Advanced style

Oh that top, that necklace she looks divine.
Sartorialist is always the best street style blog for me, but if you want a change....





Advanced Style Is pretty good too.

My cup of sartorial joy brims over with the discovery of Ari Cohen's blog, Advanced Style, which chronicles the style of the chicest, wackiest and best dressed of America's older generation. Here you will find inspiration from vintage style mavens, ranging from 93-year-old model Mimi Weddell, to a dude from Seattle whose fine legs are displayed in stockings and who is topped off with a blazer and cap. Then there's fabric designer Elizabeth Sweetheart, who dresses entirely in green - a different outfit every day. She was recently profiled in New York magazine where she explained the genesis of her eccentric but bizarrely successful look. "I began wearing green nail varnish and it just spread all over me."


From yesterdays Guardian

Good things come in three's

Laura Letinsky 

at the James Hyman Gallery

I just caught this exhibition, very, very beautiful large prints the colours and the way the objects are lit just brilliant. You really do have to see work of this quality in the flesh if you can to appreciate the skill involved in these images.

John Blackburn: Paintings

13 May - 6 June 2009

On at Osborne Samuel

Now back in England, Blackburn had his first solo show at the Woodstock Gallery in London. Life was still hard but crucially this exhibition was visited by Jim Ede, a well known collector and promoter of contemporary art who had a house in Cambridge called Kettle’s Yard that housed his collection and has since become an important art centre.

All this caused a prolonged disruption to his painting and a lack of funds obliged the artist to pursue a career as a graphic designer. Painting was however still an integral part of his life and he continued to work in isolation with minor exhibitions outside London.

The current exhibition is built around recent work chosen from the studio. We also include earlier works such as the important group of large paintings first shown in 1969 at the Gulbenkian Foyer at the University of Kent as wall hangings and reworked in 2007 and laid onto boards.

John celebrated his 75th birthday last year and continues to paint with the same inventiveness, vitality and enthusiasm he has shown throughout his career.

There's my two most favourite words in the English language Kettles Yard, how amazingly serendipitous finding this exhibition was, I do not normally walk down the street but some how this day I did. As I passed by I thought it was a William Scott exhibition but on closer inspection it was nothing like his work. It was richly layered textures with delicately drawn lines & shapes. Stunning, seriously if I could I would have bought the third one down. The gallery has a brilliant catalogue and web site here

Susan Derges

3 June - 4 July

How lucky was I, I managed to see this before it opened and although I had seen her work on the web, nothing and I men nothing prepares you for the sheer beauty, the depth of colour and the almost spiritual beauty of these images they are big, very big. Stunning

Subliminal perfection, and absolute proof that if you can ALWAYS see photographs in the 'flesh' the detail in these is lost in cyber translation. Yes I would have the top one, well any of them, although I was mesmerised by the one with frog spawn in. As someone who has schlepped across bath with a wheelie bin customised as a pin hole camera I appreciate that the skill involved in making these unique images is awesome. She must have the patience of a saint. A BIG thank you to Purdy Hicks for allowing me to gate crash the exhibition whilst it was being hung.

Of all the places in all the world...

who would have thought that despite living thousands of miles apart we would ever meet? But meet we did on the banks of the river Thames in the shadow of the Tate Modern, Materfamilias and I plus her lovely hubby imbibed a pint (or two) on a beautiful summers evening and chatted away a few hours which passed by far to quickly. Amazing.

Never try this at home

NEVER Have a shower and use a freebie from the draw without your glasses on, do not go slapping copious amounts onto freshly shaved legs, all I could see was 'Body Excellence' THE PAIN it really, really stings. I put my glasses on to read it was a serum, who the bloody hell puts serum on there body?

NEVER expect to sit down during half term, I ended up using up 3 days marking then schlepping round a hot and dusty capital with two low level irritants plus mother, who I exhausted!

NEVER agree to having a dog, it is always you that walks the bloody thing three times a day, I had such a headache yesterday, I pleaded with Emin to take him, No, not unless I come! WTF no matter how crap you feel no matter how crap the weather walk, walk, walk. Couple this with three little words that strike fear into any sane individual "can I come" Leyla and that dog on a retractable lead do not make for a calm end to your evening, or beginning to your day for that matter, yesterday she took out not one but two commuters hurrying to the station. Emin's idea of walking the dog is to open the back door, come back Kitty all is forgiven.

NEVER live with someone who works from home, EVERY single time I log on he comes and stands over my shoulder looking, I HATE people watching me when I write, I will be bloody grateful to be back at work.

NEVER buy a slice of homemade cake and look forward to eating it all day, you will be seriously disappointed, SERIOUSLY.

Never sit down to watch a DVD with a small child without checking the rating, Adrift in Manhattan has some REALLY explicit sex scenes. Great film though stunning cinematography.

A day in May in London

I have become increasingly enthralled by the work of Sandra Blow. There is currently a wonderful exhibition on at Beaux Arts London

On to the ubiquitous Berkley square for lunch

The squares in London are wonderful cleansing lungs. They are everywhere, many are public spaces but some are private but they make London the beautiful green space that it is. In a couple of weeks all squares will open there gates to the public. More details here

I saw this divine jewellery in a shop on South Molton Street. It is by Romy Derman

If you are ever in need of a calm space to powder your nose Fenwicks give you this heavenly slice of luxury. Seriously cross your legs and go up the escalator to the 4th floor. Perfect

Selfridges windows never fail to delight. Celebrating 100 years all the windows are yellow, Selfridges yellow.

When I was young I had the most fantastic apron covered in Batman slogans so these windows took me back to when times were a little more fun.

Launceston place, and the surrounding area maybe know as petite France but the buildings are so beautiful

unlike Paris the bikes in London are a little less loved!

An original window with such beautiful glass.

A place so posh they have rocking Zebras

I took these last week before the hell that is marking and moderating caught up with me. I had to endure Leyla whilst I moderated 39 folders of coursework, as it is half term she had nothing but homework for company. Not easy, I lost it by 2pm, not pretty.

Tomorrow I will finish the last of the paper work and I would like to say it will all be over but that will not happen until 16th of June. But I have a couple of away days planned to ease the pain including meeting mother. Sadly the girls went without me as I was too busy to go to Oxford. So mother and I will meet on Friday at the British Museum for a jaunt around the garden.

Chelsea flower show

Chelsea flower show
Originally uploaded by theviewfromhere indigo16

Not a vintage year, but great fun nevertheless. Far fewer gardens coupled with a paucity of nursery's showing in the marquee meant it was slim pickings on the image front.
I think it is time to rethink and encourage more colleges and amateurs t have a go as the corporate gardens have sucked the life out of what used to be an inspirational event.

P.S I edited all 333 images on Daisy's glorious laptop. I was using guest user so when she switched user the whole lot vanished. Luckily I still had not cleared the cameras memory card.

Chelsea flower show

Chelsea flower show
Originally uploaded by theviewfromhere indigo16

The Chelsea flower show pictures are on line all 46 of them!

Not a vintage year horticulturally wise but just as many fabulous flowery attired women.