Julie Newman, visual artist

wheelhousemusings

  • Dreaming of Purple

    The most refracted colour when light passes through a prism, purple is at the far end of the visible colour spectrum, and is the hardest colour for the eye to discriminate The word actually derives from the name of the Tyrian purple dye manufactured from mucus secreted by the spiny dye-murex snail. The dye came…

    wheelhousemusings

  • Early Women Sailors- Lagertha

    Tradition allows the presence of women sailors in history as marginal and generally achieving fame dressed as men. In this form they are largely pirates or in the navy. However, women have been sailing for centuries providing for their families by shipping cargo to larger ports, supporting the men who were battling to save their…

    wheelhousemusings

  • The Voyage Continues…

    Today I loosen the ropes and slip my moorings to drift away from my artistic home at Trinity Bouy Wharf. It is time to leave the physical form of The Wheelhouse and continue to Dream the Voyage to a yet unknown destination. A new artist will move in and create their own responses, giving a…

    wheelhousemusings

  • The Loss of a Dear Companion.

    To lose a pet is very often such an individual experience it is hard to generalise about. It is based on how that relationship unfolded, and the depth of feeling associated with it. For me, in common with so many others, the animals in my life are not so much pets, as life companions. Our…

    wheelhousemusings

  • A Nice Cuppa Tea

    This cup, like the rising of the sun,Heralds the new day. A smileTo greet tasks left undone.And those anew, can wait awhile.As slowly I drink my tea. Whose hands did pick the leavesThat gave this cup its life?Did they tire, sit under shady trees,Just water to drink as they striveIn their relentless task. And do…

    wheelhousemusings

  • The Maiden Voyage of the Cutty Sark, February 15th 1869.

    The introduction of the tea trade globally from the early sixteen hundreds was the start of highly competitive trade practices, the instigation of several wars, growth of illegal drug trading, indentured working, slavery and in the mid nineteenth century it impacted on ship design. By this time the favoured design was sleek and able to…

    wheelhousemusings

  • Flying Transatlantic East to West

    Less than a hundred years ago, no woman had ever flown solo across the Atlantic from Europe to North America. Yet as of March 2023, seventy two women have flown in space. The first woman was Valentina Tereshkova who flew aboard the Russian Vostok 6 in 1963, only twenty seven years after Beryl Markham successfully…

    wheelhousemusings

  • Dreaming the New Year.

    Imbolc is an ancient Celtic festival celebrating the start of Spring on the eve of February 1st/2nd. It is long associated with Brigid, now the patroness saint of Ireland. Imbolc marks the lengthening of days and the beginning of growth and readying for the farming year ahead. This is the time of preparing for the…

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  • Looking Back, an Essay.

    On a day long ago, just before the introduction of the National Health Service, I was born in a nursing home in West London. This marked the start of a life, that has either been in the last throes of a dying system, or been in the vanguard of something new ever since. Indeed this…

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  • Dreaming the Voyage

    (Six years ago, the first phase of Dreaming the Voyage was created at my studio at The Wheelhouse in Trinity Bouy Wharf on the banks of the Thames in London. With the support of the TBW artist’s fund, I was able to buy the equipment needed for the installation. A big thank you to them…

    wheelhousemusings

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    Dreaming the Voyage