Picture Diary

yourlondonpublishing

322

yourlondonpublishing

View

Oct 20

Charismatic rain … ‘It rains in my heartAs it rains on the town’.Paul Verlaine (1885)… And yes, Verlaine did come to London and it ended in tears, though this poem was not written in London.Pity, so appropriate …

yourlondonpublishing

View

Oct 11

Amazing setting for Agatha Christie’s ‘Witness for the Prosecution’. Can you guess where? Overlooking the Thames …opposite Westminster?It’s the Council Chamber at County Hall. I thought the play would be predictable and a little old-fashioned but it was well-staged and very gripping!

yourlondonpublishing

View

Oct 5

Inspiring lecture at the Barbican Centre last night - Peter Barber, architect, on what makes him and his team come up with humane and human-led solutions to alleviate the housing crisis. Championing joyful and attractive designs for housing society’s downtrodden: shelters for the homeless, and quirky accommodation for people reliant on council housing. The last picture shows him in conversation with Ellis Woodman, Director of the Architecture Foundation. The slide shows the firm’s ‘Village in a box’.

yourlondonpublishing

View

Sep 17

Magical visit to Ben Johnson’s amazing house studio at St Peter’s Wharf, Hammersmith. Part of ‘Artists at Home’ 17-19 Sept, this weekend. Great paintings. Beautiful part of the World. Do go if you can!

yourlondonpublishing

View

Sep 9

Sunny day on the South Bank … and the joy of the little children!

yourlondonpublishing

View

Aug 24

Sampling street food at Lower Marsh, Waterloo (where I’m currently living in temporary accommodation).THAI HOUSE run by Andrey, unexpectedly from Turkey, with chef Nut, from Thailand. They have been there for five years (with a second stall in Victoria), from Monday to Friday.I had a small chicken Panang which was very tasty and really copious (£5.50). There are tables in the street and a small community garden nearby.

yourlondonpublishing

View

Aug 21

The country on London’s doorstep … in fact at the end of the Metropolitan line. Amersham! There is a 20 mn walk to the incredibly picturesque Old Amersham where every other shop is an eatery. An embarrassment of riches!My friend took me to the (Michelin) Artichoke - very special, all delicious and beautiful looking. I came out with a spring in my step and marvelled at the fairy tale ‘Remembrance Garden’ nearby.

yourlondonpublishing

View

Aug 15

Do you think this is well away from London? It is not … It is the delightful local museum for the Borough of Barking & Dagenham at Valence House, a hidden gem, perfectly in keeping with its surroundings - the enormous Becontree cottage garden estate, built after the First World War as ‘homes for heroes’ - gardening heroes! It was ready in 1934 with all ‘mod-cons’, gardens being ranked as important as houses. A special place …

yourlondonpublishing

View

Aug 4

So … what makes you happy? The Wellcome Institute relishes the big questions and tackles this one through a two-part show: Joy and Tranquillity.————————I’ll be honest: I came for Tranquillity but found Joy more straightforward. Tranquillity had a dig at the world of yoga; also, despite the splendid photography, it created a forest ‘experience’ which resonated a little fake to me. While Joy homed in on a marvellously direct drawing of a rat which the sewer made happy!

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jul 25

Back at the American embassy … to look for the sky swimming pool everyone is talking about. After a minute or so, a lone swimmer appeared …

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jul 20

A glorious day in Greenwich. Heatwave.

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jul 11

I walked around the City of the Dead on a glorious summer day and it was uplifting…You can now go on a self-guided tour of the oldest part of Highgate cemetery (West). Its architectural heart around the Egyptian avenue is stunning.

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jun 28

It was a magical evening at Holland Park Opera on Sunday night, despite the torrential rain as part II was getting under way … My first live event in over a year - a very emotional Traviata. Excellent performance and the joy of sharing! ——————————But here is the thing: Holland Park sits 1000 people apparently and the audience with COVID restrictions was down to 400. They’ve got to find a way of balancing the books with that number. It is sooooooo much nicer when we are not packed like sardines with queues for everything.

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jun 25

‘Lovely bones’ - check this astonishing public sculpture in Bermondsey Street! It incorporates actual bones found in the Thames. Artist Austin Emery has pulled together 100 stones carved by members of the local community to make a striking installation piece (2020).Can you spot the bones, and also Tower Bridge …?

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jun 20

We had fun at Thai Elephant in West Wickham. They were running a special offer on their mainly Dim Sum offerings; our copious meal was a tenner a head! We should all try London’s fringe venues more often …

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jun 12

This is one of the earliest ‘naturalistic’ pictures of London. It is very little known, perhaps because it lost its attribution to the popular Anthony Van den Wyngaerde some time ago. It dates from around 1550 and is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum which holds so many London treasures. It will be published in our forthcoming ‘South Bank Notebook’ which will dedicate a whole chapter to Artists’ London. ————————-Old St Paul’s Cathedral lost its spire in 1561. This drawing is one of a handful which depicts the Cathedral with its spire (first detail).

yourlondonpublishing

View

Jun 7

Don’t miss Jiro Osuga’s wonderful exhibition - The River. This ambitious project will take you on a colourful, upbeat walk from Kew to the Thames Barrier, ambling along the south bank to admire the north bank. Clever and exhilarating!Online exhibition until 20 June. See Flowers Gallery website

yourlondonpublishing

View

May 22

Yes, the Ashmolean Museum may be the world’s first purpose-built public museum, but its initial good fortune was largely based on a unique corner of Lambeth in South London in the 17th century.There lived John Tradescant the Elder and his son and there they created this country’s first botanic garden. They also brought together fantastic objects from far away places to exhibit in their ‘Ark’ which is evoked here in the basement of the Ashmolean Museum, but also at the Museum of Garden History near Lambeth Palace. The two displays could not be more different.

yourlondonpublishing

View

May 11

‘It always feels strange for the first few days after landing in Tokyo, or in London after a stint in Japan. You see everything in double - each time you see a lamp post in Tokyo, for instance, you are reminded of the equivalent in London and vice versa. But that sensation fades with time. In the end human beings are much the same the world over.’ ——— Jiro Osuga, from ‘The Streatham Sketchbook’. See Your London Publishing website

yourlondonpublishing

View

May 9

Highly recommended: Parkland Walk, from Alexandra Palace (Gate9) to Finsbury Park. Pick a nice day ... 😉

Load More Follow on Instagram