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Something About Alder…….Please Touch The Art…..  

by Bernie Bell - 08:17 on 11 August 2025

 

 

 

Something About Alder…….

 

I noticed that some of the lower branches of one of our Alder trees were starting to over-shadow a small Sycamore which is growing nearby.  I was inspecting the Alder to see what might be done, when I noticed that there are cones on it already.....where did the summer go?

 

 

 

I apologised to the Alder, and snipped a bit off it to let light to the Sycamore. 

 

I brought the bit I'd cut into the house and put it in a jar - then I noticed that it's got catkins as well as cones - getting ready for Spring!  Two seasons on one branch......

 

 

I Googled…… ‘Is it lucky or un-lucky to bring Alder into the house?’  and read a lot of contradictory views  – plus and minus.  So I decided to take no notice, as it does look good in the window and it smells good too. 

I sit in my den, tapping away, bathed in the scent of Alder leaves - I didn’t know they had a particular smell, and they do – it’s kind-of spicy/aromatic......

 

 

When the branch finally fades, I’ll take the cones and put them in the stove to burn when we first light the fire in the Autumn - kind of prolonging the life of and our memory of the branch.

In an un-informed way - we’re magicy folk.

 

https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/trees-plants-animals/trees/alder/alder-mythology-and-folklore/

 

 

 

 

Please Touch the Art….

 

I received the following from friend Bart (aka poet Bartholomew Barker)…..

 

 “Last week I visited the Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center in Hampton, Virginia, to see the Please Touch the Art exhibit by Sally Barker. It wasn't the first time I'd seen these works since the artist is my mother.

 

Around the turn of the century, my mom had the brilliant idea to represent colors with fabric so that a blind person could appreciate the visual art that we take for granted. She has sewed/quilted over a hundred "homages" to famous paintings like the Mona Lisa, Van Gogh's Starry Night and The Scream by Edvard Munch.

The core of her idea was a consistent mapping of fabric to color. Satin is red, taffeta orange, flannel yellow, velvet green, wool blue and linen is purple. Darker shades are backed with cardboard and lighter shades are backed with soft quilt batting. She called it the B-Code, "B" for Barker after her husband/my father, Larry.

By the way, her homage to the famous poster of Jane Avril by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec inspired one of my most published poems, Jane Avril at the Moulin Rouge, 1893.

My mother's art is on display until August 23rd so if you're even vaguely near Hampton, Virginia, I hope you'll check it out.”

 

To see images of Bart’s Mum’s work – go to….

 

https://bartbarkerpoet.com/2025/08/09/please-touch-the-art/

 

I think this is a brilliant idea – art-works for those who can’t ‘see’ them, and usually we’re told not to touch art-works in galleries – just….all round….. such a brilliant idea.

 

On the subject of good ideas…in the comments ‘DD’ posted……

 

“That’s pretty cool, that touching is encouraged. It made me wonder about doing a tour in the dark or blindfolded, and then about what material and colour a souvenir eye-mask might be, and then about how much money might be raised by purchases made for a charity night tour. Further, what kind of poems would spring from a reading of each picture by a poet son? Could they be purchased by donation in advance or auctioned off?”

 

And I responded…

 

“Those are excellent ideas – especially what poems might spring from touching without seeing – not only by the artists son, but by anyone – really good ideas!”

 

I’m hoping that we’ll get to see/hear some of those poems!

 

Some might quibble and ask how would a blind person know what those colours are to start with?  Some folk have sight, then lose it, or have feint sight and this presentation of the images could therefore mean more to them. 

 

I’m strongly reminded of Stevie Wonder singing….. ‘I know that trees are green, they only turn to brown, when autumn comes around’. 

 

He knows.

 

 


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