A trip to Auld Reekie or "The Athens of the North", depending on your point of view, brightened January.
The city was looking a bit shabby I must confess - much digging up of the old and building up of the new. But looking past that there were all sorts of compensations for being there in this dark month: no crowds, cheaper hotels and -
Turner in January at the NPG.
There's a lovely story about the fanatical art collector Henry Vaughan who bequeathed his Turner watercolours to the nation with the stipulation that they only be displayed in January to protect them. Edinburgh has a tradition of having an annual show of the Vaughan Turners each January.
It seems to me a piece of serendipity that the watercolours need the gloom and we need the light so everyone's happy.
(Trivia - Vaughan also bequeathed Constable's The Hay Wain to the nation but that should probably be displayed only in June as it's rather gloomy.)
At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery was an exhibition called Beauty by Design which examined fashions in beauty and provoked debate about body image and self-esteem. Fashions in beauty change as in everything else. Currently in our culture it's extreme slenderness and youth (the 15-year-old female supermodel) and there are associated problems of anorexia and other disorders. The media sets very high and unrealistic standards of "beauty". Meanwhile around the globe, millions of people have too little food; millions over-eat; and millions make themselves ill -and often much poorer - trying to look different.
These ladies were thought to be the epitome of beauty (well not the respectable kind - they were probably courtesans) in 16th century Italy. They wouldn't make the front cover of Vogue today.....
This headpiece was also part of the exhibition and like the black lace jackets was intricate and strangely beautiful in a timeless way. Pattern is as much about absence and space as it is about motif.
If these ideas interest you see more here:
Beauty by design SNPG
Keep young and beautiful ....
I will not be having a face-lift but I want to be able to lift my feet for as long as possible. As we grow older it seems that the body becomes more demanding - so I intend to look after the bod as best I can and develop the brain on the "use it or lose it" principle.
The jewel in the toad
(Trivia - Vaughan also bequeathed Constable's The Hay Wain to the nation but that should probably be displayed only in June as it's rather gloomy.)
At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery was an exhibition called Beauty by Design which examined fashions in beauty and provoked debate about body image and self-esteem. Fashions in beauty change as in everything else. Currently in our culture it's extreme slenderness and youth (the 15-year-old female supermodel) and there are associated problems of anorexia and other disorders. The media sets very high and unrealistic standards of "beauty". Meanwhile around the globe, millions of people have too little food; millions over-eat; and millions make themselves ill -and often much poorer - trying to look different.
This headpiece was also part of the exhibition and like the black lace jackets was intricate and strangely beautiful in a timeless way. Pattern is as much about absence and space as it is about motif.
If these ideas interest you see more here:
Beauty by design SNPG
Keep young and beautiful ....
I will not be having a face-lift but I want to be able to lift my feet for as long as possible. As we grow older it seems that the body becomes more demanding - so I intend to look after the bod as best I can and develop the brain on the "use it or lose it" principle.
The jewel in the toad
I'm not saying that ageing is all about adversity but it can require extra fortitude!
I've been thinking a lot about brains and skulls and trying to put a positive spin on ageing. The hardware and the software are so utterly different and completely complementary:
For the Love of God - diamond encrusted skull by Damien Hirst
I've been thinking a lot about brains and skulls and trying to put a positive spin on ageing. The hardware and the software are so utterly different and completely complementary:
Braincase
The skull I
carry isn't jewelled
(a bit
heavy-handed with the symbolism there Damien)
I know
there’re no pockets in shrouds
And I can’t
take it with me
I want less
of it nowadays anyway
Diamante is
good enough for me
A bit of
everyday sparkle
Where was I?
Yes – that
skull I carry
It’s just an
imaginary one
But I drink
from it from time to time
Remind
myself to seize the day
Drink to
absent friends
And turn
back to the party
The Party
And it’s
quite a party –
We’ve paid
off the mortgage
The kids
have left home
We retire
with our pensions
Still
able-bodied (well sort-of)
Free of the
toad work
We build the meaning
For *T.S.E. it was the church
But each to
her own
And mine is
being alive now
Life before
death
Not just
hanging on in there
Finding
openings within
Expanding inside
while the casing
Is getting
flakier by the day
Using the
brain for fear
Of losing it
and reaching out
In all sorts
of ways
*T.S.Eliot - "Choruses from The Rock"
Love
Do you know
enough about love?
I am still
learning about love
This is one meaning
Trying to
love better
To accept
better
To connect
better
When one
offers you a gift
Can you
receive it?
Giving is
the easy part
©sallygivertz2015
This picture was a gift to me from a loved one and I am giving it to you. Who can fail to love a baby penguin?
January is nearly over and sunrise is getting earlier - something to celebrate.
Next blog will be more about brains I suspect and the Hard Question of consciousness.
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