Thursday, 19 January 2017

Catching Up...


It's got to be towards the summer of 1973 when the group above posed for this one...we think in the pub at the top of Jacob's Ladder (now called that but not back then?).  This picture comes courtesy of Tom Batty (centre at back) who thinks that I might have taken it - though I don't quite recall it.  Today we met up - our first such meet since that summer!

From left to right around the table are Imogen Pilling, not sure?,Anna Brockett, Allan Green, Jenny Rees, Tom, not at all sure?, Jimmy Whitehead, Dave Weekes and John Elliot.  If by any chance any one of you see this let me know details you can remember after all this time. Allan and Tom I've already written about here but John E became a well respected painter in the early 80's and showed in a commercial London gallery.  Dave W has worked in a variety of contexts including Cranfield School of Management and currently lives in Manchester working mainly (I think) in Illustration.  Jimmy has had a career as a contemporary classical (minimalist) composer (inspired by seeing John Cage at the RAH on a college trip) and Anna has made a career in Film Animation (partly inspired by a visit to college by Bob Godfrey.  We often blather on about 'transferable skills' in University Art Departments nowadays...and most of it is utter tosh.  If the group above proves anything its that the richness of the inputs makes for the more interesting of outputs!

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Tom...where have you been?


Alongside those students that arrived at College the same time as me we had several other close pals from other years. Tom Batty was one such and crops up regularly in photos of our group.  Sadly I completely lost touch with him after we finished in June 1973.  Luckily enough I recently discovered he lives not that far off from me in the East Midlands.


So tomorrow I'm off to Melton Mowbray to meet him for lunch...a bit of catching up I guess...after a gap of 44 years...it barely seems plausible!