Flower Arranging at Tate Britain

A second floral related post in as many days!
I spent a lovely hour creating a contemporary flower arrangement at Tate Britain with the florists Rebel Rebel. Inspired by the work of British artists, the idea behind the class was to channel the colour palettes of the artists to produce an arrangement of flowers that reflected their style or aesthetic.

My piece was inspired by the joyful still life work of David Hockney and his sumptuous approach to colour and esoteric compositions.

David Hockney - Three Sunflowers and a Bottle of Water, 1996

North, South, East & West London Adventures

I have been enjoying a staycation and have had a few little adventures in London with friends this summer. Here is a summary of my many outings around London with maps and links so you could explore these places for yourself too.

3 mile walk
Setting off at Dalston Junction I explored the Dalston Eastern Curve Gardens for a pot of tea and then visited the outdoor market where I happened upon this rather shabby chic looking fabric shop, Dalston Mill Fabrics.
Next, a leisurely walk towards Stoke Newington where I discovered a gorgeous garden oasis just off the high street called Kynaston Gardens. A refreshment stop at an independent organic supermarket called Harvest N16 then down Church Street which is full of lovely artisan cafes, antiques shops, gift shops and the odd charity shop.
Finally, a chill out on a park bench at Clissold Park before a further amble towards Finsbury Park Tube station.

4 mile walk
I had a few friends staying at the weekend who wanted to see some different sides of London, so we started with a bit of culture at the Tate Modern. We perused the regular galleries and also saw the Alberto Giacometti and Fahrelnissa Zeid exhibitions too. My favourite was the Zeid show because of her beautiful use of colour and abstracted pattern.
We then walked along the Southbank towards London Bridge and took Fenchurch Street towards Whitechapel and the start of Brick Lane. On a Sunday Brick Lane is full of amazing food stalls and we ate huge portions of gorgeous vegetarian food from the Ethiopiques stall.

3.2 mile walk
Starting at Kensington High Street tube I walked towards Holland Park for the Design Museum. My friend Charlotte and I saw the California: Designing Freedom exhibition which has a 2 for 1 ticket deal on until the 28th August if you want to check it out for yourself. I really enjoyed it. It's full of colourful graphic design from the '60's onwards and chronicles the influence of new design and technologies from California (skateboards, apple macs, google) and how it has changed the world.
We had a komucha stop on a bench in Holland Park before walking through Hyde Park towards a cafe called Raw Press on Dover Street. The food was lovely but the service was a little abrupt and unfriendly which was a shame.

1 mile walk
The main reason for this visit was to taste the delights of breakfast at Farm Girl Cafe. Absolutely scrumptious food. Service is a little full on at the weekend because it is so popular but you can overlook that when your food arrives! I had the Buckwheat Pancakes and my friends enjoyed an Acai bowl. Both dishes were lovely!
To walk off the food we ambled down Portobello Road and watched the stall holders getting ready for the day ahead. A great vibe in this part of London on a Sunday morning.

2.2 mile walk
A solo adventure in Vauxhall and Pimlico to get to see some art exhibitions before they finished. First up is the free Newport Street Gallery owned by Damien Hirst. A lovely walk from Vauxhall through the gardens, past the City Farm and onto Newport Street. I saw the penultimate day of the Ashley Bickerton: Ornamental Hysteria exhibition which was a rather strange collection of paintings, assemblages, sculptures and mixed media work.
I walked to the Tate Britain along the river and across Vauxhall Bridge to see the Queer British Art exhibition. Which was pretty quiet on a Saturday morning. There is some great art to see here with a wide range of styles, genres and artists exhibited.

What have you been up to lately?

Late at the Tate

I went to see the private view of the Late Turner exhibition with my friend Rachel at Tate Britain the other week. If you get a chance to see this exhibition I would highly recommend it. I was surprised how much I enjoyed his work.
Seeing so many Turner paintings in one place has a huge impact; his amazing use of light and delicate colour palettes are gorgeous!

I was also excited to see the Phyllida Barlow installation that was a series of site specific sculptures entitled 'Docks'. The show ended at the weekend and I was so happy to get a chance to see the sculptures because they were so crazy, huge, over-whelming, fun and serious all at the same time.

Phyllida Barlow's Dock sculptural installation at Tate Briatin, 6th October 2014

We also checked out the four finalists for the 2014 Turner Prize.

There are three video installation artists in the final this year which I wasn't that bothered about. My favourite entry was by Ciara Phillips. She has created a screen printed room and worked with other artists and womens' groups to create a collaborative art piece.

Ciara Phillip's very Warholesque screen-printed room at Tate Britain

Ciara Phillip's screen printed room

Have you seen this year's Turner Prize entries? 

What do you think of them?

Patrick Caulfield at Tate Britain

I managed to sneak a whistle stop view of the Patrick Caulfield exhibition before it closes on the 1st September. I have always loved his work and it was great to see so many of his large paintings in one place together.