Gavin McDermott

There’s something very grounding about William Morris’ old house. Yes, it’s austere, and maybe very different on a cold winter’s day rather than in beautiful summer sunshine like the day of this visit.

But it also felt like somewhere serious work could be done, somehow. And reminded me of the importance of a working environment: it does matter!

I particularly loved the slightly weird order of rooms. For example, the room where William Morris used to make tapestries was next to his bedroom. There was also something very nice about the rooms all having a pleasing view out, even though the gardens were quite small (ish). It made me want to plant small hedgerows around my house at the same sort of distance, but whilst that might be possible at the back, that would currently involve digging up the road at the front.

Seeing Kelmscott like this also highlights something which I suspect to be true of different ‘types’ of art–perhaps Arts and Craft romantic ideals simply couldn’t have come out of a grubby neighbourhood in New York or Berlin?

Although, saying that, I remember seeing a –truly disturbing– exhibition of H R Giger’s work in Gruyere in Switzerland, which couldn’t have been a more bucolic setting!

Kelmscott makes me think about what sort of art I would like to create now, in my time, from my environment.