Back in town

Wednesday 11. 12. 19 Got back safely on Saturday despite strikes and delays at Montpellier airport. Cold and snow when I arrived but it has since warmed up with rain so most of the snow has gone now. Been busy catching up with friends, saw the Downton Abbey film and am back at the Y.

London lights

Tuesday 19. 11. 19 Just back from a week in London where I met up with Carole and Julia. Saw a number of exhibitions. Highlights were William Blake at Tate Britain, Peter Doig at Michael Werner and Anthony Gormley at the RA. Met two new people: Julian Huxley, photographer https://julianhuxley.wixsite.com/photography, outside Burberries and Oswald De Sybel at Tate Britain. Julian was taking a self portrait in the reflections of the display in the store and Julian was sketching me. I had interesting chats with both. Carole, Julia and I visited Maureen in Sandhurst, had a tasty dinner with Polly in Covent Garden and also saw the lights in Regent and Carnaby streets. A busy trip comme toujours!

Souvenir

Friday 11. 10. 19 I did this small monoprint yesterday, which I then coloured, for my fellow table companions on the boat/bike tour.

The Netherlands

Tuesday 08. 10. 19 Just back from a week cycling with Jason along the medieval Hanseatic Trading route in Holland. We rode about 50+kms a day, slept and ate on a boat and generally had a good time and met some interesting people. The landscape was interesting too with dykes and woods, rivers and lakes but what was really spectacular were the cloud formations. Of course it rained most days but never all day. We spent the last weekend in Amsterdam and saw some good expos. The only downside was that I got my wallet stolen on Sunday so have been busy cancelling credit cards, and searching for replacement health cards, driving licence etc etc. Tant pis!

Windmills

Friday 19. 04. 19 I did this painting of the windmills at the Zaanse Schans for Julia as a souvenir of our bike ride through the tulips. The main windmill was used to grind pigments for paint. The other image is a coloured monoprint.

WW1

Wednesday 03. 10. 18 On 24 September Carole and I drove north to Belgium and Flanders Fields. We stayed at Poperinge which is near Ypres and explored a number of museums and sites in the area relative to when my grandfather was stationed there in September 1917. After some research we think we found where he was wounded in the Battle of Messines. We also found the site of the Hotel Trianon which had been converted to a hospital during WW1 and where he spent his convalescence and learnt to speak French! The top photos is Ravine Wood today where we think that he was wounded and the one below is the terrace of the hospital at Le Tréport.

The Drawing Room

 

 

Saturday 08. 09. 18 I have just got back home after a week in London doing a workshop at the Drawing Room. What an amazing week! I can’t remember the last time I have been so excited. The teachers and the students were all wonderful and the atmosphere was really stimulating. Above are some works from the course. The top one was a project with Amalie Pica, drawing a familiar object, the next one with Lisa Brice and was of my feeling of vulnerabliity when I first entered the class full of women and the bottom was an exercise in tinting with Paul Noble using an 8H pencil.

London

Wednesday 02. 05. 18 Just back from 5 days in a damp, cold London. Saw some interesting expos, the highlights of which were the Degas show at the National Portrait Gallery and the David Mine at the Dulwich. Also did both Tates and the Saatchi. The Tate needs to get its act together as all the shows there were so overcrowded – they need to get timed attendances organised. The James Cook Voyages at the British Library was also very good. Besides that enjoyed some bitter, sausages & mash and fish & chips.

The photo is a sculpture on the platform at Brixton.

York and London

Saturday 18.11. 17 Just got back in from a week in London and York with Julia and Daisy. I have always wanted to visit York and I wasn’t disappointed. A very accessible and fascinating place with its Roman and Viking history. Besides wandering around the town we visited two very modern museums – the York Castle Museum and the Jorvick Museum. The first covers all of York’s history and the second focusses on the Vikings. Both use very modern technology to get their message across. We also went to the excellent Railway Museum and Daisy and I went on a Ghost Walk.  After York we came back down to London and I went to various expos. Excellent Jasper Johns at the RA and Cézanne at the National Portrait Gallery. Also saw two good shows at Somerset house – one on the North and one on Sebald’s Melancholia. A stimulating week!

Marseille

 

marseille

Thursday 06. 10. 16 Went to Marseille yesterday with Patricia as she had to renew her Swiss passport. Walked all around the MUCEM but didn’t go inside to any of the expos. Also took the Hop on and Off bus up to Notre Dame de la Garde and back. Had a tasty lunch of sardines and generally wandered around. We drove to Montpellier and then took the train to Marseille.