Monopoly on the Square

My sister and I headed into London today to Trafalgar Square to see the giant Monopoly board that’s based on the game we used to play as kids. It’s been installed there for the weekend and is part of the London Games Festival that’s being held over the Easter break.

The Monopoly board wasn’t big as we imagined and there weren’t as many game pieces as we’d hoped but it was still a fun idea, and with the weather so warm and sunny we were happy to be out, even if we didn’t get a chance to play a round.

I think we had most fun though climbing up to where the famous bronze lions sit that guard Nelson’s Column. We haven’t done this since we were kids and no one cried this time!

Spring in St Christopher’s Place

It’s starting to feel like Spring has arrived in London and in particular in St Christopher’s Place where a creative installation of 1200 ‘floating’ flowers has been brightening up the street.

As well as the flowers hanging over the street many of the shops have also been creating displays to fit the the theme of the event.

On a bright day like today it was lovely lunchtime stroll and a much needed break from the office. For those of you interested in going to visit you’ll have to be quick as the exhibition is only around for a few more days.

Lumiere London – Part 2

The Lumiere event that my sister and I went along to recently was spaced out over various areas across London. Part 1 covered the innovative light artworks in Mayfair and Regent Street, and this post will cover the remaining areas.

After our walk through Regents Street we headed towards Trafalgar Square. I love Trafalgar Square anyway so with this light festival I was looking forward to see what was on show. In front of the National Gallery the words ‘Central Point’ were illuminated (these are normally found on top of a building on Oxford Street) and the iconic fountains were filled with light and plastic bottles. My favourite in this area were the neon dogs, which were so colourful and fun.

After seeing the dogs we hurried on to the next area on the map, Leicester Square. On approaching we could see an array of wonderful bright colours and could see that the whole area had been transformed into a garden of light. There were enormous lit flowers and colourful trees and I think this was my sister and my favourite spot on the map. My photos don’t show just how much the colours popped but it was a a really pretty sight.

Our last stop on the map was at Kings Cross, here the installations were a bit easier to find and closer together. There were some really innovative ideas; some light sticks to draw on the ground, a fun light show projected onto a large building and rainbow tunnel made up of coloured bottles. A little extra thing we spotted were candy floss on light sticks, which we thought was such a simple but effective idea.

All in all my sister and I had a great but exhausting evening, we walked around London on a cold night for approximately 4 hours and manged to see all but a handful of what was on show. We thought it was a great event and one that certainly lived up to the promise of showing us the city in a new light. I think we both agree that we would definitely go along to this event again if it was held next Winter. For more photos you can check out my sisters post of the evening here.

WPC: Ornate piano

This grand piano really lives up to it’s name. The beautiful, ornate embellishments are by William Morris and Co. and are typical of the designs that were created by him. I personally love the style and detail of Morris’ work and have been a fan since I first discovered it.

V&A: Islamic Middle East

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has some really interesting exhibits, showcasing pieces from all around the world. One of the collections I always stop to admire when I visit is the Islamic Middle East which consists of some really beautiful pieces from as far back as the 7th century.

Some of my favourite and I think most impressive pieces on show are the Ardabil carpet which is one of the largest and finest in existence made in 1540, the second largest Qu’ran in the world from the 14th century and the pretty turquoise coloured tiles from 1358. I love the use of detailed geometric patterns and writings to embellish everyday objects that were placed in homes and places of worship.

My photos don’t do justice to how intricate and colourful some of these artifacts are but if you’re ever in London I would definitely recommend a visit.

Giant fingers

fingers

On my last visit through Trafalger Square in London I came across this curious sculpture. It automatically made me think of Michealangelo’s famous painting Creation of Adam but there was no information about who or what these fingers were meant to represent. I have since looked it up and discovered that this is a piece by Jose Rivelino, a Mexican artist and is meant to represent equality between people. I really like the idea and I think this is an interesting and thought provoking piece of work. What do you think?

finger

Italian gardens in London

Wondering around Hyde park earlier this year I came across the Italian Gardens. The Gardens have embellished statues, urns and large water fountains, all which create a really nice relaxing space.

The main water fountain leading to the top of the Serpentine lake was a combination of a group of boys holding a huge platter with a woman on either side holding an urn, all pouring water into the lake.

On the far side of the garden is a chapel with really pretty flowers planted on either side in neat geometric rows.

I thought the gardens were laid out nicely and kept in really good condition. I found them to be a calming space with the sound of rushing water from the fountains drowning out some of the background noise and pretty flowers soothing to the eyes. I’ll definitely look to visiting it again at some point.

Gift horse

Gift horse

Currently the fourth plinth in Trafalger Square is occupied by a skeletal figure of a gift horse with a ribbon around it’s leg displaying the London Stock Market. It replaces the giant blue chicken that was there previously. As artistic as the horse looks I think I miss the chicken. What do you think?

Capturing artwork

I recently went to the National Gallery in London and since my last visit you are now allowed to take photographs. I would normally never take photographs of paintings as I always would want to visit and appreciate the work in person, but on this occasion I decided to take a few snaps as a nice reminder. The photos I took were of some of my favourite paintings by great artists that I’m lucky to have on my doorstep in London, namely The Waterlily Pond by Monet and Sunflowers by Van Gogh.

I always like to take a moment and think about how long it must have taken to create such a painting and what kind of person the artist must have been to paint in this way during their life, artworks that really stand the test of time. I love being able to see the textures of the layered paint and the colours, which close up looks quite messy but stand back and you see how great it all comes together and looks quite beautiful.

I hope to visit again at some point and enjoy all the great paintings that are luckily so easy for me to access.