Art
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Magnificent Grace, by Skelton Yawngrave
If you happen to know a child of 9-12 who likes reading, and want a tale set in the run up to Halloween and Guy Fawkes night… then I have a full length story (a.k.a. my kindle experiment) for them. It’s creepy, funny, magical and dystopian and is about trying to bring together a divided…
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Innis McAllister and the fate of photography
I am in an early cups-of-coffee-and-exploring stage of a new project with my photographer pal Innis McAllister. Innis is most familiar for his work with models and in fashion. He also has a rich archive of other work in a huge variety of subjects. It is a challenging time to be a photographer. In 2019…
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Eno installations at the Montefiore Hospital
I’m not given much to hero worship, but Brian Eno is as close as I get. His ambient music is often the backdrop to my work, and his albums Neroli, Thursday Afternoon, The Plateaux of Mirrors (with Harold Budd), Music for Airports, and On Land are all favourites. While his book, A Year With Swollen Appendices, which…
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Two favourites from Brighton’s Open Houses
Walking around Brighton’s open houses is a dangerous business. If money were no object (sadly not the case) I would return with sackfuls of ceramics, art pieces, and so on. Which is not to say that I don’t get a bit ho-hummish at all the ‘me-too’ stuff out there – such as enlarging small things like seedcases…
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Goya, the portraits
This exhibition, in London’s National Gallery till 10th January 2016, far exceeded my expectations.
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Two boyhood heroes: Steve Howe and Roger Dean
I had a two for one deal on boyhood heroes at Trading Boundaries on the 12 of April. Not only did I see legendary guitarist Steve Howe but he was introduced to the stage by Roger Dean. Steve Howe is a fabulous guitarist. His self-taught mastery of musical genres from classical to country blues, plus an extraordinary musical…
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A Cancer Landscape
“The disbelief, the grief, the doubt, the flung out, the anger, the banter, the bargaining…” Personal experience enabled English artist Michele Angelo Petrone (1963-2007) reach out to others fighting disease. Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 30, Petrone became artist in residence at several schools and cancer centres, and created his own arts in health foundation.…
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Peder Balke at The National Gallery, London
I knew nothing about Peder Balke (1804-87) before my pal Bob suggested we go to see the exhibition at the National Gallery (on till April 12 2015). I learned that the Norwegian had made extensive trips around the coast, and then revisited some of the scenes in his imagination, such as North Cape, repeatedly for…
Peter Kenny: a writer's notebook 