Showing posts with label ragart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ragart. Show all posts

Step 1. I am a blogaholic

I admit it. I went 'cold turkey' from blogging over the weekend. It was horrible. I wish my husband was at work so I could rummage in blogs, comment and write, write, write. I even made secretive notes on things I want to blog on, and have a private book of blog notes. I think I am addicted. So when I saw this today, I knew I was not alone. There is support out there, albeit from other addictees.

So the first thing is, I need to linky up with more blogs. I have done this. I am linked up to the Blogaholics Party. I have been tagged - a first for me, too. I want to do the Around the world in 80 words linky too, and all those lovely Love All Blogs memes and blog hops are so inviting....

Perhaps I'll just start this Monday morning with a snippet of Village life since coming back from holiday. Isn't it strange how being away makes you appreciate what you have at home. Our Godson was on holiday with us. He is four. A lively chap, poor eater, but game for anything. One day we took the Sugar Cane steam train from Ka'anapali to Laihina. We could hear the tut-tutting from fellow tourists (mainly Japanese) as we chugged past a particularly ugly area of discarded garden furniture, and other assorted litter. Fly-tipping. How awful we thought, in such a lovely place. How disappointing then, to come home and find the same in Shackleford! A TV, smashed-up furniture, and litter, lots of it. I wish I knew who did this?

Apart from that, it has been a lovely week in Shackleford. The snow took its time to melt, it was mild over the weekend, so we got a chance to re-stock the wood pile. (The 'boys' have settled into their routine, currently asleep on the velvet duvet!) I was looking after one neighbour's cats while they were away skiing. I enjoyed that, sweet little creatures, so gentle compared to the Boxers! Sadly, another neighbour's cat has gone missing and we hope that he is just trapped in someone's garage or shed while they have been away for half-term. We do have a problem with speeding, though, and I pray that Ugo is not injured somewhere.

I collected a painting I bought from the fabulous Rob Green. We went to Dad for roast lamb done in the Weber BBQ, surely a bit too early for BBQ but delicious none-the-less.

It is five years since The Burglary. A nasty event for anyone but made worse because the scoundrel was still in the house when I got home. And it was four months to the date since the first burglary, in the same week we finally got the insurance pay-out. The Police dogs gave chase and he hasn't come back, although to our knowledge he has also never been caught. I am healed though of the trauma now, but it was quite an ordeal from which I thought I would never recover, but that's a story for another time.

I have made new Twitter friends this week (I hope I'm not on my way to becoming a Twitter-holic too) and I hope we will be able to grow the followers of @shacksurrey our new Village Twitter account.

OK, I've sated my thirst to blog. I'm off, to leave you to read in peace.

Riot in a Faithless World

A review of Rob Green's new art exhibition by Lesley Beeton.
West End Centre, Queens Road, Aldershot
16 - 27 January 2012

I had the pleasure of attending the private viewing last night. This exhibition is inspired by the riots last summer and reminds us of the role of religion and faith in society.

There are four aspects to the exhibition. The first is a series of seven mixed media paintings on canvas with the theme 'Mortality'. These dark subjects are set against beautifully painted floral backgrounds. 'Avowedly I'm Coming to Get You' depicts a ram head through a fence surrounded by rambling daffodil flowers. Although the theme is a bit dark, the paintings seem to be showing the fun side of our mortality.

Gaps in Trees, Robert Green, 2011
The second theme of the exhibition is 'Beauty'. This was my favourite theme, not least because many of the pieces reminded me of biological themes. For example, 'Grey Dawn' looks as if the bleb is about to burst open, releasing loads of spores. I'm reliably informed that this theme is actually a depiction of the Higgs boson  particle, a unity of beauty and solace. Each of the paintings depicts a natural theme from sunrise, to trees, and each contains the repeating concentric circle motif. There are fourteen paintings in this theme, gouache on paper.

The third aspect of the exhibition is a series of twenty-one delicate and intricate Faith-themed paintings (oil on canvas-board). These colourful paintings explore the theme of Faith in a thought-provoking way. Some are very uncomfortable to view, in that they depict a critical look at something in all of us. I felt that the paintings depicting vanity showed particular insight. There is some adult content, too.

The last aspect of the installation is a life-size installation depicting The Last Supper (mixed media). This installation is not for sale. The individual depictions of the apostles are contemporary, colourful characterisations. Each piece contains so much detail and depth of thought that it warrants its own viewing. Perhaps it would be helpful to view these pieces as a flat-against-the-wall installation, rather than seated at the table. The impact as it is displayed here is of the installation, rather than on the individual pieces, and I would have liked to be able to get the full impact of the paintings. Perhaps, next time.

A thoroughly engaging exhibition. I hope it will get Rob Green's work many new admirers. You can find more here.