Katharina Grosse: This Drove my Mother up the Wall

I saw this exhibition not too long ago, by artist Katharina Grosse, which I thought was pretty memorable. It’s called ‘ This Drove my Mother up the Wall’ at the South London Gallery, and features a room covered in boldly thrown paint on walls and doors.

I loved the rainbow effect of this piece – it’s vibrant, alive, messy but beautiful and while walking around the room, it felt like I was in a colourful wonderland. There’s colourrs on parts of the floor, ceiling and doors as well as the wall, although none of it is organised or structured.

I really love the feel of this piece – it reminds me of chaos but in a cheerful way – rather than being an angry piece or a hostile one, it is enthusiastic, a little like thoughts spilling out which can’t be contained.

I’m looking forward to seeing the artist’s next exhibition which is currently on at the Gagosian Gallery in London, which is another colourful, vibrant piece that is on until the end of the week – I recommend you visit if you get the time!

Luxurious Glamour at The Wallace Collection

A friend and I recently took a visit to the very beautiful Wallace Collection, which is a museum in the middle of London, in a luxurious town-house, displaying hundreds of French 18th-century painting, furniture and porcelain, as well as armoury and older paintings.

While it might make bring to mind  the slightly more touristy National Portrait Gallery, this Collection is a lot more visually appealing – the rooms are each beautifully displayed with grandeur aplenty, and there’s plenty of things to see.

I loved how all the rooms have their own character, with a separate vivid colour theme for each room so that the furniture, artwork and small trinkets all went together well. Each painting had something to look at, and the beautifully ornate furniture looked amazing – like something from of a historical period-film!

One of the things I also enjoyed was that the museum is relatively quiet – there’s plenty of time to walk around at your own pace, you get to explore the house (although you still can’t touch!), and best of all, you’re allowed to take photos (which a lot of other places don’t allow) – and entry is free too.

At the end of the tour, when you’re done, there’s a charming little restaurant outside to have some tea and relax. I didn’t manage to get a chance to visit the restaurant this time, but I will do the next time I come here to browse (and daydream about being a princess in 17th Century France).

If you’re around central London, I’d recommend a visit, whether it’s just ten minutes or a couple of hours, it’s a visual delight for anyone : )

Miniature Silhouette Art

Here’s a few pieces I worked on recently, I wanted to use some metallic silver or gold pens on these to add a little sparkle but didn’t find a decent enough pen to use unfortunately. I love drawing miniatures (plus I find them easier than larger scale pieces, usually because I end up drawing everything out of proportion!) and thought I’d mix up some watercolour backgrounds with silhouettes. I’ve done a couple more but didn’t love those, so here are my three favourites.

I’m trying to push myself to practise, practise, practise more of my pen lines, so fingers crossed I’ll be posting more soon! Let me know what you think, and which you like most : )

 

City Sunsets in Canary Wharf

I’ve been a busy bunny these days, so it feels like I hardly get time to blog. It’s frustrating as heck because I have a few blog posts to write and a few book/food/cupcake/city reviews to write and I keep getting caught up with domesticity!

I’ll do my best to post this weekend, but in the meantime, here’s a beautiful sunset hubby and I caught last week while dining in Canary Wharf. I feel like I don’t see enough of these (either the day is too long or the sky is too grey!), so this was a special one for me – first sunset picture in ages!

Happy weekendings all, I’ll be posting soon!

Writing on the Wall: Classical Colours

One of my biggest issues with my attempts with art is that I never feel that it’s as good as other people’s masterpieces, or that it’s not quite right, so it needs to be a little better. When I was younger I was convinced that I’d be better as I drew more and learned more about art – used different techniques and mediums and just find my niche. Sadly enough, over the years, even though my enthusiasm still sparks into life when I’m in the arts and craft section and when I read about different styles of drawing, it fizzles out a little when I pick up a pencil (or drawing tablet!) to draw something myself.

I saw this a few days ago and loved the riot of colour in all this – even though it’s framed and placed against other frames, they don’t act as boundaries, there’s patterns within patterns, and beautiful details which overlap and pulls the eye.

I’d love to paint something like this, and it’s when I see beautiful things like this that I feel inspired, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. I’m not sure I’m skilled enough to paint with oil paints just yet, but I’d love to try mixing colours and media to see what beautiful colours and patterns I get. So here’s a little colour to brighten up the weekend.

My Week In Pictures: Cookies, Cakes, Brits and Red Shoes

I’ve had a whirlwind of a week, it feels, and have only managed to recover today and laze! I’ve been shopping, visiting fashion workshops, having cakes, baking cookies and not least, managed to get a Brits Award show!

I’ll be posting more of what I’ve been up to, but in the meantime I’m nibbling more cookies that I’ve baked and wondering whether to watch an golden oldie (The Mummy, I’m in an Egyptian mythology mood) or whether to read a book!

Happy weekendings all x

Weekly Challenge: Cover Art

A few days ago I saw a really colourful piece of street art in Brick Lane, near Aldgate East which caught my eye, not least of all because of the funky design which shows a quirky character (with, I think, his hands on his head?)

I think this would make a really interesting album cover, or even a sketch, or even a comic series! What do you think?

Part of this weeks Weekly Photo Challenge: Cover Art

Beautiful Grafitti Birds by L7M

I ‘m mesmerised by these beautiful bird art pieces in grafitti style, by a Brazilian artist who goes buy L7M, (and is known as Luis Seven Martins by his parents) who blends media and colours to get a dreamy feel mixed with chaos and realism. The effect is beautiful, with realistic rendering and detail, and beautiful, vivid colour. The artist does a range of images, from portraits and various animals, but it’s these birds which I find beautiful and haunting.

You can see more pictures on his Facebook page here or his Flickr account.

Writing on the Wall: Abstract Doodles on a Wall

I do love seeing random doodles while out and about, and this is as beautiful as any – a mix of ballet shoes, oriental flowers, scribbled buildings and random hats – just the sort of art we like to see – and certainly something inspiring to doodle myself!

Weekend Pretty…Tick Tock

This is a huge clock sculpture I saw at the wonderful Harry Potter Land (otherwise known to muggles as the Warner Brother studios) which I thought was apt for the whimsical mood I’m in today. I love huge sculptures (as well as miniature things too!) and thought this was pretty symbolic of the beautiful things I’ve seen lately. I’ve had a lot of things going on lately (hence the sporadic blogging, which I’m still trying to resolve!) and feel a little stretched for time – trying to make arrangement for a wedding, my potential living situation and also all the nitty-gritty things which come up at work, home and my own hobbies.

Not to mention finding enough time to read all those books I want to read (next on the list is the highly acclaimed ‘The Fault in our Stars‘, which I’m looking forward to!)

Nevertheless, weekends are my favourite times right now (okay, they always have been, but not more than ever they’re my favourite days of the week!) – it’s the time I get to spend with family, to reflect on myself and to have some ‘me’ time, even if it’s just to sit in peace and re-arrange all of my lipsticks : )