Frames of Reference

Le Picodon

Continuing our goatee season, we dedicate this post to the most notable Picodon, a spicy medallion of crusty goat’s cheese, whose delights are celebrated each year at Saoû in France. The younger cheeses are mild and elegant but the more mature they are the more piquant they become, ideal with a glass of Cotes du Rhone Villages. Blessed are the cheesemakers. Most are also goat farmers which means they don’t make large quantities, so Picodon is a rare cheese, hard to find outside of France. Continue reading “Le Picodon”

Goggle At The Goats

A reminder that Christopher Corr’s goats are let loose today, March 1st at The Rowley Gallery, 115 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN from 6 o’clock. Books and paintings and artist on display.

Stop Press! We’re acting the goat! Special offer one night only 10% discount on sale of goat paintings.

The Lonely Goatherd

Because of his fondness for transforming cheesy show tunes I felt sure that Sonny Rollins must have played The Lonely Goatherd at some time, especially with that goatee. It would have been right at home on his What’s New album. I can almost hear it. His lyrical saxophone singing the melody, then deconstructing it with one of his abstract solos over a rhythm of congas and bongos. But I can’t find a recording anywhere. We’ll have to imagine it, and make do with this version by Eddie Cano. Continue reading “The Lonely Goatherd”

The Goat Rodeo Sessions

A four piece string band featuring Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Edgar Myer on bass, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Chris Thile on mandolin.

A ‘goat rodeo’ is a chaotic situation where a group of people with differing viewpoints have to work together to avert disaster. These guys seem to manage pretty well. See more here.

Trip To Birkenhead

A few weeks ago my wife and I spent a few days in the Wirral to see pictures I had in the annual exhibition of the National Acrylic Painters Association in the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead. I was so pleased with the hanging of my work and so impressed with the beautiful gallery, a truly local gallery so well looked after, away from all the razzamatazz of the Tate Liverpool etc. across the Mersey. Continue reading “Trip To Birkenhead”

St Cirq Lapopie

This beautiful butterfly cut-out was made by Joseph Silcott from a vintage Michelin map of the Dordogne and Lot river valleys. The central butterfly at the top with the green body features St Cirq Lapopie. Others display Rocamadour and Cahors. Joseph simply draws with scissors to release the butterflies from the map. Continue reading “St Cirq Lapopie”

City & Herd

Jelly Green and Conrad Armstrong are both students of Maggi Hambling and attend her classes at Morley College in Lambeth. Jelly is from Suffolk and Conrad from London and both are sharing an exhibition of paintings at Shoreditch Studios on 6th March, for one night only. Be there or be square.

The Wave

A spectacular Navajo sandstone formation, known as The Wave, at Coyote Buttes in the Arizona desert, south west United States. This place is difficult to find, there are no signposts and it is accessible only by foot. The picture is from Eyewitness, a series of often remarkable photographs on the Guardian website. I was reminded of it by Liz Somerville’s image at the end of yesterday’s post.

Dorset Landscapes

On Sunday I went down to Roche Court near Salisbury to see John Hubbard’s Paintings From The 1960s. They are beautiful atmospheric condensations on canvas and paper, displayed in a small light filled gallery in a corner of a garden overwhelmed with sculpture. This tranquil space is a refuge and standing before Rocky Woodland especially I was in a green shade reminded of the undercliff at Lyme Regis. There’s a lot to see. But I was not allowed to photograph it. So I will make do with some we framed earlier, for another exhibition, but one I now discover has just finished! Continue reading “Dorset Landscapes”

A Good Shave

Ten years ago I received a strange email marked ‘cacklegoose’. Curious both because the author was nameless but more so due to she? he? offering ‘artistic material’ in the form of 328 razor blades. Further corresponding revealed it was from the writer and publisher Michael Raeburn of Cacklegoose Press. When his father, Walter Raeburn, died in 1972 Michael discovered a box of all the razor blades he’d used since the late 1920s along with the well worn razor in its purple velvet-lined case. Continue reading “A Good Shave”