Museu das Artes de Sintra

Have been doing a lot of travelling this month, between Leeds, Lisbon, Magoito, Madrid, Miami and New Orleans, but managed to sneak in a visit to Museu das Artes de Sintra.

Found this cement rucksack that sums up how heavy my bags have been feeling: 

Also saw this lovely (badly photographed) complimentary set up:

And this sculptural piece, which was reminiscent of the nearby gardens at Quinta da Regaleira:

They love the laughter and they love the living..

Made it to the Moomin Tove Jansson exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery this month. It was a gorgeous retrospective of her work (not just the mooooomins), full of humour in the face of despair and respect toward nature and diversity. I loved finding her integrity evident in her choice of commissions, such as this Christmas card for Unicef (1981) 💛

Here’s a few illegal photos I managed to snap before being told off. I may or may not have missed the ❌ 📷 signs..

After Party (1941) 👇 - The range of emotions reminded me of Munch's The Dance of Life (1925) (seen at SFMOMA last Sept)

 

Self Portrait (1975) 👇 - Her last ever painting, loaded with pained wisdom and starkly contrasting with earlier fresh-faced and determined self portraits.

Sketch for The Last Dragon In The World (1962) 👇

And a familiar summertime scene.. 👇

Actual cards in the post

I may be in a very exciting world of digital EVERYTHING in my new role at GitHub, but I'm holding on to the tradition of sending physical handmade cards this Christmas. 

There's satisfaction found in making them (I 💚  hole punching), enjoyment found in writing personal messages, and a fuzzy festive feeling that comes from knowing I'd smile if I received something similar.

Made from old photos / paint gradient exercises / collage material / thread and spare brown card, they're also assisting in the ongoing house-clearing quest at chez Mum.

#allroundfestivecheer

Robin Delivery

Sorted a drawing of a little robin to feature on a Christmas card for a friend's nephew. Dawdled with the typography but pretty pleased in the end.. almost as satisfied as the little well fed character themselves:

Festivities are coming...

Getting organised already...

Finds on Feriado

Back from 10 days of holiday/family-ing in Portugal. Spied a few things along the way that I'm sharing for future inspiration. Apologies for the poor photography - Had hoped to be able to find better images of the artworks online but I've failed, likely due to my poor ability to search effectively in Portuguese.

At an seemingly pencil-themed exhibition in Guimarães, I found Ana Pérez-Quiroga's delicate acorn bobbins... 

I also enjoyed this calmingly confident use of white space from Ana Guedes. (Ignore the reflection if you can).

And then these clever interlinking hands by Julião Sarmento.

At MAAT in Lisboa, I loved the palette and anonymity of João Gabriel's work. 

There's also an installation here by the afore-mentioned Pérez-Quiroga.

And at the Museu Nacoinal Do Azelejo, I lusted over these beautiful coloured tiles, which form part of a bigger composition by Querubim Lapa. #getinmykitchen

Indian Summer

I headed to the recently accoladed Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield today to feast my eyes upon Howard Hodgkin's Painting India exhibition. A check of opening times prior to departure led me to a sensationalist review that briefly marred my mood. I agree art institutions have a 'responsibility to respond to the social and political context', but does a quota analysis of a preview night really demonstrate segregation? 

I perhaps resembled this beautiful find by William Scott on arrival. But then I walked into a world of multi-faceted colour that totally transformed a dreary Tuesday. Hodgkin's work celebrates moments he experienced. Yes, there is variety and difference but at the same time and collectively, the exhibition sings of togetherness. Indian and British.. Rich colours and raw materials.. Concrete structures and oil paint..  

Here's a few of my favourites: 

'Red sky at night' - Delight. 

'Small Indian Sky' -  Radiating beyond the frame.

'Indian Veg' Triptych - On chopping boards. 

And 'Over to You' - Hodgkin's final painting from 2015-2017, which looks to me like a immaculately captured finale flourish.


Another couple of treasures include this Evelyn Gibbs illustration of 'Eliza and Dinah Working Hand Presses at Raleigh Works' (1943) that took me back to when I was obsessed with drawing lace machines. 

And finally Hodgkin's 'Night Thoughts', which evoked this album cover (or vice versa?)