Results matching “paint”

Street artist WRDSMITH is known for creating lyrical paste-ups that feature a painted stencil of a vintage typewriter along with a paste-up of text on a page that can be lyrical, silly, or an observation. The artist lives in California but was born in Ohio, and he is also a writer for television. I first noticed his work in early 2016, and he's visited a few times and leaves behind various stencils on walls. 

Previous posts about Wrdsmith on this blog can be seen here:

Street Art: WORDSMITH & C3
Recent Wrdsmith (Wordsmith) Street Art

I have previously covered the work of South African street artist Falko One (also known as Falko1) previously, and the last time that I photographed his work in London was in 2017. He had painted his series of elephants "The Herd", around London. I captured the work in east London, but he also painted in a few places in Penge, south London. The artist's subject is elephants. Falko One has been painting for over 25 years and has a graphic design background. 

The elephants in this post are still located in Penge as I photographed them last year, and they were originally painted in 2017. The first elephants are located on a low wall on a residential street in Stodart Road. The elephants are facing each other and create a "heart" shape.

The second elephant that I managed to capture is easy to miss. It is also on a residential street and located on the side of a house. The elephant appears to be emerging from the side of the house.

Other posts on this blog that contain Falko One's elephants street art work can be seen here:

Falko One 'The Herd' of Elephants
Jay Kaes and Falko One Murals on Old Street

In June of 2018, street artist Sr. X painted a wall in Penge on Maple Road. Sr. X is noted for his vintage-style artwork that evokes humour and political or social themes. The work on the wall depicts a young boy appearing to look over the fence while Mickey Mouse is emerging from his head and Itchy the mouse from "The Simpsons" show's "The Itchy and Scratcy Show" is holding an ignited dynamite stick behind his back.

The artwork behind the fence is completed with the full face of the boy, but it's really only meant to be seen from the other side of the fence so that the boy appears to be looking over the fence.

Other artwork by Sr. X (Senor X) on this blog can be seen in the below posts:

Sr. X Paints "Gimme That Soma!" on Redchurch Street
Sr. X Street Art at Paternoster Square
Sr. X Summer 2020 Murals in Camden
"The Back of Your Mind", New Street Art by Sr. X
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Sr. X (Señor X) "The Rapture" Street Art on the Village Underground
Sr. X (Señor X) "The Itching" Street Art off Brick Lane
New Sr X Octopus on Hackney Road
Sr.X Paints Village Underground Wall
Sr.X "Buy Shit!" Sign on Village Underground
Sr X Collaborates with Zabou

Street artists Morgasmik and Peachzz collaborated on a mural in Penge in the summer of 2021. I was lucky to see the artwork not long after it had been completed with a street art walk organised by London Calling Blog. The mural fills the bottom of a long wall not too far from Penge East station and is a nice collaboration of two different styles of artwork.

The artwork was created for SprayExhibition20 street art project. Morgasmik is a street artist that is from the south London area, and Peachzz is from Sheffield. The subject is a mermaid in an under-sea scape with geometric colourful patterns. Part of the work also glows in the dark. Peachzz was responsible for the mermaid while Morgasmik created the colourful geographical elements.

A nice touch was the electric box on the left side of the wall, which had been painted to look like an under-sea treasure chest.

For more street art by Peachzz, see:
Bankside Frost Fair Walk and Street Art

Back in 2017, Mexican-Columbian street artist Stinkfish visited London and painted a few murals. The artist's style of painting is stencil-based with bright colours and geometric shapes for the backgrounds. The subjects of the paintings are people that the artist had photographed without their knowledge. This girl was painted on a door behind shops on the main street in Penge, and I took the photograph in the autumn of 2021.

Previous work by Stinkfish that I have covered in this blog can be seen below:

Stinkfish New Mural on Hanbury Street
Stinkfish Paints Hanbury Street Ahead of "Portraits in Transit"
Street Art: Stinkfish, Acaro, Mazatl

Woskerski's sreet art brings the surreal style with witty portraits (or other objects) that use bright colours and are memorable. The street artist has been painting across east London for the past few years now, and his work always brings a smile. Although it has been awhile since I have covered the artist on this blog, I have been taking photographs of his work, which you can see below.

Additional work by Woskerski that is featured on this blog:

Woskerski Street Art in East London
Woskerski Paints Toynbee Street for London Mural Festival
Most Recent Street Art by Woskerski
Street Art: Woskerski
Recent Spring 2018 Woskerski Street Art

It's that time of the year again...the big update! I hope that all of my readers have had a good year. This year did not turn out as I expected it would as there have been some set-backs, but I have had some decent times too. It's much better than the previous year. I went into 2022 without any expectations since last year was one of the lowest of my life so far. I am looking forward to 2023 and hope that it brings travel and good times with family and friends.

January: I spent January settling into my new job and project, which I joined in November of the previous year. It was full on with a lot of over-time challenges. The past several years of being over-worked has taught me that there's more to life than work, and I had burnt out. I actually feel as though I have still not recovered from burn-out. I've always been one to plan ahead to avoid stress. My work-life balanace is not what I would like it to be. I miss the half-day Fridays as this enabled me to go out and take a walk and appreciate nature; I felt more refreshed both mentally and physically.

Due to work, I did not get up to much in January. Earlier in the month, I did visit Windsor Great Park Illuminated, which was a winter trail that was put on for the Christmas season. It did not feel festive, but the lights were pretty, especially in the wooded areas. 

Canary Wharf's annual Winter Lights event was cancelled at fairly short notice because a lot of the artists and their sculptures could not make the event. At this time, many other countries were still in lockdown, and there were some discussions that we could be too. It did not happen, but there was some concern. The line-up of sculptures looked to be amazing, so I was gutted that it did not go ahead. I am looking forward to it next month.

February: I've become friends with some people on my street that I met during the pandemic days, and I'd been out some for drinks a few times in January and February in between a busy work schedule. We have quite a few nice pubs and restaurants in the area, and a really nice one has good cocktails; it's also only about a five-minute walk from the house. Other than the odd day, I did not leave the house at all, which is not great for well-being.

February is Valentine's Day month, and I headed into east London to stop at Humble Crumble to have their Valentine's Day special after work. I remember feeling absolutely exhausted. Work was really wearing me down. I'd also read up about "high-functioning anxiety", and I am confident that I suffer from this as I tick most of the boxes.

Over the Valentine's Day weekend, I headed out for a day trip to Norwich via Anglesey Abbey on the way and saw the snowdrops here. This was the first time that I had been outdoors properly since early January, and it felt great to be out again. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best as it rained quite a bit while I was there, but I managed to enjoy nature and see some snowdrops and other early spring flowers.

The reason why I visited Norwich for the day trip was to see Dippy the Dinosaur in Norwich Cathedral and Love Light Norwich. Love Light Norwich took place across three days to showcase a series of illuminated artwork and sculptures located around the city of Norwich over Valentine's Day weekend. Due to Storm Eunice, which had happened a couple of days before, one of those days was cancelled, and some of the artwork was either moved or not placed. The projection on Norwich Castle was my favourite of the installations.

I had some really sad news toward the end of the month. My grandmother passed away in her sleep. She was the last of my grandparents. Although she was old, it was sudden and a bit of a shock. I had hoped to see her again.

March: Pancake Day fell on the first of the month this year, and I had plans for it. Unfortunately, there was a huge TFL London tube strike on the day (TFL Tube Strike Lockdown Pancake Day), and none of the trains were running. It was impossible to get into central London, so I made my own pancakes again this year. I purchased a tiny frying pan, so they came out looking nicer than last year's. 

Due to the shocking news about my grandmother and remembering how better life had been a year ago at this time, I made a an effort to get out of the house. I visited Eastcote House Gardens and had a walk down to see the beautiful field of crocuses and daffodils that were in bloom. 

I also managed to complete my first charity sculpture trail of the year in March: The Big Hoot in Hemel Hempstead. The sculpture trail brought twelve painted owl sculptures to the centre of the town, and I tracked them all down. I also discovered many knitted postbox toppers that were designed as a different book or characters in books for World Book Day. 

I also made a visit to Bombay Sapphire for the tour and Cocktail Masterclass. This is something that I have wanted to do for awhile now, and I never got to do it while I was living down the road in Basingstoke. I had a tour of the distillery and learned about the ingredients while everyone sipped on their own gin and tonics. We made three yummy cocktails after the tour, and I also tried another in the bar afterwards. We had a lovely day for it with sunshine and signs of spring.

The final March activity was a weekend away in Shropshire using a voucher that I received for a night away, and I enjoyed the hotel. Some of the highlights of the weekend included Powis Castle, Buildwas Abbey, Wenlock Priory, Benthall Hall, Boscabel House and the Royal Oak, Wroxeter Roman City, and Attingham Park. The daffodils were in bloom, and the weather was good most of the time. I was impressed by the amazing gardens at Powis Castle, though the castle tour itself was not very insightful to any knowledge about the castle's history.

April: At the beginning of April, I managed to tick off an item on my London bucket list. I visited Ronnie Scott's jazz club and indulged in Sunday roast lunch with live music - a tribute to Doris Day on what would have been her 100th birthday. It was enjoyable, and the food was very good. 

Easter break long weekend was spent in Cardiff in Wales. One of the reasons for the trip was to see the Snoopy sculptures around the area ("A Dog's Trail" in Cardiff). There were over fourty of them, and they were spread out over a large area.

I staryed at the beautiful Llanerch Vineyard hotel and had a tour and beautiful stay, and this is a place that I would recommend. 

While in the area, I visited some interesting places, including: Dyffren Gardens, Ogmore Castle, Dyrham Park, Cardiff Castle, Tredegar House, and Castle Coch. Ogmore Castle is beautiful ruins of a castle next to a river. Cardiff Castle and Castle Coch are located in or near Cardiff and are two castles that I've wanted to visit for ages; they are both beautiful. Tredegar House was owned by the family who owned both Cardiff Castle and Castle Coch. It's a huge mansion estate, which is now owned by the National Trust.

Dyffren Gardens is a house with different garden rooms of various themes, also owned by the National Trust. I visited on Easter Sunday and enjoyed seeing the tulips and daffodils in the formal gardens. Dyrham Park was a very large estate with the house a twenty-minute walk at the bottom of a hill. I enjoyed seeing more tulips, but we did not have too long to visit.

At the end of the month, I had a pleasant walk from Eastcote House Gardens to Pinner where I enjoyed the annual St. George's Day Festivities in Pinner. This includes a drunken wheelbarrow race in costume, Morris dancing, and other activities. The weather turned out to be glorious, and it was a fun visit.

May: In May, the weather was colder and wetter than average. However, I had a glorious day in early May when I went to visit Hinton Ampner in Hampshire (Hinton Ampner Spring Visit). It's a lovely property, and it has beautiful gardens and amazing estate walks. I ended up walking a long three-hour walk through woodland and bordering fields, and I saw so many amazing bluebells in different parts of the walk (Hinton Ampner Bluebell Walk). The weather was warm with full sunshine, so I was really spoiled.

Later that day, I finally got to go on the Gin-Tasting Cruise from Poole Harbour, which was a gift that I purchased a couple of years previously. It was actually just a booze cruise, and I was hoping for more of a guided gin tour. The return trip back into Poole Harbour at dark was beautiful with very clear water, and it was perfect sailing conditions.

I was looking forward to mid-May because it meant that my six-month probation was passed, and I could finally book annual leave after the previous years of demanding contracts, the pandemic, and job redundancy that happened toward the end of the pandemic last autumn. I had many plans, but I was once again shafted here. The very day that I passed my probation and I went to book annual leave, there was bad news with the bloke's job. He was working in a start-up, and all was not going well with the company, and it was a time of uncertainty looming over. Meanwhile, he was depressed about it. The whole ordeal with it lasted all summer and ruined our summer in the end; we did have some nice weekends out, but the depression and uncertainty loomed over.

I tried to remain positive. Surely life can through some good vibes my way soon? As always, I go out and keep busy to appreciate London and life. One of the activities was to visit Chelsea in Bloom. This year was my first ever visit to Chelsea in Bloom to see the floral arrangements in the Chelsea Flower Show week, although I have previously been to the actual flower show itself. Each year, businesses in the area decorate with a theme, and visitors come to the area to the flower show or to simply see the displays. I did not expect it to be so busy in the area, but it was packed. Chelsea in Bloom celebrated British Icons this year to get ready for the upcoming Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and the scuptures were amazing. We had many tributes to the Queen (including her corgi dogs and crowns), the telephone box, the post box, afternoon tea, buses, guards, and the flag's colours. I loved the visit, although it was quite a bit of walking.

I also booked Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea with friends at the end of the month and just in time for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. We went to Park Lane's Intercontinental Hotel.

June: June was a month of celebrations. The big news this month was the celebration for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and I went into London to see all of the decorations (London Gets Ready for the Platinum Jubilee). I hosted a Jubilee party on the Saturday of that long weekend (Queen's Platinum Jubilee) and watched the concert tribute to the Queen, and the road had a street party on the Sunday. The weather was not the best over the weekend, but we all made the most of it. The children and adults on the street primarily participated in a sports day, and we had pizza on the street while the children had afternoon tea but were too busy participating in the sports to sit down.

I took my birthday off this year because I had been working extremely hard, and I just did not want to have a stressful birthday. I ended up visiting three new National Trust and English Heritage properties: Chastleton House, Snowshill Manor, and Hailes Abbey. Snowshill Manor was interesting and filled with handmade antique items from all over the world and the first model village; some of the rooms were quite creepy as if the handmade items captured the souls of those who made some of the items. Chastleton House is a medieval house with small formal gardens; it's not a large property to explore, and there's a walk down to the house through pasture. Hailes Abbey was once a famous pilgrimage for the relic of the blood, and only ruins exist today.

Also to celebrate my birthday, a group of friends and I went out to Prime Steak and Grill Bottomless Brunch in Beaconsfield, and the bottomless brunch was tasty. I had an enjoyable time, and we had drinks afterwards at Revolution next door. 

At the end of the month, I visited Southampton and Winchester to explore the Hares of Hampshire sculpture trail. The hare sculptures were all fairly central on both trails. I enjoyed finding them all and enjoyed the day out in two cities that I used to visit much more frequently before I moved to London.

Lastly, I perfected the passionfruit martini cocktail at the end of June. I enjoyed these cocktails throughout the rest of the year with friends. I had more than a couple of cocktail parties.

July: July was a difficult month. My workplace was busy, but the bloke's was a continuation of several weeks of stress (from mid-May). In early July, the company that the bloke worked for had agreed funding but then back-tracked a week or two later and decided to shut it down. The bloke and all of his colleagues immediately lost their jobs and pay for the whole month of June, part of July (technically the whole month as it took them time to liquidate), their notice periods, and unused annual leave. Since the bloke and I were waiting for my six-month probation to be passed (mid-May), the bloke had not used any annual leave, so he lost it all. 

This period was a depressing and stressful time. For several years now, it just feels that we cannot catch our breaths with one thing after another. When the bloke was told at the start of the month that everything was fine, we booked our annual leave to visit my family and friends in the states. I wanted to visit over Thanksgiving, but he wanted to visit in the summer because his workplace was meant to kick off project work in November. Due to that, we booked it for summer, and it ended up being a hassle for his job search. He ended up being out of work for three months, which hit hard at a time when the cost of living and energy has increased greatly.

At the beginning of the month and right before the more dire of the times, I had booked Punchdrunk Immersive Theatre - Burnt City. I'd always wanted to attend a Punchdrunk event, and the subject of the Trojan war for this event appealed to me. Unfortunately, the bloke was in a bad mood and forbid us to split up to locate our own stories, so I did not get much out of it and had a bad time. Also, due to the hot weather, our experience was cut short, so we did not get as much out of it as I should have done. 

July had some scorching hot and dry weather after an extremely wet and rainy spring. I had booked to visit Superbloom at the Tower of London on its opening weekend at the start of June for the Jubilee. However, the event was postponed because of all of the rain. The flowers were very slow to come out. I was able to re-book, so i picked a date in early-mid July. Unfortunately, the couple weeks of scorching weather meant that most of the plants had already bloomed and were mainly over their best. 

One of the highlights for me this year was a romantic stay at The Grand Hotel Eastbourne one weekend, and we only had one night here. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed some cocktails. There was an outdoor pool, and I forgot my swimming clothes. We ended up not actually going to the beach or walking down to the pier as I hoped we would. We had a lovely room with a side view of the sea and the internal gardens, and I kept the room window open all night when it cooled down. Listening to the crashing waves from the beautiful room was an amazing experience.

While in the area, I visited the duck sculptures from the Follow that Duck sculpture trail around the south coast. They were located in and around Hastings and Leonard-on-Sea. Unfortunately, they were quite spread out all over a wide area with some of them being difficult to get to. I would have preferred them to be in walkable distance from each other and more accessible.

I also visited Battle Abbey and Battle of Hastings Battlefield and Pevensey Castle. The Battle of Hastings Battlefield walk was roughly a thirty loop minute walk with an audio guide commentary device for the tour and information about the battle. There was a museum with more information about the battle, the abbey gatehouse, and the ruins of the abbey to visit. The abbey was placed here to commemorate the fall of the king of England to William the Conqueror. Battle Abbey and the Battle of Hastings Battlefield is one of English Heritage's larger sites, and I enjoyed the visit. We arrived early to avoid the crowds, and we walked the battlefield first to avoid the scorching heat on the day. Afterwards, we visited the nearby ruins of Pevensey Castle.

I also visited Ightham Mote to tour inside the house as I had only ever been inside it once, and that was during Christmas a few years ago when only a few of the ground floor rooms are open. I enjoyed seeing the gardens in the summer and at their height of beauty. 

August: After work one evening in August, a couple of friends and I headed to Sky Garden and enjoyed the amazing views and cocktails. Afterwards, we visited the twilight edition of Superbloom, but the flowers themselves were over due to the extremely dry summer weather we had. The grounds and wildflowers were lit up with multi-coloured spotlights, which made the setting look enchanting.

At the end of August, I jetted off to America to see my family for the first time in several years. One of my first visits was to one of my favourite lunch spots, Giacomos, for the grilled cheese and onion sandwich and delicious cookies. I love sugar cookies, but my favourite are snickerdoodles. At the end of August, they already had autumn treats on display.

The end of August had very hot weather in Ohio, and I visited Franklin Park Conservatory to see Dale Chihuly sculptures and Topiary Takeover with my family. I got to spend time with nieces and nephews, which I'd either never met or had met a long while ago. The weather outside was a little too warm for them to endure too much outdoors in the open heat.

Of course, I got to go back to visit the Amish Country in Ohio again as my parents do not live too far away from it (A Day in Ohio's Amish Country). We had an excellent meal at Mount Hope in Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen and stopped off at a few shops and a bakery. We drove down several backroads to see what was happening.

September: At the start of September, I drove up to northwestern Ohio in order to visit one of my closest friends who lives there, and we spent some time visiting together. We met up in Marion and walked around the town before touring Warren G. Harding's presidential home.

My friend and I also visited various wineries in the northwestern part of Ohio, and we found some real gems. I included a list of all of Ohio wineries here: List of Ohio Wineries. I was only able to see my friend for a short time, and then it was back to my parent's house. The weather in September was not kind and had several wet and rainy days. September is usually my favourite month, so the rain and cold weather was disappointing.

Before having to fly back to the UK, I also got to go to Kentucky with my parents to see my youngest brother and his family. We only stayed for a little over a day, and we went to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky with my brother and his family. This was a settlement of people who followed Shaker beliefs and lived and worked together in a community.

All good things must end, and the visit to Ohio came to a close in the middle of the month. Here's a round-up of the various things I got up to, but it was mainly a trip to visit family instead of sight-see: Summer Visit to Ohio, USA.

The biggest news of the month, however, was the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. This happened when I was in America, and I missed the Queen's coffin and Prince Charles arriving near where I live at RAF Northolt by less than a day. After I returned to the country, I visited the floral tributes in Green Park to Queen Elizabeth II as soon as the weekend came around. The tributes were moving and consisted of photographs, artwork, crafts, teddies, flowers, cards, balloons, flags, and marmalade sandwiches. There were several piles of tributes placed around Green Park into piles.

I also visited Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park 2022 when I returned, and I was happy to see a nice mixture of artwork this year. I enjoy this annual outing to Regent's Park to visit it.

One last September outing was spending A Morning at Shaw's Corner (National Trust, Hertfordshire). We had a guided tour of George Bernard Shaw's home and gardens.

October: The month of October was extremely busy for me due to a new project at work, and I did not get to go out much. I looked forward to my Halloween at Headlands Hotel visit, and it was amazing. I enjoyed the spa facilities, and the afternoon tea was delicious. The hotel was used for filming "The Witches", and the Grand Witch (one of the characters), arrived during the afternoon tea to keep the guests company.

While in Cornwall, I visited Lanhydrock, Halloween Visit to Lanhydrock (National Trust, Cornwall). The property hosted a Halloween-themed event experience that visitors could do. It involved a story staged in the servants' part of the house where actors dressed up as different characters would tell the story.

I also visited Trelissick, Trerice, and Cotehele, all of which are National Trust properties. The largest of these with expansive grounds is Trelissick, and I walked around the gardens and enjoyed the views over the estuary to Falmouth. Trerice was a smaller property to explore with a house as the greater estate was sold off post-World War II. Cotehele contained a larger area of grounds to explore as well as the house and a mill.

Also at the end of October, I visited the Tower of London Light Show: About Us: 14 Billion Years. These projections were illuminated onto the front of the Tower of London, and it was basically telling the story through 14 billion years of life on Earth.

November: Although November was another busy month with work, there were a couple of things that I looked forward to. I enjoyed Bonfire Night 2022 with two local fireworks displays. 

I also attended The Gunpowder Plot Immersive Experience, which is a historical experience set during 1605 about Guy Fawkes and the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. I had food and cocktails before the experience. The experience was pretty good, although I had trouble really being immersed into the mindset, and the agumented reality headsets were hard to work.

December: The month of December has also flown by, and I've been incredibly busy with work. However, I did make some time to head into London throughout the month to enjoy the Christmas lights and decorations: London's Christmas Lights, Treats and Decorations 2022. I particularly enjoyed the new decorations in Covent Garden and Carnaby Street.

Near the start of the month, I spent the day at Wimpole Estate and enjoyed the Christmas Lights Trail in the evening: Wimpole Estate Christmas Lights Trail (National Trust, Cambridgeshire). It was not the best light trail that I've been on as I had seen many of the illuminations at previous light trails, but it was good to get out of the house and have a day outdoors. 

Also earlier in the month, I visited Lucy Sparrow's Felt 'R' Us at Brunswick Centre. This is a pop-up shop that was open for a limited time until late December, and visitors could see some of her felt artwork and purchase items.

A few days before Christmas, a friend and I had a day out to Waddesdon to see Waddesdon Manor at Christmas 2022 and Waddesdon Winter Light Trail. We enjoyed the illuminations. 

On Christmas Eve, I had Festive Afternoon Tea at The Savoy with friends as per our Christmas tradition. It was enjoyable. I had to work over Christmas and did not do anything on the couple of days that I had off. I had such a lazy time that I am feeling frustrated at myself for being so lazy.

That brings this year to a close. I felt quite over-worked this year, so I have already started new habits to take care of myself so that my body and mind can function well and keep from getting ill. I have already started undoing the past few years' worth of damage now, and I hope to carry this throughout the new year. I do not want to jinx it, but I also hope to travel and make up for some lost time. Other than that, I am trying to keep an open kind as to what 2023 will bring.

Earlier this month, I participated in a Frost Fair tour of South Bank, which started from outside of Borough Market. Frost Fairs were fairs that took place on the river Thames between 1605 to 1814. The Thames used to freeze over a few times, and people would host fairs on the ice while the trade by water could not happen. There is special artwork and agumented reality projections commemorating the Frost Fairs of the past, and these are on display around Bankside, which is meant for us to relive the past frost fairs in the modern age. 

The first street art on display was from Timba Smitts and is titled "The Villain", and it depicts trash that does not biodegrade. The villian in this artwork is the coffee cup. It is conveniently placed next to the trash bins. As these coffee cups last for over 200 years, one could have survived from the 1814 Frost Fair.

Mr. Cenz also created a mural for the "Frost Fair" with a portrait of a lady in Victorian dress.

Street artist Peachzz also contributed with "Fortune", a series of three individual panels inspired by the ways that people using the river for trade had to come up with new ideas to make money when the river was frozen over.

We were told some history of the area of Bankside, such as the warehouses and how the area used to be a slum known for ladies of the night and other seedy trades.

The streets "Maiden Lane" refer back to that time with the ladies of the night. Park Street was also pointed out as a place that made history when a wealthy Austrian gentleman was beaten up by two men who worked with the large wooden barrels. 

Three films were also shown near Clink Street. Julia Fullerton-Batten's "Frost Fair 1814" was shown alongside "An Elephant Walks" and a couple of others.

We then walked along the Thames.

The mural under the bridge at Southwark Bridge depicts the Frost Fair in sculpture.

We were pointed out the bollards, which are cannons.

And a ferryman's seat.

And the narrow building by the Tate gallery was known as a brothel, and sometimes the men would turn up dead in the garden if they complained of their possessions being stolen by the husbands during the act. 

We were pointed out some buildings with the Corporation of London logo, which is social housing on the south side of the river, even though the city of London is not located on the south side.

Tin Box makers made tin boxes during the 1940s.

Of course, there were some nice views of the Shard.

We were pointed out the building that burned with all of the rickshaws inside it a couple of weeks back.

Jay CBloxx, also known as Nomad Clan, contributed with "Slipping Away", which highlights the opportunities from the Frost Fair and features non-gender conforming individuals, which would have been at these fairs.

We were shown a World War II bomb! I got to hold it.

Afterwards, we went to Cross Bones Graveyard, which was a graveyard for women of the night and paupers, including outcasts. Tributes are laid here.

I continued to explore the area...

I was impressed at seeing the Thierry Noir artwork next to Millennium Bridge and some of the agumented reality artwork.

The last artwork is from Dreph. His artwork features Ignatius Sancho, a British writer and former enslaved African who wanted to abolish slavery. He was the first person of African descent to vote in Britain. The painting is inspired by a painting by Thomas Gainsborough.

Previous posts with Dreph's work that feature on my blog are located below:

Dreph Paints Globe Sculpture for 'A World Reimagined'
Dreph 'You Are Enough' Street Art in Penge
Dreph Street Art Migration Series, 3
Final Dreph "You Are Enough" Mural
Dreph "You Are Enough" (Part 3)
'You Are Enough' (8th edition)
Dreph 'You Are Enough' (6th Edition)
Dreph Paints Holly Oluwo
New Street Art Portraits by Dreph
Street Art: Dreph

More street art by Mr. Cenz on this blog can be seen at the below links:

Mr. Cenz Recent Street Art in London
Mr. Cenz Paints Hanbury Street Wall
Mr. Cenz Paints "Connectivity Matters" Wall
Recent Street Art By Mr. Cenz in Winter 2018
Mr. Cenz Paints Tribute to Usain Bolt
Mr. Cenz Refreshes Fashion Street Mural
Mr. Cenz Paints Hanbury Street
New Street Art by Mr. Cenz
Street Art: Mr. Cenz

More posts by Thierry Noir:

Thierry Noir and Stik Paint Berlin Wall
Thierry Noir Returns to London for Academy Of Art Summer Show at Protein Studios
Thierry Noir Paints New Murals in London
Thierry Noir and Street Art at Shoreditch Food Village
Street Art in Soho by Paul 'Don' Smith, Broken Fingaz, Amara por Dios, Thierry Noir, and others
Thierry Noir's Shop Front on Shoreditch High Street
Thierry Noir's New Murals on Rivington Street
Thierry Noir, RUN, and John Dolan Murals at the Museum of London
Street Art: Thierry Noir

I returned to Waddesdon Manor this Christmas to visit the house decorated for the holidays. This is the first time that the house has been decorated for Christmas since my visit in 2019. This year, there is a new route with the East Wing being open for festive displays with Christmas trees in the rooms. Visitors can see the house decorated for Christmas until (and including) 2 January, and tickets must be purchased in advance to limit numbers. Visitors to the house can also stay in the grounds for the light trails. Waddesdon is a property managed by National Trust in Buckinghamshire, England.

In the past, Waddesdon's Christmas rooms have followed a theme, but there doesn't seem to be an overall theme this year. Some of the trees contain birds. Another contains DIY tools. Another contained butterflies, and another contained elephants. There was not an overall theme like there was in 2019, but each room had a theme.

Instead of turning left in the entrance porch, we went straight ahead to some new rooms that I had no visited before. Overall, there were less rooms decorated than there were in 2019, and I enjoyed 2019 far more than this year's display. However, I guess it's a start since this is the first time that they have decorated since 2019. The Red Drawing Room was the first room, and the tree contains ornaments designed as fashion accessories (fans, hats, mirrors, etc), mimicking the Thomas Gainsborough paintings in the room.

The Dining Room has a bird theme. A peacock has been crafted from paper, and there are birds and eggs around the room and on the Christmas tree. Peacock was a main dish in the 19th century.

The conservatory room has been turned into a rainforest, and it did contain exotic tropical plants in the later 1800s. The room is inspired by the Rothschilds (who owned the house), and it contains butterflies and bug collections, inspired by their collections. The beetles and butterflies in the room were created by schoolchildren.

The Breakfast Room was next, and it contained a cornucopia on the table and mirrored trees on either side of the fireplace.

The East Gallery's Christmas tree contains elephants, which are inspired by the elephant clockwork item on display. These were amongst the Rothchilds prized possessions.

Up the stairs was a small tree in the hallway before leading into the two smaller rooms. 

The White Drawing Room is inspired by Alice de Rothchild's maintenance of the mansion. DIY and cleaning tools are ornaments on the Christmas tree in the room.

Next door to the room is a red room with its own Christmas tree.

The Blue Dining Room was the final room to visit.

The stairs down from the servant's area had various information boards to read about the servants and their Christmas experiences at Waddesdon.

Afterwards, we visited the food market to have a bite of lunch. I had a grilled cheese sandwich.

I also visited the Christmas light trail on my visit, so come back to see photographs of it.

For more posts about Waddesdon on this blog, see the below:

Halloween Afternoon Tea at Waddesdon
Morning at Waddesdon (National Trust, Buckinghamshire): Lockdown Edition
Christmas and Winter Light at Waddesdon Manor (Bucks, England)

Artist Dreph, who is also a street artist that gained popularity with his realistic portraits painted across London, has painted on a charity art sculpture globe for "A World Imagined". "A World Imagined" is a collaboration with Wild In Art, and the purpose is to bring awareness to racial injustice, culture, history, and community in the United Kingdom. The sculpture trails were located in a few cities and spread across London during the summer. Dreph painted one of the sculptures, which is called "Dress Code".

"Dress Code" highlights the different styles that black people in Britain have followed since the 1950s:  Calypso, Reggae, Hip Hop, Ragga, Jungle and Grime. These are inspired by musical influences. Black music is popular in British mainstream culture, and this contributes to today's culture as a British identity. I've photographed all of the "sides" of the globe for you to enjoy Dreph's work.

Previous posts with Dreph's work that feature on my blog are located below:

Dreph 'You Are Enough' Street Art in Penge
Dreph Street Art Migration Series, 3
Final Dreph "You Are Enough" Mural
Dreph "You Are Enough" (Part 3)
'You Are Enough' (8th edition)
Dreph 'You Are Enough' (6th Edition)
Dreph Paints Holly Oluwo
New Street Art Portraits by Dreph
Street Art: Dreph