Jane Young is the first of the 3 Jane women that I met.  She was helping out the Friends of St Katharine Docks who had a storefront shop here during the Thames Festival.   There was a lovely graphic of the Thames flowing through London on the wall which I admired and found Jane was the artist.  So we chatted a bit and I was quite taken, not only by the art, but by the artist!  I left Jane, went down to our boat, got a big piece of the pecan pie Randal had made, and brought it back for her.  After that I followed Jane’s websites www.sketchesbyboz.com and www.londonkillsme.com  and http://craftcentral.org.uk/.

Jane with the “Best of Times”  “Worst of Times” cushions I had ordered and a gift of her graphic of the Elephant Gate into St Katharine Docks.  Jane came to visit “between clients” and we had a picnic lunch on the boat.  If you are coming to London and want great suggestions for places to go and things to see, read Jane’s blog and discover what’s beyond  “Frommer’s or Fodor’s.”   Lots of great stories and enchanting histories. 

The next Jane  we met was Jane Lane-Roberts.  I wrote about her visits to DoraMac in earlier emails  On the 18^th Randal and I took the District Line to Richmond to visit Jane and her husband Rik.  But that’s a really long story which includes our whirlwind tour of Richmond so we’ll save that for next email. 

The 3^rd Jane is Jane Ameila Parker. 

Jane at her stall in Spitalfield

While researching mudlarking I’d found the website of Amelia Parker.  AKA Jane Amelia Parker.  So when we saw her “live and in person” at the Spitafileds Market we had to stop and chat.  Turns out Jane was about to fly off to Fethiye, Turkey  where she owns a home.  So we had to talk about our mutual Turkish experiences.  And then we amazed  “Jane Amelia” by asking if she knew “Jane Young,”  which of course she did.  Scheduling didn’t allow Jane Amelia and Jane Young to visit us together but we had lovely visits with each of them. 

Randal showing Jane his 2-eyed rock he’d found

“Clay Pipe people and patterns

New for November 2013 – a set of four cards featuring Clay Pipe Pete, an upright fella, and his lazy friend Smokey Joe.    Clay pipe fragments have been carefully chosen for their shape and size and arranged to make these two characters which I have overlaid onto old London maps.”

http://www.amelia-parker.com/

I bought a Clay Pipe Pete Takes the Train (1905) card to inspire me to maybe make something with my clay pipe pieces.   And to remind us of Jane Amelia.

Jane told us that she separates her graphic design business from her pipe creations business by using variations of her name.  If someone calls and asks for Jane she knows they want graphics or leather.  If they ask for Amelia they want the clay pipe creations.  Smart!!

Jane came to visit one night and she and Andrew were speaking a whole other language of art and design;  Randal and I listened and learned. 

http://www.janeslondon.com/ is Jane’s blog about life/art in London.

http://www.janedesignedthis.com/ is Jane’s graphics company

http://www.janemadethis.com/ is Jane’s site for her leather wallets and holders.

Below is an excerpt from the Londonist interview with Jane Amelia.  I picked these bits because they describe how I feel about our website.

If you had to describe your blog in less than 15 words how would you do it?

     Photographic patchworks of observations found on, around and above London’s streets.

Why did you start blogging?

     I saw an article in Time Out a while back that listed some good London sites and blogs. I was intrigued, especially as I’d originally thought blogs were just the online diaries of the self-obsessed. I hadn’t realised they could be used as a scrapbook or a forum for ideas. And so I was hooked. Seeing as I already had lots of images taken along the Holloway Road and Upper Street, as well as those I’d taken for London The Way We See It, I thought this would be a great way to share my observations with like-minded souls. And so my little monster was created.

     Nine months later, my baby screams for attention at all hours of the day. I only wish there were more hours in the day and more days in the week – taking the photos is the easy bit, but collating them when I get home, editing them, posting them to Flickr and making collections for my blog, means I spend an inordinate amount of time at my Mac. But, I have to say, it’s ultimately worthwhile, especially when I get favourable responses and emails.

What about London inspires your blog?

     I am always spotting new things, even on those streets that I thought knew quite well, and these lead me to conjure up new categories; one broken boot scraper will lead to a collection, as will an old shop sign uncovered during a re-fit, or imprints left in wet cement, an old doorbell, a letterbox painted shut. I am also drawn to the textures and patterns made by peeling paint and rusting metal.

     But it’s not all about old things; I also like to take shots of some of the great street art and graffiti that’s out there, as well as mis-spelled signs and stuff that amuses me such as an arrangement of windows that resembles a monkey’s face or a chair dumped in the middle of a roundabout.

     And I get some great ideas from the wonderful Smoke magazine which is a valuable source of inspiration; always brimming with interesting and amusing London-based articles.

Would you feel more or less connected to London; would you have missed out on things without your blog?

     I have always looked around me as I wandered about. I am not someone who just stares ahead or buries his or her head in a street map or guidebook. The only difference these days is that I never leave the house without a camera. Having my blog has therefore made me even more observant.

http://londonist.com/2009/03/the_london_blogger_interviews_10_ja.php has the full interview with Jane Amelia Parker