My local borough decided to get in on the art trail idea as they seem to be quite successful. There are mammoths scattered around the town centre for you to find. I didn’t find all of them but these are the ones that I came across while out and about. I thought they were quite fun and brightened up my walk.
There seems to be a lot of art exhibitions in London this year, and I’m always up to see people’s artistic expressions. I heard about the Gratitude trail and thought the idea of decorating statues to acknowledge key workers and pay tribute to the NHS was really nice and needed, especially after all the hard work they have put in over what has been a really tough year or so.
The statues were place in the courtyard of Southwark cathedral in aesthetically pleasing neat rows.
Here are some closer pictures of some of them. Most of them were really colourful. I thought the bubblegum machine and ballerina ones were fun.
I really liked this blue and white one. It reminds me of the pattern you find on traditional English china.
I had a look around, some were amusing, and others had a lot of detail on them.
I also liked this one with the head the shape of a bottle pump, something I’m sure we’ve all become more familiar with.
It didn’t take too long to have a look around. I really enjoyed the statues and how they were all creatively decorated, and for a great cause too.
One of my favourite artists is Vincent van Gogh, so when I managed to get free tickets to the latest artshow in London based on his work, I was pretty excited.
We arrived on time and got checked in. We then made our way to the main part of the exhibition which was a room filled with floor to ceiling screens. The screens all lit up to start the story of Vincent and his journey of how he created his art.
I managed to find a space where I could see the screens clearly and took in the displays. The various screens showed different art pieces and quotes by Vincent, so I did do a lot of looking around.
One of the parts I really liked was when the screens all showed his blossom painting and it had been animated by showing falling petals across the screens.
The show lasted around 30 minutes. Afterwards I headed towards a small room filled with sunflowers and mirrors which was a nice touch.
There was also a space where there were easels and a video showing you how to draw like Vincent but I didn’t do this bit. I then headed towards the giftshop and treated myself to some magnets with a some of Vincent’s famous artworks.
I enjoyed the exhibition which was meant to feel immersive by being surrounded by screens showing Vincent’s work but I didn’t think it was that engaging and I felt the quotes selected romanticised the artist too much. I have to admit I enjoyed a Vincent van Gogh exhibition I visited a couple of years ago more as I felt I learnt a lot more about Vincent making him more real and it felt more interactive too.
I visited my sister who lives in Luton for the day, and on our walk around town we spotted some elephant statues. Here are the ones we found, but my sister told me there were loads more scattered about. Finding these were enough though, seeing as my objective for the visit was to spend time with my sister and her family and not go on an art trail no matter how curious I was.
I really liked the elephant with Sir Captain Tom painted on one side and a message of inspiration on the other.
I thought the elephants were really fun and liked how vibrant they were painted.
The statues are part of the Big Truck trail, and they will eventually be auctioned off to raise money for charity.
I came across the Tusk Trail on social media and thought it would be a nice way to wander around London. There are 27 life sized lion statues dotted around London so my sister and I decided to try and find them all.
Like previous trails that have been left in years past, these statues too have been painted by various celebrates to be auctioned later for charity.
These first ones we found were around Burlington arcades. I really like the flowery lion. And the sunset scene on the other was a liked too, it made me think of the savannah.
There were also a few outside on the road nearby. I think my favourite is the ombre lion, with the colours going from orange, yellow and silver seamlessly. I really like the shiny-ness of it too.
We found some more in a church courtyard too. There were kids ticking off the lions they found on a sheet of paper they each had, which was I thought that was a nice activity.
These next ones were placed near Piccadilly Circus.
After finding these we moved towards Leicester Square.
On other roads nearby there were a few more. I really like the blue one with the scenery.
We then made our way towards Trafalgar square where we found a couple in the square itself and a few more in the area. I like the detail of the black and white with the red mane really standing out.
Last stop was Covent Garden where there were 2 more.
We found 26 out 27 as one had been removed, and we had a long but enjoyable walk around London. I think these trails are quite fun and inexpensive and something that anyone can take part in. I look forward to seeing what comes in future years.
I had a few days off after Eid so I decided to take a trip down to the coast. The easiest coast for me to get to is Southend-on-Sea, and on this particular day it was grey and windy but not wet like it had been all week.
The first thing I did was walk along what Southend boasts as having the longest pleasure pier in the world, at 1.33 miles. I always enjoy the long walk to the end where there are a few souvenir shops and a restaurant.
At the end of the pier I walked around and then went in to one of the shops to look around and warm up as it was really windy out on the sea.
After having enough of being blown about at the end of the pier I walked back down to the shore to grab some lunch. Having had a sit down I was ready to venture out again. I made my way to the sea front, which it seemed I had all to myself! I found some really pretty shells as I made my way up the pebbly beach.
There wasn’t much else to do at the sea front, so feeling windswept I made my way back to the station, doing some window shopping as I went. I did come across some cool street along the way.
I always enjoy my trips to Southend, I love the long pier to walk along, and being by the coast always feels relaxing, although less so on this visit as the blustery wind and grey skies made the coast seem more dramatic than usual.
My local borough has been trying to create a cultural area that celebrates art. To kick things off they invited a couple of street artists to do some work.
This first piece is by @einsigns and is a word that has a lot of meaning due to the pandemic that has been with us for a year now. I love the font and colours against that black backdrop.
The second piece is by @dotmasters. I love the print on the background and the blue and white contrast. I like the playfulness of this piece too.
I think these pieces of streetart are great and a joy to look at. I hope that we get more talented artists showing us their work too.
Today is the last day of 2020, a year that was unexpected and tough for so many. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted almost every person in the world this year, and I’m no exception. There have been times that I have felt I could take things in my stride and others when I felt stressed, anxious and alone. But I always like to think that even in the worst of things, there’s always a silver lining and I think I tried to convey some of these in my photos this year, whether it was making the most of places being quieter and tourist free or just being grateful for the fact that we had long hot summer which is unusual for the UK. I was also happy to have ticked a few places off my bucket list which I didn’t expect like visiting Chatsworth House, the Lake District, and the confetti flower fields. My favourite photos of the year are shared below.
With several vaccines now available, I hope and pray that 2021 will be a better one for all of us, that with a little more patience and caution we will get through this once in a lifetime difficult, but shared experience and come out stronger together. I hope that all of our loved ones are safe and that we can enjoy each others’ company once again soon, very soon. Take care everyone and I wish you all a happy, healthy amazing year ahead.
Earlier this year iconic film character statues were unveiled in London’s Leicester Square. Leicester Square is the perfect spot for the statues, seeing as it’s the location where all the big film premiers take place.
The statues are of characters from different eras of cinema so people of every age will be able to recognise some of them at least. I think one of my favourites was Bugs Bunny sitting a flower bed. The sunflowers growing around the statue added a nice summery, colourful touch.
We also found Mary Poppins, Mr Bean and Charlie Chaplin.
Harder to spot were Laurel and Hardy, up on the roof of the ticket office. Another one I really liked was Gene Kelly from his iconic song in Singing in the Rain. The statue felt so animated.
I thought these statues were a really nice selection and like that there were both British and American film icons, real life and made up. Batman and Wonder Woman were hiding somewhere in the area too but I didn’t find them. You can also do an audio tour. Next time maybe.
I went to Trafalgar Square, one of my favorite spots in London, to check out the new piece of artwork on the Fourth Plinth. The piece is called The End by Heather Phillipson, and is a giant ice cream with a cherry on top, and with a fly and a drone stuck into it on each side.
I thought it was quite an interesting piece of work. Depending on which side you look at it might promote curiosity (the drone) or disgust (the fly). The piece is meant to represent Trafalgar Square as a place of celebration and protest.
What I thought was an interesting touch is that the artwork transmits a live feed of Trafalgar square from the drone’s point of view.
As a side note, I did think Trafalgar Square was very quiet for this time of year. Only a few people meandering. Although I enjoyed the place not being busy, it was a touch sad as to the reason why this tourist location usually buzzing at time of the year was so quiet.
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