Blooming Odd

This masterpiece is by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. Called A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase, it was painted around 1609! It hangs in the National Gallery, London. It’s a beautiful vase of flowers. There’s nothing odd about that, you may say. But you’d be wrong. These flowers could not exist together in […]

That Famous Arnolfini Portrait

I’d seen it in textbooks. Read about how remarkable this work was for it’s time (1434). I never dreamed I’d see the real thing. But there it was, just hanging there as casually as you please. I was quite delighted to stumble upon it at the National Gallery. For Becky’s Monday Portrait

One fine ordinary day

Ordinary. My ideal day looks like any other ordinary day. Preferably a Saturday. Back in Australia it started with a sunrise walk by the beach with friends. They did it for exercise. I really did it for the amazing light, their company and the açai bowl waiting for me at the end. We talk and […]

Monday Portrait

For Becky’s Monday Portrait

Zigzag

I’m still slowly going through the old Daily Post Photo Challenges. I’m now up to 1 August, 2014. The challenge was to show our interpretation of zigging and zagging. Here it is. A snippet of street art found in London. It was celebrating the NHS.

Monday Portrait

From the archives. A memory from Sydney. My first contribution to Becky’s Monday Portraits.

A Walk Through the National Gallery

Me: Are you sure you don’t want to come with me to the National Gallery? There’s a Dürer exhibition I’d love to show you… Son: I’m sure mum. So I left my boy to fend for himself and I headed to Trafalgar Square. I tried to remind myself that he was happy with his computer […]

St Paul’s cathedral in the distance

We went for a walk around London today. A six hour guided tour around the city’s Christian heritage. It was very encouraging. I was moved to tears at some points. For Debbie’s Six Word Saturday

Fireworks at the opera

That time my friend had tickets to the opera by the harbour and we saw the heavens light up. It was many years ago now. But it was a lovely time on Sydney harbour watching Madame Butterfly. The image was taken on my phone and edited with Hipstamatic. For Becky’s October Past Square

All the beds I have slept in

From time to time I take part in online actions that seek to bring balance to some of the toxic comment sections on the internet. Have you heard of #IAmHere? It’s a network of citizens who counter hate speech and misinformation online. It started with one woman in Sweden and has now spread across to […]

Work of art

Michelle says in this old Daily Post Photo Challenge that art is everywhere. For her, it’s beautifully cooked and plated food. I can understand that. But I still love visiting galleries.

Taking a short time out

Hello everyone. I have been struggling with words lately. A fog seems to have descended on my brain and I’ve been frustrated with the slow churn of ideas. This is me a couple of days ago — sitting under a tree watching the world go by. After struggling with the blinking cursor on my computer […]