Windows and doors ....

I have just been to Amsterdam for a few days.  A capital city yet so relaxed and friendly, very pretty too.  I loved the quirky 'moomintroll' like houses (pictured above in the Jordaan area of the city).  The houses were taxed according to their width so they were built as narrow as possible to keep costs down. They usually have two doors at the bottom - one for the ground and middle floor entrance, one for the top floor.  Furniture cannot be taken up the narrow steep stairs but has to be hoisted up the outside of the building with a wynch.  The houses were built on deep piles held in sandy earth and many of the houses are tilted at odd angles after years of subsidence.  The area is an Unesco World Heritage site and a pleasure to visit.

Waterside Open - now open!

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

I went to the Waterside Open on Friday.  It is an annual art exhibition that is open to all, based in Sale near Manchester.  All work is judged and selected work went on display from 11th February.   I was very impressed by the high standard of both 2D and 3D work.  Interestingly, most of the work that won prizes were 3D pieces.  My new piece 'Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1' is on show (though didn't win anything!).  It has taught me a few things about displaying sculptural art pieces.  It's free entry and worth a visit to see the talented artists of the region (and beyond?).  It is partly organised by Creative Industries Trafford who support the creative industries in the area.  Check out their website to find out about workshops.

Five a day

Salford has got it's own vegetable box delivery service!  The curiously entitled 'Biospheric Foundation' have started the initiative - buying locally and sharing the health not the wealth amongst the community.  Beats a soulless supermarket any day.

Alan Turing Memorial (1912 -1954)

I happened upon the Alan Turing Memorial the other day, appropriately situated in Sackville Park between the Gay Village and the University of Manchester.

Alan Turing, the father of computer science, developed the concept of the Turing machine which is considered as the basis for the modern theory of computation.  In World War Two, he worked as part of the team at Bletchley Park (the Government Code and Cypher School headquarters) that cracked the Enigma Code and thus saving thousands of lives.  In 1949, he moved to The University of Manchester, where the first digital computer 'The Baby' was developed.  He also carried out work on artificial intelligence.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there but in his persecution and ultimate 'suicide' due to his homosexuality which was illegal back in 1952.  To avoid prison he accepted injections of oestrogen to 'neutralise his libido'.  In 1954, he was found dead, a bitten apple beside him.  It is believed that he committed suicide, ingesting suicide from the apple. However, the apple was never tested for poison and some believe that he may have been assassinated as he posed a 'security risk'.

What a hateful way to end such a valuable and contributing life. Thankfully, times have moved on in Britain and homosexuality is no longer 'illegal' or hidden and denied.