Charmingly put. (Tate Modern)

Not quite as charming was the teenager in the Tate Cafe moaning 'I'm well bored' (!)

The billboard..

and the real thing. Absolutely brilliant.

Tate Modern extension and The Shard.

Swish Pop Up Shop at Bankside. See more here.

On the Tube (London underground) - this kind of thing helped me not to think about being in this dark hole in the ground hundreds of feet underneath a huge city and a deep river, getting into a metal tube squashed with millions of other people and zooming along at speed....can you tell I'm a little claustrophobic?

Teenage girl overheard at Ballet Rambert:  'Contemporary Dance is really a Marmite question'.

LONDON? I LOVE IT!

Should you find yourself In London..

near what will be the new extension to Tate Modern is a restaurant and deli called Albion where we had a great lunch.
It's new, and trendy (in a good way!) with excellent service and moderate prices.

Tables outside but under cover, good landscaping.

Big scale scuptures stand up to the big scale buildings.

It's all very vibrant with pop up furniture shops and a great art bookshop.


I liked the sturdy planting of white bark birch, rubus, japanese anemone, grasses and ferns.

 

Alas it's not just the buildings and the sculptures that are big.

Prices (for apartments) from £1.25 million to £6 million!

One of the logos on this board says Native Land - a bit ironic since most of the natives of this land can't afford them....

Bread and water while I save up....

On the banks of the River Thames near Tate Modern

a sculptor seems to make a living

by asking people to throw money in his direction.

He meticulously blows away the grains of sand and I wonder

if he stretches out on his sofa when he's done?

I aim to live simply. This is why I moved thirteen years ago to a wee village on the shores of Loch Long in Argyll on the rugged and quiet west coast of Scotland. But, as you know, every now and then I love a bit of city buzzy energy....

Last week I was in London (I'm so glad it wasn't this week in the storms!) and this morning I took a short walk in the forest behind my home.

I leave you with some contrasting shots and no comment, other than I do appreciate how very lucky I am to be able to enjoy both!

There is still time to see the Battersea Affordable Art Fair if you live within striking distance of London!

Sales are brisk and there's a good atmosphere, and lots to see and enjoy....

Andrew (in blue shirt) and Penny (facing the camera) from Tighnabruaich Gallery will make you welcome - do mention my name!
My paintings are the deep blue one behind Andrew and  the  pale blue one and the two red ones in the first photo - though there may be different ones tomorrow..

Fit to travel - Yay! (Thank you for your kind comments.)

Weather forecast awful.

Packing from my Travel Light lists (see here) plus umbrella.

Back in a week..
 

I've been enjoying experimenting with painting frames with the marvellous Annie Sloan paints which come in wonderful colours.

I know I have said in the past that there is enough distress in the world without deliberately distressing furniture and paint frames, but I'm liking this effect! (I should have lit the candle to enhance it).

Letting some of the gold shine through....

The oil painting is titled The Pink Calls to The Yellow

Floored by some nasty gastro-bug, so no walk, very little food, lots of sleep accompanied by the sound of torrential rain most of the day - but I have been enjoying reading Katheen Frank's biography of Lucie Duff Gordon: A Passage to Egypt (another book I was planning to save for the train journey to London!) A good read about a brave woman whose illness exiled her from her country and family, and made me thankful I only have a tummy bug..

Best laid plans and all that. I hope your weekend plans are going better.

This is the Schoolhouse Burn, part of a lovely half hour circular walk in the forest behind our house.

Looking back down to the loch (and catching my breath!)

The view from the highest point is lovely - even on a misty wet day.

I really have no excuse not to walk more.  Good food again, egg, soup, chicken and vegetables (also several biscuits - I had guests and no will power!)  but doing OK....and planning a longer walk for tomorrow.

The new header photo is from Benmore Botanic Gardens last autumn.

I'm in training for a trip to London!

See more about the Fernery here.

I ate well too. Breakfast - an egg. Lunch - soup. Dinner - salmon, brocolli, carrots and a very small potato. And two shots of Akvavit after loading 15 paintings into the car. Yoga before bed and I'll sleep well, feeling very righteous. And a tiny bit fitter.

simply get fit enough for a week in London!

I am feeling very sluggish lately and was telling a friend how much energy you need to go to private views, art fairs and the Ballet Rambert and see all the museums you want to see and ..and.. I was inwardly wondering Am I up to this?

I have four full days and a day of travel before I hit the capital so I am thinking what can I do in four full days. Well I shall eat really well (basically that means for me NO SUGAR) and I could go for at least one decent walk each day and do a little yoga each evening.

Do you think that will make a difference?

Watch this space....

The addition of this..

to my current favourite coat (see post here) will see me through to winter. Makes the idea of winter quite bearable!

Quote of the day..

It doesn't take much to be a successful artist - all you need to do is dedicate your entire life to it.

                          Banksy

Isn't it wonderful that we get excited about autumn colour every single year?

I wonder if we sometimes overstimulate little children.

The children I photographed in yesterday's post played in that empty open space for a good half hour. There was one small plastic car which lay unnoticed on the ground most of the time.

It reminds me of the Mum who decluttered her child's room, wondering all the while if her daughter would miss all the things she was putting away in the loft. The child's response was 'Oh, now I've got room to dance!' Which she then proceeded to do. Every day.

Children might like to live more simply too. What do you think?

Tiny children just love

to run across this big open space, and I

just love to watch them!

Yes, he's standing on top of a litter bin,

balancing one one leg,

and playing the flute, beautifully..

Coming home on the ferry today, the spray was over the top of the bus!

After a long and complicated day, I had to read my work (see here) aloud to the creative writing class.

My voice was shaking, just a little.

How embarassing!

But I did it.

Homework is a piece entitled or beginning with the words The clown was suicidal....

I love setting flowers under lights and lamps..

These cosmos are the lucky ones I picked this morning. The ones still in the garden are being battered by heavy rain as I write.

My focus is changing from out of doors to inside, and I'm buying flowers again, a definite sign that the season has changed.

 
Penny and Andrew from the fabulous Tighnabruaich Gallery came and  selected lots of paintings to take to Battersea Affordable Art Fair in London later this month.

Exciting..
 

This lemon dressing is delicious and, surprisingly, not too tart. One clove of garlic, crushed, the zest and juice of one lemon and a dash of white wine vinegar. We had it drizzled over tuna, beans, tomatoes and watercress. So fresh!

Some honey could be added if you find it tart.

A little more about my class (I'll change the subject tomorrow - promise!). There are 17 students, 7 men and 10 women, mixed ages but predominantly young. The tutor, Alan McMunnigall, is experienced, organised, friendly and relaxed, and highly regarded. I think the discipline of attending and doing assignments, and being in the company of other aspiring writers will be the motivation I need to get down to some serious work. It's quite a long journey there and back and I'll use the time to work on a few pages of the novel each week.

That's the plan anyway - and don't worry, I'm not going to post all my assignments on the blog!  Thanks for the encouraging comments....

Some of you may remember I am writing a novel (see post here). It began as a fun way to get through February which was my least favourite month of the year. The first February (2011) with the aid of a book called No Plot, No Problem by Chris Baty, I wrote about 25,000 words - half a novel. In February 2012 I wrote the second half, and the third year I began to edit. February 2014 I aim to have my final draft. (I've only worked on it in Februaries so far, but very intensively - see posts under Simply Write.)

I knew by now that I needed some help.

As a painter I am used to seeing all the elements of a piece of work at once - they are all there, visible on the canvas, and if I make a change I can immediately see what effect this has on the rest of the composition. With 50,000 words on I've forgotten how many pages, I find myself struggling to see the overall shape and structure.

I am now floundering in it so badly I enrolled in a course Writing Fiction: The Novel to help me along. The class is in the Open Course programme at Glasgow University - one night a week.

I have never been on a writing course before, but I think I have struck lucky....

Well, here goes! I've joined a writing course - (more about it tomorrow). I think it is going to be great.


The Tutor's First Assignment.


Write to me of Love, he said,

write to me of Love.

Of love, in love, love-fifteen.

Maternal love? Love of life, love of fast cars, of crochet, of comic books, or cupakes?

Love of nature, for the love of God!

Unrequited or quited, love eternal, love divine. Self love and the love that dare not speak its name.

Love-in-a-mist, love is all there is, All You Need Is Love, especially In A Cold Climate or In The Time Of Cholera.

Amo amas amat, amour, and how many words do the Inuit have for snow, or the Masai for brown? The Greeks have agape, philia, eros, storge and more. We have Love. Oh, and Luv, luv, then there's luurve..and that little heart thingy, as in I Love New York.

Free love (In The Afternoon) in a love triangle perhaps.

It has its downside, love: you can be love-sick, you can't buy it, it's sometimes blind and Love Hurts you know. You can love someone to death....and it's Labours can be Lost.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, and have you tried to love your enemy?

There's the love them and leave them type, and the love-child, poor mite.

Love Me Tender and love my love handles, Make Love Not War, in A Summer of Love. Love is never enough they say, but don't forget:

Love Conquers All

Got out my satchel - I'm a student again. Yay! I always say I feel most alive when I'm learning....

What makes you feel most alive?

And can you fit more of it into your life?