lion and the unicorn

marcy and judy and rachel OH MY

After just a couple long boring days in the studio between visitors, the family arrived in london!

Our days were filled with soft pleasant naps…

delicious food, and picnics too…

beautiful sights in the Cotswolds…

markets galore…

and birthday celebrations!

We saw Henry Moore and Chris Ofili shows at the Tate, drank pints of green lager at a pub once frequented by the likes of J.R.Tolkein and C.S.Lewis, and we wandered through the cemetery where Karl Marx rests in peace. There were overpriced umbrella stores, extravagant art supply shops, and a breathtaking performance of Billy Elliot on stage. And even though looming tales of Icelandic volcanic ash floated through the internet waves, after ten days, Marcy, Judy and Rachel hopped on their planes and returned to the states, safe and sound.

(the sheep took this one!)

alexis!

two weeks playing in London (and Spain) with my love

Proper afternoon tea, British museum, lunching in the park, indian food on brick lane, wandering around the city in the beautiful (albeit chilly) london spring weather.

perfect.

oh how i hate to see you leave.

Semana Santa in Madrid, 72 hours in Barcelona

sunny blue skies, ham in croissants, ham on toast, ham on plates, el prado, reina sofia, velazquez, goya caprichos, picasso, green parks, marble fountains.

[MADRID]

blue skies over our Parque del Buen Retiro, where we lounged and at picnic snacks

the crystal palace, and a garden full of palm trees, lilacs, and pumpkins

travelers paying respects to the Royal Palace

Jamon Ibérica: ham taken from acorn-fed pigs, served proudly at the Museo del Jamon

oh the olives!

[BARCELONA]

the view of the city from the Parc Güell (Gaudi)

La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi Gaudi Gaudi Gaudi Gaudi Gaudi

La Boquería, fruits, veggies, paella, eggs, jamon jamon jamon.

from memory, from food.

some images of new art I’m working on. sorry for the blur, and the color’s a bit off. BUT I’m really liking these. Two are on paper, and the rest are on small wood boards.

BIG CRIT on Tuesday. getting nervousssss.

tea time

Being the well-to-do London travelers that we are, Steph and I went to Afternoon Tea at the Ritz (Thanks Leslee!!). It was quite amazing. Never-ending pots of any kind of tea imaginable, six different kind of finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off (but of course), scones with jam and clotted cream kept warm in the oven until the proper moment (only the best) and the most delicate extravagant desserts imaginable (think passion fruit mousse). The heavy pewter kettles and the dainty cream colored china were just perfection. And the live orchestra music? Appropriately ambient. Nothing was out of place and everyone was smiling. Only at the Ritz.

visitors

On Valentine’s Day, Steph’s family arrived (minus a much missed Mag), bringing with them good tidings from Newton, and treats galore! We filled up on delicious food (including my first oyster ever), basked in the epic glow of Les Miserables, and marveled at some borderline-experimental dance performances. It was such a pleasure to be wined and dined, and to show off this great city!

Then Lee came! And it was amazing. She was only here for a short while, but we had so much fun wandering around the city and bringing her on all of our daily activities. We visited the Globe Theatre (no shows playing this season, so we had a tour), AND treated ourselves to The Misanthrope: a Moliere show starring Kiera Knightly and Damien Lewis. If that wasn’t enough, we sat two seats down from Alan Rickman. That’s right, same row as Snape himself. Not quite sure if he liked the show as much as we did though, his statuesque demeanor barely budged the whole night. Believe me, I was watching.

THEN, as if to soften the sadness upon Lee’s departure, Melanie was here! I showed her around my studio space early in the morning, and in the evening we went out (with her fabulous friend Anne, and Steph) for an amazing Tapas dinner.

Good food.

Good wine.

Good company.

bath

Some long overdue updates on my London travels! Sorry to keep all of you, my avid readers, waiting.

A few weekends ago, we traveled to Bath, a city west of London, surrounding the only naturally occurring hot springs in the United Kingdom. Pretty cool, eh? The two hour journey there took us through some beautiful British country, right as the sun was rising. The sheep-speckled greenery, and the rolling hills and dales of farmland seemed right out of a novel. It was a perfect way to wake up.

The town of bath was old and beautiful, with some of the most expensive and sought after real estate in the UK. And the baths themselves! The steaming water was a liquid green that only seems to exist in far more tropical climates. There was a museum component as well, although that certainly left much to be desired. After our tour through the baths, Steph and I treated our tuckered out selves to some coffees at the Boston Tea Party coffee house (insert irony here), and bought chesnuts and plums from a corner stand.

It was certainly a marvelous day.

day trip to brighton

Yesterday, Steph and Hannah and I all took the National Express Rail to Brighton, which is a really lovely beach town in the south of England. We walked along the pier amidst smells of fresh donuts and frying cod. We ate lunch in a park while blinded by the sun and harassed by pigeons. We wandered into the old Pavilion and walked through the Brighton Museum of Art. We sat and drew the ruins of the old pier as the sun set over the ocean. It was such a lovely day. The only downside? My camera died a little after noon, so I can’t show you all of the beauty! But here is some: