In the Ambassador's Office

October 6, 2021

A week or so ago I discovered that this week is London Craft Week and saw details of an exhibition taking place at the Argentine Ambassador’s Residence and both the exhibition and the venue appealed so I booked my ticket knowing that I had some time off from work. And so on Monday I headed up to Victoria and had a short walk in the sunshine amongst the gleaming white buildings (I know this - I forgot my sunglasses) towards Belgrave Square, and into a building I’ll probably never get to go into again.

This post is all about the art on display in the Ambassador’s office, which itself was pretty special. I’ll share another post or two on some of the other exhibits, all of which were stunning. It was great to see the modern makings alongside such a grand and often traditional setting, I’ve long been a believer that the two can mix and look great together.

The office itself was pretty special.

Like elsewhere in the exhibition there was contrasting artwork on display. These small ceramics by Cecilia Moore on the side table just inside the door caught my eye, mainly for their form and texture.

The pastel pink of these, and the shape and pattern were the attraction of these pieces by Frances Priest.

There were several items of paper craft on show by Tracy Bush - it was the simplicity of these, and the use of everyday items that appealed here - and may just have nudged me to get out my die cutter the next day. I’m intrigued and fascinated by art from everyday items and believe each of us have something within us to do something special.

These rings by Jeremy May lodged within books were intriguing too. Classics within classics I’m sure.

The room stealer though was this piece by Jon Lewis - I know if it was on my desk I’d get very little work done.

I continue to be in awe of art like these books by Batool Showghi who makes something very intricate look almost easy - I’m under no illusion that it is!

Nor, I’m sure is this piece by Thurle Wright. The beauty of these artworks is they look effortless, but I’m pretty sure that’s an illusion.

There were so many more pieces - and I’ve many more photos to share too - it was just the solo trip out that I didn’t know I needed.

A summer cottage garden

September 16, 2021

One of my unexpected highlights from our recent break in Lincolnshire was our visit to Barnsdale Gardens. Before we arrived in our holiday cottage I’d not heard about these gardens, but they were in the recommended places to visit, so I took a look. And as soon as I did, they went straight onto our ‘to visit’ list.

Barnsdale is the Gardeners’ World home of former presenter Geoff Hamilton, and it’s where the programme was filmed. It’s a garden full of gardens, described as a gardener’s theme park - there’s thirty eight individual gardens in the garden. I thought I’d diligently photographed every single garden, but somehow I don’t have all the photos.

Never mind.

I’m starting by sharing garden number twenty eight - a summer cottage garden.

This garden was built as the main show garden for the very first Gardeners’ World Live Exhibition at the NEC in 1993 and was designed by Dan Pearson. Isn’t it delighful?

Originally the maze was a herb maze - filled with silver variegated thyme, lavender, rosemary and sage - imagine the smell! The Barnsdale gardens are heavy soil and the herbs didn’t thrive, so was replaced with a box hedge.

The archways are covered in roses, and like many cottage gardens there’s delphiniums, more roses, campanula, geraniums, foxgloves and clematis.

It’s exactly the type of garden that you could easily see in a domestic garden, and wouldn’t that be something to aim at?

I loved the strategically well-placed deckchair, which on a warmer day would I’m sure be in much demand.

The Greats at Knole House

August 19, 2021

By greats, I mean the Great Hall, the Great Screen and the Great Staircase and to be honest they’re very well named.

Knole, which is close to Sevenoaks and was our stop off on the way to our cabin for our escape weekend close to home, is a former Archbishops’ Palace. The Great Hall would have been right at the heart of it and where the whole household would eat together. For me the floor was a fantastic part of the space, but there was much more to it than that.

The carved oak screen dates to the early 1600s and is decorated with leopards and other symbols of the Sackville family.

But the ceiling can’t go unmentioned - isn’t it fabulous?

The staircase, unlike the hall, was only for members of the family, distinguished guests and high ranking sevants.

The paintings though - they really should be named as greats too. They depict the Four Ages of Man, the Five Senses and the Seven Virtues, though one virtue - temperance - is missing.

The sculpture is Giovanna Zanerini, a celebrated Italian ballerina and mistress of the 3rd Duke of Sackville. She was known by her stage name - La Baccelli and lived at Knole, and she remains there today.

There’s much more to see at Knole, and considering it’s only about thirty minutes from home I can’t believe this was our first - but certainly not our last - visit. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re close by.