LIVING WITH ART

Affordable art to live on under and over .

2012-01-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

so I see this stall on Portobello Road . I am stunned . It is Marcus and his amazing collection of Kelims and Susanis
.Im crazy about these beautiful handmade artifacts . Im hooked Im broke but I cannot resist .
The first Kelim I ever bought was in a small village in Northern Greece and it came from "Asia Minor"I am absoloutly captivated by the magic of these carpets .

Kelim : Afghanistan

Marcus also sells Susani .... The work in these is just phenominal .

Embroidered by hand they can be as large as 6 x6ft.

Im going to cut what could be a long story about my passion and tell you this instead ...

Rifat Ozbek has a new line these days "Yastik"( as you may or may not know) I was given a lovely little one made from "susani" that is filled with Lavender ... heavenly to touch lookat and smell. Its tiny but costs upwards of £60.0

Robert Kime

Robert Kime(above ) has Susani that make me almost faint with delight (thats a lot more than just "smiling all over") This panel in the window of his Kensington Church Stteet shop is £1,000.00 pounds . . I would own it and its matching partner if I had that kind of moneyfor that kind of thing

He also has gorgeous susani cushion covers that are very pricey.

Meanwhile , back to reality , real prices anyway, and Marcus on Portobello Road ....... He's lovely , he sells lovely merchandise at earthling prices Visit him , enjoy his stock buy something , he,ll give you a good deal.I call him magic Marcus as I dont know how he manages to give such good value in kelims and susani

I'll give Marcus of Portobello Road (opposite Starbucks) the last word or rather "picture"

MARCUS!

We (the artists) are the champions

2012-01-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

"Art establishes the basic human truths which must

serve as the touchstones of our judgment. The artist,

however faithful to his vision of reality, becomes the last

champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society".

- John F.Kennedy

Loise Nevelson : Sculptor

Preparing for a major show in June .
Studio and therefore home overwhelmed by canvases .
I am engaged totally with abstraction ,colour ,line and form and
am really only interested in experimenting with breaking up the surface and designing that space.
It is a spiritual practice that involves a letting go of all thought and control having faith in the muse and the years of gathered skills, creating the work .
This is a liberated time for me .
Bless you all throughout this coming year and always ..... May your juices flow .....its a thirsty world thats on the turn .

BIG BIRD BUILDS HOUSE

2010-10-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

I’m growing rather fond of the big bird on my block

I have become used to the fact that someone (an artist?)out there can see into my home.

I have also enjoyed immensely watching the Bauhaus type construction that is in progress .

It is ,as a whole, a very pleasing aesthetic experience of the urban variety.

The construction itself is so simple, it is a grid and a cube at that and that is rather pleasing in a rational sort of way and calls to mind Corbusier and Mondrian.

Here are some pictures of what I am priviledged to enjoy .

Combined with the crane it is reminiscent of Kandinsky and Klee

This sight (or should I say “site”) ticks quite few, aesthetic boxes for me.

I also love the way the concrete changes colour and when it first dried out to a white (bloom) it was quite spectacular and ticked a favourite aesthetic box for me.

Looking and seeing is such a joy and in the city we have to look quite hard for purity and essence of form.

Ok so it is design that Im seeing but that crane driver is definitely an artist .

Paul Klee

How to Be Alone: Tanya Davis offers advice on dealing with alone time in this quirky video — YES! Magazine

2010-09-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

How to Be Alone: Tanya Davis offers advice on dealing with alone time in this quirky video — YES! Magazine

I like this I hope you do too . It makes me SMILE ALL OVER .
Its a bit of poetry and some art .... of film making and the art of living (philosophy)
all my favoutites !!!!
Soon I"ll have something worth writing about .

Towards Abstraction :St. Ives Cornwall 2010

2010-08-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

I am on the move ..... towards abstraction....... watch this space
I may be some time

DONT FIT WONT FIT

2010-06-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

Marylin Monroe in THE MISFITS (1961)

I have been planning a trip to India for a couple of years now ... to find a place where I can spend the winter: that’s one reason..physical comfort.

Above and beyond the physical, I feel I can no and longer live comfortably in this disgraceful and disgraced society.

Yes I am very upset about the BP oil spillage it has just pushed me over an edge and given me , like many others a very loud wake-up call.

I'm not saying that I cant live here ,in this location although that is debatable , there is much to commend London and above all the people are by and large tolerant which is saying a lot.

Having lived in the depths of the English countryside in the wilderness that is Dartmoor for five years or so , the experience of the divine that I had there was awesome , it was an idyll , but the people , I found to be very disconnected from the outside ,”outsiders” and each other ,rather bigoted in their views and lacking in any desire to connect . They were very materialistic, fought over literally millimetres of land and all sought to compete to have more “stuff” than the other.

Church attendance was down to an average of five per service over a year and that includes Xmas etc. where I was.

Whilst farmers traditionally help each other out with harvesting etc it was reciprocal and whilst that’s no bad thing it’s not giving that’s just a “deal”.

I gave all I could of my time skills joy running projects etc... and that’s another thing ... they seemed to think that all incomers were wealthy !!

India is still steeped in the religious belief and practice of "oneness" of connectedness the Vedic notion that there is no “other”

I have also been dreaming all my life of living in a morally and ergo, ecologically, sustainable community.

The ashram beckons .

I know it is a cop-out in many ways but truly I am tired of compromising my own better judgement as I conform and fit into modern western culture. (which, though I say so myself, I make a fairly good job of, but it is taking its toll. I long to move on to develop, to grow .I feel I have outgrown this western world or that perhaps it has outgrown me and would enloy life on a more human local scale .

Perhaps, I am thinking “at least half the year away living a wholesome contemplative life of spiritual devotion will see me through six months of mammon”

Yes I am deeply and tiresomely (to myself at least) sensitive to humanities destructive tendencies. For every wonderful human-being who has transcended his or her wretched ego there seem to be at least two or three who are caught up in the drama of "who they are" or at least who and what they believe they are.

Caught up in their desire for status , for power over others and dominion over the natural world and its resources .Yes I have been deeply saddened by the current oil leakage I have wept tears of frustration and anger.

Here I am speaking my MIND ,the mind of emotions ... I can and do rise above this mind and exercise my intellectual ,contemplative mind that does not have any preference for the secular or religious ,East or West, here or there,

But emotions arise have to be embraced processed and dealt with and the fact is I am angry and sad.

I guess this is my little drama.

My contemplative mind, the drama to one side, requires that I weigh up the environmental pros and cons of long-haul flight don’t I? ..........don't WE all?

to watch Marylin Monroe in a clip from THE MISFITS click here I first saw this film as a very young person Enjoythe clip enjoy living whetever you are and lets all get sensitive

WIDER THAN THE SKY

2010-04-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

John Lennon is attributed with having said

“ Reality leaves a lot to the imagination"

which could also read:

“reality gives a lot to the imagination”

I am in bed a lot these days and very comfortable.

I lie in my bed and gaze for hours out into the tree-top that graces the view from my window.

Quite soon, I become the tree then after quite a while,I am a wounded bird;
still, alone, healing in a downy nest.

Having become the bird ,it is not long before I am flying ,enjoying the freedom of the sky .

Looking down I can see the tree now fully in leaf and I can only imagine the comfort of the nest that awaits my joyful return to rest.

SOME QUOTES ON THE TOPIC OF IMAGINATION

“The world is but a canvas to the imagination” Henry David Thoreau

“Probably the difference between man and the monkeys is that the monkeys are merely bored, while man has boredom plus imagination” Lin Yutang “

It’s not what you look at that matters it’s what you see”

“Imagination is the living power and prime agent of all human perception” Coleridge

“The brain is wider than the sky - For put them side by side- The one the other will contain -with ease
Emily Dickenson

IMAGINE

http://imaginepeace.com/projects/imagine-peace-tower

OPERATION " ESSENTIAL"

2010-03-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Less is More:

Anne Russell 2010

an installation
oil, canvas ,wood laminate

Tomorrow morning at 7 am I will arrive at the hospital “starved” and ready for surgery .
I am to undergo arthroplasty(commonly known as a “hip replacement” )

Its not thaat this willbe my laast peice of work but I have

10 things about osteoarthritis that I have learned1 It can affect anyone at any age
2 Never “work through “ pain in the joints ( I have been misguidedly doing so in yoga for a years .)
3 To have absolutely no cartilage in a joint is agony if aggravated (by movement )
4You don’t have to take painkillers if one manages the pain by not aggravating the joint
5The less one does (,as in my case) the less one feels like doing . Aerobic fitness can decline with this approach
6 It would be good to keep up ones fitness level by doing something non-aggravating
7 Pilates is good and I find it doesn't hurt or affect the hip joint adversely if done correctly.
8After the surgery there is no longer arthritic pain as the joint has been re-lined
9The wound will be somewhere between 6 and 10 inches and will be painful
10Preparing my home for my return and convalescence has been hard but essential .

...................So this is just a quickie to get me started on sharing my experience of “disability” pain and the art of change .
There are some areas that I feel duty-bound to share especially around my creative output and my making and “not-making” . I have done no art work other than the above for many months now
A necessity to simplify my environment and activities set me wandering down a zen garden path and it has led me to a happy place in many ways and seems to have (not surprisingly)filtered throough to my aesthetic and art practice.

I have had to identify what was ESENTIAL in every physical aspect of my life and eliminate the rest.
Less activity has meant more comfort (as in freedom from the discomfort of pain )
Less stuff has equalled more space
Less rushing about “shopping” has meant more money in my pocket (shopping with two crutches is the biggest bore and no pleasure at all
having less pain free mobility and more spare cash has meant more time sampling local cafe fare, service and ambiance.
Purchases I make now are on the web carefully considered and guess what “ESSENTIAL” .... I do enjoy the deliveries.
Today however I have rushed about the place until I was stumbling ,limping and dropping things. But everything is in place for my return home from the hospital in three to ten days

5 things I have prepared for the return home after arthoplasty:
1.Knowledge of where everything is (I don’t want and will be unable to be hunt for stuff in the early days of recovery)
2. things I might need are off the floor
3.organized my bed so that what I need is at hand (one must only lie on the back although there is a debate as to which of the other sides may be a short time option)
4.Have a chair in place that is the correct height (from the floor to the bend at back of knee)Knee must never be higher than the hip for ........ a few weeks
5 All my essentials(addictions and predilections )are in stock . In my case Brown rice, Cocoa, Green tea, Soya Milk.
So hope you are in good spirits and enjoying all that life has to offer whatever your physical state.
I am really afraid of the post operative stuff and the healing time . But Ill be going in with the gorgeous Barefoot Doctor by my side (well in my ears anyway via my MP3 player)
Link to Stephen Russell the Barefoot Doctor this man is a true healer filled with love and wisdom, a generous witty shaman whos column in the sunday times is greatly missed.

Please treat yourself to the benefit of his artistry ,experience and joyful altruistic vibe. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

GREY DAY!

2010-02-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

It’s one of those grey days.

One of those grey days when the sky is an n ever-changing grey or should I say an ever-lightening grey.

On a grey day there is no pressure to be gay, to be bright or to be doing anything spectacular.

On a day like today one need only go through the motions of going to work , taking the kids to school, getting in the groceries , paying a bill maybe.

There is no requirement to be fabulous ; to match or be infected by, the weather. It is a particularly great day to allow yourself to simply be and that includes staying in bed if that is where you want to be.

In a grey light,and I mean light , not a dark grey day, colours become brighter. There is no competition from the bleaching or blinding sunshine on such a day.

Enjoy your grey day.

It is a day when your smile will be more appreciated and seem brighter than on a sunny day too. Be cheerful and it will be noticed.

Just a small word of caution, if you don’t want your clothes to steal the limelight from your pleasant nature ,don’t wear red in large quantity.

Have a great day !

(pun intended)

Oh oh my cocoa can !

2010-02-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

cocoa is my drug of choice .

aesthetics my sensitivity......

Im a little perturbed because ...

Waitrose recently changed the design of their own -brand cocoa -tin from the one on the right to the one on the left.

Which do you prefer?

Why might they have changed it do you think ?

I need help ... in more ways than one !

(Its ok cocoa by the way ,for the price )

Theoretical Priciples of De-aestheticized Art this is a very dense article only read it if you have a question about the relevance or irrellevance of aesthetics that bugs you sometimes as it does me .... a lot

SANITY

2010-01-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

I smiled all over recently when I was invited to a private view......in the out-patient waiting area of a mental health unit.

Art in health is often a rather diluted affair but this was brilliant ! It was alive and powerful creating a sense of relevance to the place that will affect those who enter and wait here ...

The fact that it is rather" wacky "work that is being so revered and hung in such a reverential way can only be a good thing too. It is bound to engage and give a sense of pride to anyone who feels their sanity is in doubt

The work was by the prominent architect Will Alsop and also on show was work done by him in collaboration with patients from the unit.

If you have never come across this guy before(thats one of the pieces in the show btw above ..mixed media on paper aprox 60cmx25cm)

then let me introduce you to him

• he sees no distinction between art and architecture

• believes that both begin in the same place

• is threatening to give up architecture in favour of painting full time (Im not sure he should do that)

• he has created some monumental buildings

• they are kind of like paintings (now that’s a big step.. and a hop.. and a skip.. and a jump )
• he pulls it off !!!!
• he brightens up the world with his creative energetic play
• his work is controversial (I doubt Prince Charles rates him very highly.. although you never know........he liked Spike Milligan a lot and there is a resemblance)
• is a buddy of ‘80s artist luvy Bruce McClean (they paint together ,how very charming and unconventional)

Stephen Bayley said (affectionately) in the Observer
“Alsop has a ludic approach to building designs”

what a wonderful word “ludic”is and how often we misuse it in its protracted form i.e.” ludicrous”
Ludic means light and playful .......nothing ludicrous about that is there?

You can get a sense of his work and learn more about Will Alsop here its a good place to start anyway
Enjoy the trip ... I know Will does and I do too! let me know if you do or not ..wont you xxx
an associated link to Wills painting buddy Bruce McLean should old aquaintance be forgot !

SNOW

2010-01-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

a cinquain

snow
silent poetry
transforming ,editing, creating
space to imagine peace
pristine

LATENT ABUNDANCE” (under the snow)
Oil & marble dust on canvas © 2009

REFLECTIONS

"It is the stillness that will save and transform the world."
Eckhart Tolle

Peace ,quiet and stillness are synonamous .

Many people are “still” today due to the snow and ice .

When we stop rushing about mentally and or physically; when we become “still”, we learn to live in the present, still, moment . Thus we become peaceful.

Stopping internal chatter, we become "still"; quiet ,able to to reflect and meditate on our inner wisdom and receive answers

Is this not a change we would like to see in the world ?.
We love to look on a snow-scape .
It reconnects us with our potential and desire for peace and to become that change we wish to see

2009-12-21T10:09:00.000-08:00

HAIKU

I dare not go out today
but there are two birds on the tree
In the cold wet falling sleet.

December 2009©

I can never see birds in the tree outside my window without thinking of the

Japanese printmaker Shiko Munakata.
Here are some of his prints of birds in trees

His work is just a perfect expression of how I feel 50% of the time the other 50% is made up of other feelings.
I empathize with his work
No not really his “work” but his “ being” his energy.
Poetic , erotic, committed to celebrating life.

But I want more............. more simplicity............... more metaphor , “more of less” more to ponder

I love the way he takes complex scenes and simplifies them ;transforms them from the complicated experience of human life and the natural world into to the innocenct perception of childhood.
This is largely a function of the medium of printmaking itself .

However, the choice to use the medium for this particular purpose is not one that everyone takes on board with such vigour which was ultimately a religious fervour for Munakata.

He said “ I want my body and my soul to become totally united with my work...I want to reach a state where there is no boundary between self and other or between body and soul, and everything is absorbed into the print itself” This was made when he had transcended the “ego of the artist” as part of his Buddhist practice.

his desire to transcend ego drove him on and he left a body of work that connected us to earthly things... and unearthly things to the everyday a paradox indeed .

It is snowing heavily now ...... I consider the birds of the air
Google to see more of Shiko Munakata

A SPACE AND ENERGY MATTER

2009-12-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

I was in my second year of Art College when World of Interiors magazine came out.
I bought it and fell in love with it. That was in 1984/5.
I was a “fine-art” student and therefore hid it under my desk but looked at it over and over again … I knew there was something relevant about environments on every level and in every case. There was an art to creating them and a mystery too as to why they communicated so strongly and their effect was so powerful.

My previous background had been in the performing arts and I was, aware of energy and its impact on a performance and the performance space.
I began creating environments a.k.a. installations in a spirit of enquiry.
· I wanted to know what made them “art”.
· What was the relationship between art and energy …
· was there an art of energy?

I created an environment comprising two huge wall- hung canvases one of a water jug and the other an enormous doorway using only linseed oil and charcoal. A line of black objects made of clay, modelled on something I owned because I felt that they held some symbolic meaning for me, that they stood for something, lay along the floor.
The line created by the objects was as black and as wide as the lines on the canvases. The objects were all made from the same amount of clay which meant that their scale was changed in every case, some were larger and others smaller than the original.

When the artist Paul Neagu came as a visiting tutor to critique the work he said of this installation “I don’t know why I like being in this space but I do…I can’t say any more I just like being here”. Paul had responded to the energy within the space. The energy was created by what was in that space and the “negative”(empty) space that existed between things.which is of course not empty at all but alive with energy.

I had breathed life and energy of the most honest authentic sort into the elements of the piece and together in a space they communicated at the deep level from which I had resourced them ; my authentic spiritual emotional and physical life . I had been been true also to the materials I had used . The work had integrity and it vibrated with love, resonating poeticaly across time and cultures . It was a mixed media drawing that spoke of many things … things I could not talk or write about but that had to be experienced ,felt.

What I knew in answer to the question I had been asking at the start of that project was. “What makes a space you want to be in, or not be in , for that matter. And the other big question …what is art?.

I’m not going to bang on too long on this philosophic vein but please do comment or ask questions if it interests you as it does me and we can converse ,dialogue, share.

Twenty-five years and a few rented studios later , I make paintings and drawings
working and living in an environment that is far from how I would like it to be but I do know that it is a reflection of where I am at the energetic level. It is not an unpleasant place to be and it has a certain beauty for all the paints that are spread over tables, canvasses stacked against walls and the paintbrushes that are forever drying by the kitchen sink and standing bouquet–like in the studio.

There is an order to the “chaos” and I rarely lose anything .
I have been in very many environments over the years domestic, institutional, corporate and sacred. The atmosphere in all of these is varied .
I have been in churches that I just want to get out of as fast as possible and one or two where I want to be for hours, and little sitting rooms that are a lovely place to be .It is the quality of the energy, how it feels, that which has gone into the creating of it that makes the difference.
ALL ruins regardless of their original purpose have a certain resonance in common as Simon Sharma testifies to in his wonderful book about landscape.

I can only take so much of palaces, though that said, different rooms communicate differently. A lot depends on what is in the spaces, the objects, the relationships between objects and of course colours which all have their own energy.
Paintings have a tremendous impact on interiors because of the nature of the vibrations of energy invested in the piece by its creator .I can sit for hours in some art galleries and others I find overwhelming depending on the energy of the work on show. This has nothing to do necessarily with any judgement of taste, ie: whether I like it or not. I am an admirer of Picasso and his work, yet I had to visit the Picasso Museum in Barcelona daily for some weeks, flying around very quickly on each visit .
The energy in the work was so powerful ,I felt exhausted and over stimulated at the same time in that space.
Feng Shui has become popular as a concept and a helpful one too in my view. Feng Shui is about moving the energy through and about space and creating a flow and balancing energy in order to affect the energy of the individual..

The quality of that energy however is everything. is it AUTHENTIC? Authentic energy will be felt and experienced at an authentic level. Is it pretending? To be …. Anything … clever… tasteful…interesting…..beautiful….. Is it just plain “soul-less”?

Interiors Magazine has recently changed editors and there are those who agree with me ,that it had done all its best shoots a long time ago. Whilst the rooms are still ...mmmm whatever.... the energy overall has definitely waned over the years

Rooms homes etc, like clothes and accessories are all aspirational. They are a potential expression of our internal being (our emotional psychological and spiritual energy)
My favourite ever Interiors feature was of the inside of house maids rooms in South Africa (where I spent formative adolescent years) .

I remember those rooms at the back of the house... spotless with pristine starched linen on the high raised iron bed; the clean scalloped newspaper hanging over the narrow dresser type shelf the enamel basin and jug and a couple of wall hooks with a change of clothes hanging there.
Yes these things are aspirational, clothes and homes ….. I aspired to this simplicity that was akin to the philosophy and practice of Shakers, Corbusier and William Morris .
Picassos, studio/home at Vaullaris is iconic, as was the man himself (of course as it was a reflection of his particular energy) Picasso said ” be wealthy and live a simple life”

My space is simple and it reflects my energy at all times. It is very light. It is always clean. Often though it is very untidy, I have trouble putting stuff away or getting rid of it. This is in conflict with my aspiration as “less stuff = more space” is definitely my preferred philosophy and I need space to dance. I don’t have a lot of personal “stuff” just a lot of art/work “stuff” and insufficient space to accommodate it satisfactorily.

Living and having a working studio in a three room apartment is tricky but I can manage with skill …. Yes there is an art to it . I just have to keep practising that art until I find myself in a different place, vibrating with a different energy (perhaps aspiring to something larger whilst remaining simple )..................... there is definitely an art of energy I am just slow to decide how much I NEED if anything....I mean what is ESSENTIAL

.
My living /work environment reflects my inner space and energy: creative; ordered; flexible;rich in many ways.
I would like however to expand my inner space beyond making and teaching ,to make room for friend & family meetings, fun ,games ,music and of course…. dancing (just as soon as I can walk again that is!)

Link to World of Interiors magazine ( more aspiration than inspiration but it does what it says on the can)

GOT EVERYTHING WE NEED..........

2009-11-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

This blog is entitled "LIVING WITH ART"and I have been wondering if I was ever going to explain my reason for this title. I HOPE to days blog will go some way toward that end.

"SHE'S GOT EVERYTHING SHE NEEDS SHE'S AN ARTIST, SHE DON'T LOOK BACk
takes the darkness out of night-time .. paints the day-time black" ..Bob Dylan

Today was grey and wet and windy.

I went to town , because I can. …….in a Burberry that is!
Mine is of the very ancient classic variety, a gift from my dear friend Jay who deals in antiques and collectables and who has a great eye for quality .Ok that is chance and not skill on my part but I did choose him as my most intimate friend ... that was skill....art..... o ok ! and NATURE

On a day like today, 17 degrees (warm for mid November), I can wear the esteemed garment over a viscose slip dress and brown suede boots (TK Max)
I don’t mean to show off about the designer label but I do have a need to celebrate those things that make me smile, and my Burberry makes me “smile all over".
The dress is a favourite too, vintage Ghost, a fawn/fudge colour which is perfect under the coat and was also a gift, from my daughter-in-law, Mishca who also has a great eye ...for fashion and a bargain and ..ok yes...that is down to good luck and nature also.

sense alert! looking , seeing ,tasting and.... feeling ..... good

On Kensington High street ,giving the Jimmy Choo's in H&M a wide berth ,I went to Hotel Chocolat (opposite Tesco) for my favourite meal ; a bowl of melted unsweetened 100% chocolate.

I don’t know if it was the wearing of the Burberry and the Britishness of the weather or my tuning in to the zeitgeist but I found this advent calendar irresistible (at £10.00).
There is something a little disconcerting about the gold crucifix on the advent calendar but it is nevertheless rather beautiful and well balanced in colour line and form .I’m sure it’s based on a vogue cover but maybe not, though it certainly looks familiar.

I was given these "union jack" chocs to eat with my bowl of chocolate.
I think the design ,based on the union flag, works better on the chocolates, the horizontal format has more integrity.
It is an interesting concept whose time has come again ,I’m pleased to see Angus Thirwlwell co- founder and chief exec.of Hotel Chocolat being innovative, British ,elegant and stylish .

(Is it just me or is it out there in the zeitgeist?)

Yes a Burberry British day indeed. I am grateful to have been blessed with the ability to enjoy it so thoroughly despite some painful challenges.
…I wonder if Burberry will make a range of chocolates …. They do perfume after all

REFLECTIONs AND PREDICTION

If Mdme. Chanel (the first fashion designer to produce her own perfume), had not had the forename Coco I reckon she might have made chocolates but just how inelegant would that have been ?? Im sure it is the only reason she resisted.
Has any fashion house completed the sensational package of taste,look ,touch and smell??

YET!!!!!! It is an idea whose time has come for sure

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST .

May your inner artist take the darkness out of night-time and paint the day-time any colour of the rainbow you prefer or black which is after all a perfect blend of all the colours of the spectrum

. all comments ,feedback and sharing warmly welcomed .

all cotton white and beautiful...

2009-10-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

My white linen gleams in the sun today.
By linen I mean

a white Egyptian cotton sheet and

antique damask bedspread.

It is indeed an Indian summer .Speaking of India and summer I realize that there is no way of buying White Indian cotton bedding in London .If you know otherwise then please let me know...
Buying Egyptian cotton does not have to be expensive if you are looking for the feel and health-benefits of cotton and don’t mind the lower thread counts.
I find them cheapest in my local market at North End Road SW10.
I like my sheets quite rough and have really enjoyed (once anyway), sleeping in quite heavy Irish linen.
White bed-linen has the fetishistic appeal of a blank canvas for me and shares many of the properties of the same. It is white for one thing and cotton for another .
As I can’t quite make it to the canvas supplier at the moment and have some commissioned canvases to complete, I could consider stretching the sheet and painting on that. I won’t though, as it just won’t become taught enough and will keep sagging.
Only cotton canvas will shrink and become taught, (Even Linen sold for painting has a tendency to sag and needs constant attention and restretching to keep it taught.)
Taught.. Taught as a drum and great pleasure has been had by this painter, enjoying a good old drumming session on newly stretched and shrunk canvas. Rhythm is as important in a painting as line colour and form after all….
And now for a bath in the sunshine that blazes through my door.

What a life of many affordable luxuries and at least one of them free today.
May the offers never end.

USEFUL LINK:http://www.cottoninc.com/PressReleases/?articleID=364

DEPRESSION ,FOOLS AND ANGELS

2009-10-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

I knew for certain that I was depressed when on the bus at Hyde Park corner I had to wipe away a tear from my eye as the horse-guards crossed the road in front of the bus on their return to the stables after standing so still for many hours protecting the ahem!..queen. . “They are so beautiful” I thought “and ALL black, a series of identical (to my eyes anyway) shiny black stallions with a series of men in such very shiny golden helmets all glinting in the sun … London is so beautiful “I thought as I blew my nose feeling like a fool.

I was on my way to a long avoided visit to the hairdresser thinking “I really have to do something with my hair. I’ve been doing this wild woman of the Himalayas thing for just too long … I’m supposed to be “groomed” at my age!!!!” Those horses were groomed to an inch of their life it definitely suited them and was in their job description.
My job description as I saw it was along the lines of …..Be invisible; preferably stay at home under the duvet. Expect nothing, look after your elderly mother; give the kids all your money….Uhuh? Definitely low on serotonin this a.m. even though I had had my chocolate!

lost and looking(in the wrong places)
I considered every female’s hairstyle the length of Piccadilly and up Shaftsbury Avenue.” No notlike that ..,”that doesn’t work.”…” Don’t like that”….” Definitely not that.”... “What

about that older woman with the longish dyed hair lighting a fag in a doorway” … funnily enough, not bad in a very old rock chick way … hmmmm? “Maybe I could dye my greys?”…” …..”Maybe grey could work … how do you get it all the way there though without cutting it all off?” I got off the bus now really uncertain about the hair thing

Working my way through Covent Garden, I window shopped. By now I had decided that I needed A COMPLETE MAKEOVER! I went into a couple of places and looked about and considered red plastic stilettos , spent far too long in one shop choosing a black patent handbag and two floaty numbers but I began to dislike the experience of shopping there, it was dark and the girl that wandered about with her arms folded seemed dim also. So I left after attempting to engage with the dimness that was there, feeling really flat and slightly more depressed than ever thinking … “gosh! I won’t get made-over at this rate… All is lost ,whatever will become of me?”
Being guided to the source :getting back on track
Before I knew it I was in “Tibetan Dreams” engaging with the lovely Tibetan woman who was keeping busy in good light, making jewellery. I’ve shopped there often. It is an inexpensive Quality experience. The stock varies but as far as I know it is from the Himalayas or thereabouts by Tibetans. I was beginning to feel better.
We chatted about my hair and she advised me. “No “she said, “You don’t need a makeover maybe a little trim that’s all. Tibetan women all have hair like yours at every age.” I bought a little OM pendant and crossed the road to the hairdressers. My hairdresser was having the day off!!!! Now I felt even better still.

I had a lovely lunch of pumpkin soup and coriander cornbread at Neal’s Yard salad bar. Charmingly served in a pleasant peaceful albeit strangely eclectic Brazilian /Buddhist atmosphere … A quality over quantity experience… I was back on the blues-beating track for sure.
I felt light –hearted. !!

Returning to the source

I taxied to Central Saint Martins (my alma mater) to catch the last day of the Cecil Collins (who taught there for 30yrs) exhibition “Fools and Angels”
Cecil saw both the fool and the angel as sacred aspects of our selves.
The fool does not think but feels and acts from the wisdom of the heart risking failure. Cecil said “you don’t have to understand to create but you have to create to understand” this was a lot to do with his teaching. It was to do with taking risks with materials, marks etc., being vulnerable.
The angel is the bringer of light that connects us with our higher selves and therefore wisdom. Both are wise, the fool despite errors and the angel is unerringly wise.
I have a great fondness for Cecil Collins he is one of my favourite people ; he is like a father to me. I turn to his philosophy often to check that I am OK and on the right path. I had re-entered his world, a real world where there is no place for the ego. A place where the artist has a responsibility to focus on the light. Artists do tend to focus very intently on what they are making and we all “become that upon which we focus” and we all benefit from more light in our individual lives and as a species.
I was once again a-fire, blazing with light not depressed in any way neither by my lack of grooming or the pain in my hip from my outing.

REFLECTION

The FOOL in me took a RISK and got me out this morning . The fool in me gave reign to my feelings as I sniffed tearfully on the bus at the beauty of the horses and allowed me to own them without fear of embarrassment, perhaps the fool was just my plain silly ego (and we all have one) given some air.

The angel in me guided me with unerring wisdom and led me to the source ,to that place of grace where one can draw on unlimited joy beyond ego .

I won’t be thinking about a makeover but I will be fulfilling what is my real

JOB DESCRIPTION :

focusing on light, love and peace whilst dreaming of the Himalayas and a free Tibet.
Imagine if those beautiful Tibetan women were given the “Ten Years Younger treatment!!!!!!
I don’t think that any of the makeovers I see on TV make anyone look better do you?

BRIGHTON BEAUTIFUL

2009-10-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

EVERY SENSE CATERED FOR

Normally I don’t go to cafes or restaurants when I’m out and about . I have always considered them a waste of money and would go about my business (usually at a hundred miles an hour and then get back home for a green tea and bowl of rice or something equally nourishing.
Things have changed in recent months. I am “perambulaterarilily” (ok so I’ve made that word up ,…I think ) challenged what I mean is : sometimes I can't walk AT ALL .
I have to sit down somewhere until I can walk again
I still go out and recently I made it to Brighton!
My niece was having her first solo exhibition of paintings so it was a must.
I got there early enough to do some window shopping in the Lanes ,the gallery was open at six and it became necessary for me to sit down but where ?
There are hundreds of cafes in that area and I didn’t fancy any of them .
Almost ready to collapse, I came upon a double glass front, that at first took my breath away and then made me smile all over (yes again !)
Smiling all over is my benchmark for coming to rest /feeling blissful/nirvana.
I beheld the cleanest, whitest environment that ever was.

It is called

ALOKA

To the right, of the space : Pure, clean organic, vegetarian (vegan)food and wine.
To the Left a little curved counter, a wall of coloured bottles ( pictured above )
At right angles to that another wall of cosmetics and toiletries.
I stepped inside and was welcomed by ambient music that was not even weird. I love ambient music but sometimes it is intrusive when it does not accord with nature or is not authentic or something and just not really ambient at all .
When I washed my hands in the rest room I gasped audibly on noticing a splash back on two sides of ROSE-QUARTZ.
It did not end there the hand-wash and lotion was divine.
I almost became dizzy in that little W.C.
After choosing some food I sat at a pristine white table on a pristine white chair and reoriented myself to just what kind of place I was in .
The food I understood. You chose and paid by weight.
Now what were these amazing coloured bottles?

INTEGRITY

Ill cut to the chase here. The bottles are part of the system known as AURA-SOMA ,an ayurveda based chakra therapy using colour. The bottles are made up of minerals(eg rose-quartz) and fragrant plant oils .

In consultation you choose one then two and then a third bottle from the selection in the above picture. The first choice will probably be how you feel ,the second how you would like to feel and the third is the one that will get your chakras back into balance

There are a range of toiletries too in the therapeutic range you need . It was these in the form of hand wash and lotion that I had been intoxicated by in the washroom.

Upstairs there was a yoga studio and a therapy room

If only there were more integrated places and spaces like this in Britain in the world !!!!

If you know of any similar QUALITY OF LIFE places please leave a comment and or follow my blog so we can enjoy these together.

LEMONS ARE FOREVER

2009-10-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

"O lemon you light up my life !. even the darkest corner of my kitchen bathroom livingroom . even my anatomy is given a lighter life by your mere touch "

The lemon has had a place in art for ....like forever .

a bowl or plate of lemons can light up a room ,your day your life and your cuisine of course .the illustration above is one of my mood boards from my early c1990 days in interior design .

Lemons are an inexpensive , nay economical LUXURY

eat them and use them in cooking in a million ways which we probably are all aware but heres a link to an exotic Arabic recipe for preserving them if that appeals . http://tribes.tribe.net/recipes-healthycreations/thread/b4172874-b5ad-4d4b-83e8-8813c9920af3 (I have never tried this nor does it seem very useful unless you have at least one over-zealous lemon tree inyour garden . )

drinking lemon juice in warm water every morning first thing will keep your colon clean especially useful if you have recently had a colonic (irrigation) and would rather never have another in the same way as we take greater care of your teeth AFTER having just been to the dentist for root-canal work . Hey if you can avoid that again I reckon you will .

use them to wash dishes (use half of the one you squeezed in the am )It makes a good scourer,cuts through grease like ...uhhh .greased-lightening? is great for your hands , disinfecting and safe to eat

clean surfaces chopping boards .Both wooden and plastic. They will be disinfected and untainted by chemicals therefore suitable for purpose if sprinkled with some inexpensive cooking salt and sscrubbed with a lemon , No not ANOTHER LEMON ... no ;the other half of that lemon that you squeezed in the morning when you cleansed that colon

HOT TIP

collect a straw or two from Starbucks or ...Mc whatever .... or Coffee Republic ,Neros If you ever find yourself in one of those (it can happen to anybody so dont beat yourself up ):cut the decadent plastic straw in two and drink your lemon juice through it (you can safely rinse and re-use it as it will be soooo disinfected by the NATURAL colon friendly lemon. Why? because you dont want to let the acid rot your teeth and have to visit the dentist just to avoid a colonic irrigation treatment ... well I dont anyway ... That's skillfull living for you. There's an art to everything

An interesting fact :Lemons are ACID BUT ALKALINE FORMING

is this a good thing or a bad thing ?

for the ANSWER CLICK http://www.energiseforlife.com/list_of_alkaline_foods.php

I AM NOT A MATERIAL GIRL

2007-11-27T05:27:00.000-08:00

I CAN ONLY GET BY SPENDING AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE ENGAGED IN SPIRITUAL PRACTICES.

ONE OF THE MOST PEACEFUL PLACES THAT IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE TO ME IS

the SIVANANDA VEDANTA YOGA CENTRE IN PUTNEY

I jump on the No.22 on the Kings Road ........

zoom(traffic permitting) across the o so grey,but often sparkling ,River Thames.........

...the bus turns right on the other side of putney bridge...

(where I alight or rather .."get off")

.......take the first left ................ I breathe a deep sigh and smile all over.............................................

there it is

LOVELY PEOPLE LOVELY FOOD LOVELY STUDIOS AND A HEAVENLY

PEACE GARDEN TOO.

BLISS (THAT'S ME!)feeling at HOME

http://www.sivananda.org/london/index.html

SHOULD I MOVE ?

2007-09-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

primary-schools. private,

4 September 2007
I am liiving in two worlds ,albeit that my address is Chelsea ,London.
Is it any wonder that it is difficult and stressful?
Being poor in a rich area,some would say that I am fortunate.
and in truth I am in some ways or by some reckoning.
I stand a significant chance of living a long life.
The streets are very clean.
my neighbours by and large all look good
The properties are well kept
There are is a huge variety of merchandise available to me at every turn.
O yes there are very many shops.!
The local colleges are well funded.
The state secondary schools are .....state schools populated by children like my own
There is a plethera of private infant and primary schools
I am surronded by evidence of money and lots of it.
In this blog I explore the crepuscular world in which I live
like a mermaid ,a crab or any other amphibious creature
I will try to establish a better relationship with my environment
attempt to identify my place in this place
The burning question is
Should I move...............................................?