The Turner exhibition was wonderful. A beautiful sunny day is the best day to visit the Burrell. We spent Saturday there and although SED didn't accompany us (despite taking her, being one of the main reasons I wanted to go. Teenagers!) I still enjoyed it. The application of the paint is wonderful and I found myself visually drawn to the bottom corners of most of his paintings. Have a look at the slide show to see what I mean. I love the bottom left corners. A trip around the rest of the museum reminded me why this 9000 piece collection is worth visiting. The parkland around is also nice and you can wander down to Pollok House.
Later, visiting our most elderly relative, reminded me that life is what you make it. This is a woman who has gone through so much pain and loss in her life, past and present but always remains positive and cheerful. As SYD remarked later "she never stopped smiling the whole time we were there". A lesson to us all.
posted by Red Writer
Wednesday, February 25
I was reminded recently of the great art of Eric Drooker. There are some great graphic pictures and some wonderful paintings. The opening page on the website is Native New York, a painting which inspired Laurence Ferlinghetti to write poem #7
posted by Red Writer
Incase anyone hasn't noticed the url for the site has changed. So if you have me linked from your site, please be sure to alter your template. If you are just an occassional visitor thanks for dropping by.
Problems with publishing the blog have resulted in a bit of a lack of enthusiasm for writing. This is all the more frustrating because it's been a busy few days and I had lots to say.
Friday 13th saw SO and I set off to Wales to meet up with friends for the weekend - and to take in a rugby match and valentines day (not much of a connection in my eyes but SO sees things differently!). I quite like long drives and it was a good journey there and back. We managed to do a bit of sightseeing in Cardiff on Saturday morning and the sun shone for that bit, which was nice.
The millenium stadium is vast, a huge impressive structure which gave me lots of photo opportunities with my digicam to work on for my art portfolio. An added bonus was that, unlike Murrayfield, the MS allows drinking inside the stadium and even provides the means to do so! Despite the score, it was a great experience.....so many people for someone who is becomming more and more of a misanthrope.
Sunday we made a quick visit to Tintern Abbey. It was impressive, very impressive. And now I understand why Wordsworth was so inspired to write his "lines above.." which I vaguely remember pouring over a few years ago. And why Turner was so impressed by the lighting. Unfortunately the light wasn't good enough for the digicam - brilliant for painting but too cold. I took lots of pictures with the other camera, so have even more art material. Just wish I had the time.
Tuesday was a night at the Theatre to see the fantastic Lyceum production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. SO remarked that he had never seen me cry at the theatre before. Normally I am too conscious that it is a production - you know, actors playing parts, despite how good they are. But this, this really was one of the best, if not the best thing I have seen in the theatre and yes, such was the strength of acting in some parts, the emotion and empathy it evoked, moved me to tears.
Thursday I was struck down (or so it felt) and lay in bed for about five hours thinking this was it. Fortunately for me it wasn't and thankfully it seemed to pass almost as quickly as it arrived, leaving me pretty exhausted for a day but not so bad that I couldn't drag myself off to my art class slightly paler in complexion but nonetheless enthusiastic on Friday. It was a good class. I worked on two pieces one of which got favourable comments from tutor and family and the other which was a bit different but something I enjoyed painting. 19th March deadline is looking too too close though.
Friends and family over the weekend, another rugby match and a ballet show (them not me) meant not much more has been accomplished in either the housework or the artwork. But another milestone was reached. SED accompanied SO to the match (willingly) - which against my better judgement also involved the pre and post-match tradition of going to the pub. Meanwhile, I took SYD shopping (which turned out to be expensive). It was a late kick-off so I did get home in time to watch the very good battle even though it was a predictable outcome. I had stupidly thought SED would help keep an eye on SO when they were out but when SYD and I joined them afterwards for a little while and to take SED home, she was the one who didn't want to leave! I can't help thinking she's going to take after SO in that respect, God help us when she actually starts drinking!
Several emails have been exchanged between blogger, me and my service provider to see what the problem with the publising is but to no avail so far.
This is the first year in many that I have missed the Turner watercolours in Edinburgh. January seemed to go before I realised it! So I am delighted that the new Turner exhibition: The Late Seascapes, at the Burrell in Glasgow started on Thursday and will run until 23rd May. It is a must. If I go soon, I might even manage two trips. The leaflet can be downloaded from here and for those who can't make it or who want a preview, there is a slideshow here
posted by Red Writer
Tuesday, February 17
This may be bad news for some people. Did you know your drinking habits can be determined through your hair!
posted by Red Writer
Thursday, February 12
I don't like to boast too much about how much pleasure my children give me just by being them but last night I was reminded of how amusing they can be too. Having just done an audition for Dorothy in the Yellow Brick Road. SYD came in with her latest new joke she'd been mulling over whilst singing. Q:Where is the best place to go to weigh a pie? A: Somewhere over the rainbow (somewhere over the rainbow...weigh a pie!!!!) I know *groan* I will never be able to hear that song again now without singing the alternative lyrics to myself and smiling. It's almost as bad as the one she made up when she was about 8 It was along the lines of the Q: what's brown and sticky? A: A stick. You know the kind of childish humour which you don't want to admit to finding funny but which now and again you hear something which you think is. Her joke:- Q:What's green and flies? A: A courgette cour/jet!! get it. Normally all her jokes are followed by her dissolving into uncontrolable hysterical laughter and last night was no exception. It was nice to see. Have to wait until next week to hear if she will be Dorothy. I wish her well but have to admit to having very mixed feelings now!
posted by Red Writer
Tuesday, February 10
My knowledge of counties south of the border is so bad that I suspect I have been to more places than I have ticked - I just don't know what they are called! PS: Updated this a little!
Listening to the radio this morning I heard a piece of music which "spoke" to me so loudly that I knew I had to go out and buy the cd. It was from Karl Jenkins'The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. The track I heard was 'Benedictus'.
It was 7 minutes and 35 seconds of... actually I can't quite find the words to describe how beautiful the music was or how it made me feel because everything sounds so pathetically dramatic. I had been thinking about the images I saw yesterday linked from Holly's site to the exhibition of Killer Shots and Keven Carter's gut-wrenching photo shot in Sudan. I bought the cd, knowing little about it and having heard only the one track.
The coincidence that 'The Armed Man' was a commission by Guy Wilson, Master of the Royal Armouries seemed strangely appropriate. It was written to commemorate the millennium of the Royal Armouries, "Britain's oldest national museum....that has as one of its main purposes the display of the hardware of war and through this the encouragement of an understanding of what war really is, and what it means and does to the people involved in it."
The CD depicts a musical journey through the different stages of war from the marching army, reflections before battle, the charge, the aftermath, the destruction, the benedictus to heal the wounds and then to the final positive climax of the work 'Better is Peace'. Jenkins dedicated his work to the victims of Kosovo.
Not only is the music and the choral singing wonderful but Jenkins used words from various christian and cultural sources around which he based his music.
"The Armed man must be feared: Everywhere it has been decreed that every man should arm himself with an iron coat of mail." Alfred Lord Tennyson
Lancelot - "Better is peace than always war" Guinevere - "And better is peace than evermore war" Sir Thomas Malory Le Mort de Arthur
Reading some online reviews it seems I am not the first to be struck with the urge to buy after hearing the haunting strains of 'Benedictus'. Never under estimate the power of radio!
posted by Red Writer
Found this this morning - what colour are you?:
you are darkslateblue #483D8B
Your dominant hue is blue, making you a good friend who people love and trust. You're good in social situations and want to fit in. Just be careful not to compromise who you are to make them happy.
Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it.
Your outlook on life can be bright or dark, depending on the situation. You are flexible and see things objectively.
Am I scary? Am I? Am I???? So why when people see me working, do they sidle silently up to my desk and just stand there expectantly? If you want to see me SPEAK! Don't just stand there hovering. Yes I am working, yes I will speak to you but since there are so many people in and out of the office all day if I stopped to look up at everyone who walks past me and ask if they want to talk to me I'd get nothing done. So here are a few basic rules of courtesy. 1. Do walk up to my desk 2. Do say hello 3. Do say, can I ask you something? or can I interrupt you for a minute? or something like that. 4. Don't stand in the middle of the room looking around 5. Don't stand there silently 6. Just say something if you want to attract my attention. Is that clear?
posted by Red Writer
Sunday, February 1
If you have a spare minute, this puzzle might keep you amused.
Mr Picasso head is also great fun - and it doesn't matter if you can't draw! My effort will grace these pages shortly.
I heard about the Watercolours Fair on the radio last week and forgot to post the link. It's a pity I live so far away, but the website is good and the catalogue is only £6 by post and has 60 postcards of the work exhibited in it.
