Welcome

We are Jane and Andre and our friends and associates.

The name “Crabflower” derives from David Hawkes’ translation of the classic 18th Century Chinese novel “The Story of the Stone” (sometimes known in China as the “Dream of the Red Chamber”). In volume two of the novel; “The Crab-Flower Club”, the eponymous poetry society is set up by young members of the Jia family – the protagonists of the story. The motivations at the heart of their collective endeavour to create art are complex. They hope to empower themselves as women, avoid boredom, re-capture a sense of community, play in bucolic surroundings, make fun of one another. In the end as the story darkens, they just want to make something.

We want to make something - beginning with Jane’s paintings – images of which you can see here. We want to create a sense of community and from time to time you will find other members of the collective exhibiting or publishing their work on these pages.

Note; When in 1983 Jeremy Page and Andre Evans set up the Frogmore Press the “Crabflower Club” was our choice as the name for both our Frogmore inspired creative writing seminars and associated publications. The Crabflower Collective is an outgrowth of that initiative.