Nesting

My attention has been drawn (thanks Gwyn!) to a painting by the surrealist artist Remedios Varo. Called An Allegory of Winter (1948) it depicts a variety of animals and plants enclosed in gossamer bags hanging from shrubs or stunted trees. They remind me so much of the spiders' nests to be found attached to bushes and undergrowth - here are two I discovered today when clearing the long grass that has grown up around some baby trees.

Varo was Spanish, the replacement (remedy) for a previous baby who had died.  She became a  extraordinary painter with a web of connections within the Surrealist and the wider artistic world. 'She was very connected to nature and believed that there was strong relation between the plant, human, animal, and mechanical world.'  She was an anarchist and also a refugee, fleeing Franco's Spain and then occupied France for Mexico in 1941 where she at last found the tranquillity to paint and  also formed a close bond with another refugee who had escaped from Europe.

Our refugees are nesting in well and adapting to life in a small Welsh town without any major difficulties. The children have been introduced to their new school and the parents to shops and money. The local baker has been requested to try his hand at Arabic bread. They have an internet connection to contact their relatives and  appointments to sort out medical, dental , banking and benefits registrations. Language lessons are next on the agenda. So far so good!


I've also backblipped  yesterday.