Rowley Gallery Blog
During the last year I began a series of pencil drawings. Inspired by a recently re-read wonderful essay by Patrick Heron on Constable drawings, I thought that on recent trips to Weymouth and the Isle of Wight I would leave behind my bag of colours, rollers, sponges, etc. and get back to the basic pencil. Continue reading “Pencil Drawing”
Over Christmas I finally got to see Wim Wenders’ film Pina, a tribute to Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal. I saw them on stage in 1982 at Sadlers Wells, but never again until this wonderful movie. It had felt then that she brought the gravitas of Tarkovsky to dance, though from the evidence of this film she did lighten up a little in the intervening 30 years. I wish I had seen more of her. Continue reading “Pina”
One of the books to arrive in our house this Christmas was Allegra McEvedy’s Bought, Borrowed & Stolen, stories of her travels told through the food she has eaten, the knives she has bought and the recipes she has borrowed or stolen. It’s her follow-up to Leon which has become a household favourite because of its punchy, full-flavoured recipes for “food that tastes good and does you good”. And both books also look good. They are rich and visually exciting, and the art director for each of them was Jonathan Christie who, when he is not designing books, also makes beautiful pictures. See more here.
Earlier this year local best-selling author & illustrator Shirley Hughes celebrated 30 years of her popular Alfie books. Here is a link to a short film courtesy of The Guardian – Alfie, 30 Years On.
Bruce Munro’s Field Of Light installed in the grounds of the newly extended and renovated Holburne Museum in Bath. Be sure to take your camera! More details here.
This linocut print by Gail Brodholt shows skaters at Canary Wharf Ice Rink in Docklands participating in a festive communal ritual, chasing the glide, defying the cold and celebrating one of the many and various forms of slipping and sliding collectively known as winter sports. Their sinuous arabesques on the ice are contrasted with the checker board grids of the architecture. It’s Brice Marden versus Sean Scully. It’s snakes & ladders. Tis the season to play board games. Happy Christmas.
What is the best cure for frustration after an absurd flight from London to Berlin via Paris? Just cross the road and see the traffic light where a green-happy-chubby man in a hat is advising you either to cross or to wait. Continue reading “Back To The Studio”
I like to travel and paint in France. It’s a big country full of surprises and contrasts. There are beautiful places to see in the north, east and west but I feel most alive in the south. It’s the light and the colours and the scent of the herbs in the hills. I even like it in the dark and cold of winter. Continue reading “Painting & Shopping In The South Of France”
