Results matching “paint”

A few days ago, we had the first really nice weather of the year after so much rain and cold. I anticipated the nice weather arriving, so I booked off a day to relax and enjoy. I have never been to Kenwood House, which is located at Hampstead Heath, so I made my way there. Kenwood House is managed by English Heritage, and it is located at the edge of Hampstead Heath on a hill with views. The house is known for its paintings, and on my visit, they had some talks about some of the paintings. The painting collection is impressive with works by Constable, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough, and Turner.

Constable lived in Hampstead Heath area from 1819 and often painted on Hampstead Heath and captured the clouds and sky for studies. These four paintings are the work by Constable, and they show the different views over the heath from Kenwood and studies of clouds.

When I arrived, I had not had any breakfast, so I went to the cafe and ordered a slice of battenburg cake and a drink from the little cafe. The weather was so warm, but I enjoyed sitting outside to eat. The cafe was very busy as well and a lot of people were out enjoying the grounds. 

I then had a quick walk around.

At Kenwood, there is also gardens and a lot of park land to explore, which is sat right amongst the heath. The landscape designer was Humphry Repton, and it was completed at the end of the 1700s. He used the London skyline of the time, and he was inspired by Greek and Roman paintings.

Kenwood was purchased for the public by the founder of Guinness, Lord Iveagh. He purchased the property and had some of his collection of paintings put into the house. He saved it from being demolished as a lot of grand houses were falling into ruin after the first World War. The house was opened to the public in 1928, but he never lived at the house.

There are some sculptures on the grounds too, such as the two below by Barbara Hepworth (first) and Henry Moore (second).

After that, I headed into the house for a look around the rooms and the paintings. There were about six rooms to see in total. 

The most beautiful room is "The Great Room" or "Library", and this is where guests would be entertained. 

I was able to get the first painting talk of the day, and there were three of these talks at different times of the day. This talk was about the little girls dressing up the kitten painting. The painting uses light and shadow, giving it an almost sinister look of these seemingly-innocent girls dressing up a kitten, which is a little bit cruel but also expresses promiscuity. We were told about the painting, the artist, and the a little bit about the history of the paintings at Kenwood.

One of the other paintings that was going to be discussed later was the painting on London Bridge. This is the historical London Bridge with the shops and buildings built onto the bridge, not today's new London Bridge. Unfortunately, this discussion was in the later afternoon and I did not want to wait three hours.

I enjoyed my visit to Kenwood House and had a nice walk on the heath to Hampstead village where I had lunch. I hope to visit again. I think this would be a lovely place to visit on a sunny autumn day.

Hotel Amigo is located in the heart of Brussels right behind the main square, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a couple of minute walk from Manneken-Pis, the urinating fountain sculpture of a boy. The hotel is owned by the Rocco Forte group, and the hotel has two unique themed suites suite. One of these is dedicated to fashion designer Diana von Furstenberg, and the other to Belgian comic TinTin. Apparently, the TinTin room contains a drawing by Steven Speilberg, who stayed at the hotel for the premiere of the 2011 film about the comic. I stayed in the hotel for two long weekends - February and April, respectively - and enjoyed my stay both times. 

The hotel building is over 500 years old, and it was used as a prison in the 1500s. Spanish prisoners were held there, and the name of the hotel stems from its days in prison where the term for prison was confused with "friend" by the Spanish, so the name "amigo" stuck. Karl Marx was a prisoner in the mid-1800s. The prison was used until 1930 when it was destroyed by fire, but in 1957, it became a hotel for the Brussels World Fair. Rocco Forte took over the hotel in 2000. 

Fresh flowers and a small box of chocolates awaited me on the first night on both visits, and throughout my stay, I received free sample items - a day cream, night cream, a card for a free box of Maison Dandoy specaloos, and so on.

The rooms (I stayed in the Deluxe Rooms) are also spacious and bright. On my first visit, I was stayed in a room with red bedspread and red marble touches in the bathroom. Both of my rooms had a small framed TinTin character in a frame in the bathroom as a nod to comics and paintings or artwork by surrealist artwork from Rene Magritte in the bedroom.

On my February visit, I did not pay for the breakfast buffet option. I did order the room service breakfast and enjoyed a selection of fruit, cereals, toast, eggs, French Toast, or waffles. I was not keen on the waffle as it was very dry, but the French Toast with fruit and syrup tasted delicious.

My April visit was at the front side of the hotel with the view of the famous Grand Palace in front of the room with views into the historical rooms that I saw in February; the top of tower was in view too. I preferred this room out of the two as the marble and bedspread used green tones, and the room felt brighter and was on the street instead of at the back of the building. I always prefer to hear the noise and the bustle.

On this visit, I paid for the breakfast buffet and enjoyed a range of fruit, toast, pastries, cereals, cold and cooked items, and I ordered the French Toast. At the buffet, they also offered Belgian food items, such as chocolate and specaloos. There is also bottomless Prosecco at the breakfast buffet to make Mimosa cocktails, so I got a fair usage out of that.

The hotel also has a nice bar, which is styled in Art Deco. On my visit in February, I came back to the hotel with a full party in swing with a jazz musician, and the music was brilliant. I was hoping that this same musician would be back in April, but he wasn't. However, there was a pianoist, but it was not as good. I only wish I'd known about the jazz musician beforehand as I missed the majority of it. 

The cocktails were good but expensive. My favourite was the top one, which was sweet and tart. I loved the way that the cocktails were served. One other was served on a block of marble. The glass just rested on this marble block, and they used dry ice to make some bubbles. 

Another one was served out of an intricate glass with a coloured flower on the stem.

Along with the drink, they brought nuts, olives, and crisps (potato chips). 

I enjoyed my stay in this hotel, and it was an excellent base for exploring Brussels.

When I visited Brussels twice this year (once in February and once in April), I walked around to see as much street art as I could see, and I happned to discover other pieces. This post covers the street art that I found in the city. At the bottom of this post are links to the dedicated posts for the various artists that I had also covered individually and often recognised in London and other cities.

Rikardo Druskic

dward von Longus

FSTN

hmicnn

BONOM

Takir

Farm Prod, Fred Lebbe

Denis Meyers

OBETRE, Parole

Alessio-B

Unknown

Farm Prod, HELL'O

Farm Prod, Piotr Szlatcha

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Farm Prod

Mr. Chat

Sestry Feldman, Teresa, Kathaoir. This mural is painted for Ukraine and Brussels.

Farm Prod

Unknown

Gui Tar and Amandine Levy

Fitore Alisdottir Berisha

Soaz, Zouwi

Gleo

Unknown

Ralf Koning

Fotini Tikkou

Brecht Evens

Atelier de Rose

Zouwi

Hetas Apache

laec cnn

laetchx

Unknown

Mona Tusz

Rikardo Druskic

Farm Prod created the above artwork in Brussels near the palace. The artwork uss surrealism. 

Unknown

Novadead, Urbans

Steve Locatelli

Unknown

Spear, Propaganza Crew

David Selor

Anthea Missy

Unknown

ojoMAGico was painted to celebrate the old fish market, and the area was known for its fish markets and street names relating to fish.

Ledia Konstandini - "Wink"

For other street art in Brussels on this blog, see below:

• Street Art from Above in Brussels
• Street Art in Brussels by Jef Aerosol
• Phelgm 2019 Street Art in Brussels
• Pavement Project, Brussels Street Art
• Tile Street Art by MifaMosa and Invader in Brussels
• Brussels Comic Book Strip Route Street Art
• Jaune Stencil Street Art in Brussels
• Street Art by Isaac Cordal in Brussels
• C215 in Brussels
• Phlegm Street Art on Art Mountain in Brussels Celebrates Painter

When I went to Brussels, I discovered some street art from an artist I recognised in London. This street art is from the artist known as Above, and the artist paints arrows on buildings. In Brussels, I captured this mural with a group of different colours of arrows on a beige background near the centre of the city.

For more street art by Above on this blog, see:

Street Art: Above

In 2019, street artist Phlegm painted in the city of Brussels. The artist is originally from Sheffield in the UK, and he was inspired by the work of Bruegel, a popular classical artist from the city of Brussels. Phlegm would return to the city in 2020 to paint on Art Mountain, which I covered here:  Phlegm Street Art on Art Mountain in Brussels Celebrates Painter. 

Brussels has a concentration of art museums located at Art Mountain in the centre of the city and near the palace; there is a wonderful view here with landscaped gardens. There are a couple of art museums located here. The museums form the collective Royal Museums of Fine Art of Belgium. One is the Old Masters, and another is the Magritte Museum. The museums are very different. The museums and Art Mountain are located only a few minute walk from the main central station (not the Eurostar terminal). I visited it twice this year.

My second visit to Art Mountain was in late April, and spring had brought the mountain to life when compared to my earlier visit in early February. The tulips were nearly over, but some of the dark purple or black ones remained, and the colour looked beautiful. 

This is compared to the photographs that I captured in early April, which shows that the plants were hibernating.

Looking up Art Mountain, there are an attractive row of buildings and the palace in the background. There was a green apple sculpture on top of one of the museums, but I did not notice it there in April. In April, there were a fw sculptures dotted around in an outdoor exhibition.

I visited the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Dutch Masters collection, which was founded by Napoleon. This collection contains a lot of religious Christian artwork as that was a popular subject then and realistic paintings, but other parts of the museum had modern art and surrealism and special exhibitions, which I did not see. In the Dutch Masters collections, works by Bruegel, Peter Paul Reubens, van Dyck, and others. 

I preferred the pastoral and landscape artworks and still life paintings. Dutch artists were known for their still life and floral artwork. I took some photographs of some of the paintings that I enjoyed.

The above photograph is amazing in that the artist captured the wood grain and even etchings in the grain along with the pinned rooster.

Bruegel is one of the most celebrated artists in Brussels, and his paintings contain slice of life themes. I enjoyed seeing the ones in the snow.

The museum is centered around an interior courtyard, and around these are rooms with different artworks.

I just love the landscapes, which give a glimpse at the rural slice of life and depict how people used to live.

The other museum is Magritte Museum, which shows surrealist paintings by Magritte. There are a couple other museums or areas showing more modern artwork too. I think a great place to start is with the Old Masters as these are the historic and popular artworks, and the more modern and surrealist works may appeal to particular lovers of those art genres.

Having previously visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2016 for the first time, I decided to visit the show again this year as I had some days to use and the weather was nice. I visited on the Thursday and also paid to have lunch at the Ranelagh Restaurant on site, which I had to book in advance and received a four course meal and half of a bottle of wine. I'll cover my lunch and the gardens and also some of the vendor displays in this post.

The first garden (pictured below) was the National Garden Scheme, and the garden appears to be at the edge of a woods. The theme is woodland gardens, which are good for wellbeing and celebrates the charity. There is a wooden hut at the end of the garden with woodland plants.

The Octavia Hill Garden by Blue Diamond with National Trust is a silver winner and winner of the People's Choice, possibly due to the bright colours. The garden promotes wellbeing and is designd to be put into a housing estate. It features several seating areas.

The Terrence Higgins Trust Bridge to 2030 garden is based upon a quarry landscape with stone bridges and ledges over water features. It is inspired by the slate landscapes of northern Wales. The garden won silver gilt.

The Stoke Association's Garden for Recovery was built to be included in a hospital area as a relaxing and calm place to visit. Water sounds and flowers with fragrance help the senses, and the designer of the garden used stories from survivors. The garden won bronze.

The Muscular Dystrophy Garden (Forest Bathing Garden) is an immersive but accessible garden inspired by Japanese tree-bathing in the atmosphere to awaken our senses to nature. This garden won gold and also "best in show".

The below garden is RHS Britain in Bloom 60th Anniversary and is known as the Friendship Garden. It celebrates all of the friendships that have come together and bonded over gardening. It also raises awareness to use products that are good for the environment.

The garden below is the Killik & Co "Money Doesn't Grow on Trees" Garden. It features an area for people to sit and relax, and the flowers are fragranced. It should be a communal gathering place. This garden won the silver gilt award.

RHS Chelsea Repurposed garden is built as a sustainable garden, and everything in the garden has been repurposed from some material that has been used at least once. The pathways and bricks are made of repurposed demolished buildings.

The RHS "No Adults Allowed" garden was designed by children for children. The garden encourages exploration and different landscape types (woodland, meadows, and wetland). The middle of the garden has a small lodge with water pool for children to enjoy and learn about nature.

The Burma Skincare Spirit of Partnership Garden is focused on people with skin conditions, and this garden was built to be sustainable. It features a Burmese house made with recycled products. The garden won the gold award and best sanctuary garden.

The St. James Piccadilly "Imagine the World to be Different" garden inspires to influence urban green spaces. An archway steps into the garden as a paradise of plants, landscape, and water. This garden won the gold award.

The National Autistic Society Garden was one of the most interesting gardens this year due to the structures and planting. The blocks are made of cork. The garden symbolises the 'masking' strategy by autistic people. The garden won silver.

Water Aid Garden focuses on climate change and sustainable water management. This garden can deal with changing waterfall levels. All materials used were reclaimed. Every drop of the rainfall water collected by the structure in the garden can be used. The garden won the gold award.

The Bridgerton Garden was inspired by the period drama "Bridgerton", and it is a secluded garden and inspired by Penelope Featherington's character. The garden is designed to be secretive and mysterious but also colourful and sophisticated. The garden represents her journey in the latest installment of the series. This was probably my favourite garden, but it won the silver award.

The Freedom from Torture Garden is A Sanctuary for Survivors. It's an immersive space that can be explored and bring others together. The garden won the silver award.

MOROTO no IE is a garden with acers and waterfalls. It is designed to be a family garden. It won the silver award.

The Flood Resilient Garden is designed to be a pleasant place and enables water to drain away after heavy rainfall. Water is also stored for later use. The garden won the silver award.

World Child Cancer's Nurturing Garden is designed for sensory purposes to be used by children who are undergoing cancer treatment. The garden won the gold award.

The Boodles Garden celebrates its 200th year, and it is inspired by paintings. Art is the subject with molded frames and hedges. This garden won silver.

The next garden was not an official one but one inspired by Roman villas. This was one of my favourite gardens. 

After looking around the gardens, I went to see the flower displays and the vendors. I was impressed at the creativity in here and the wonderful flowers being showcased as the best.

xx

I also walked around the different vendors. I wish I could have a place to put the below garden furniture. I loved it. 

I also did a little bit of shopping.

I also saw the BBC filming. Since the Tuesday and Wednesday were wash-outs, a lot of filming was taking place.

I then went on my way to lunch at the Ranelagh Restaurant on site. The area was decorated with dried flowers. Service was incredibly slow, and I was kept waiting a very long time for all of my food. The ingredients of the food all come from the UK.

I had the Parmesan rind cracker, cauliflower, summer truffle small bite to start. The dish came from Battersea in London. (The other option was a crab taco.) I found this to be tasty and enjoyed the cracker.

For the starter, I had the chopped burrata with pine nuts, broad beans, and sourdough. This dish came from Uxbridge, London. Other options included trout, trombettas, and pansanella. 

For the main, I had chicken breast with asparagus, potatoes, smoked cream and morels. The dish came from Leicestershire. Other options included lamb, sea bream, or cabbage.

For the dessert, I had the lemon and elderflower tart ith raspberry sorbet. This dish is from the Cotswolds. I could have had rhubard and custard cheesecake, chocolate delice, rum and pineapple and whipped cream meringue (maybe similar to an Eton Mess), or a cheese plate.

The food was good but the service was just slow. I had the white wine with it as well. 

Overall, i was less impressed this year with the flower show as I thought all of the gardens seemed to blend in together except for a couple of them. 

To read about the 2016 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, see my post.

This post covers the work of two street artists who use tiles: Invader and Mifmosa. Both artists come from France, and I discovered their work across Brussels on my visits earlier in the year. Invader is a very popular artist with his work appearing across the globe, pasted up on the sides of buildings and normally high up. He creates an app where people can scan the invader artwork. Below is a selection of the work that I saw in Paris. Most of these look like new pieces, but there are some created with larger tiles that I think are older ones. 

Most of the tile art in Brussels is of "The Smurfs" because this comic is one of the most popular and widely-known exports of Belgium.

In addition to "Th Smurfs", Invader created the trademark Invader characters from the 8-bit video game.

I'm not sure who the artist responsible for the below artwork is, but it is similar to tile artwork and looks like plastic beads making the Atomium.

And the below looks to be made of something else and appears to be the Mona Lisa painting.

MifaMosa is the other street artist featured, and the artwork is known by the three round tiles arranged in a pyramid. The artist often uses street names in the subject of the pieces and puts the tiles up next to them. Below is Pelican Street with a Pelican, and I also saw one of beers. There were meant to be a couple more, but they had been taken.

I enjoyed finding these hidden treasures of street art.

When I was in Brussels in February and also in April, I looked up as many of the comic strip street art that I could locate. Some were damaged or painted over, but I managed to locate most of them except for a couple of them that I did not wander to. Belgium is noted for its popular comic book characters with "The Smurfs" and "Tintin" being a couple of popular comic books founded in the country. The street art is located in the centre of Brussels but also further afield at Atomium and other parts of the city. Below are the comic book street art murals that I found.

 
"Billy the Cat" - this series is about a boy who gets turnd into a cat by a wizard who saw him mistreating a cat. 

"Tintin" - This series is about a Belgian reporter boy abd his dog Snowy and is an adventure series and one of the most popular comics that takes place in the mid-1900s.

This work isn't part of the comic book trail, but it is work by artists Frederic Penelle and Yannick Jacquet.

Lucy McKenzie - In My Area. This street art isn't about a particular comic but was made to celebrate the comic book trail and to tribute people from different backgrounds.

Olivier Rameau is a comic that was created in 1968 about a utopian world.

Monsieur Jean - This comic is about a middle-aged man who is going through a mid-life crisis and deals with the daily life.

Kinky and Cosy - These twin girls are quirky trouble-makers and have an innocence and deal with all sorts of scenarios. 

Froud & Stouf - This series was created for television first and it features two blue dogs who look at daily Belgian life.

Thorgal - This is a fantasy and science fiction series that made its debut in 1977. It is focused on Norse mythology and Atlantis.

Le jeune Albert - The comic is based around the post-war Brussels and boyish pranks, but it was published in 1980. The writer died in a traffic accident, so his work is collectible. 

Passe-moi le ciel (Oh Sweet Heaven) - This is a parody comic of the Christian idea of life after death. The dead must answer three questions to enter Heaven, or they go into Hell. 

Spirou - Created in 1938, this comic features a bell boy or lift operator and then reporter who finds himself helping others. He has a pet squirrel who appears in the adventures.

Benoît Brisefer - This comic made debut in 1960 from the creator of "The Smurfs", and it is about a boy with superhuman strength.

Blake & Mortimer - This series is about a British scientist and detective of MI5. The themes centre around time travel, science fiction, and historical events. The comic was first published in 1946.

Quick & Flupke - The comic was created between 1930 and 1940 about two misbhaving boys in Brussels. 

Léonard - Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, this comic first appeared in 1974 about an inventor set in the times of the Renaissance.

Blondin & Cirage - The comic is about a blond-haired boy and his black friend, and it was published in 1939. The black boy is the comic humour but also the real hero as he solves the problems. A lot of the stories are set around the second World War, and they also adventure abroad. 

Odilon Verjus - The comic is about a missionary and his sidekick, and it is set across various parts of the developing world.

Pieter Bruegel (Jeal Paul Remy) - This one is not really a part of the comic trail, but it features the popular Belgian painter.

"Boule and Bill" - Known in English as "Billy and Buddy", this features a boy and his Cocker Spaniel Bill and their normal lives in a village. 

Celeste Gangolphe, Florianne Mandin, and Mathieu Mary - This isn't a comic wall, but the work was created during the pandemic to show people united. 

La Patrouille des Castors - This is an adventure series about boy scouts, and it was first published in 1955.

Jojo - This comic appeared in the early 1980s about a young boy. The mural features a house with the upstairs two boys jumping on the bed, causing the downstairs to rattle. The grandmother downstairs thinks someone is at the door.

Le Chat - This comic was first published in 1983 in the newspaper. It featured daily "what if" scenarios and observations from everyday.

Tanneurs Tunnel - the murals in this tunnel are not part of the comic trail, but I discovered them. The artists are 2SHY and MILES and tribute to the communities near the tunnel.

Yoko Tsuno - This is a science fiction comic featuring the star, a Japanese female engineer. There is travel to space and other countries.

XIII - This is another comic that started its run in the early 1980s and features a man with amnesia who tries to remember his past. A video game was also created based on the series.

Broussaille - This was the first comic book strip mural painted in 1991. It features the comic where the two main characters are dreamers and lovers of nature.

Victor Sackville - The comic was first published in 1985 but set in the first World War with an agent or spy and his missions across the world.

Ric Hochet - Dating from 1955, this comic is an adventure one featuring a journalist.

Ducobu - Published in 1992, this comic features a comical boy who is not very smart and spends a lot of his time cheating at school.

Astérix & Obélix - This is a popular series featuring a band of characters during the time of the Roman Empire.

Lucky Luke - Launched in 1946, the comic was inspired by Americana with the old west, cowboys, and robbers. It is set in the 1890s and is one of the most popular European comics.

Tour à Plomb - The comic features a screenwriter and different characters.

Unknown 

Caroline Baldwin - The character is a detective who goes to dangerous places in America.

Cori le Moussaillon - This adventure comic, published in 1951, is about a cabin boy who travels.

Les rêves de Nick - This is a comical series published in the early 1980s that focuses on a dream. It was inspired by "Nemo in Slumberland" comic.

Cubitus - The comic hero is a humanlike white dog who can speak. The comic was published in 1968. The mural features the title character as the Manneken Pis while the statue stares up on top of the fountain at him.

L'Ange de Sambre - This comic features Brussels.

Néron - Published in the mid-1940s, the comic has elements of political and celebrity humor.

Bob & Bobette (Spike and Suzy) - This comic features a group of friends and their adventures. It was first published in 1946, and there have been television and video games based off of the comic. In the mural, the characters are being held up by Manneken Pis.

The Crocodiles - This comic mural is created in black and green, and the crocodiles help to fight sexism.

The Smurfs - This is probably the largest and most popular comic from Belgium, and it features the little blue characters and their world to escape from evil. There have been many spin-offs and cartoons and movies. The mural above shows very Belgian items, such as waffles and fries and paintings of the city.

Le Scorpion - The story takes place in Rome during the 18th century with a holy relics dealer being the hero. 

Le Petit Spirou - This is another mural based on the Spirou comic. This one has weathered badly.

Marsupilami - The comic features and animal specimen and their adventures. The comic was first published in 1952, and there have been many spin-offs.

Le Roi des mouches 

Martine - This comic, which was published in 1954, features the title character and her dog. It is a book for children and a very popular series, and a video game was also published. 

The Cabin

Jommeke - First published in 1955, this comic follows the adventures of an 11-year old boy and his pet parrot. The comic never gained popularity outside Belgium and the Netherlands.

Titeuf - This is a relatively new series from 1992 about a child and his adventures. There's also a cartoon about him.

Parchis

Afternoon at the Place

Gil Jourdan - This is a comic that ran from 1956-1989 that takes place in the 1930s. The title character is a detective.

Natacha - The comic features an attractive flight attendant and the rest of the crew. It is an adventure series and takes place in multiple countries. It was published in 1970.

Solastalgie

Vandergoten

For readers planning to visit Brussels to see the comic book trail, they are located in three main areas but they are also scattered out and do take some time to walk to. I concentrated on the ones in the main centre before venturing out to the other couple of locations.

Stencil street artist C215, known as Christian Guémy, is from France and has left his street art all over the world. His work is primarily consists of portraits or people and cats. The portraits include the homeless, orphans, the elderly, and his own family. I always enjoyed seeing work from this artist, but it gets tagged over quickly. I was happy when I discovered some of his work in Brussels in the Ixelles area. I discovered a portrait of character Wednesday Adams and of Catwoman from "Batman".

These two stencils were left in 2017, and additional ones were painted around the area, but I could not locate any.

Previous works from C215 covered in this blog are included below:

Manchester Street Art
C215 Paints New Street Art in London
New Street Art by C215 and Paul 'Don' Smith
Street Art: C215
C215 Uncovered on Blackall Street