Anthony Gormley

I've always been more drawn to sculpture than to painting - maybe because it just seems more accessible in some way and there is one modern sculptor that I love more than most - Anthony Gormley.  AG is probably best known for his 'Angel of the North' that sits in Low Fell, watching over the A1 and A167 and the East Coast Main Line track north.

A few years back I applied to be one of the many models that he needed for 'Domain Field' that was to show at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead (the building a work of art in itself - the original 'Baltic Flour Mill' on the Tyne).  Sadly I didn't get to take part as I wasn't living in Newcastle at the time.  Since then I've met him (once)where I famously told him he had great legs (well, he does model most of his casts on his own body!!) and visited many of his exhibitions wherever possible.  These are some of my favourites to date:


Crosby Beach - Liverpool





Havvman - Arctic Circle City, Norway




Exposure - Lelystadt, Netherlands




6 Times - Water of Leith, Scotland




'Inside' - Australia




'Place of Remembrance' - Oslo, Norway




'Another Place'  Liverpool



His exhibition 'Horizon' that was in London some years ago, then moving to Manhattan, really made an impact on me.  Whichever direction you looked, from the South Bank Centre in London, high on a skyline, looking back were lifesize figures perched ominously on the edge of buildings; it made me uncomfortable, almost like I was being watched, or as if I was watching some personal drama being played out.


'Horizon' - London

To finish - a video clip



Utterly lovely

Very recently I was helping clear out some boxes of books that had been left at school and I came across some books that I had read, and loved, as a child.  The Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley were a staple in our house, with their beautiful illustrations and well-told tales.  Seeing them brought a wave of nostalgia and a particular memory of my sister and dad sitting together reading them as I listened.  There's been a bit of a debate about the origins of the 'grey' rabbit and one editor claims it was because she wore a grey dress; others claim it was because when Alison was a child, she would have seen grey rabbits at that time in her garden, although a rare sighting elsewhere, were quite common at that time in that area.  There is something so reassuring that even today, these books are being read and enjoyed by children everywhere (and by some grown-ups too!!).

Next time I'm home, I'm going up in the loft to see if I can find my old copies for a trip down memory lane.

Ladies Day!

Today is International Women's Day, marking the economic, political and social achievements of women throughout the world.  Here are some shocking facts to ponder!

• Women own 1% of the world's property. ONE PER CENT.
• Only 19% of the world's parliamentary seats are held by women.
• 1 in 4 women are the victims of domestic violence. ONE IN FOUR
• Women do 66% of the world's work, yet only earn 10% of the world's income. (??!!??!!)

And one particularly close to my heart: Every year in the UK alone 30,000 women lose their jobs because they are pregnant.

THIRTY THOUSAND WOMEN LOSE THEIR JOBS BECAUSE THEY ARE PREGNANT. 

It got me thinking about women the world over and especially about my own daughter and what I wish for her; her economic, social and cultural stability and development; so, I've asked a few dads (I'm the exception!) what they wish for their daughters and this is what they said:

Andy (Dad to Martha)
In reality I'm not actually concerned with what she becomes or what she does ... I'm concerned about why she does it. I'm concerned that she develops the ability to follow her dreams and make good choices along the way. I want her to have clarity not confusion, to distinguish genuine from fake. I also want her to be brave, to stare down her fears with a cold resolve and see them crumble before her eyes.
And if you want that summarised neatly, then look no further than the greatest of writers, Charles Dickens:
"Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule"
If that's the person she becomes then she'll be happy ... and so will I.

Stephen (Dad to Ellie and Freya)
Three things:

 Self-confidence and humility - self-belief makes it possible for an individual to achieve anything. It’s the antidote to fear and anxiety. Add a degree of humility and it makes for an incredibly powerful quality in any individual.

 Passion - I hope that they discover a personal passion for a subject and that they’re lucky enough for that to become a way of earning a living.

 Good health – as I head into my 40s I’ve become acutely aware that life is very short.

Tris (Dad to Natasha)
A world in which my daughter can flourish unhindered and be granted the success she desires, whether that be personal, academic or career.  Today's world has changed by magnitudes since I was a child - those days saw a masculine dominated world where there were few choices for women.  Nowadays there are more choices and a fairer playing field, but I feel that the full extent of opportunity is still harder to find for women.
Hopefully by the time Natasha leaves school, or university, opportunities will be equal, based on the individual.  I would like Natasha to live in a rich environment based on family values which, coupled with a more equal society will see the world in which Natasha's future lies, thrive.

and last but not least..my own message to my daughter:

I wish you boldness and courage to follow your dreams; dare to dream big and know that you can achieve anything you want. Be passionate and focused, have integrity and compassion, self-confidence and humility; above all, find joy in the small things of life as well as the great; and laugh - a lot.

What do you want for the women in your lives?

A Yearning for Snow



I love these igloos!

 As the seasons begin to change and the threat of winter recedes, I do find myself looking back over my shoulder with a slight regret at its passing.  I like the cosiness of winter, the fires and the soup; big snuggly jumpers and sheepskin boots; the promise of snow and watching 'Ski Sunday'!  I think the snow season is well and truly over in London now, so I'm soothing my yearnings for the ski season with this...



Snow glamping



These pictures are from the Swiss Alps - I love the idea of snow camping complete with wood burning stove!

*Photographs courtesy of Decoration Compagne

D.I.Y.

.I am one of the worlds best organisers (of others); I can direct and if necessary, dictate, and nowhere is this skill more utilised than when some DIY needs to be done.  I'm a very impatient person underneath my calm personna (yes, that's right family - my CALM personna)and when I decide I want something to happen, I generally want it last year and then backdated.  So, when something needs doing in the house for example and I haven't quite got the skills to do it properly (read drill, rawl plugs and so on) then I call on someone who can.  Then I direct and dictate until the job is done when I can then sit back and enjoy the end result(s).  So this weekend I decided it was high time to tackle some shelving projects - especially as they're glass and they've been sitting in the downstairs loo for some time - a disaster waiting to happen if I wasn't very careful.  I had thought carefully about where I wanted them to go (kitchen and spare room) so here is the before and after...

Down with the notice-board and up with the shelves

Fill with treasured things

and enjoy

more treasures, this time in the spare room..

It's so nice to dig out all my loved bits and pieces from the back of dark cupboards and actually enjoy them.  But wonder who's going to dust all that glass?!!!!!

Soup, glorious soup

I think if anyone were to ask people who know my family (immediate and wider) what dishes we make the most, the answer would almost certainly be soup!  My Mum is the soup queen, and ALWAYS seems to have some either on the hob, in the fridge, or waiting to defrost.  It's quick to make, versatile and always delivers a portion of comfort.  One of my favourite things to do at the weekend is to make a batch of soup at saturday lunchtime, which then takes me through the weekday lunches too.  I find something strangely comforting about the chopping, and stirring, tasting and tweaking; almost therapy it's so calming.  I have my favourite soups and they're usually quite robust and rustic in nature - Pea and Ham, Leek and Potato, Spring Vegetable.  My latest soup fetish is Italian bean and green;  basically borlotti beans and savoy cabbage in stock.  It is incredibly easy to make and packs a punch of goodness that makes you feel smug and healthy without a treadmill in sight.  Here's how:

                                                               
 Ingredients

1 onion (diced finely)

2 sticks of celery

bacon lardons

1/4 savoy cabbage (you can use any greens here tho')

1 tin of tomatoes

1 tin borlotti beans

11/2 litres of chicken or veg stock

fresh thyme

parmesan

salt/pepper 

Method

1.  Chop onion/celery and saute in pan along with bacon lardons

2.  Add pinch of dried thyme, or couple springs fresh

3.Add borlotti beans, can of tomatoes and stock

4.  Simmer for approx 20 mins

5. After 20 mins add your cabbage and simmer for a further 5 mins

5.  Ladly into bowls and drizzle with garlic oil.  Add parmesan to taste 

Add caption

What is your failsafe, fall-back-to recipe?

Doing (Writing) and being

Doing is being.

To have done's not enough;

To stuff yourself with doing - that's the game.

To name yourself each hour by what's done,

To tabulate your time at sunset's gun

And find yourself in acts

You could not know before the facts

You wooed from secret self, which much needs wooing,

So doing brings it out,

Kills doubt by simply jumping, rushing, running

Forth to be

The new-discovered me.

To not do is to die,

Or lie about and lie about the things

You just might do some day.

Away with that!

Tomorrow empty stays

If no man plays it into being

With his motioned way of seeing.

Let your body lead your mind -

Blood the guide dog to the blind;

So then practice and rehearse

To find heart-soul's universe,

Knowing that by moving/seeing

Proves for all time: Doing's being!

.

"Doing is Being" by Ray Bradbury from Zen in the Art of Writing

.

 What do you think? Is doing being? Or, is it impossible to 'be' if you're 'doing'?

Books, Books, Books

It's no secret that I love books - actually, it would be more precise to say that I love the printed word; however, that largely comes in the form of books in our house.  Despite my kindle, I still buy books, just for the physicalness of them.  The smell of the paper, the feel of the shiny cover in my hands, the satisfying weight of it; my kindle can't replicate that, so I still keep buying.  My problem is, that for some time now, I've had nowhere to put them so they're taking up an entire landing (as written about before!).  I'm on the hunt for some book storage solutions and I'm trying to think 'outside the box' and not just go with some bog standard bookcases.  This is what I'm up against:

So in the spirit of research I've been looking at possible solutions but got side-tracked by the interiors as well as the solutions, and most wouldn't fit in my home, but here they are anyway:

I love the shape of this one

the clean lines of this one

the simplicity

the clutter!

the chicness

Failing all else, I could give them away to a charity shop, OR, I came across this - in America ...

a phone-booth library.  It started off as an experiment with a few books put on the shelves.  They disappeared, so they put more books in; they disappeared and so they kept topping them up, until one day they went and the shelves had disappeared too!
What do you think?  Any ingenious ideas for books?

A spring clean!

When the sun is shining and Spring is very definitely in the air I start thinking about turning out my makeup bag and finding lighter products for my skin.  Usually this involves pink of some description when it comes to nails and lips, and a tinted moisturiser rather than foundation.  Chanel has just brought out it's Spring collection which is full of must-haves, here are some of my favourites, old and new:

Highlighting powder

Rouge Coco Baume (hydrating lip care)

Mica Rose Nail polish

I'm currently using a Lancome foundation...

this!

and this!

and their primer makes my skin feel unbelievably soft and really does make a difference to the look of the 'finished face'; however, when it gets warmer I prefer something much lighter and will turn to Laura Mercier for her sheer and natural face products.  My favourite is..



Tinted illuminating moisturiser

and of course, those of you who know me, know that my life would not be complete without something citrusy and sharp - namely Jo Malone's Lime, Basil and Mandarin which really smells so unbelievably amazing and gives you a zing that gets you through the worst day!

Scented candle for summer evening drinks

the most luxurious body creme I've ever used!

So, there you have it, my lust-have's in all their glory.  What's in your Spring makeup bag?