tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post2052124300420378954..comments2024-02-15T19:34:03.944+00:00Comments on The Hermitage: Atching TanRima Staineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044701472535300254noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-38498721580906811972013-06-28T10:27:26.367+01:002013-06-28T10:27:26.367+01:00Dear Anonymous - you obviously missed the paragrap...Dear Anonymous - you obviously missed the paragraph in which I wrote:<br /><br />"Many of the images and quotations in this post are taken from Simon Evans' excellent book Stopping Places - A Gypsy History of South London and Kent, which I bought in Faversham in Kent whilst I was travelling through, in a small museum of local history. It has proved the most well written, balanced and insightful account of the Travellers' story I've read yet, and it resonates with me particularly because I grew up in the South London / Kent area and so many of these places in the pictures are familiar to me - roads I went down to get to school, and so on. I had friends who would go hop picking as kids with the Gypsies in Kent, and I knew of houses in the area where travellers now lived. If you want a clear and fascinating account of the Gypsy life in the UK, I urge you to buy a copy of this book - it's full of many more wonderful pictures and moving verbatim accounts, not least the wonderful one at the end of this post by Brian Belton, with which Simon Evans also ends his book."<br />Rima Staineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10044701472535300254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-54630379017064098052013-06-26T23:04:09.105+01:002013-06-26T23:04:09.105+01:00Lovely artwork shame Simon Evans - Stopping Place...Lovely artwork shame Simon Evans - Stopping Places work is not acknowleged as one of the main contributions to this collection, all the ptotographs from,.. it says copyright but no acknowgegement of his work!? Otherwise all good.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-54436696202128523152011-11-16T08:34:00.067+00:002011-11-16T08:34:00.067+00:00Hi Rima, I've tried to send you an email, but ...Hi Rima, I've tried to send you an email, but having problems. Thank you for the Atching Tan picture, it arrived perfectly in the post and it is lovely, I'm now looking for a suitable frame. My little boy was fascinated by it and in fact loves all your pictures - he liked the postcard you sent too 'Anja in the horse chestnut'. Many thanks and take care x (Becky S)Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08683100048095202350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-54619687372329469602011-11-15T15:25:57.684+00:002011-11-15T15:25:57.684+00:00Thomas/Ent - just had to say that I was happy to r...Thomas/Ent - just had to say that I was happy to read your angry comment :) I was "yessing" all the way thru! (I also am astonished that people cannot easily make the connection you talk about)<br />Thank you. <br /><br />And thank you dear Lunar for your warm words.<br /><br />And Amy, I quite agree about the fake-romanticizing of Gypsy lifestyle, it does make me quite nauseous actually. I hope what I've done here is honour and explore honestly the beauty and the rawness.Rima Staineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10044701472535300254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-30494490517142393692011-11-14T22:31:42.513+00:002011-11-14T22:31:42.513+00:00Rima - thank you for this post and thank you ackno...Rima - thank you for this post and thank you acknowledging, at the end, how our modern world is managing to enclose all of us and divorce us from literally and figuratively exploring our world. Here in the U.S. it seems that what isn't privately owned is still not available to the public. Parks have strict times of use and can also cost money. Former public gathering spots are now owned by corporations. We end up hemmed in on all sides. <br /><br />Also, thank you to Jodi for pointing out the intersecting lines of class, wealth, stereotypes, all the things that can make any marginalized group feel even more powerless .<br /><br />I think one thing we have to also be careful of is romanticizing the Gypsy/Traveller way of life because it does a disservice to the real people involved. I've seen this attitude in the belly dancing scene in the U.S. (and this may happen elsewhere too). People indulge in the stereotype of the wild and free dancer or musician because it does tap into romantic notions of a performing life on the road, but this can be done without trading in unrealistic stereotypes about actual cultures. I think people need to realize that they can lay claim to the kind of lifestyle they like without having to use another culture to add authenticity.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15390837030580881528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-28118171550823863482011-11-14T18:55:34.037+00:002011-11-14T18:55:34.037+00:00Just one more thing - look at a google satalight v...Just one more thing - look at a google satalight view of Dale Farm - you will see the tight litle compact traveller site crammed next to a main road - pan out and you will see a huge number of horible (in my eyes) sprawlling red brick comercially built properties swirling across and gobling up the greenbelt with their eco-dessert lawns and long concreet drives. Getting rid of the travellers to save that bit of greenbelt is hypocracy of the highest order. Where was basildon councle when hundreds of acres of feild was swallowed up by the property tycoons? Gods it makes me angry.Enthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07105812373247325370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-16199987927211171912011-11-14T18:46:29.274+00:002011-11-14T18:46:29.274+00:00I remember on a farm not to far from where you liv...I remember on a farm not to far from where you live I was payed to grow vegtables. They had an honesty box outside and sold veg. One day a younge travelling couple came and offered to pick veg in return for an organic veg box. About a mothe later some veg started going missing from the stand. The young couple wherte sacked - the owner saying "I am not saying it was you, but your traveller mates mite have heard about the veg by the road and started to steal it." The sad compliant resignation to wich the couple accepted this judgement was heartbraking. They knew their was no way to deffentd themselves. Yes, their traveller camp was only about two miles away, but their was an entire setled village closer than thet. It was sickening and heartbraking to see the racism (I can think of a more apropriate word, although travellers seem to be no more one race than the rest of Britain). Later they started shooting the 'wrong sort' of wildlife attending their wildlife area (foxes, deer, crows, magpies and I suspect badgers, though I never had any proof). I left.<br /><br />If you look back at the history of Britian their has always been a steady stream of people chosing or being forced to leave their houses, right up to today, and no dobt tomorrow. I dont doubt a cultural affinity with the Rajistani Gypsy culture, but like with all history in this area of the world it is not a pure genetic thing. Nomadic people have been part of our culture for at least a thousand years, and almost definatly before that. Some even theorise that Saulsburry plain in the neolithic was still nomadic, while 6000+ years ago nomadism was what people did.<br /><br />I hate that we still have this intolerant racism in the heart of our culture. I cant beleive people cannot see the connection between violantly ostrasizing or seeking to homogonize people and an increase with social problems within that society. So you make people brake the law by simply being, remove all provision or acomodation of land and law, and are shocked when they stop caring about cleaning up the land you pretend to own??? Better stop now before I get too angry on your blog Rima.<br /><br />Really lovely painting by the way!Enthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07105812373247325370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-12283945199534330942011-11-14T15:33:39.399+00:002011-11-14T15:33:39.399+00:00I am broken by the first film and a little healed ...I am broken by the first film and a little healed by the second. You use the power of your voice here with grace and responsibility. If we can be fair and kind to the people we meet (housed, traveling, whatever); we can undo a little of the harm of those who cannot yet manage these things. And your art - this beaming clock - also heal, and are a kindness to the world in themselves. Keep on, friend. We who hold our minds and hearts as open as we can are actually vast in number. There is still hope.Lunar Hinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12649116426473034929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-57997162502548729722011-11-14T05:02:47.476+00:002011-11-14T05:02:47.476+00:00This post has given me a wonderful education this ...This post has given me a wonderful education this evening. I am supposed to be curtailing my addiction to the www so that I might accomplish more in the "real" world ... but how can I leave wonderful places like your Hermitage? It would be foolhardy to do so! xoMorna Crites-Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434374580665010849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-75488745780598585852011-11-13T18:59:02.703+00:002011-11-13T18:59:02.703+00:00What a wonderful post, Rima. Gypsies and Traveller...What a wonderful post, Rima. Gypsies and Travellers are inherently fascinating because of their apartness. To me, they represent a world where it was possible for people to keep moving, to live outdoors, and be free. I know this is a romantic notion, that they have their own cultural entrapments, but as a symbol, whichever way you spin it,they are stronger than their reality. <br /><br />But after all, they are simply human, and so behave as humans do: good, bad, beautiful, and ugly. And, as humans, they deserve the respect of other humans.<br /><br />We have a family legend that my great grandmother said her grandmother was a "Rom who settled down." We don't know if this is true, but we treasure the legend, and it has helped to explain my yearning for travel and adventure.Maggiehttp://mockingbirdsatmidnight.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-29084717458756039502011-11-11T13:03:36.618+00:002011-11-11T13:03:36.618+00:00More thanks for everyone's input... :)
Little...More thanks for everyone's input... :)<br /><br />LittleInsect - yes I quite agree, I remember feeling an enormous gulf between me and my travelling house and the shiny white motorhomes parked a few spaces along in the campervan section of carparks. If the attendant came over to question if we were thinking of parking (illegally) there overnight, it was never the shiny white motorhome owners who were asked that question. <br /><br />Jenny - yes I agree that there are of course problems where some travellers stop, but I think again that Jodi's comment becomes relevant here - I'm interested in looking at why people when their life has been made inexcusably grim and their way of being continuously derided end up doing bad things to their environment and to other people. This doesn't just mean Travellers - I mean all of us, when we're pushed and pushed, the outcome can be unpleasant. And I don't think it's always immediately cause-and-effect obvious how that happens - often there's been years of the squashing and belittling before the inevitable backlash. I'm interested in looking at a society that has done this to certain groups of people and what the consequences are, how the bubbles burst. <br />In standing on the sidelines and saying what I have noticed about people's attitudes and people's uninformed opinions toward the downtrodden groups, I am just trying to in some tiny way ease tensions between different groups of people to leave space for communication, informed understanding and empathy. <br /><br />Gz - I agree about the good and bad in every society and the fact that fear causes the outsider to be picked on. I'm a little confused about what you mean when you say "Dale Farm was bad"? As far as I can see it, they are a group of Travellers living on their own land, half of which they had planning permission to live on and the other half they did not. The half without planning permission had been an abandoned scrapyard before they bought it. Living on this piece of land did not, in my view, warrant the violent tactics of the riot police or the bigoted opinions of so many people.<br /><br />But it's hard not to get bogged down in specifics isn't it... I only know as much as I have read and observed in the media and from witness reports online, but I wasn't there, I don't know any of the residents, and therefore if I try to offer my opinion, it is just thirdhand. Again, we must try to judge every situation in relation to real human contact that we make, and real human empathy.Rima Staineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10044701472535300254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-20690188659216400162011-11-09T18:15:49.385+00:002011-11-09T18:15:49.385+00:00Dear Rima, yet another admirable and thought-provo...Dear Rima, yet another admirable and thought-provoking post. My mother came from Kent Gypsy stock, and we've always been proud of our heritage, even though this side of the family are now 'settled' (much to do with my Grandmother's amibition, but that's a tale for another time). A lot of our family are still travellers any circus folk, however.<br /><br />The thing that amazes me, are those who scorn the travelling folk, and deride them...........and then enjoy 'marvellous holidays', camping in out of the way places, or towing their huge caravans behind their equally huge 4x4s. <br />Can't they see that for a few days, they're showing just how envious of the gypsy life-style they actually are?LittleInsecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14232134356798382567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-70044117342658266902011-11-08T17:27:06.939+00:002011-11-08T17:27:06.939+00:00Your painting is gorgeous and I'm so glad you ...Your painting is gorgeous and I'm so glad you took a picture of it before it turned into the clock, the crack in the wood is perfect as the road! I love how your paintings frow organically from the wood.<br />I've lived as a traveller as you know and I remember the tightness of our community as a reaction against the rudeness of the 'outside world'. <br />My close friend recently found out her own mother was a romany gypsy but not until after she'd died. It had been kept hidden all her life, even from her own children, I'm guessing because of the prejudice. The film was heart-warming! With the train track there I was expecting a horrible accident of some sort but it was such a joyous thing to watch! A lovely note to end on. :)<br />Jess xxJesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17593348601123003194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-34696901914907550552011-11-08T10:08:04.916+00:002011-11-08T10:08:04.916+00:00saat tasarımınız muhteşem olmuş.hayran kaldım.
ara...saat tasarımınız muhteşem olmuş.hayran kaldım.<br />araştırma yazınızı ise etkilenmeden okumak mümkün değil.ülkemde de çingeler yaşamakta ve şükürler olsun barış içindeyiz.<br />sevgiler..alanayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10221092511022741930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-80735185018007793782011-11-08T02:46:07.470+00:002011-11-08T02:46:07.470+00:00Thank you Rima. This is such a wonderful and and a...Thank you Rima. This is such a wonderful and and at the same time, sad post - i have yet to visit britain and i had no idea there was still such negative and distructive attitudes in such a large number of the population. Those photos of the Murston site are just horrific! it makes me so angry and sad- how could such a thing come to be in this day and age?? I hope it is not too late for attitudes to change, the world would be a much sadder and smaller world without travellers. Thank you for putting together this post, i have a feeling your words will travel far :)Wayward Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385850766260854616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-23642564008409367032011-11-07T21:08:51.982+00:002011-11-07T21:08:51.982+00:00A very long post, but worth a read and sets the st...A very long post, but worth a read and sets the story well.<br /><br />I grew up in a rural part of south east England, I've seen travelers of all kinds and I've seen the reactions of the settled community to them. My county and those that surround it have travelers who are part of the rural community as much as anyone else and have been for generations.<br /><br />However it has to be faced up to, there is also an association between some groups of travelers and crime. Metal theft, machinery theft, the theft of fuel often follow the arrival of these groups. I have encountered them myself reconnoitering a farm when they thought they were unobserved, looking for ways to gain access to machinery.<br /><br />It is against this background that the astounding tide of hatred we saw around events like Dale Farm takes root. I have witnessed the most outrageous things being said about travelers, and unlike other bigotry the frightening thing is the way people say it in the open, they don't believe there is anything wrong about it. One can really feel the echoes of Pastor Niemoller's famous words.<br /><br />I don't see a solution in standing on the sidelines saying "This is wrong". Of course it's wrong, but saying so won't change the minds of the people who've seen their diesel stolen or their quadbike lifted. What needs to happen is for the traveling communities to recognise that some of those in their midst can behave in an antisocial manner, and to either see them brought to justice or to distance themselves from them in as public a manner as possible. For them not to do so will be to see the battle lines drawn ever deeper and to see more and worse Dale Farms.<br /><br />I do not feel proud to be from a countryside in which that might happen.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08027942517258679266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-33977783850409652922011-11-07T09:33:25.671+00:002011-11-07T09:33:25.671+00:00Hello Rima, beautiful clock, beautiful thought pro...Hello Rima, beautiful clock, beautiful thought provoking post. Surely the differances in Peoples should be celebrated and cherished. Unfortunately ignorance and an unwillingness to reach out, makes for a lot of misunderstanding. It makes me very sad. Thankyou for sharing your beautiful work and thoughts. oxMargaret Johnsonhttp://profile.typepad.com/mixedupmedianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-15827871841825380392011-11-07T09:03:19.437+00:002011-11-07T09:03:19.437+00:00A beautiful clock, Rima.
Much of the feeling agai...A beautiful clock, Rima.<br /><br />Much of the feeling against Roma/Gypsies/Travellers is the fear of anything different, the fear of people living a different way.<br />Look at the way a white blackbird will be mobbed by the other blackbirds.<br />There are good and bad in every society.<br /> About ten miles from my home an extended family used to park for a couple of months every year, in a spot that they had done for a couple of hundred years.<br />They were clean and tidy, the dogs well cared for, the scrap they collected and sold only stayed there overnight. I enjoyed stopping and talking, passing the time of day.<br />Then another group came, and were completely the opposite.<br />The council, as they now own the land, evicted them all. <br />Yes, we do have problems with crime, especially emanating from one site where apparently the police do not enter. Sometimes it is "give a dog a bad name"....or if they are going to be blamed for something bad anyway....<br /><br />Dale Farm was bad. When people try to settle on their own land in their own way...yes, others had come there and some things were not right, but the reaction and consequences are wrong.<br /><br />It seems sometimes you can be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.gzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08034777779347889773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-34931192267254468662011-11-06T21:54:48.999+00:002011-11-06T21:54:48.999+00:00this is great reading!!this is great reading!!urbanmonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17674871237002604796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-29209899628537121912011-11-06T17:06:30.116+00:002011-11-06T17:06:30.116+00:00Congratulations on your deep meditation on the tra...Congratulations on your deep meditation on the travelling folk, Rima. I live in Kent and know all the areas referred to. I also remember the running fights between the police and the "pikies" on Yalding Leas in the 1950's. The "Two Brewers" public house was just down the road.<br />I enjoyed immensely the Latcho Drom clip.<br />However, there is another side to the story. A couple of weeks ago a pleasant green area near a local housing estate was taken over on the Friday before a Bank Holiday by travelling families and about 30 caravans. The local council moved them on very quickly, but it took two days to clear the rubbish and filth from the site. Shit deposits lay everywhere, unburied. <br />Is there an answer to all this? Does the modern world have room and consideration for this alternative lifestyle? In the overcrowded UK is it possible for such a life style to continue?<br />I pose the questions and have no answers.Avushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512540148378201058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-912499971480783652011-11-06T11:22:58.235+00:002011-11-06T11:22:58.235+00:00Your clocks amaze me, I love the way that you use ...Your clocks amaze me, I love the way that you use the shape of the wood to help the painting come alive. I love this clock, its one of my favourites and I will def be buying a print, so thank you for putting this one in your shop. Fabulous piece and wondeful photos to go with it too, very interesting reading.Ronnie (RR)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14270742760569728851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-63967959657331579152011-11-06T09:14:29.507+00:002011-11-06T09:14:29.507+00:00Your clock is stunning, Rima, the colours are perf...Your clock is stunning, Rima, the colours are perfect for the theme, and I love how the crack in the wood becomes the road itself!<br />Isn't it incredible how society mercilessly rejects those who do not walk between the lines? I have lived a year in Russia, in Moscow and Kursk, and because of my accent when speaking russian combined with long hair and dressing style, I was stopped by the police at least 30 times to show my papers because they suspected me being gypsy or from the Caucasus. A few times they even claimed my belgian pasport false. <br />I love the fragment of Latcho Drom, have you ever seen movies by Emir Kusturica such as Black Cat, White Cat or Time of the Gypsies? I highly recommend these wonderful surreal colourfests, and the music, I believe by Goran Bregovic, is absolutely enchanting! xxxNanitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04528905706616025535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-29223680080302969792011-11-05T17:10:30.355+00:002011-11-05T17:10:30.355+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-20991198882573283922011-11-05T10:43:09.359+00:002011-11-05T10:43:09.359+00:00It started with a wonderful clock and ended me in ...It started with a wonderful clock and ended me in the doom of our lot. i thought you might like this wonderful documentary, IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GHENGIS KHAN. I would send you a copy of mine, but alas, it would be in a different region to you. Talking of OZ, the gypsy man in the clock reminds me muchly of Aussie bush/swag men (Its the hat)... Do the film. O and I must say, that I love your dimension.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06246434102644866367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6810156851531185584.post-82027225399535665412011-11-05T04:08:55.769+00:002011-11-05T04:08:55.769+00:00Dear Rima, as a fellow artist and one who has pain...Dear Rima, as a fellow artist and one who has painted clocks, I absolutely loved seeing each part of your amazing painting on the clock. I also have been fascinated with the Basque shepherd wagons here in America. They are similar. I would love to have one! <br /><br />I have seen Gypsy's here in Oregon and find them fascinating... they speak a different language and dress different and look different. <br /><br />We have a trailer that we take to the beach, the mountains and lakes here in Oregon, so I feel like I'm part Gypsy. <br /><br />Thank you for telling us about what the Travelers are dealing with now and in the past. Those camps with concrete and barbed wire are awful.<br /><br />I invite you to visit my blog and see my collection of ancient trade beads that I put up today.<br /><br />I'm so glad I found your blog.<br /><br />Teresa :-)Teresa Kasnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06228404538876664577noreply@blogger.com