Bombay Dreams - a traveller talks

Heard from a chum the other day that put me in mind of this story Bombay Dreams (March 2013) a visit some four years back.

And Bron asked me the other day what India was like - I said incredible.

The cities and countryside has so much on which to feast.
I am/was so fortunate to be able to go there more than once.
Made drawings in those spare moments and had the rare good sense to label and caption them.

looking down on the temple next to the office

Best seen as the sun rises behind all the garments being dyed

You have to go here 

Then go across to the Taj Hotel for coffee

Often cricket is played on this roof top

Blah and a lot more Blah for those of a mind to

Back to School - Central St Martins

CENTRAL ST MARTINS - FIGURATIVE PAINTING

We are looking different ways of depicting a human figure. Five glorious weeks. For some of the sessions, including the first we had

Maria is our life model across the course

We are lucky to have here for weeks 1 3 and 5 

a life model to help you explore themes such as tone, perspective and texture. All this across five Saturdays with work in between

There is a lot of encouragement to explore artists such as Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Luc Tuymans.

We can work with acrylics, oils or mixed media.

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Here was the first week’s output from working with the life model. This promises to be a new adventure and exploration, which is long over due.

Around the World with Globe Artichokes

Although the Allotments have a clear sense of spring tentatively skipping down the plots, seed heads from last year’s crops fascinate, particularly the Globe Artichoke.

Homer mentions the artichoke as a garden plant in the 8th century BC.

The Dutch gardeners introduced artichokes to England, where they grew in Henry VIII's garden at Newhall (Essex) in 1530. And the French introduced this magnificent species to the USA.

Recipes for these delightful members of the thistle family are legion. The idea of stuffed artichoke appeals: A common Italian stuffing uses a mixture of bread crumbs, garlic, oregano, parsley, grated cheese, and prosciutto or sausage. The idea of introducing pork products with any culinary procedure is to be encouraged.

For those more mindful about diet artichokes can also be made into an herbal tea. Artichoke tea is produced as a commercial product in the Da Lat region of Vietnam.

Jumping into Zachariah’s Pit

Zachariah’s Pit, Common Wood  Penn South Buckinghamshire

It is hard to fathom for what purpose this bowl, some twenty foot deep and surrounded by beech trees, was created to serve.  Located at the southern end of Common Wood near Penn it is a mystery.

The wood is so called because for well over a thousand years those living in the surrounding parishes had rights of common. Surrounding heathland was grazed and the woodland provided fuel and materials for houses, tools. Clay, sand and flints were also mined from the woods.

More recently the Penn and Tylers Green residents bought 248 acres of the wood so we can continue to enjoy rights of access to the 150 plant and tree species, 85 fungi and 40 species of birds.

Dropping in to Dropmore

At last I managed to see inside this lovely church, St Anne’s in Dropmore a few miles south of Beaconsfield.

It was a Friday morning and a platoon of ladies of the Parish where buffing every piece of woodwork and brass to greet the arrival of a new Vicar that coming  Sunday.

Inside the church porch is pinned this history of the church which gives some sense of the treasures therein.

George M. Fortescue, nephew of Lord Grenville who established Dropmore estate in 1792, founded St Anne’s Church, Dropmore, in 1865. 

He inherited the estate on the death of Bishop of Lady Grenville in 1864.  The Bishop of Oxford dedicated the church in 1866, and Dropmore became a parish in 1867.  The Fortescue family added the transept in 1877. 

Butterfield built both the church and transept.  Later alterations to the church included the placing of an organ on the site of the original vestry, and the building of a new vestry in 1911.  The later was constructed in memory of Sir John and Lady Anne Aird of Sheepcote Manor.

Features of interest in the church include the east window, which is the original, dating from 1866.  Another interesting stained glass window, by William Morris and Company, is to be found in the vestry. 

The Lord Courtauld-Thompson window is a good example of more modern stained glass work, depicting his varied connections and Dorneywood, which he left to the nation and is now used as a residence by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.  The window is dedicated to Lord Courtauld-Thompson, his father, his sister Winifred, his sister Elspeth and her husband, Kenneth Grahame, author of Wind in the Willows.  The inkwell and Quill denote his occupation as a writer.

Memorials inside the church, and tomb and vault in the churchyard, show the association with the church of later owners of the Dropmore estate, the Berry family, the head of whom was Lord Kemsley of newspaper fame.