Lindt Big Egg Hunt 2013: Day 1

This year, in the spirit of giving something back, I decided to volunteer on the Lindt Big Egg Hunt. The event was very popular last year and raised around 1 million pounds for Action for Children and Elephant Family. This year the event is raising money for Action for Children.

Me complete with one set of bunny ears!

The egg hunt involves 101 eggs currently distributed around Covent Garden. They have been decorated by artists, illustrators, designers and sponsors and are all completely different and original. After their initial stint in Covent Garden the eggs will then travel around the country visiting Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow before returning to Covent Garden on the 22nd March.

The aim of the game is to find all 101 eggs dotted in and around the covent garden piazza in order to get your hunt book stamped.

You can get the hunt book, a little map, a pen and a scrummy Lindt chocolate from an 'eggspert' like myself for a suggested donation of  £3.  A bargain really considering the hours of fun you could have finding all the eggs.

There is also the extra option of finding the Humpty Dumpty egg and sending a text to the number on the egg's stand. Every day one very lucky sausage will receive a years supply of Lindt chocolate. See if you can spot him in my photographs. 

My first day's experience of volunteering was a pretty cold one, despite my many layers. I got to speak to lots of lovely, friendly and interesting people, including a charming gentleman who obviously had a passion for everything Londonish. He had been up in Spitalfields earlier in the day for the Great Spitalfields pancake race, which from his photos looked absolutely fabulous. I will definitely be attending next year. That is the great thing about volunteering you are able to meet and get chatting to a myriad of different people, which, in a busy city like London is very refreshing.

Naturally the event is particularly popular with families looking for an activity for their day in London. It was fab to watch the children hurtling around finding all the eggs and picking their favorite. The Thomas the Tank engine egg seemed to go down a treat.

Every day I will put up an Egg of the Day and for today's I have chosen..... 

 Penguin's Peter Rabbit Egg. Lets face it he's just too cute.

So get down there, check out the designs, have some fun and help us raise some money for a very deserving charity.

http://www.thebigegghunt.co.uk/

Papal Resignations - Then and Now

Today, February 11th 2013, will go down in ecclesiastical history as the day that Pope Benedict XVI resigned. A Papal resignation is an incredibly uncommon event the last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII in 1415 to end the great Schism of the church. The Schism meant that for several years there were two popes one residing in Rome the other in Avignon. So lets have a look at how these two popes have been depicted throughout the years.

Then ......

An engraving of Pope Gregory XII by Giovanni Battista Cavalieri from 1584. As this post-dates the popes death the engraving was probably based upon an earlier engraving or painting.We see the pope seated, a very conventional format. He clutches a book demonstrating his quest for knowledge and understanding. In the top right is the papal coat of arms including the crossed key's of St Peter.

 Another engraving of Pope Gregory XII from a private collection, the coloration is a later addition. Sorry for the image it is only available to Bridgman users.

And now.....

This portrait of Pope Benedict XVI was painted by Michael Noakes shortly after the Pope's appointment. It is a comparatively informal representation of a pope painted in his library and presents a friendly and warm impression of the man.

This is a more formal official portrait of Pope Benedict XVI belonging to the Vatican collection. It is a painting in oil by the Russian artist Igor Babailov entitled 'The Truth, The Way and The Life'. 

The famously shy pope is shown looking humble before a marble sculpture of Christ who's hand is raised towards the pope in a gesture of blessing. In the top left we can see the papal coat of arms and in the background the obscure dome of St Peter's.

What Pope Benedict's resignation will mean for his legacy and for the catholic church is yet to be discovered but Popes, past and present, will always be remembered through their portraits.

Who What Where When:

Who: José Parlá a Brooklyn based artist
What: This work entitled 'Broken Language' is a mixture of Gesso, Ink, Plaster and Oil on canvas. José Parlá uses his work to express the essence of his experience of an urban environment.
Where: Exhibited at the artist's first solo exhibition at The Haunch of Venison which opened yesterday and will run until 28th March. I can't wait to get down there.
When: 2013

For details on the exhibition Click Here
 And to look at some more of this atist's compelling work Click Here

Who What Where When : Cloud Gerhard Richter

Who: Gerhard Richter
What: One of his series of Cloud Paintings (Wolke) treating the subject in different climatic conditions.
Where: On sale at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction on the 12th February 2013 for an estimated 7-9 million pounds.
When: The painting is dated 1976 on the back

Take a look at some of the breathtaking works on auction at this event.

Looking for something a little bit different for Valentines day this year?

Gallery shops are always a great source of lovely bits and bobs that you wouldn't find all over the high street. So for a day like Valentine's day when you might be looking for something a bit different and thoughtful they are a gold mine.

Phwor!!! Torso Tea Towel Courtauld Shop Sale Price £3.50

Bloomsbury Silk Scarf Courtuald Shop £35

Keep your loved one safe with an Armour bicycle helmet cover Wallace Collection Shop £25

 The V&A and the Tate have even designated sections of their online shop to Valentine's day pieces.

Honeycomb Bee Necklace by Bill Skinner Sale Price £65

Oh Jeff Cusion Tate £15

You Make Me Card by Christopher Wool Tate £2.50

Chinese Wallpaper Print, one of the many stunning print options available at the V&A

Or if any of these don't tickle your fancy why not have a print made up of your loved one's favorite painting at the National Gallery such as:

Detail of the Angel from the Virgin of the Rocks

or to go another direction.....

Detail from the Ambassadors

.....hey I don't know what you feel about Valentines day.


http://www.wallacecollection.org/shop
http://shop.tate.org.uk/gifts/valentines-gifts/icat/valentines/
http://www.vandashop.com/info/Valentines
http://www.npg.org.uk/shop.php
http://www.courtauldshop.com/
http://www.nationalgallery.co.uk/control/main

Wellcome Library: The Healing Presence of Art

If you feel like getting some knowledge under your belt this February then I recommend The Healing Presence of Art talk at the Wellcome Library by Richard Cork.

Here he is looking thoughtful

I went to a very similar lecture that he gave on this topic at the Courtauld Institute about a year ago. It opened my eyes to how art has been used over the centuries to adorn hospitals.

My favorite work that he mentioned was the Russian sculptor Naum Gabo's beautiful fountain in the lower garden of St Thomas's Hospital which I had never come across before. It is a truly stunning piece of work that looks different every time you see it. Very suitable as it is a work of art that some patients might see on a daily basis.

For more information on the lecture go the the Wellcome library page and get booking.

Lucian Freud leaves a beautiful painting by Corot to the nation

The late great artist Lucian Freud has donated this stunning painting 'The Italian Woman or The Woman with yellow sleeves' to the nation and more specifically to the National Gallery. The painting is now on display in Room 41.

With it's strong brush work, the solidity of the form and a certain depth and frankness of the subjects gaze it is perhaps unsurprising that this painting appealed to Lucian Freud when he bought it at auction in 2001.

The painting will join several landscapes by the artist that the gallery already owns. Such as this atmospheric painting 'A Flood'. An appropriate subject considering the weather from the last couple of weeks

The addition of a portrait to the galleries collection gives us a greater insight into the work of this French artist as well as some understanding of the collecting habits and taste of one of Britain's most celebrated artists.