Helen Snell

Artist in residence at the Observatory, Buckler's Hard

January - February 2017.

Please click on main images (left) to start each of the seven slide shows.

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Got up bright and early to make the most of the golden light and hard frost. I walked along the beautiful river to orientate myself a bit more.
I slipped on some ice and broke my reading glasses that were in my pocket. The irony was not lost on me, as in preparation for the residency I have made a series of blank templates for spectacles!
In the afternoon I laid out my kit in the Observatory and tried to mend my glasses with superglue and tape.

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I had a great day in the archives at the National Motor Museum with curator Richard Noyce who has special responsibility for the Caravan Club collection. He showed me some amazing early photos of the first caravans. I was fascinated by the strange hybridisation of the genteel English middle class culture and Romany culture. There are interesting correlations with The Observatory.
I especially loved these photos of Bertram Hutchings who made bespoke caravans in Winchester in the 1920s and 1930s.