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.

Lilies

lily

I recently left my job and as a parting gift my old work colleagues gave me a card with some lovely messages, a gift card to buy something nice with and these beautiful lilies. I managed to get them home on the tube in one piece (although I did poke a few people with the long stems), and they’re now sitting on the kitchen table brightening up the room.

WPC: Close up

tulip

Those that have been following my blog for a while know I love a close up of a pretty flower. I especially like tulips which look elegant and fun, and come in an array of colours. This such flower has petals with interesting pink strokes, almost making them look like bird feathers.

Iftar

On Friday all my siblings, along with their families, came over for iftar. Iftar is the arabic word for ‘break fast’ and is the meal that we have when its time to open our fast during Ramadan. My sister’s decided to help out and bring along a dish or two to share. We had a whole range of foods and what was planned as small meal quickly became a feast.

Traditionally dates are eaten to open a fast but with a whole range of foods to choose from everyone found something they wanted to eat. There was some delicious, fresh exotic fruit, chicken sandwiches and creamy pasta, as well as my mum’s famous kebabs. There were also some slightly unhealthy but tempting options such as curly fries and samosas. Other foods to eat were chicken curry, chickpea salad and mango salad, and my sister-in-law’s succulent lamb chops. I would have taken more pictures but there came a point where I had to put the camera down and dig in.

For dessert we had a choice of refreshing mango milkshake, sweet jalebi and pretty cakes.

When we put everything down ready to eat we all had some of everything and were soon full to the brim. It was a nice evening with everyone sharing a much needed nourishing meal and good company. I look forward to Eid which isn’t far away now to enjoy another big meal together.

meal