Happy Birthday

It is Jane's 235th Birthday today!

The museum is celebrating with free entry and mince pies for visitors (so if you're nearby please join us.)

At Home with the Georgians

BBC 2 Programme "At Home with the Georgians"
Some filming of the museum in the first episode - link below.

click here

"A Chawton Sampler"

Part of the aim of the writer in residence project was to produce a collection of writing from the house cteated during the residency. Members of the writing group selected short works to submit around the loose themes of homes, family and anything Austen related. There was a fantastic range of poems and prose all with very different takes on the topics. Some of the attendees of Rebecca Smith's writing workshops also gave some of their work to be included in the book.

The original idea was to reproduce the writing in a small booklet of a few hundred copies, but after some discussion we plumped for a one off book with illustrations that could be kept in the museum collection. At the moment there seems to be an interest in Artists books. During "Under the Influence" the contemporary craft exhibition we had over the summer, there were a couple of lovely books produced by the artists to accompany their work. Visitors loved looking at the books and they were constantly being picked up and thumbed through.

The book was made using lots of different papers some handmade, with different textures and natural shades. Images were taken from the texts and cut out of paper then sewn together. It explores the idea of words being like little stitches that are strung together to make a complete object. This concept came from looking at the fabric diamonds in the patchwork quilt that the Austen ladies laboriously stitched together. I can imagine them discussing the current family gossip and that day’s events whilst sewing tiny stitches, the words and stories becoming part of the quilt.

Above is an image of the front cover of the book. I'll be uploading it in sections over the following month.