Category: Art

Pictures & Books

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.

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The Pursuit Of Happiness

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.

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Painting & Shopping In The South Of France

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”

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A Studio With A View

A few weeks ago a friend came to see me here in Southern Spain. She told me on her last evening that one of the highlights of her stay had been making her way up the dangerously windy, steep and bumpy track to my house, which sits on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean, and seeing the view. It surprised me, although it shouldn’t have done, she’s an artist after all, and it’s true, the view from here is spectacular. Driving back down, what you see, although it’s a bit of a risk looking too much if you’re the one driving, is a huge uninterrupted expanse of blue sea and sky. And driving up it’s fields and mountains and on arrival the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. Continue reading “A Studio With A View”

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The Littlest Birds

For a couple of years now we have had Fanny Shorter‘s suite of exquisite screenprints featuring some of the world’s smallest birds, all of them depicted life size. They are beautiful and popular and fast becoming an endangered species. I sold two more today, which prompted this post, before they disappear altogether. Shown here is the Crimson-Hooded Manakin, a native of the northern coastal regions of South America, where its habitat is mangroves and riverside forests. It measures just 9 cms. Continue reading “The Littlest Birds”

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