The Gloaming

This is a recommendation from Christopher Corr, recently at Union Chapel to see much anticipated Irish/New York music collective The Gloaming. They sound fantastic, they’re a surprise to me but now I’m eagerly looking forward to their new album and their next visit to London.

Frames of reference

Project Wild Thing

David Bond is concerned. His kids’ waking hours are dominated by a cacophony of marketing, and a screen dependence threatening to turn them into glassy-eyed zombies. Like city kids everywhere, they spend way too much time indoors – not like it was back in his day. He decides it’s time to get back to nature – literally. In an attempt to compete with the brands, which take up a third of his daughter’s life, Bond appoints himself Marketing Director for Nature. Like any self-respecting salesman, he sets about developing a campaign and a logo. With the help of a number of bemused professionals, he is soon selling Nature to British families. His humorous journey unearths some painful truths about modern family life. His product is free, plentiful and has proven benefits – but is Nature past its sell-by date? www.projectwildthing.com

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Alderney Stones

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If I could take off for 24 hours I think I’d like to walk on Alderney, stepping from stone to stone of Andy Goldsworthy’s recent installation of rammed earth boulders positioned around the island. I read about it at The Island Review; please take a look, it’s a great website, and also see Alderney Stones on Andy Goldsworthy’s own website, and Sticks & Stones by Kevin Rushby at The Guardian. Further information can be found at Art & Islands Foundation. And what a perfect cow photo this is!

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Christie’s Magazine

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The latest issue of Christie’s house magazine arrived on my desk last week. It was unexpected and a nice coincidence because there was a feature on Chillida, just as I was writing about him: Signs Of Chillida. But what was even more surprising, what made me sing and dance, were four lovely pages of Jelly Green! She was interviewed at home in Suffolk for a piece entitled Rural Revival. Continue reading “Christie’s Magazine”

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Voodoo

Just over a week ago, when everyone else was at Wembley to see Bruce Springsteen, we were at Ronnie Scott’s to witness the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. This was the highlight. They came storming on stage, firing on all cylinders with an extended, extra-exuberant version of Voodoo. Kirk Joseph was practically hyperventilating on sousaphone and I’ve never heard a more slippery baritone saxophonist than Roger Lewis. It was an extraordinary, virtuoso performance. More here.

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Scullery

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Soon after I first arrived at The Rowley Gallery, maybe in 1988, I took advantage of the opportunity to use the shop window. I started making small drawings specifically to sell to benevolent passers-by. I began with a sheet of paper which I carefully tore and cut into pieces, each piece was worked on separately, lines inscribed/impressed into the paper, rubbed with layer upon layer of wax crayon, shaved with a Stanley knife blade then reassembled as a single sheet again. Continue reading “Scullery”

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Signs Of Chillida

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Last time we visited Lottie in Toledo she showed us this sculpture by Eduardo Chillida, hidden away beneath the city walls and previously overlooked. It’s called Lugar de Encuentros V (Meeting Place V); it’s like an open hand, positioned low to the ground, immediately inviting, waiting to hold you. I instinctively wanted to climb inside but I had to wait my turn, others were already in its embrace. Continue reading “Signs Of Chillida”

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Kew Gardens

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On the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, aka Whitsun Bank Holiday or maybe even Whitsuntide, we went down to Kew. It was a slow journey. There was a UEFA Cup Final at Wembley that evening and a Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham that afternoon, there were roadworks in Ealing and there was a continuous traffic jam around the North Circular. There was a long queue to Kew. By the time we arrived I was stir crazy. Once inside the gates I was snap happy. The resulting photostream begins with eucalyptus, smooth-skinned and animal-like with aromatic blade-shaped leaves. Continue reading “Kew Gardens”

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Grand Union @ Wilton’s

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The world’s oldest surviving music hall can still – just – be found…No theatrical facade: just a door set into a peeling wall.

It did take some finding but that’s part of the fun. Once found it’s a place for many happy returns. Wilton’s Music Hall is a fragile survivor, in need of restoration but not too much; it’s shabby chic is a big part of it’s charm. Perhaps stabilisation rather than restoration. Continue reading “Grand Union @ Wilton’s”

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Flickr: Holloway

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Herewith a message from Robert Macfarlane:

I’ve come to realise, in the eight years since I first wrote about holloways, that many people share my fascination with these sunken lanes, which have been harrowed down into the landscape by the passage of feet and rainwater (and sometimes 4x4s…). People have sent me photographs of the holloways they know, the paintings and sketches they have made of them, maps with their locations indicated, or the stories, memories and folklore they associate with them. Continue reading “Flickr: Holloway”

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