Rowley Gallery Blog
An aerial view of Lucca and its magnificent walls planted with trees, a green belt around the city, a circular park punctuated by six gates and eleven bastions. In the foreground is Baluardo San Paolino. Continue reading “A Walk Along The Walls”
According to The Rough Guide to Tuscany & Umbria – The best town on the coast, Viareggio is also one of Tuscany’s biggest seaside resorts, graced with an air of elegance lent mainly by the long avenue of palms that runs the length of its seafront promenade. We walked the promenade but we didn’t see the sea. It is separated from the town by a series of gated private bathing beaches. Continue reading “A Walk Along The Promenade”
Southend pier is the longest in the world. It was built in 1830 to allow access across the mudflats for the boatloads of visitors arriving at the seaside resort from London. They came in search of its health giving waters and sea breezes. We came for fish & chips but Jamie and Jimmy’s Café was closed. Continue reading “A Walk Along The Pier”
Thirty paintings by David Mabb at the William Morris Gallery – The Arts & Crafts Movement meets Russian Constructivism. Mabb has superimposed pages from the Kelmscott Chaucer by William Morris with images by El Lissitzky from For The Voice, a book of revolutionary poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, to create a double celebration of utopian art. Continue reading “Announcer”
My article appeared recently in the August issue of The Artist magazine. This is the first time I have been asked to write such an article and I was concerned about how my text would be edited etc. But they did this very well and I am very pleased with the way it looks. Continue reading “Abstracting From The Landscape”
During all the recent celebrations for Terry Riley’s 80th birthday I discovered many unfamiliar videos and recordings but none was more welcome than this with Don Cherry from 1975:
It’s from a bootleg recording of a concert in Cologne (available here) and although none of the pieces are credited I think this one is Descending Moonshine Dervishes. It begins with Terry Riley keyboard improvisations and Don Cherry accompanying on doussn’gouni, weaving intricate sound patterns, but when Don switches to pocket trumpet the music changes gear and he just simply lifts my heart. Continue reading “Terry Riley”
The Pittenweem Arts Festival has been happening for about 30 years. Every year the committee invites 5 artists to show their work in venues around the town of Pittenweem. Continue reading “Pittenweem 2015”
A retrospective batch of photos from a July garden.
Sunflower
A self-seeded sunflower, dropped from the bird feeder. Goldfinches are messy feeders and seem to eat about one in three seeds – the rest they toss with great aplomb over their shoulders. Continue reading “A July Garden”
Manningtree was another daytrip destination in the early 1980s. We came on the train with our bikes from Liverpool Street to explore the country lanes around Dedham and Flatford, but we didn’t see much of Manningtree apart from the station. It was the gateway to Constable country. Continue reading “Manningtree”
We left the main road at Cross in Hand then down the back lanes to Chiddingly, an enchanting drive through the woods, alternately dappled with jewelled light sparkling through the leaves or dark and gloomy in sunken, narrow holloways, and always the threat of encountering oncoming traffic around the next bend of the single track road. It was an adventure even before we arrived. Continue reading “Farley Farm House”