Pesto - before harvesting
Pesto - after havesting
Pesto - cup of pesto leaves
Pesto - chopped with olive oil and pine nuts
Pesto - with mature cheddar, makes a lovely snack
Challah dough - braided & ready to go
Challah dough - oops! left it out to raise overnight.
Challah dough - next day it went flat. Still tasted great.
Richmond Duathlon
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace panorama
Buckingham Palace (creative commons)
Buckingham Palace - Royal Mews
Van Gogh's Chair, by Vincent van Gogh. One of a pair of paintings depicting his relationship with contemporary and friend Gauguin. This one is Van Gogh's chair, with his pipe and tobacco pouch, and onions in the background. The other painting is of Gauguin's chair, an armchair with 2 books and a candle on it (at a different museum, but it would be nice to someday see them side by side). National Gallery, London.
Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390-1441) The Arnolfini Portrait, détail, 1434, National Gallery, London. The writing above the mirror says “Jan van Eyck was here, 1434” The illusionism of the painting was remarkable for its time, in part for the rendering of detail, but particularly for the use of light to evoke space in an interior, for "its utterly convincing depiction of a room, as well of the people who inhabit it". It is considered one of the most original and complex paintings in Western art history. The view in the mirror shows two male figures just inside the door that the couple are facing. The one in front, wearing blue, is presumably the artist although, unlike Velázquez in Las Meninas, he does not seem to be painting. National Gallery, London.
Cognoscenti in a Room hung with Pictures. Unknown, Flemish. This painting is one of a large number of scenes showing collectors and visitors in real or largely imaginary settings that were produced in Flanders in the 17th century. This example was probably painted in 1620. It may well be the work of two painters, one responsible for the figures and the other for the interior, which is probably largely imaginary but shows real objects owned by the collector. National Gallery, London.
Anthony Van Dyck. Cornelis van der Geest (1555 - 1638) was a successful Antwerp spice merchant, an important patron of the arts and a collector. The portrait was probably painted in about 1615-20, shortly before Van Dyck travelled to England for the first time. At a later date (before 1637) the portrait was enlarged; originally only the head and shoulders of van der Geest were visible, in a simulated, oval, porphyry surround. National Gallery, London.
Van Gogh’s four sunflower paintings are amongst the most famous works of art in the world, and The National Gallery has one of them. Painted using an impasto style, the thick brushstrokes bring out the texture of the flowers vividly. It was painted to decorate the room of his friend Paul Gauguin, who he was living with at the time. The collection of paintings are said to represent the cycle of life, with some of the flowers being in full bloom and some dying. National Gallery, London.
Self-Portrait at the Age of 34, oil on canvas by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1640. National Gallery, London. This portrait shows Rembrandt at the height of his career, presenting himself in a self-assured pose wearing an elaborate costume in the fashion of the 16th century. It seems as if Rembrandt refers deliberately to his famous predecessors in this portrait, and thus places himself in the tradition of great 'Old Masters'.
Rembrandt: Self Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669) This work was painted in the final year of Rembrandt's life and is one of his last pictures. He died on 4 October 1669 and was buried in the Westerkerk in Amsterdam. Rembrandt painted more self portraits than any other artist of the 17th century. The National Gallery has two of them, separated by nearly thirty years. In this late picture, the artist wears a deep red coat and a beret, his hands clasped before him. The viewer is confronted by his steady gaze. Rembrandt painted and etched self portraits throughout his life, but those executed in his final years, in which he presents himself in a reflective mood, are among the most poignant and challenging. National Gallery, London.
Anthony van Dyck. This triple portrait of King Charles I was sent to Rome for Bernini to model a bust on. National Gallery, London.
A centrepiece of this year’s London Design Festival will be located in the heart of London, in Trafalgar Square. The Tournament, an installation created by Spanish designer, Jaime Hayón is a gigantic chess set, with 2m high ceramic chess pieces designed by Hayón on a specially created mosaic glass chess board. The installation, which will be set between the two fountains in Trafalgar Square, will be in situ from Saturday 19 – Wednesday 23 September. Each of the 32 chess pieces has been handcrafted by Hayón, working with Bosa, the Italian ceramics experts in Veneto, Italy. Many of the chess pieces reference specific iconic buildings in London and their domes, towers and spires. Elements of the city of London and its history are encoded on the pieces using Hayón’s very personal style. Each chess piece is unique and hand-painted by Hayón himself.
Chess at Trafalgar Square, in front of the National Gallery. THE TOURNAMENT BY JAMIE HAYÓN
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Sqaure - 4th plinth. Antony Gormley's One & Other (art “installation”)
Tamoretti Retro 125cc scooter
Shabbat dinner
The Ambassadors , 1533, Hans Holbein the Younger. In the bottom center foreground is the distorted image of a skull, a symbol of mortality. When seen from a point to the right of the picture the distortion is corrected.
