London in a car seeing the landmarks so close. Vincent was very embarrassed because he likes to think of himself as a Londoner and I was being a tourist-taking photo’s. The man in the photo is my friend Ed-my boyfriend I don’t think came out. The only thing that was difficult for me taking photos of my life was that it was a limited amount especially as I have got used to digital cameras. I wanted to take absolutely everything-but this is how I feel about my art too I suppose and the reason I did the one a day project to try and process all of the information of life. This too used to be my reason for living in the countryside. One or two are taken in a ‘staff development day’ meeting and I gave the camera to a tutor who teaches photography to see what he would take I didn’t know until looking at your pictures.
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