Life Imitating Art

Lately I've been thinking about Art... It has been a while since I have spent a few hours in a museum, whiling away a few hours staring at beautiful combinations of colour and line. A couple of friends of mine are fantastic artists... One, a professional comedian, is an obvious suspect - always dressed flamboyantly. He accepts commissions to design stamps in Spain, and discusses constructing sculptures out of my hair. (Don't worry, I have no intention of cutting my Pride and Joy for Art's sake!) He introduced me, a long time ago now, to the art of Rinaldo, Ergisto and Cyrus Cuneo: Californian artists of the early 20th century. (A great Youtube view of California Artists with the Auction Network starts with Bonhams and Butterfields (Fine Art) #1 - I'm loving the William Keith and E Charlton Fortune's works.)


Rinaldo Cuneo - The Farm - c.1930



Rinaldo Cuneo - Storm Mountains - c.1930


Rinaldo Cuneo (1877-1933), "The Painter of San Francisco", started his adult life in the Navy, followed by artistic training in San Francisco under Arthur Putnum, working alongside Ralph Stockpole and Maynard Dixon. He went to England and became a fellow of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and later studied under Whistler. I love Tonalism in general, but I think his works are truly beautiful. Such a shame that he struggled to market them in his lifetime due to the advent of the Great Depression!

His youngest brother, Ernisto Cuneo, studied under John Sloan, and was an officer of the Kit Kat Club, an organisation that raised funds for art scholarships in early 19th Century New York. He specialised mostly in nudes and figurative drawings, and abandoned his art work to work in Real Estate...



Ernisto Cuneo - Nude Model, Kit Kat Club New York - 1920


Cyrus Cuneo also studied under Whistler, and settled in England, becoming a celebrated illustrator for London News and war artist, as well as becoming a Fellow of the Royal Academy. In my opinion, his war art is some of the most affecting I know, from a genre full of heart-rending material... The pictures below are prime examples of the genre, and particularly the top one, feels like it could be happening in Afghanistan right now! Such is the nature of warfare I suppose.

Cyrus Cuneo - British Pilot Destroys Fourteen Ammunition Trucks with a Single Bomb - c.1915



Cyrus Cuneo - An encounter between Turkish and Italian Troops - 1911


What do you guys think? Have you had much experience with the Californian Painters? What do you think of the Auction Network programme? I'm interested to hear your views...

Xxxc

Judge a Book by its Cover.

Articles bemoaning the end of the physical book shop sadden me... 

I can't describe the feelings that well up when I am in a book shop, from Waterstones to the rows of antique book stores opposite the British Museum, or the light, airy confines of the London Review of Books shop, or the dark pannelled Daunt's on Marylebone High Street. I just love trailing my fingers across spines old and new, picking things out, excited about the journey ahead.

My favourite book shop of all is John Sandoe's, just off the King's Road, where I remember a very deep, involved conversation with one of the proprietors about the relative charms of the Jennings books. I was a fan of Jennings' Little Hut, whereas he liked According to Jennings best of all... I must have only been about ten, but that conversation, standing in the shadow of bookcases so tall you feel dwarfed, with all that black wood and the slick, colourful spines, will stay with me forever. The time taken by someone who could have chatted to my parents, rather than me, in an effort to make a sale, will forever be treasured, and that is just one of a thousand moments I've had in that shop that remind me that selling books is more than just about ease and low price. (Hello Amazon!) 

Okay, so sometimes it is... When I need a book for book group, which I don't particularly fancy, and know will probably go charity-shop-wards soon enough, or if I am getting an excruciatingly expensive employment law book that's £50+ in Hammicks Legal Bookshop ( - not that I don't love it, but god, the prices are EYE WATERING!!!) and it's £12 on Amazon.

But I still want the little stores to be there. The ones that present me with the greatest adventures you can have in your own head. I love finding treasure, from the day Claire talked me into buying Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache in an anonymous Waterstones, to the expedition where I asked Karen in John Sandoe's for a recommendation of some unusual books to read on a plane; coming out with Richard Russo's Empire Falls and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake. Empire Falls remains to this day one of my personal high points of literature, and represents a great achievement for me. It was the first book - aside from one of the trashy romance novels, literally Mills and Boon stylee, that got me through two years of ilness (and still do get me through the bad patches of depression and panic I am still occassionally plagued with), that I read from cover to cover when I recovered from a debilitating and incredibly confidence sapping health issue that kept my teenage self from getting up, going to school, and having a normal life for far too long. The concentration it took to read that book was something I did not think I could do, but thanks to Karen, and to an amazingly rich tapestry of words, I found the experiences I had been sorely missing during my "lost" months of ilness, and gained back a small ounce of confidence in my own ability to bounce back.  That tiny achievement in the scheme of things still keeps me going today.

I digress.

When you're in a book shop, how do you choose the book? I tend to go for a cross between an analysis of whether or not I have heard of the author, whether I like the title and the cover, (nothing pink or curly or too fussy thank you!!!) and whether it feels right in my hand. I like little slips of books, and massive doorstops too. I hate a book to be too large or chunky to hold, though if it is large in size, let it be easily opened - and kept - at the right page... 

Some of my favourite "come to me" books I've encountered lately have been:

The Coralie Bickford-Smith designed Penguin Classics... Particularly The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Seriously... How awesome are all the bugs? I'm not the world's biggest Sherlock Holmes fan, though Benedict Cumberbatch did do an awesome turn... But this book, with all its Antipodium tones really ticks the book buying box for me. Judging a book by its cover? Oh yes.

I so want this skirt... But that book is the Next Best Thing!!! =D (Photo from Cupcakes For The Eyes)

This Jane Eyre edition is also stunning. I think it really evokes the atmosphere of the book, and as I take great pride in choosing to own the editions of books I think are the best representation of the words inside, I'd buy this over other editions any day...

The cover art is by Petra Börner. I think her work is generally pretty awesome...

What about The Long Song by Andrea Levy?

I just LOVE the colours of this book, shortlisted for last year's Man Booker Prize. Take Andrea Levy's name, add a story about Jamaican Plantation life - my mother spent a while in Jamaica in the 70s, and its culture and history fascinate me - and put a kick ass cover on the front, and I'm SOLD!

What about you guys? Any stories to tell, or books that just took your breath away?

Hope you're all having a truly lovely long Easter weekend!!!

Xxxc

Green Light at the end of the dock...

Now I'm the first to admit that I've been crap at this blogging malarkey of late... It's been bloody ages since my last post, and I haven't even been checking in on other people! Naughty huh.

I've been working at my internship since the end of June and I think that I just needed to separate work and play a bit. Inspiration has been oddly lacking, and I've been madly dashing from one "London thing" to the next, so updating online hasn't exactly been a priority!

My life of late has been hectic to say the least, filled with lots of time with friends, theatre, film, art and yummy food. Claire from The View From Here is teaching me how to bake, and life's really rather satisfactory.

Work's fun as I work with lovely people, but I have come to realise that as much as I love fashion and clothes and making visual statements through my wardrobe; creating a character, I don't want to make it my career... Which I guess is why I haven't been online. I need a bit of separation between work and play.

However, with fashion week coming up, and work being frenetic, I thought now would be an *ideal* time to start blogging again (see the slight sarcasm?)!!! ;-D I won't be around commenting too much, but I'm going to try to post content more often.

So. Where to start?

Well, first up, I have a couple of reviews and an update on my current addictions:

1) my name necklace

Okay, so Sex and the City is a looooong way gone, but I got sent a Cassiopeia name necklace by the lovely people at mynamenecklace.co.uk! Exciting times. I shall put up a photo as soon as I can, but my camera is currently not exactly working. It's silver and I wear it several times a week. It makes me smile! It's good quality and came in a lovely purple gift box too. I'm a sucker for pretty presentation... The only reason I don't wear it every day is that as far as jewellery goes I usually prefer gold, and I wish I'd asked for an 18" not a 16" chain, but overall I'd really recommend this website if you are going to get one! I certainly love mine, and if I weren't completely broke I'd get myself another one!!! I rather like the acrylic necklaces like this one. So thanks to Steve for getting me involved!

2) borders and frontiers teeshirts

Again, everyone's got one of the Tavi tees by now, and the Igor and Andre blog ones are doing the rounds too - and you all look GORGEOUS! But since I haven't been online much lately, I thought I'd just spare a moment to wax lyrical about these tees. These are my favourite basic wear-with-anything-anytime tops. I wear them to work with skirts and belts and on the weekends in city or country with jeans or dresses. The cotton is so thick and yummy and though they blatantly don't exactly make me look stick thin, I love them anyway... The adorable Drew even sent me this lovely specimen new one that, bad me, I'm not sure which blog it belongs to, but I adore, which again I will have to wait to put pictures of up as camera = dimwitted. I am also *loving* Rumi's one and have had a long term crush on the one by Bonjour Girl... Wish (as usual) I wasn't so darn broke!!!

3) lots and lots and lots of theatre

My life of late has revolved around shows... I love that the calibre of things being put on in and around London this summer has been so high. As I had saved up to enjoy my time at home, I've done a tonne, and loved every minute of it.

A few highlights:

Dominic Cooper in Phedre. Love Racine. Love his arms. Sigh.

Ian McKellen in Waiting For Godot. Perfect. Bumbling through Beckett. A Class Act.

Arcadia... Just a lovely play.

The Mariinsky Ballet at the Royal Opera House - not technically theatre... The Homage to Balanchine was amazingness personified, and their Sleeping Beauty was breathtaking.

Jerusalem at the Royal Court. I've loved Mark Rylance since he was artistic director at the Globe, and he's just AMAZING. Such stage presence. Such a beautiful voice. Such a great play.

I've also been to a lot of Proms - managed 5 concerts in one day on the bank holiday!!! And a lot of film... Anyone who gets a chance to see Mid-August Lunch SHOULD!!!

Okay, enough rambling now. I should sleep. I'm off to the Tate in the morning bright and early to see the Futurism exhibition with one of my closest friends who has been away in Edinburgh for a month... Woop!

Night. I promise there'll be more pictures next time!

Xxxc

Red Legged Exhibition Exhibitionist

So today was the last day of *this* exhibition of Sarah Wilson's work...

I'd been meaning to go all holiday - there are many examples like this where I wait and wait and wait 'til the last minute and almost (or do) miss great stuff.

Basically, this is going to be a two-part post... This is about my clothes today... Because I am impatient and can't wait to put them up... And part 2 - next week - will be about the artist, collection and exhibition itself! 

So. Here goes.

Shocked. Bright legs. Art. Light.

Wearing - Red M&S tights, ubiquitous ToyWatch, ASOS.com horse print shorts, Motel lace back dress (wrong way around) over Tavi / Borders and Frontiers teeshirt and Hush Puppy black sheer-lace-up heeled Oxfords. Oh, and in the first two pics, I'm also covering up with the ever-useful Tibetan shawl and carrying the UBER-CHIC (not) laptop bag!

The exhibition was at New Hall (now Murray Edwards, but we still call it the old name...) College, which is what's called a 'hill college' - i.e. out of town by about 15 minutes or so - FAR in Cambridge terms, AND it's all girls... Eek. I like my 70:30 boys to girls ratio thank you very much! ;-D (More about New Hall's art collection in Part 2!)

It was the first properly sunny day we've had (in Cambridge - I'm excepting my sunny Hampshire Easter Monday here...) in ages. Bliss. Not quite warm enough for uncovered legs, but certainly teeshirt weather!

Sorry for the short-ish post. I've got several hundred more dissertation words to do before bed. Sigh.

Xxxc

Photos, as ever, by Alex Tatton-Brown

Sorry for being away!!!

Hello everybody!

It's been far too many days since I last posted, and I've been missing the blogosphere like mad! The dissertation draft is on its way to completion - not quite there yet, but hopefully by the end of the weekend! *Crosses fingers*

Anyway, I'm back (ish) - posting's going to be less frequent than usual for a while, but I have a few posts up my sleeve and some PHOTOSHOOTS!!! Woop! T-B is back in Cam-land, and we're raring to go!

So... The first of much Easter-term procrastination-shoots:

Wonderland: circa.1628

Wearing - French Connection long grey jersey skirt, TopShop realitees concession twist back t-shirt, Paul Smith mustard blazer, Jocasi belt, ToyWatch, Jaeger brown leather court shoes, brown macrame flower necklace bought from a tiny craft shop in Florence...

- Here I'm looking at one of the indexes... Each large book case has a hand written index inside a little fold out wooden window... Mostly in Latin, but occassionally understandable, they're almost as fascinating as the books themselves!

It was lovely to get out of the main library today for a wander around the "Old Library" in college... Built in 1628 from a donation of £1400 (haha), it houses some of the most precious books in the world - books, manuscripts, journals, paintings, medals, field notes etc - ranging from the 15th century to the present day... 

Some of my favourite things (aside from endless keyword searches of the medieval manuscripts collection) are the works of Ovid that belonged to Lorenzo de Medici (1474 - arms of the Medici - illuminated - and Marsuppini - sketched marginalia - here) , the first complete translation of the Bible into English (photos of pages from 1535 and 1537 here) and the 1808 book on the abolition of the slave trade by Thomas Clarkson, one of our alumni who was instrumental in the abolition along with other almuni including William Wilberforce (photos of illustrations of conditions on slave ships here). 

In the more modern section of the library (- by more modern I mean it holds more recent books), there are vast archives of the works of fellows and alumni including the field notebooks of Jack Goody (anthropologist) and the conference journals, mystery novel manuscripts and neanderthal cartoons of Glyn Daniel - ex Disney-prof of archaeology (- Janus entry for the papers here). 

I love each and every one of those things with a passion, and every time the adorable college special collections librarian (J) lets me into the old library, sometimes for hours at a time, I breathe in the air of musty old books and really think about how lucky I am that they're here... And I'm trusted with their safety! It's quite scary to think about sometimes! You can't really take them out of the bookcases, unless J is with you - well, practically, one could, but morally... If you actually want to study any of it, one should get it out with J and look at it in the reading room. Some of the medieval manuscripts (like this one) are breathtaking to study in person...

Saying that, especially downstairs, you do tend to just rummage... I love all the pastel sketches of fellows done for their portraits, and there is one particular archive that I have been allowed huge free reign with, that I won't tell you about just yet, as it's going to form the basis of a project that I'll be publishing on the blog in a couple of months time! Let's just say, it's awesome... Well worth the suspense... Honest! :-D 

Sigh... So much for today's work ethic! I should probably go and get on with my case studies now. Must stop thinking about old books with no relavence to dissertation and start thinking about the ones in front of me!!! ;-D

Xxxc

P.s. Please bear with me while I catch up on my several hundred googlereader posts and everyone's lovely comments! And, as ever, photos by Alex Tatton-Brown, and thanks to JH.

Weekend of Lovliness Series #3

Ok... So this one's the last in the series from last weekend. Sob! ;-D

As promised, this post is the detail shots I rather liked... Mainly focussing on accessories: the scarf, the brooch, the tights and the bag... 

- My lovely little clutch, hanging from a railing in one of Chelsea's private gardens, while I tied my shoelace... How SHINY!!! :-D

- I didn't watch the boat race... I was too busy gorging on barbeque ;-D 

- Loving the scarf against those tights... T-B took this one as I was getting back up from tying that pesky shoelace the ten millionth time. I like the contrast... *Note to self: need new laces!* 

- Oh, it's just so stressful, lazing around in the sun!

- My amazing Rodchenko and Popova exhibition brooch - the hammer actually moves due to the cog! How kwl is that?!?! :-D

Sigh. So now that's over... I don't think there'll be any more T-B photoshoots til he gets back to Cam on the 12th. Not too long, honest! 

I'll try to fill in the blanks with some self timer photos, but it depends on how deep into this hole of dissertation gloom I get. I may end up in my horrendous Jack Wills trackies (not my idea, but they are darn comfy) and uber-old, uber-darned and holey cashmere mens sweaters that are comfy as hell but not exactly stylish ;0) This isn't a joke... I may crack... In case you hadn't noticed the levels of stress my dissertation is causing...

- My diary from this week... nothing else in it...

- The state of my desk...

- The offensive / offending document ;-D

Haha. Oh well. I should have quite a chunk done by the end of the weekend, but I think, if I didn't have this blog, and you guys keeping me cheery, I'd be much more of a basket case. And that's saying something!!!

Until tomoro lovelies,

Xxxc

To keep T-B happy ;-D - images in this post are either Copyright Alex Tatton-Brown (1-5) or my own (6-8). Seriously though, 8, and all text therein, is DEFINITELY copyright me. Mainly because I don't particularly want to end up getting in trouble with the uni proctor of examinations... Sigh.

The Weekend of London Lovliness Series - #1

As I said... This weekend, at the boat race, we did a photoshoot.

Although I said the photos would be in limbo, T-B has come through for me, and since there are a few different aspects that I want to show off, I'm going to break down the shoot-posts into three 5-picture parts... # 1 is the photo shoot itself, # 2 is inspiring images of the surrounding area and # 3 is detail shots.

I'm going to do them interspersed with posts about my former life as a costume wench at the ADC theatre in Cambridge, so bear with me this week! Hopefully there'll be plenty for you to enjoy feasting your eyes on, and I'll try to find interesting things to say about it all ;-D

So...

Step 1) Ignore boat race. Hug instead.

Step 2) Go home and dance in the streets

Step 3) Admire motorbikes.

Step 4) Have fun with reflections

Step 5) Strike a pose. In. Vogue. (Well, almost...)

It was a great day, and thanks to all involved in that. Not only was the exhibit in the morning one of the best museum trips I've ever had, but my friends at the boat race were on top form, and taking T-B to my childhood-home bit of London - Chelsea. 

We moved to a more suburban area when I was school age, but due to friends and family, most of my formative memories are here... It's where I am most comfortable. Our flat was above a quite famous pub on the even more famous King's Road - where Vivienne Westwood had her SEX shop...

In a Susie-Bubble-esque shops-googlemaps-venture, on a smaller, much more personal scale, I created my London Life-Map (1 - Chelsea). Hopefully I'll do some more soon, but here's for starters... 
View Larger Map 

- when you click to a larger map, you need to go up and to the left slightly if you can't see any of the pins or the KR - for some reason it sometimes decentres... -

Going back in the midst of stressy dissertation time was a breath of fresh air.

Anyway... on the day I was wearing Adidas patent basketball shoes - bought in Paris with my mum on a girlie holiday last year, the Topshop tights, the purple leather skirt from Rokit, blue GAP tee, GAP shell pink cardigan, scarf from charity shop in Rochester, Toy Watch, purple leather flower cuff from ARK, Rodchenko and Popova exhibition brooch (detail forthcoming in #3), Dolce and Gabbana red patent clutch bag, Paul Costelloe coat...

Oh, and my AIDS day ribbon that I refuse to take off. I'm Cambridge's student's union executive Sexual Health and HIV Awareness officer, so wearing it is part of my job description as well as being for a cause I really believe in. It's so so important... Have a look at CAMFED - a campaign to educate girls in rural Africa and help them gain economic independence after leaving school in a bid to end their poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS. It's a really amazing cause!

Until next time chicas!

Xxxc

Theatrical musings and Russian 1920s art...

So I used to be a costume wench (designer) for theatre productions... I spent most of first and second year dressing other people for the stage before I buried myself in work and came back into the collegiate fold.

But that doesn't stop me having a bit of a thing for theatrical aspects of clothing and a bit of a crush on costume and set designing artists...

So anyway, yesterday I went home to London again, this time for the Oxford Cambridge boat race - we lost... BOOOOOOO! - and to go to the Tate Modern for the Rodchenko and Popova: Defining Constructivism exhibition... 

The boat race was lovely - it was sunny, everyone was happy (until we lost) and all in all, it was great seeing my friends... T-B and I Did do a photo shoot, but that will emerge later in the week as those photos are currently in computer-limbo until he's back from a visit to his girl in Bath. 

So... The exhibition was also AMAZING. I must admit to being a huge fan of a lot of modern art - I spend a lot of my free time at the Tate Modern, and this is no exception. I love their use of line and colour. We were in quite a silly mood and spent quite a lot of the exhibition trying to decide what images they could be behind the abstract-ness...

 

The collage is mainly Rodchenko and his graphic design work, while the paintings are some of Popova's GORGEOUS stuff. I love her use of colour and shade. It's so subtle and expressive!

Both Rodchenko and Popova, under the early years post-Russian Revolution produced first studio easel work FAR ahead of its time and then moved from conventional artistry to posters, textiles, graphics, architecture, furniture and mass media - designing for a worker's club (we played a game of chess on one of the boards Rodchenko designed) and the poster for "Battleship Potemkin" for example... The colours and shapes are so striking and I ended up dreaming about it all last night. A simple but beautiful exhibition which I really felt opened my eyes, both from a more traditional painting POV and a graphic / textile design one.

They also designed clothes and costumes for theatre and Rodchenko designed stage sets, which were amazing...

Aren't these kwl? They're dress and textile designs by Popova... I just love the patterns and the muted but strong colours... They had a scarf in the hammer and sickle design. I didn't get it but now wishing I had. I might nip back in if I'm in London again while the exhibition's on... Naughty eh ;-D

And this is my favourite costume by Rodchenko... I'm a sucker for a)burgundy and b) uniform. Hehe.

In the shop, I fell in love with something else... A book on Russian and Soviet theatre which is not only really interesting about theatre under oppression but also contains some AMAZING photos of sets and costumes...

the Classicising figure in the bottom left is Just To Die For, especially considering it's pre-Revolution and yet looks like it could be put on stage tomorrow!

None of the images in these two collages are from Rodchenko and Popova, but from the book "Russian and Soviet Theatre" byRudnitsky

I wish I had time to snuggle up with this book, but it will have to wait a while... Until then, it is sitting on my shelf, unread, but filled with possibilities. I am really feeling some of the make up techniques and the harsh lines.

Xxxc

Home Sweet Home: gorging on exhibitions.

Well, I've been crap this weekend... I think going backwards and forwards between Cam and London means I've got a bit caught up in stuff other than blogging. So I'll try to be more regular - even though I won't have pretty photographs most of the time.

Anyway, yesterday I managed a day of exhibition binging: the Royal Academy in the morning for the last day of the Byzantium exhibition and the Palladio one, then to the Tate Britain to the Van Dyck in Britain exhibition...

I barely rolled out of bed in time for my slot at the RA, but just in time I ran through the doors to a really rather wonderful collection. In honesty, it took me almost 2 hours to go through, which may well be a new record for me. And considering how little info there was on the labels, it was one hell of a stuffed-to-the-gunnels exhibition! 

I am a BIG church-history buff, and being able to get up close and personal with some of this stuff was amazing... I LOVED the display of icons - especially the huge, 14th century silver gilted ones, and the last room which was filled with icons from the monastery of St Catherine, Sinai. The colours were so inspiring and I just wanted to stay there forever... 

The lighting is really low and mysterious, and right at the beginning the curators have explained that there is so little that we know about Byzantine culture, thus, I suppose, the lack of info on the labels - which was frustrating at times...

My favourite pieces was an icon of St Michael that was enamelled and covered in precious gems. The central figure was almost like a doll, in that it came forth from the icon; in my mind, ready to do battle. Amazing workmanship. It makes me wanna play "dress-the-archangel" with some action men and my sewing machine... (Damn this dissertation!) But HOW KWL is his tunic?!?!

Oh, and the last piece in this huge exhibition was rather special too - it was an illuminated manuscript of the heavenly ladder (The Ladder of Divine Ascent). The picture's a little crappy, but I loved this... The colours were so vibrant and I'm feeling dressing like one of those little black devils for the next fancy dress party I go to. Hehe.

And there was also some pretty darn cute jewellery!

When I was done in there, despite my buggered ankle complaining about the high heels I was tramping around in, I wandered straight on to the Palladio exhibition. Now this one was much lighter and airier, and mostly drawings and models of these wonderful buildings... Now my main interest is religious buildings, so there was plenty for me to get excited about, though I have to admit, I could have done with less information overload! (Exactly the opposite of the Byzantium exhibition lol.)

The photos and drawings were beautiful though, and after the dark mysteriousness of the Byzantium exhibition it was nice to look at airy spaces and little models of churches and monasteries! Love architecture, though there were perhaps too many drawings, as I was quite tired and by this point had been in the RA for about 3.5 hours... Boy was I glad to get out and to the Tate...

Going to the Tate was a massive mission as the train line which takes you there was out... But I did have a great time getting there. I wandered past the Houses of Parliament, wandered around "Jewel Tower" which was part of the medieval palace complex, and skipped through a park which had a wierd and colourful pagoda in. Lots of fun.

The Van Dyk exhibition was EXCELLENT... Just enough info and gorgeous paintings. And I could spend hours in the members room, sipping tea hehe.

The colours in the paintings were so wondrous, I spent HOURS in there, staring at the painting of the fabrics and the wistful looks in peoples' eyes. Yum.

They also had a few paintings 'inspired' by Van Dyck's work, and I particularly loved this portrait of Mrs Sandys by de Lazlo. How graceful is she!?!?

So all in all, a great, but knackering day. And it was mothers' day, and I didn't see my mum at all until the evening when I was passed out on the sofa with a migraine. Ooooops! Sorry mum...

I tried to take a few photos using my crappy little point and click on timer, but I looked a bit of an idiot... If you can see the pics, I was wearing my London-tough-garb - black cheap monday jeans, old massive I Love Firenze cat teeshirt, 101 dalmations silk scarf, porcelain pendant and Harley Mechanics jacket... The pics are of the two most inspiring bits of my-home-patch I passed. Noone ever notices the little pagoda by Lambeth Palace (Westminster) but it's so pretty, and got to love that architecture :-D

Right. I should have been in bed HOURS ago...

Xxxc