SUMMER FLOWERS    

SUMMER FLOWERS    

  One of the main events of the summer season is the Chelsea Flower Show.  It is held in May for five days by the Royal Horticultural Society and has been at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, since 1912. The worlds biggest annual flower show started in 1990 and is held in July at Hampton Court [...]

The Summer Exhibition

The Summer Exhibition

'Held without interruption since 1769, the Summer Exhibition displays works in a variety of mediums and genres by emerging and established artists '  Royal Academy. This year the guest curator at the Summer Exhibition was British sculptor Richard Wilson RA. Entry to the Exhibition is open to all artists and over 1200 pictures were hung [...]

THE QUEENS 90th BIRTHDAY PARTY

THE QUEENS 90th BIRTHDAY PARTY

It was the Queen's official birthday this weekend and it was celebrated with a service at St Paul's cathedral followed by the Trooping the Colour on Horse Guards Parade. The finale of the celebrations was a giant street party on the Mall. Queen Elizabeth II is the great- granddaughter of Edward VII [1901-1940] who inherited [...]

Springtime

Springtime

The clocks have sprung forward and Spring is now officially here, even though it is still a bit chilly. This painting, by Claude Cardon, sums up this feeling beautifully. It is a lovely tranquil pastoral scene with apple blossom and sheep, which so typifies his work. Claude Cardon exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1893- 1913, at the [...]

The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm

Storm Katie hit our shores at the weekend with gusts of wind in excess of 100 mph . It was, apparently, the 11th named storm of the season, causing disruption across much of England in the Easter holiday. This poor French girl hurrying barefoot along the coastal path, trying to escape the impending squall , is a very moody and powerful [...]

War and Peace

War and Peace

We have all been captivated by the BBC adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace which has brightened up our Sunday evenings with the fabulous costumes, scenery and romance.We have followed the lives of Pierre, Natasha and Andrei, against the backdrop of war with Napoleon. Russian artists are very popular at the moment and Russian art is, as [...]

Crufts: Man’s best friend in art

Crufts: Man’s best friend in art

Crufts was held at the NEC, Birmingham, last week. We all watched,with bated breath, the dogs parading around the ring and running around the agility courses. We fell in love with all the different breeds and we wanted, for ourselves, one as perfectly groomed and well behaved as the one sitting on Clare Balding's settee. [...]