The Queen’s House

001

After seeing the final episode of Waldemar Januszczak’s Baroque!-From St Peter’s to St Paul’s, in which he singled out the Queen’s House as possibly the most important little building in the whole of British architecture, we felt inspired to visit this previously overlooked prime site. Continue reading “The Queen’s House”

Frames of reference

Dorset Developments

Longhouse development 1

We recently received six new paintings by Margaret McLellan inspired by trips to her favourite parts of Dorset. The first three Longhouse paintings find Maggie revisiting Toller Fratrum before returning to her beloved Isle of Purbeck for three Quarry paintings. Continue reading “Dorset Developments”

Frames of reference

The Devil’s Frying Pan

On this misty morning I’m reminded of a foggy walk last summer to see the Devil’s Frying Pan, though it looked more like the Devil’s Steaming Pan with montbretia (crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) turned up to gas mark 10. Nothing was visible beyond the edge of the cliff path except for a lovely glowing halo, like a white rainbow. Continue reading “The Devil’s Frying Pan”

Frames of reference

Ofili Cum Ovid

ovid windfall study

This is a giclée print from a watercolour, pastel and charcoal drawing by Chris Ofili, Study For Ovid-Windfall. In 2012 Ofili painted a huge backdrop for the Royal Opera House production of Diana & Actaeon, a collaboration between the National Gallery and the Royal Ballet and a celebration of Titian’s paintings of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ofili immersed himself in Ovid’s shapeshifting tales of transformation. His image of windfall/waterfall/shower of gold came twice for framing. Continue reading “Ofili Cum Ovid”

Frames of reference

The Gashlycrumb Tinies

gashlycrumb tinies

There was a lot of fuss last week about Edward Gorey’s 88th birthday, even though he died at the age of 75. There was a Google doodle and he featured in The Guardian and the Los Angeles Times and at Brain Pickings to mention just three, then Margaret McLellan sent me this catalogue of gruesome infant deaths – Hi Chris, This came today. I thought you might enjoy it. Best wishes, Maggie. Continue reading “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”

Frames of reference