Jul 17th 2010PeterJournal & London & Painting & Shows
Saturday 17. 07. 10 Spent the morning in the studio whilst Carole and Daisy were at Pezenas market. Finished a couple of small paintings for the London show in November. Tonight up to George and Laurene”s for a swim and dinner.
May 18th 2010PeterJournal & London & Shows & Travel
Tuesday 18. 05. 10 Got back safely at noon today on time despite the volcanic cloud. Saw the Magnificent Maps exhibition at the British Library, climbed the Monument and took a tour of Tower Bridge. The Monument has 311 steps up this narrow circular stairway and has some interesting views of the city from the top. The height is based on the distance from the source of the Great Fire of London in Pudding Lane to the site of the monument itself. After tower bridge we also wandered around Butler’s Wharf and even went to the Design Museum. Monday morning shot some reference photos for my proposed series of monoprints of London stations (very convenient having Jason here shooting all this stuff!). Afterwards we went on a London walking tour around Mayfair – surprisingly good and not at all touristy. After pub lunch caught Greenline back to Luton. Stayed at the Days Inn, bland but functional. Tried to find somewhere to eat in Luton but not successful. The town centre is quite run-down and depressed with many places closed or for rent. Had to return to hotel for dinner. Up early this morning to get the 8.15 to Beziers. Drove home on the scooter via Decathlon where Jason found some ballet slippers for Poppy.
Nov 15th 2009PeterJournal & London & Travel
Sunday 15. 11. 09 Got back yesterday from a wonderful week in London. I arrived there last Saturday and met Julia who flew in from Toronto. We did a lot of walking, a lot of talking and we went to a lot of galleries. Highlights for me were the Sophie Calle show at the Whitechapel and the Kiefer show at the White Cube but we also went to both Tates, the National, the Courtauld, the Wallace Collection, the British Library and the Sir John Soane Museum. We walked all over the place but also spent time at the front of buses on the top deck. London as usual was busy and bustling with the Christmas lights up on Oxford and Regent streets. I also managed to see Monica, Polly and Lawrence and Diane. I have taken some photos of several of the larger London rail stations and hope to do a series of drawings based on them.
May 19th 2009PeterJournal & London & Shows & Travel & Uncategorized
Tuesday 19. 05. 09 Just got back from my trip to London. I stayed at the Europa Hotel in Paddington which was, central, clean and cheap with a serious full English breakfast. Met various friends and caught up and also did some serious gallery hopping. Henry VIII at the British Library, Picasso at the National, Constable and Richter at the NPG, Sickert at Dulwich, Rothko and Turner at Tate Britain, Messager at the Hayward and a few others. Also have set up an expo for November/December 2010 at the Naval and Military Club in St James’s Square. It was a great trip and I now have had my big city fix for a while. Lots of ideas which hopefully will percolate onto paintings. Photograph is Rotten Row Hyde Park.
Jul 1st 2008PeterJournal & London & Painting & Shows & Travel
01. 07. 08. Tuesday. Flew to London for the weekend to see Julia and see some of the new exhibitions. Arrived Friday morning and was chez Julia at her new digs in West Ruislip (end of Central Line) by 12.45. Met Jules, dumped my stuff and headed back in town with her. She went to work and I went up to the RA Summer Show. Usual eclectic mix but the Tracy Emin room was a disappointment altho the video of a the lower half of a naked young woman doing the hula hoop with a circle of barbed wire was pretty hard to watch! Met Julia after work and we went to our favourite cheap fish restaurant near the Old Vic and then back to Ruislip. Saturday, out early, full English in Nottinghill Gate and then over to the Tate for the Cy Twombly show. Good show, altho more a retrospective than a showing of some of his better pieces but the audio commentary was excellent. Wandered up to the Strand for lunch and then on to the V&A where we went to the Blood on Paper show. This was a show of artist’s books ranging from early Miro to Anselm Keifer to Damien Hirst. Again interesting but unfocussed but still worth the visit. Went back home and had a wonderful homemade salad for dinner. Sunday, I spent the morning in the garden with the Sunday papers whilst Julia worked and then we went to Uxbridge to see Wanted, a film that normally would not be on my list to see and then back to Ruislip for a very good curry at the local Indian restaurant. Monday I went up to work with Julia and had my breakfast at the BBC before going on to the RA again, this time to see a show on Vilhelm Hammershoi. A late 19th century Danish painter who painted the most hauntingly, tranquil images of empty rooms, landscapes and people with their backs to the painter. Remarkable subtle colours without being at all depressing. This was the best show that I saw! Rented a deckchair in Green Park and had lunch and then caught the train to Chris at Stisted where I enjoyed wine in the garden, a very tasty dinner and then a drive to Stansted airport at 3.30 in the morning! Slept all the way to Montpellier then caught the bus and was back here by 11 this morning.
Apr 9th 2008PeterJournal & London & Painting & Travel
08. 04. 08 Tuesday. Daisy and I went up to London today. Our first stop was the Sir John Soanes’ Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields where Daisy was convinced that the house is haunted particularly after discovering a skeleton and a life mask. The effect was also enhanced by the general low light and the large number of pieces of decorative antique stone in the place. We had our lunch in the square opposite and then took the tube to King’s Cross to the Gagosian Gallery on Britannia Street. This is a magnificent gallery in what seems to have been an old warehouse. Very cool with white walls and grey concrete floors and all the black attendants in dark suits. The show was new work by Howard Hodgkin which worked well in this environment. 
His lush, bright colours really sparkled against the white walls. I had never seen any of his big pieces before as I thought that he always worked in a pretty small format but here were some wonderful sumptious canvasses full of grand gestures. A great show. From here we took the tube to Old Street and on to the White Cube in Hoxton Square. We had already been to the White Cube in Mason’s Yark off Duke Street so this was a chance to visit the sister gallery. Again it seemed to be in a converted warehouse complete with interior white walls and grey concrete floor. This show curated by Harland Miller and was based on sending a number of artists various pieces by Edgar Allan Poe. The show was their reaction to the writing. Their were pieces by the usual suspects, Damian Hirst, Tracey Emin and Anselm Kiefer and a number of others whom I had never heard of. 
Interesting stuff ranging from a hot skull, to a beating heart to a lead coffin for Lord Usher. Part of the show was at the White Cube but far the more interesting pieces were in the basement of the Shoreditch Town Hall. This subterranean space was a maze of small rooms in various states of decomposition, quite dank and dark and a perfect site. Daisy was very impressed with the whole thing. Once out in the sunlight again we took the tube to Canada Water and Daisy bought a new riding hat at Decathlon. From there back to Waterloo and Windsor for tea.
Mar 13th 2008PeterJournal & London & Painting & Shows
13. 03. 08 Thursday. Went up to Tate Britain today to see the Peter Doig expo. Very inspirational. First of all I was impressed at the size of his paintings – for some reason I had always thought that they were smaller. I liked the uneasiness of the work – they all have a certain haunting quality which makes you wonder about what happened or what might happen. Also, particularly in the earlier paintings, I really like the layers and textures of the actual paint which seems to give them a luminescent quality. I found I preferred the earlier paintings to the later ones. The later ones do not seem as interesting either from a painting point of view or from the point of view of subject. The one thing that I did find fascinating was the room with his studies and sketches – it was interesting to see where he was coming from and to see how the work evolved. I liked his painting of that tunnel on the DVP with the rainbow colours.
Jan 23rd 2008PeterLondon & Shows & Travel
I spent Christmas in Toronto visiting friends and generally trying to stay in touch, house sitting Maryann and Gregory’s house and looking after their dog Jake. Julia and Daisy stayed with me whilst they were in town so Jake was quite happy having all this new company and in particular he enjoyed Daisy who was always either taking him for walks or bathing him! Snow before Christmas allowed Daisy to renew her tobogganing skills and just after Christmas I was also lucky enough to be around when Poppy first began to walk. She is now really mobile and is constantly exploring and keeping everybody on their toes too. En route back to Clermont stayed with Julia and Daisy in Windsor for 10 days before heading back down here. Whilst in the UK visited the Sir John Soane Museum in London and also went to an exhibit of Sickert nudes at the Courtauld. The Soane is really worth a visit to see what he did with natural light in a Georgian house and also to see the collection of original Hogarth paintings.
Sep 17th 2007PeterJournal & London & Painting
17. 09. 07. I had scattered Dad’s ashes at Kew Gardens after he died and wanted to scatter Mum’s there too. Mum has been kept in a cupboard at Julia’s since then, so today was the day. Carole and I took the train to Richmond and then on to Kew Gardens. Dad was illegally scattered in the Lilac garden so we found it again on the map and after lurking and checking no one was looking, I scattered them. Again I was amazed at how many ashes there were. I remember when I scattered Dad’s there was this huge white cloud blowing around the garden which I tried to ignore. This time there was no wind so the whole operation was more discreet. Afterwards when I was well away from the Lilac garden I had a great sense of satisfaction and of having done the right thing. As a young boy I remember being dragged off to Kew Gardens seemingly every Sunday as both Mum and Dad loved the place so its seems a fitting resting place for both of them. Today there was a new Henry Moore show on too and his sculptures work very well at Kew. Unfortunately the batteries on my camera ran out so I couldn’t take any pictures but you can see them on the highlighted website.
Sep 17th 2007PeterJournal & London & Travel
16. 09. 07. Beautiful morning, warm and sunny. We had decided to take a trip on the Regent’s canal so caught the train up to Paddington and then tube across to Warwick Avenue. Walked over to Little Venice and Jason’s boats and queued up for the 12.30 boat. The trip took about 45 minutes and went from Little Venice past Browning’s Island through a couple of tunnels, under bridges, even through the London Zoo, to Camden Lock. A very leisurely trip seemingly miles from the bustle of central London until we arrived at Camden Lock and Camden market. After the tranquil canal with its overhanging trees and regency mansions the market was a rabbit warren of colour and activity. There seemed to be countless stalls selling everything from celtic jewellery to Goth gloves to sculpture withj of course the ubiquitous Starbucks. It was medieval! We wandered around here with about a million other people amidst the smell of food and the sounds of many different languages for a couple of hours before catching the boat back to Little Venice and then back to Windsor on a very crowded train.
