Taj Mahal

After listening to his records for the past 45 years, I finally got to see Taj Mahal play live last week at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. I don’t know what took me so long but it was worth the wait. He’s just so full of music. One moment you could swear you’re listening to Howling Wolf, then Mississippi John Hurt and even at times Otis Redding. He’s a voice of resurrection. He gave us rocking bar-room electric blues and gently swaying acoustic country blues with touches of scat singing, reggae, calypso, Celtic flavoured banjo picking and a beautiful surprise duet with Baaba Maal. And also Fishing Blues.

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A Sailor’s Hornpipe

Here’s Kai running the Plymouth Hoe 10 last year. A ten mile run around Plymouth Hoe, the highlight being this jaunty jig as she came by where her niece Molly was waiting to cheer her on. Kai will be running the British 10K London Run on Sunday 8th July and she’s promised a little hornpipe as she crosses the finishing line. See her page on the JustGiving website here.

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Dancer With Cymbals

This marquetry panel was designed by William Arthur Chase and made by The Rowley Gallery, circa 1920. It looks like the wood inlay is pine, sycamore, perhaps cedar, and oak-burr for the hair. It is titled Dancer With Cymbals and by its size and the way it is framed you’d be forgiven for thinking it might actually be a tambourine. It was recently discovered at auction and very kindly returned to its maker courtesy of the good folks at JHW Fine Art. Thank you, James.

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What A Corker!

These are three frames we made recently, containing a triptych made out of various wine and champagne corks, depicting the pixelated figure of a reclining nude. They are seen here at one of the restaurants where the corks were collected. If I’m not mistaken that looks like a Richard Smith painting on the wall behind, so I’m guessing this is The Boundary in Shoreditch. Continue reading “What A Corker!”

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

At first sight this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion resembles a giant table on the lawn with fairy lights hung beneath it. It was designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron and artist Ai Weiwei, the same team that created the National Stadium, aka the Bird’s Nest, for the Beijing Olympics. Continue reading “Serpentine Gallery Pavilion”

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A Space Called Place

Kensington Place has recently been refreshed with a bright new interior. The large mural by Mark Wickham depicting a view of The Long Water in Kensington Gardens has been in place since the restaurant opened 25 years ago. It has become almost synonymous with Kensington Place. But now it is due for a holiday. In its place will be a new exhibition space and The Rowley Gallery have been asked to select the artworks for this exciting new development.

More details to follow soon. Watch this space.

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