Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pippa Blake:Journey

Those who followed the life and adventures of Sir Peter Blake recognised his wife Pippa, greeting him at every port throughout his ocean journeys, as a partner in all he undertook. His yachting victories were many, and are already well documented, and the public face of Sir Peter and Lady Blake is well known. Pippa Blake: Journey is a private account of their lives together.
Few people realise that art was Pippa Blake’s first love. Her studies at London’s Camberwell School of Art earned her First Class Honours in Painting. Then the dashing young Peter Blake swept her off her feet, and a more exciting life beckoned. 
"Meeting Peter was like a bolt from the blue. He walked into the Emsworth Sailing Club on a Friday night, a tall, shaggy-haired, blond and blueeyed guy. I clapped eyes on him – I had never seen anyone like him – and was literally smitten. There seemed to be an aura surrounding him. There was something in Peter’s eyes, he often had that far-away look like when he was at sea; you could see him scanning the horizon, but he wasn’t just looking at the horizon, he was looking yonder.
His tales of dolphins, whales and albatross, and icebergs and the Aurora Australis – I had never heard talk of such things, and was enchanted."
Years later, following the tragic and untimely death of her husband, Pippa Blake embarked on possibly the most significant journey of her life: reconnecting with her fine art training and practice. The difficult years following Sir Peter Blake’s death are recounted in this book with great honesty.
Pippa Blake was married to Sir Peter Blake for 22 years and shared many of his ocean racing adventures. After the birth of their two children, Sarah-Jane and James, Pippa remained intimately involved in Peter’s round-the-world yachting campaigns, assisting with race preparations and sometimes joining Peter and his crews at sea. She competed alongside Sir Peter in two Sydney to Hobart yacht races, a Fastnet race, and other blue-water races. She has twice sailed the distance between the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the second time with their infant daughter.
A successful artist, Pippa continues to live and work at the home she shared with Sir Peter in Emsworth, a seaside town on the south coast of England. Sharing citizenship with her second home, New Zealand, she visits often and serves as a trustee and Patron of the Sir Peter Blake Trust, which carries on the environmental and leadership work of Sir Peter after his tragic death in 2001.
Her prolifically illustrated book is an intensely personal account of her life with Peter featuring many unpublished photographs from her family albums along with entries from her personal journals. I am not a sailor but I found it fascinating
Several images from the book follow:



Pippa Blake:Journey
Penguin Books - Hardback $50.00
The book is being formally launched in Auckland tomorrow, Wednesday 23 November although it is already available in bookstores nationwide..
Footnote:
Pippa Blake's only public appearance will be in Christchurch where she will be in conversation with Morrin Rout on Wednesday 30th November at 6pm at the Westpac Hub.
Tickets are $15 ( includes a glass of wine) and are available from Whitcoulls at Northlands, Riccarton, Hornby, South City and Shirley and from Morrin Rout, Ph: 329 9789 or morrin@paradise.net.nz

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