A sculptor's home

Wednesday 22 July 2015


I recently visited the Watts gallery, home of Victorian sculptor and painter George Frederic Watts



He worked on this trolley, which he fitted onto railway lines so that he could work outside too! The completed bronze of the horse sculpture can be viewed in Hyde Park.



Watt's wife, Mary, also created this chapel in Art Nouveau style nearby to the Watts' home.


It is particularly inspiring as she gathered together the whole community, training many novices in new skills to create this highly decorative Art nouveau style chapel.


Happy Pineapples!

Wednesday 15 July 2015

'When life gives you lemons, sell them and buy a pineapple' Davin Turney

Pineapples are one of the most perfect examples in nature of the mathematical phenomenon known as the Divine Proportion.


This pineapple might be disco, but what it should really be listening to is Scott Joplin's Pineapple Rag. Click here to listen to it!


Love these. Check out this delicious recipe for a Pineapple Caipirinha here



Pineapples look great as decoration and are the symbol of hospitality. In fact, pineapples were once so valuable that they were actually rented out to homeowners, before being sold to more affluent clients who could actually afford to eat them!


 Pineapples make a great theme for a dinner. In Brazil, rotisserie pineapple is popular. Check out this recipe here



Pineapples have also provided inspiration for architecture, as with this fountain in South Carolina.



You can read more about this amazing building in Scotland here
As Francesca Beauman says in her book 'The Pineapple : King of Fruits, all about the pineapple, "The pineapple has become a kind of shorthand: Paradise this way!"