shenanigans at the V&A

the illuminated structure behind the sculpture is a latex mould taken from the internal supporting brickwork for one of the castings from trajan's column

a dancing trumpeter i'd previously failed to notice ... a V&A casting from the interior porch of the cathedral at santiago de compostella

work in progress on next/this year's christmas card

alvi

noa

dear diary ...

up just before one ... wide-awake ... peed ... opened neil macgregor's most excellent book about german culture and history ... read three easy chapters ... out of the door at two forty-five and in at work just before three-thirty ... someone else's vehicle had been abandoned in my loading bay with a flat battery ... shifted various trucks then walked around the block with heavy-duty jump leads because a gate was still locked after the holiday ... loaded and got away in just over three times as long as the recommended departure ritual ... first customer was in no hurry to unlock their gate so waited twenty minutes in vain then drove on to the second etc etc and returned to first five hours later ... much much later than that, after the end of an eleven hour shift, took action ... hurried back to putney, legged it down town and enrolled on next term's digital design course at putney art school ... there i'll have a go at making this look professional, not just professional but glossy and slick ...

... see if i don't !

had these two paintings to myself for a few lucky minutes ... john singer sargent at the national portrait gallery

.... the longer you stand there the wider your smile

sent a reflected sunrise to linda ...

... and linda sent a reflected sunset back

we've been retro-branded

a bit of local colour

great minds think alike, they say

"if you're not moved ... well, i'm sorry for you ... you'll have to move on", said sir colin davis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7-m9NNzsEA

one of the best cartoonists that ever lived ...

it might become necessary to visit rome again, just to take a look at this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_and_Profane_Love

should i buy her some fruit for valentine's day ?

3BT

A couple of mouthfuls of cold perry to wash down half a mouthful of very salty Stilton.

Three letters, lovingly written and lovingly sealed, and ready-to-post to lovely people.

At first light, the loved one asleep on new cotton pillowcases, her hair spread wide like a fairy tale romance.

the improvised slide ... i'm expecting him to audition for the burt lancaster role in the re-make of trapeze

ai weiwei's iron tree at the yorkshire sculpture park really is cold to the touch ... i'm impressed with his idea but it lacks the grace that would endear it to me

my current favourite V&A post card

can you catch chilblains from photographs ? possibly, maybe ?

saint george's in bloomsbury

yet another gratuitous juxtaposition ...

my dad bought a very old rover from a neighbour in about 1958 ... i think it might have been this model

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C557963

the 1953 eagle annual from a charity shop ... file under "CULTURE AND IMPERIALISM"

master of the saint bartholomew altarpiece ... one of my favourite painters ... compare and contrast, etc

3BT

The weather changes before first light.  After leaving Reading in a bitter frost, on passing through Swindon, I see from the early train that the roofs of the terraced houses and the streets are white with snow.  At the station itself, large flakes of snow whirl around the lamps and settle on the hunched shoulders of the boarding passengers.

In Wiltshire, arriving in the warmth of their cosy little house, i find my daughter and her two sons glowing with vitality and intelligence.

Back at home in time for tea, discovering I have won six pounds and ninety pence on the euromillions.

frederick sandys ... showing off a bit !

... i prefer the drawing, but the painting is jolly good fun !