Street artist David Speed has been painting bright pink neon portraits of people and animals across London over the past few years, and his work is so common that I am photographing a new one nearly each time I visit east London. I've covered his work many times on this blog. Below is a section of street art from David Speed that I have photographed over the past few months.
More posts by David Speed on this blog:
In December, a collaboration street art mural was painted and arranged by floral designer Renatto Ribeiro and Dave Plants. The work was completed in early December, and I captured the photographs in early January, so the piece was not looking its absolute best. The floral display was completed by Renatto Ribeiro, who is known for creating stunning floral displays professionally. A floral display combined with street art provides a wonderful combination of materials and styles. Dave Plants is responsible for the portrait of the female.
The female is surrounded by various winter foliage, bringing back the pagan meaning of the winter season.
The artwork represents that the cycle of nature is ever-changing, and nothing lasts forever.
Uppark is a property managed by the National Trust in Wst Sussex. The history of the property dates back as a deer park used in the 14th century and was leased as a pair called "Up Park and Down Park". The house was built at the end of the 1600s and then renovated, and the house today is shown as the country house would have been lived in in the 18th century with French furniture, Italian paintings, and Dutch porcelain. The house tells two stories: those of the upper class and those who were servants and lived below the stairs. Uppark is open during December with some of its rooms dressed up for Christmas for the family upstairs and preparations for the big day underway downstairs in the servant's area for "Upstairs, Downstairs" Christmas.
The walk down to the house was feeling festive with some reindeer and lights glowing down the pathway to the house.
Before going to check out the house, I headed to the cafe to have a drink and a pastry for breakfast and then a quick browse in the book shop, but I did not buy any books this time as I have a lot to read.
Festive decorations greeted me in the hall when I entered Uppark house.
The main attraction was the saloon, and the fireplace has the Roman Romulus and Remus depicted. The room contains a beautiful Christmas tree on one side, and the other side of the room has a table laid out with playing cards and a pink Christmas cake on a table.
The Little Parlour is the next room, and this is the room where the ladies would gather. The room has been decorated for Christmas as well with tea cups, a cake, and gardlands of greenery on the mantle.
Before the dining room is another small room which contained a Christmas tree.
The next room was the Dining Room, which was laid out for a Christmas meal. I had a longer look at the detail in the paintings with the voluneer in the room.
The Servery is the room on the other side of the dining room, and the servants would arrive to the dining room in a series of tunnels and then wait here for the food to be served up. The room contains a beauiful stained glass window, which is a focal point. It was lit from behind and designed to look impressive. The design of the stained glass is inspired by the Elgin Marbles from the Greek Parthenon.
From the servery, stairs led down to the servant's quarters. These are presented as they would have been in the middle of the 1800s. The kitchen showcased a Christmas meal being prepared with different ingredients, baking gingrbread men, and dried fruit being combined to make mince for pies or cake. The Butler's room and the other areas included Christmas trees with home-made decorations and glasses out being cleaned for the day.
After exploring how the servants celebrated and prepared for Christmas, I had a quick wander around the grounds and spotted a robin.
I enjoyed visiting Uppark for Christmas to see how both the wealthy owners of the estate and their servants celebrated. For more posts about Uppark, see below:
I enjoy seeing Lush's seasonal collections, and this Christmas, some old favourites returned amongst some new releases. I visited the shop on Oxford Street and picked a few of my favourite items to try, and I also snapped photographs of some of their Christmas range this year. Keep reading to find out more.
Catch me if You Can Bath Bomb: Ginger scent
Let It Snow Bath Bomb
Penguin Bath Bomb: Citrus oils and hand-painted
Lord of Misrule Bubble Bar: A traditional Christmas role of "Lord of Misrule" at the Christmas feasts
Lump of Coal Bath Bomb: Cinnamon, clove, and orange oils
Sweet Pudding Bath Bomb: A sweet scent of almond and sugary fragrance
Snow Fairy Lights Bath Bomb: Uses the famous sell-out scent "Snow Fairy"
Reindeer Bubble Bar: Mossy
Snowy Bath Bomb: Lemongrass
Christmas Cranberry Soap: A cranberry fruity scent; this is one of my favourites and bought some last year and received amazing feedback that I smelled good when I bathed in this. I've got a lot of soap to use up so I didn't buy any new.
Magical Santa Bath Bomb: Lemon and roseword fragrance, and the Santa has a rainbow colouring display in the bath
Candy Cane Bubble Bar: Peppermint scent
Snow Bear Soap: This year, my favourite Snow Cake fragrance comes in a little bear design
Snow Dragon Bath Bomb: Sea salt and essential oils of ylang ylang, lemon myrtle, and grapefruit
Sleepy Bear Bath Bomb: Scents of lavender and tonka beans.
Shoot for the Stars Bath Bomb: Coconut and cocao scent
Baked Alaska Soap: A colourful soap with a fruity scent
Snow Fairy Soap: This popular scent comes around every Christmas and is now in soap form.
Snow Drift Bath Bomb: Refreshing and fresh scent with eucalyptus and peppermint
Not necessarily Christmas, but I loved that Lush has now created a Diwali bath bomb.
Not pictured but also in the Christmas collection include the below.
Butterbear Bath Bomb: A new design on an old scent from a previous year.with cocoa butter and ylang ylang
Wishing Lamp Bath Bomb: Comes apart to make three baths of bath bombs.
Cinnamon Roll Bubble Bar: A cinnamon scented bath bomb that was released in previous years
Berry Berry Shower Gel: A fruity berry scent with a festive 'frosted' twist; this is a product that I purchased in a previous year.
Yog Nog Shower Gel, and Strawberry Santa Foaming Wash, Bouncing Santa Shower Jelly
Do you have a favourite?
While looking through my photographs of street art, I came across a few from Whitecross Street street art that was painted in 2022. The artwork is on the side of a building and is difficult to photograph. The work features Mr. Doodle, Sam Peacock, Driper, and Onion.
The image of the pigeon is created by Driper. On the left, it's Onion. The middle piece is Mr. Doodle, and the final piece is located on the right side in faded red and blue and is the work by Sam Peacock.
The below artwork is from Vibes.
The work can be found on Garrett street, off of Whitecross Street.
Street artist Jim Vision, who is very active at painting London's walls, created a new mural over several walls on Grey Eagle Street later this past summer; the work was done in collaboration with other street artists. The walls are made to appear like a comic book and tell a story of "King of Nowhere", a chimpanze character who is shown in different styles based on the collaborations with the other artists.
Below are some of the street art murals by Jim Vision that I have spotted over the past several years.
Jim Vision and ThisOne Collaborate on Old Street
Jim Vision Street Art in East London
Jim Vision's Street Art Tribute to Stan Lee
Street Art: 2Square, CodeFC, Jim Vision, Mr. Cenz, Peter Drew, Zadok
Jim Vision "Battlechasers" Street Art
Jim Vision "Lost Paradise" and Other Street Art
Jim Vision Adds to Tagged ROA Hedgehog and New Work
HumanNature Endangered13 Street Art Paint Jam, Day 2
New 'Star Wars' Street Art in Shoreditch
In the middle of September, Frieze Sculpture returned to Regent's Park for 2023, and the sculptures are on display until the middle of November. Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park is in its twelfth year this year; the sculptures used to be displayed from July, but this changed during the pandemic, and they are shown for the autumn months to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair in October. I recently visited and enjoyed seeing the different range of sculptures this year.
Here is a run down of the sculptures for 2023.
Suhasini Kejriwal - Garden of Un-earthly Delights: These painted bronze sculptures appear like painted cactus plants.
Hans Rosenstrom - Unfolding Silence: This installation includes an accompanying soundscape in a secluded area with a stone podium bird bath and a broze ear in the centre.
Amy Stephens - Waking Matter: This sculpture celebrates nature by showing off a piece of marble on top of a steel pedestal. It shows the natural with constructd steel.
Holly Stevenson - The Debate: The sculptures are created in ceramic and show two geese with an oversized egg.
Zak Ove - The Mothership Connection: The large totem of a rocketship is brightly painted with African and Caribbean style colours and masks, which tell the story of lost cultures.
Temitayo Ogunbiyi - You will carry dreams, memories, and new beginnings (48 days): Lagos-based artist included casts of 48 grinding stones to map a 48-day walk from Lagos to London.
Hank Willis Thomas - All Power to All People: This artwork shows an African pick and 'Black Power' salute for empowerment.
Tony Matelli - Sleepwalker: This shows a sleepwalking man, which represents a sense of crisis as being physically present but not in mind.
Catherine Czudej - Fat Man with Flowers 2 and Man Kneeling with Flowers: These are balloon sculptures.
Josh Smith - Friend: This bronze sculpture depicts the grim reaper, which is a symbol of death.
Yuichi Hirako - Yggdrasill / Books: The character symbolises nture on top of a stack of books.
Li Li Ren - To find a way home: The two abov sculptures were accompanied with a few scattered amongst the grass. There were six in total created from bronze and aluminium and depict sea creatures.
Leilah Babirye - Gyagenda: This bronze sculpture depicts a community of queer Buganda clanspeople. It translates to young people going out into a wider world.
Gülsün Karamustafa - Monument for the 21st Century: This is a red plinth.
Louise Nevelson - Model for Celebration II: This includes angular shapes and symbolises darkness.
Ayse Erkmen - Model for a Moss Column: The large totem sculpture is wrapped in moss and draws a line with a connection to nature.
Tomas Saraceno - Silent Autumn: This sculpture has autumnal colours, which depict the changing leaves.
Ghada Amer - My body my choice: This sculpture explores identity through culture and religion with understandings of the self.
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA - Material (SG): This British-Nigerian artist used the steel sculpture to signify issues of race and class the sculpture is created to appear as if a piece of fabric in the wind.
This wraps it up for Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park for 2023. For previous years, see my posts below:
Frieze Sculpture 2022
Frieze Sculpture 2021
Frieze Sculpture 2020
Frieze Sculpture 2019
Frieze Sculpture 2018
Frieze Art Fair 2017
Today's post covers my visit to Auckland Castle in Bishop's Auckland, County Durham. I visited the castle in the middle of August and had a good look around. First, I'll discuss a brief history of the castle. This castle replaced Durham Castle as the official residence of the bishops of Durham in the 1800s, but the castle history dates to the 12th century. It was popular as a deer park, and a house was set up at the end of th 1100s. The house had additional rooms added onto it, including a chapel, great hall, and defensive walls. This medieval building was replaced by a new castle in the 1600s. The castle sits amongst 800 acres of deer park and woodland. The castle was reopened to visitors in 2019 and restored with funding and has a couple of additional museums under construction; it hopes to bring people into the town for a longer duration of time.
Access to the castle is through a gated archway, and down the hillside on the left is the walled garden. There was construction work happening, and the walled garden did not look too interesting from above, so I gave it a miss.
I entered the castle, and the first part of the castle to visit is the chapel, known as St. Peter's Chapel. This chapel is at the heart of the castle and has been used for over 350 years. It was created from the remains of the medieval Great Hall.
After seeing the chapel, it was a walk across another room to the staircase.
The throne room was the next room to visit, and it was constructed in the early 1800s.
The Long Dining Room was the next room to see, and it features a collection of paintings calld Twelve Sons, which feature "Jacob and his twelve sons". This features a set of twelve of originally thirteen paintings. All but one of the paintings (the thirteenth) were purchased, and a replica of the unpurchased painting was created. The paintings date from the 1700s. The paintings were offered to be sold in 2001, but they were saved in 2011 and donated to Auckland Castle Trust to enable the public to view them. Prior to this, the paintings could only be seen on arrangement.
Afterwards, I checked out another room of paintings.
Next to see were some rooms of the Bishop, and these held paintings and other interesting items.
Th Bishop's Study features a layout from the late 1930s with the bishop standing against dictators (namely Hitler) and standing against war. The bishop helped to stand up for Jewish people and attempting to bring together unity for all. Another room off this study mentions that the bishop's wife planned events for the community and supported rights of miners. She held a party for the miners and their families.
The additional rooms featured the bishop's private rooms along with history through the ages. The bishop and his family still live in one of the wings of the castle.
When I visited the castle, there was an art exhibition to also see, and the exhibition was about the seven sins. I saw a lot of artwork relating to the seven deadly sins (from the Bible), and Tracey Emin "It was Just a Kiss" was one of the pieces in neon. I captured a few of the artworks below.
The Deer Park features the Deer House, which is also worth a visit to see. I covered the deer house here: Deer House at Auckland Castle
In early August, I visited the ruins of Shap Abbey, which is managed by English Heritage. The abbey ruins are located in a valley in Cumbria, northern England. It was built in in 1199 and was built to replace the community founded twenty miles away near Kendal in the Lak District. The only remaining structure that still stands is part of the tower; a lot of stonework was taken away to built Shap Market Hall and Lowther Castle. The site is free to visit, and a parking area is located at the bottom of the hill where the ruins are situated next to a small creek.
To get to the abbey ruins, I crossed a little bridge.
There was a chicken wandering around the entrance to the abbey.
I wandred around the ruins.
I found a painted rock with a message on it amongst the ruins.
After exploring the ruins, I headed back to the car. I had kept hearing some planes, and these military planes zoomed past.
I enjoyed my visit to Shap Abbey.
In early August, I visited Brougham Castle, which is located near Penrith in Cumbria. The castle itself dates from the 13th century, but a castle stood on this site for 2000 years. Behind the castle is the location of a Roman fort known as Brocavum, and it was initially used by infantry but was then replaced by calvary with many of the men from modern day Turkey. The word "Brougham" means "village by the fort". The castle was an important structure during the wars between England and Scotland and was in good shape with the Clifford family as the owners. Kind Edward I even visited th castle. In the 1600s, a new owner had the furnishings sold, and the castle started to fall to ruin. Today, it is managed by English Heritage.
Brougham Castle became a romantic ruin to visit for those who had money and could go to the Lake District. The castle was featured in a poem by William Wordsworth and in a painting by Turner.
There are picturesque views over the castle by the river, and I had a wonderful sunny morning to explore it.
The keep.
Visitors could climb up the keep and walk along the perimeter to see the views.
It was a clear day, so I could see for miles.
On top of the keep, one of the stones used to build the castle was a tombstone. It would have been from the fort below.
After viewing inside the castle, I had a walk around the walls.
This was a lovely castle to view with so much history, and I enjoyed my visit.
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