Exhibition: Ross Watson @ The Gallery, London

The big bonus of working in Shoreditch is that I get to pop out to exhibitions in my lunch break. Today I visited The Gallery at 50 Redchurch Street to see the new Ross Watson exhibition.

I have to confess, the main reason I wanted to visit this exhibition was to see one picture – the crowning glory of the exhibition:

Ross Watson

Stephen Fry (after Vermeer, 1670)

The wonderful Stephen Fry is, of course, the star of this picture. The ‘King of Twitter‘ (with 4,822,845 followers at the time of writing), sits clutching his iPad with an intriguing expression on his face. Has he been interrupted while composing a Tweet? Or is he thinking about the scene behind him, in which a young girl receives a letter she most probably had to wait weeks for. In this spectacular picture, Watson makes a comment on today’s technology, and the way in which we are now communicating. Fry, in his eyes alone, adds his own thoughts.

If this had been the only good picture in the exhibition I wouldn’t have minded but, as it turned out, they were all absolutely gorgeous! Here’s a selection:

Ross Watson

Untitled 18/09 (after van Ruisdael, 1670)

Ross Watson

Untitled 19/09 (after Caravaggio, 1596; featuring Marco Da Silva)

Ross Watson

Ross Watson

Untitled 04/11

Ross Watson

Untitled #05/11

I do heartily recommend checking out the exhibition for yourself though, if you’re in the area, as the pictures look even better in real life.

Ross Watson was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1962. He has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions since 1984, including important surveys of Australian and international contemporary art at the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, and in the Toronto and Melbourne International Art Fairs.

Ross Watson’s exhibition, which is in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust, is open until 7th October 2012, 11am – 7pm (closed Monday). For more about the artist, please visit: www.rosswatson.com.

Ross Watson

The artist, Ross Watson, who kindly let me waffle at him about how much I liked his work. Thank you.


Something New Every Day Challenge: Day #4

Today’s ‘something new’ was easy to find as it was waiting for me on an empty Tube seat:

Yes, from today, Time Out London magazine has become a free publication, handed out at train stations during the daily commute. I have, of course, read Time Out before, but it’s a new initiative to make the magazine free. I suppose sales must have been down due to the large amount of content available on their website, and also because of the other free publications which are available in London.

I have to admit though, I’ve never really liked the format of Time Out magazine. I quite like their website, and love the weekly emails highlighting free things to do in London and advertising competitions, but I’ve always found the magazine a bit of a waste of money. So, does being free make it any better? For me, no. As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, I’m prone to a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out), so adding another free publication advertising things to do in London to my already growing pile is actually a really bad thing for me. Every day I can pick up the Metro and Evening Standard, and then once a week I find Stylist and Shortlist thrust into my hands. Sometimes other free magazines like aMuse Magazine pop up too. All of them have online versions as well as paper versions, and all of them are bursting with far too much information and more “things to do” than any human could ever possibly fit in. It’s exhausting!

So, after flicking through my new, free copy of Time Out, I recycled it, and decided not to bother picking it up again. Along with all of these…

My other new thing today is to try to put myself first a bit more. I was supposed to go to a talk tonight, which no doubt would have been interesting, but I wasn’t feeling great and I wanted to go home, eat something warming (veggie sausages, homemade oven chips and Baked Beans!) and blog, so I did. I need to learn that I and only I make my decisions, and I mustn’t feel like I’m under any obligation to do things if I decide I don’t want to do them.

The ‘Something New Every Day Challenge’ is going well so far. I’ve decided to try to keep it up for 7 days, and then after that it will just be as and when I can, as it will become too much to post every day (especially with November and NaNoWriMo coming up…). So, 3 days to go…


Something New Every Day Challenge: Day #3

I knew it was going to be much harder to find new things to do on work days, and the pouring rain today didn’t help, but I still managed to find something! Today’s new thing was:

Smiling while commuting

Everyone hates commuting, right? Especially if you’re stuck on a crowded train with your face in someone’s armpit, an elbow in your ribs, and someone else’s free newspaper grazing your boob. Commuting really gets me down, and I feel like I have this big black cloud over me all day because I know I have to get back on the damned train again after work to go home.

But I have no choice. I can’t afford to live in Zone 1, therefore I must commute, and I must use public transport because I can’t ride a bike and wouldn’t cycle that far anyway! So, today I decided to try to find a way to smile while commuting.

Generally it’s the other people on the commute that get my goat, so I figured I would have to form a bubble around myself and fill it with things that made me happy. The easiest way I know to do this is with music. I often listen to a bit of Lady Gaga on the way to work, but I decided to try something new today… something which was guaranteed to make me smile…

Comedy. Or, more specifically, comedy music. 😀

Here’s an example of something that made me smile inappropriately on the Tube today:

Please note: If you try smiling while commuting your fellow commuters may glance at you suspiciously and think you rather strange, but it shouldn’t matter because you will be in your own little comedy bubble, oblivious to their grumpy moods. The only people I am allowing into my bubble with me at the moment are the gorgeous Tim Minchin, the hilarious Victoria Wood, the ridiculous Bill Bailey and perhaps a little Monty Python.

(Image source)

(Image source)

(Image source)

(Image source)


Something New Every Day Challenge: Day #2

Today is a rainy, cold, miserable day, and it would be easy to say that it is impossible to try something new on a day like this. After all, I have stayed home in my pyjamas all day with no intention of going out, so how could I possibly try something new?

However, not wanting to be thwarted so early on in the game, I was determined to find some new things to do today.

So, for breakfast I had a toasted cinnamon and raisin bagel with Cadbury’s chocolate Philadelphia for the first time. Yum. The Philly melted and it was better than any chocolate spread I’ve ever tried. Healthier too, I think.

20120923-144113.jpg

Then, I decided to post this blog entirely with my iPad. I’ve written blogs on my iPad before, but usually use photos I have already uploaded to Flickr. This time I took the photo above with my iPad, edited the photo with the Photoshop Express app, and then wrote this post using the iPad WordPress app. It takes a while to get used to what you can and can’t do when blogging with an iPad, but overall I’m still marvelling at the technology!

Today’s new things are little things, but I feel good for being able to try something new today without leaving the house or spending any money.

I hope I can mange to keep this up during the week!


Something New Every Day Challenge: Day #1

My friend Gwynnie over at Make Life Magic has started a challenge today, and I couldn’t possibly not take part – it’s the ‘Something New Every Day Challenge‘. Gwynnie says:

Do you ever feel just bored of life? When every day is the same, nothing really surprises you, you drag yourself out of bed to face another predictable day?

What about those things that you’d like to do? Some of us are ashamed of our dreams. You might want to start your own business, quit your job and travel around the world for a year, change your image so drastically that it terrifies you. But something in your head tells you “You can’t… not you. You’re too young/old/poor/dull”. Perhaps you secretly believe that excitement and success are for other people, but not you.

If you’re happy living in an unhappy, limited world, then don’t read any further. Go back to denying yourself the things that you deserve, and feeling bitter when you see people who aren’t afraid to go and get them. But if you want to feel more confident in everything you do, more excited about waking up every day, then read on. Those big changes won’t seem so scary when you’ve been making little changes every day for the last few months.

One of my oldest pieces of advice to friends who feel stuck in a rut, unsure about their own abilities or about what they want to do in life, is this – try something new every day.

Life is so full of possibilities. Why limit yourself to doing the same things forever?

I’m not talking about massive, world-shaking things every day, unless that’s your thing. You don’t have to climb Everest, join a new class every day, cut off all your hair or go sky-diving, although you might enjoy those things. I’m talking about even tiny new things – trying a flavour of tea that you’ve never had before, painting your nails a new colour, sitting in a different seat in your usual restaurant or classroom.

Gwynnie will be posting her own new somethings over on her blog, and I decided to accept the challenge and post mine here.

So, Day #1…

I actually did a couple of new things today, so I’m off to a good start!

First, I went to the British Music Experience at the O2, which was really fab! I probably wouldn’t have gone there if I had had to buy a ticket, but because I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar last night at the O2 I was given a free ticket to the exhibition. Bonus! (Jesus Christ Superstar was A-MAZING, by the way.)

Whilst at the British Music Experience my mum and I had a go at dancing in this dance booth thing, and I think it was probably the first time I ever ‘rave danced’ and ‘ska danced’ with my mum! We also sung Bohemian Rhapsody together – but that wasn’t a first! 😉

British Music Experience

Later in the day we went to Wagamama, where I tend to order the same thing off the menu (yasai yaki soba), but today, for the first time, I ordered saien soba – and it was delicious!

Saien Soba @ Wagamama

Let’s see what I can think of tomorrow, and how long I can keep this challenge going! Wish me luck…


Music in Pictures Contest: Better Days

This week’s Music in Pictures Contest is on the theme of one of my favourite songs: Better Days by Eddie Vedder. Whenever I think of the song Better Days, I think of this:

View from Enoshima Observation Lighthouse

View from Enoshima Observation Lighthouse looking out towards Kamakura (Japan)

I first heard Better Days in the film Eat, Pray, Love, and so I will always associate the song with that movie. In the movie, and the book it’s based on, the main female character decides she likes the Italian word “attraversiamo”, meaning “let’s cross over”. That phrase could also be applied to this picture of a bridge connecting mainland Honshu and Kamakura to Enoshima, in Japan.

Here’s to Better Days

I feel part of the universe open up to meet me
My emotion so submerged, broken down to kneel in
Once listening, the voices they came
Had to somehow greet myself, read myself
Heard vibrations within my cells, in my cells
Singing, “Ah-la-ah-ah, ah-la-ah-ah”

My love is safe for the universe
See me now, I’m bursting
On one planet, so many turns
Different worlds
Singing, “Ah-la-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah”

Fill my heart with discipline
Put there for the teaching
In my head see clouds of stairs
Help me as I’m reaching
The future’s paved with better days

Not running from something
I’m running towards the day
Wide awake

A whisper once quiet
Now rising to a scream
Right in me

I’m falling, free falling
Words calling me
Up off my knees

I’m soaring and, darling,
You’ll be the one that I can need
Still be free

Our future’s paved with better days


World Photography Day – please vote for me!

I’ve been jostled into entering another photography competition (my third one this year), and would be delighted if you would all consider voting for my entry.

The voting period is 19th – 26th August (so I need to catch up!). All you have to do is visit the World Photography Day website, register and log in, and then click on the big VOTE button next to my entry. You won’t see the vote button if you’re not logged in. Registration is free and only takes a moment!

http://www.worldphotoday.org/gallery/2012/2689.php

Please share the link with your friends too – the more votes, the merrier I’ll be! Thanks everyone! 😀


Music in Pictures Contest: What a wonderful world

I’m in the mood for responding to blog themes today, so I’ve decided to participate in Autumn in Bruges‘s Music in Pictures Contest. Each week, Autumn in Bruges sets a theme based on a song, and this week’s song is “What a wonderful world”, originally recorded by Louis Armstrong. I also quite like Joey Ramone’s version:

So, with that in mind, here are my pictures on the theme of “What a wonderful world”:

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Dale Grimshaw

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Jo Peel

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by

Street art

I see friends shakin’ hands, sayin’ How do you do?
They’re really saying I love you

Alice

I hear babies cryin’, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know

DON in Shoreditch

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Street Art & Graffiti in Shoreditch - Let's Adore & Endure Each Other

Oh yeah!


Travel theme: Sunset

I find myself dreaming about running off into the sunset recently, so I decided to join in Where’s my backpack?‘s Travel theme this week. Here are some beautiful sunsets I’ve had the pleasure of viewing…

Red sky at night...

London sunset, 5th March 2012

Sunset in Nagoya, 28th March 2011

Sunset in Nagoya (Japan), 28th March 2011

Sunset in Finchley

Sunset in Finchley (North London), 24th August 2011

Laguna sunset

Laguna Gamagori sunset (Japan), 14th December 2008

London sunset

London sunset, 6th May 2012

Chasing sunsets...

Brighton sunset, 2nd January 2011

Thanks to Autumn in Bruges for introducing me to this blog and weekly travel theme! 🙂


Freshly Pressed!

Fantastic news – I’ve been Freshly Pressed!

My recent post, Brainwashed in London, about visiting Mr Brainwash‘s new exhibition has been selected to appear on Freshly Pressed on the WordPress home page. Posts are selected by hand, so it’s a real honour to have been picked.

I was lucky enough to be Freshly Pressed once before over at Haikugirl’s Japan, and it sent my page hits through the roof, which resulted in some new subscribers and more comments. Everything I write and post online I do for myself, but it makes me so happy to receive feedback and to know that people are interested in what I’m doing and enjoying my writing and photos.

AliMuskett.com started as “a place for everything else” because I sometimes wanted to write about things that weren’t Japan-related and didn’t fit into Haikugirl’s Japan. After I came back from Japan, I figured I would end up forming other interests that were not connected to Japan, and I was right. Now, a lot of my posts are about art and street art, but I do also stray into other random topics from time to time. AliMuskett.com also acts as a central hub to all of my online activity, with links to my social networking sites, blogs, and freelance writing.

So, thank you WordPress for selecting a post from AliMuskett.com to appear on Freshly Pressed, and thank you readers for reading! Don’t forget, if you want to keep up with my posts, you can always subscribe by email at the top of the page, or follow me on Twitter. I always appreciate comments and suggestions, so do feel free to leave a message below or get in touch.

If you’re a fellow blogger and fancy the idea of being Freshly Pressed, here are some tips on how to get noticed: Five Ways to Get Featured on Freshly Pressed, and a recent article about What Makes a Post Freshly-Pressable.

Thanks for reading! (*^_^)v