August 2022 Archives

Across the southern coast of England between Bexhill-on-Sea and Hastings are thirty large (five foot) sculptures of rubber ducks and several more smaller versions. The larger version of the ducks have been painted by professional artists and illustrators, and all are unique; the smaller ones have been painted by local community groups. "Follow That Duck" is one of the latest summer charity sculpture trails launched from Wild In Art, and it supports St. Michael's Hospice. The ducks will be in place until the 5th of September, so take advantage of the lovely weather and check them out.

Doubelduck - Kerry Kaffyn

See the photographs of the larger ducks below. There were two that were not placed at the locations.

Duckign and Diving - Kathleen Smith

Spots and Bolts - DIR

Tea and Quackers - Jina Gelder Illustration

Duckin' and Divin' - David Maguire

Duck a L'orange - Jess Perrin

Flying Start - Rachael and Phillippa Corcutt

Under the Sea - Marta Zubieta

The Bathers - Katy Dynes (Kitty Dinners) and Peking Duck - Jude Chapman

From Hastings with Love - Lois Cordelia

Green Man Duck - Susan Webber

Pop! - Jill Busby Art

Pop! - Jill Busby Art

Fire Quacker - Reilly Creative

Hastings Flag vs the Seamonster - g_whizz_wheeler

We do like to be beside the seaside - Pete Smith

Fizzy Pop and Salty Hair - Sophie Malpas and Doodle Duck - Sarah Jane Welch

Love a Duck! - Sue Guthrie

The Lucky Stone - Jenny Pearce

Puck - Rosie Freund

Doubelduck - Kerry Kaffyn

Doubelduck - Kerry Kaffyn

Captain Duck - Karis Viola

The Bayduck Tapesty - Anne-Marie Byrne

Pride of Hastings - Mark and Issi Fisher

Aristolochia Grandiflora - Kathleen Smith

Sirens of Hastings - Helen Alenxander-Bristow

Banana Duck - Shuby

Cyber Duck - Mik Richardson

Old Soar Manor dates from the 13th century, and it was a wealthy knight's dwelling that was built as a stronghold or fortified home. It is a rare example of this type of structure with vaulted undercroft, chapel, and garderobe. The manor is located in Kent on the edge of the North Downs. The Culpepper family, who was a leading Kent family at the time, owned the house. Today, it is maintained by the National Trust and belongs to English Heritage. 

Visitors have to walk through the vaulted undercroft to the stairs to get to the solar.

The solar is a large room with a lot of natural light. A wooden door is located behind glass, and drawings on the door can be seen. I am not sure what period the figures date from, but I could clearly see two "hangmen" and a knight.

The chapel:

The Great Hall of the house was demolished in the later-1700s and replaced by a farmhouse, so only a section of the house exists. The solar, chapel, and latrine remain to visit.

Humbledough is a vegan cookie dough bakery based in Shoreditch Boxpark, and it offers a selection of cookies and cookie dough. All of the products are vegan and gluten free. In addition to their London branch, there are other branches in Manchester and Leeds. Humbledough sell ice cream and cookie dough sandwiches and sundaes, and I ordered the cookie dough with ice cream on my first visit and a cookie. This was filling and sweet, but the ice cream takes the edge off it.

On another visit, I ordered the cookie ice cream sandwich. Both were enjoyable. The cookie and ice cream flavours can be selected. Cookie Dough is located on the ground floor of Boxpark in Shoreditch.

Nuffield Place was the home of William Morris, the philanthropist and self-taught mechanic who created the Morris (Morris Motoring Company) car and helped to bring the assembly line from Ford's business model into Britain. Morris loved to learn and also had an interest in the medical field, and this played an important part in his life and philanthropy. He made a fortune from his business and would be considered along the lines of Elon Musk and other billionaires by today's standards, and Morris lived a humble life and donated much of his money to help others.

To visit Nuffield Place (located in southern Oxfordshire), a timed ticket must be purchased. Visits to the house are by guided tour only, and only a small number of people can tour the house at a time as the rooms are quite small. You will need to book it in advance. 

There are a couple of garden areas to explore, but they do not take over a large area and are concentrated in the front and to the side of the house with a small area toward the front when approaching the house down a small lane from the parking.

Also located at the back of the house is a large oak tree that was planted at the same time as the house was built and is under protection and conservation from rot.

After a short wait and wander around the garden, we got to enter the house. There were a lot of bees around the house, and a swarm of them was located above and to the right of the doorway along the roofline. We were led into the house and learned about Morris, who became Lord Nuffield due to the name of the village the house is in, and his legacy.

Morris and his wife Elizabeth never had children. Their money was spent on charity. Both enjoyed a humble life, and he loved to tinker and read while she enjoyed sewing. They were a frugal couple, and the National Trust, who owns and maintains Nuffield Place and all of the possessions from the estate, mentioned in the tour that they have stored brand new linen bedsheets that the couple bought, but the couple insisted on getting all the good out of the items that they could, even if it meant patching the old ones together to get the use out of them first.

The first room that we toured was just inside the hallway. It contained a snooker table and a lounge area. All of the items, including the unused cigars, belonged to Morris as he left them.

The house was built in 1914 and enlarged in 1933. Morris lived in the house until his death until 1963, and the house was given to Nuffield College, Oxford (the college he founded) as a museum. The college later gave the property to the National Trust.

The next room visited was Elizabeth's room, which was set up with a tea area and a lounge area. She often had friends over for tea, and she would listen to music.

The next room was the dining room. We were shown some personal items of the family and explained that the large rug did not fit the room, but they used it anyway. Also, the picture hangings (magazine covers) were hung quickly and not straight or in line with each other.

The next room visited was the sitting room, which contains a black and white television, a writing desk, and a photograph of the Queen's mother when she was younger amongst other personal possessions.

We looked at a number of guest bedrooms and bathrooms.

The below was Elizabeth's room, and she had the bed angled so that she could look out the window.

Linking both rooms together is a bright room with a lot of windows where they both spent a lot of time.

Morris' bedroom is located on the other side and contains a lot of books and a closet full of tools to tinker with as well as his appendix, which was removed when he was younger.

Nuffield College in Oxford was founded in 1937 by Morris, and he gave to other charities. Using his experience as a car manufacturer and his companies to create parts, he created an iron lung respirator and gave it to a hospital in need when he learned about two boys who contracted polio and died because they could not get a respirator in time. After learning that there were only a few iron lungs in Britain, he made and distributed over 1,700 to Britain and the Empire. He also gave money for education and social welfare. Although he did not have children, his money is still available to help today, and many places play tribute to him in the Nuffield name.

After the tour, I had a quick look around the gardens outside in the sunny weather.

On the way out, I saw the car that Lady Nuffield owned.

The visit was an interesting one, and it does put shame to the modern day billionaires who have contributed very little to community.

Battlefield 1403 (located near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England) was the site of a bloody battle, but it is a farm shop and cafe today. I visited in the spring, and it was extremely busy with a thirty-minute wait to get a seat in the cafe, due to them being short-staffed on the day. While waiting, I made a furry four-legged friend. I love cats, and this farm cat looked a bit drowsy and old in age, possibly in need of some medication. She was insistent on entering the cafe to get some food and perhaps a snooze. I'm guessing she's an opportunist and doesn't particularly care to catch mice on the farm. Either way, she made the visit enjoyable and I hope she's being looked after. However, in a quick search, I found that her name was Bubbles, and she passed away on June 9th this year. Apparently, she somehow had found her way to the farm with the builders back in 2004 and had lived the first four of her years with her first owners and came up "missing".

I forgot to take photographs of the lunch, but as it was a Sunday, they had roast on the menu. I had ham, egg, and chips. After the cafe, I had a look around the impressive farm shop next door and left with some apple juice and some items for a neighbour who had the key in case she needed to check in on my cats while I was away for the weekend.

On the way back to the car, I stopped off to look in the museum or visitor centre. This battlefield was where Henry IV fought the Percy family, which then paved the way for the War of Roses. A church is built at the battlefield that contains a mass grave below it for those who lost their lives. Visitors can walk around the field.

The site was visited by Princess Alexandra in 2011.

This is a nice stop for a snack and visit to the farm shop if you're on a journey near here.

London's street art scene has been busy this year to catch up with the slow previous couple of years, and I was happy to see Cranio and Phelgm, two street artists that I have been following for some time, return to the city. Cranio had an exhibition going on at BSMT Space in Dalston recently, so he's been busy creating a lot of murals around various parts of London. When he comes to town, he usually does at least one collaboration, and the collaborations are always fun to see. This collaboration is between him and Phlegm and features their unique characters in the middle of a battle or war.

Phlegm is a street artist from Sheffield, and this is his latest London wall. The last time that I saw any work from him in London was in 2019. I started to see his work around the city in 2013. His work is fantasy-based with monochrome characters with long legs and patterned clothing. His work is an illustrative style.

Cranio is a street artist from Brazil, and his subject is blue native characters that are often getting up to mischief. His work sometimes depicts social, environmental, economical, and political meanings.

The mural is located in Dalton, about a block from the BSMT Space gallery where Cranio is currently exhibiting. The wall is a long one, and it is split into both styles. It appears to be a war between the blue natives from Cranio and Phlegm's monochrome long-legged humanoids. Cranio's blue natives are seen with a golden god-like figure in a jungle setting with money bags.

In the midde of the wall, Cranio's blue natives and a money-like character are leaping with primative weapons (an axe and spear) into the superior humanoid's flame-throwing crossfire created by Phlegm. Arrows fly through the air with explosions and burning jungle in the background. 

The host of weaponry at the humanoids' defense is vast and complex - mechanical. 

Near the end of Phlegm's contribution to the wall, some of the humanoids are carrying a cage with two of Cranio's captured blue natives. This section of the wall has a hook on it where a cage or cart is secured for the shop. It appears that this has been worked into the artwork, even though it does obscure it. (I tried to move the cart to get a better photograph, but it is secured there.)

Overall, it's a brilliant piece and difficult to photograph. It's best to see in person.

Some additional artwork by Phlegm in this blog can be seen on the following pages:

Plegm Paints "Hydra Towers" on Ion Square
Newcastle Street Art
New Mural by Phlegm on Old Street
Phlegm's Mural on Hanbury Street
Phlegm and ROA Street Art at South Bank
Baroque the Streets: Dulwich Street Art
Street Art: Phlegm

Previous artwork by Cranio on this blog can be seen by following the below links:

Collaboration Street Art: Cranio & Fanakapan
Cranio - Collaborations with Himbad, Zadok, & Kazz
Cranio's Newest Mural on Pedley Street: Blue Natives 
Cranio Repaints His Wall on Brick Lane
Cranio's Mural on Great Eastern Street
Recent Street Art in Early 2014
Street Art: Cranio, Senna, HIN, and Mo
Street Art: Cranio
Cranio Returns to London in 2020 and Paints Brick Lane

Last summer, Ben Eine created a mural in Camden with the help of Dotmasters. This isn't the first time these two street artists collaborated together on a mural. The last time they contributed on a mural was on Ebor street a couple years ago. The new mural is on scaffolding around a development site between Camden Town and Mornington Crescent. The text reads "Chase Your Dreams" with some letters slanted, and a black wallpaper-esque pattern on a white background is completed by Dotmasters.

More street art by street artist Ben Eine on this blog can be seen below:

"I Don't Like This Anymore" Ebor Street Collaboration with Eine and Dotmaster
New Ben Eine Street art "Love" in 2019
Ben Eine "Peace is Possible" Street Art
Street Art: Ben Eine
Ben Eine Paints 'Like Nothing Else' on Ebor Street
Ben Eine Tribute to Grenfell Tower Victims
Ben Eine 'Last Days of Shoreditch'
Ben Eine New Street Art Summer 2016
Ben Eine 'Extortonists' Refresh

Alice Pasquini is a street artist from Rome who has painted many times in London using a stencil style. Her work usually is completed in illustrative style and representative of expression to add a level of interaction and unexpectedness. Many of her artworks are small-scale and placed on doors and walls where the viewer happens to come across them. Three pieces from the artist appeared in Penge in 2018 near Penge East station, on Maple Road, and off Penge High Street. I snapped the photographs of the artwork at the end of 2021, so they were a few years old but looking fine for that length of time.

Additional blog posts with Alice Pasquini's work can be seen on this blog here:

"Everything Flows" Street Art by Alice Pasquini in Camden
Manchester Street Art
Street Artist Alice Pasquini Returns to London
Street Art: Alice Pasquini
Alice Pasquini - New Portraits of Young Women

Visitors to my blog may remember reading about street artist Dreph, who is probably the best known for painting portraits across London's walls, and the series "You Are Enough". This "You Are Enough" project was aimed at painting portraits of inspiring and understated people, mainly women and primarily of African or Caribbean ancestry. This edition of the series was painted in 2017 in Penge off the High Street and features Mimi Fresh.

Mimi Fresh is a friend of the artist's, and she is a fashionable lady who has an interest in holistic medicines and counseling (at the time of painting). I'd seen photographs of the piece previously, but I had only just gotten down to Penge last November before the piece was painted over. Although it was painted a few years ago now and faded a bit, it still looked stunning. 

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

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

Last month, I visited Superbloom at the Tower of London. Over 20 million seeds of wildflowers have been planted in the moat of the Tower of London to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee year and to attract bees and other insects. The installation is meant to evoke the popular Poppies at the Tower of London installation in 2014, but it's not been so popular and has not had the best of feedback. Of course, the very wet spring and then the very dry summer has not helped matters. The wildflowers should have lasted a few more weeks yet, but they were basically over during my latest visit in mid-August. 

The Tower of London has released some evening slots for visitors to view the grounds at dusk. After the visit, we were then able to look down onto the Superbloom installation from the top of the moat walkway. The installation consisted of the sculptures and a soundscape one third of the way through, exactly like the daytime visit that I had previously.

Despite the boiling weather, the slide was open this time.

Different colours of filter lights lit up patches of garden in purples, greens, and pinks.

After visiting the blooms, I had a look at the London skyline and Shard from Tower Bridge.

And I left the beautiful view to enjoy a walk back to the tube.

To see my previous post from mid-July, visit Superbloom at the Tower of London.

Last November, I had a street art tour of Penge, and one of the newest murals on the street was this collaboration "Neighbourhood Watch" by Fanakapan and Nerone. The artwork covers the side of a residential home not far from the High Street. (Unfortunately, a car had parked in front of it, but let's ignore that as much as we can...it does detract from the wonderful artwork.) Fanakapan has been painting across London for the past decade and has perfected the chrome balloon style, which is what he is now known for. Nerone is known primarily for painting floral scenes with a bit of a "party" vibe. Both styles have blended together.

Fanakapan uses his party smiley balloons and has even used a window in the existing architecture of the building for an eye and has even painted a window onto the building. 

A close-up of Nerone's portion of wall is seen above so you can see a bit clearly the style and the drip-effect of the flowers, which has been slightly hidden from view due to the car.

More artwork by Nerone on this blog can be seen here:

Nerone on Kingsland Road
Nerone Paints Great Eastern Street
Street Artist: Nerone

More artwork featuring Fanakapan can be discovered on my blog here:

Fanakapan "No Words" Mural, Hoxton Square
Fanakapan Street Art Around East London
Fanakapan "Up Yours" Mural on Heneage Street
Fanakapan "BITER" Street Art on Pedley Street
Fanakapan Street Art Smiling Balloons
Fanakapan Paints "Hah" Laughing Gas on Pedley Street
Halloween Street Art by Fanakapan
Fanakapan Street Art on Mornington Crescent and Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints PacMan Pizza on Brick Lane and Other Street Art
Fanakapan Star Yard MagnaDonuts Mural
"Follow the Leader" by Fanakapan
Peace for Manchester
Fanakapan Paints Shoreditch Clowns
Chrome Balloon Dog in Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints "Power Tools" on Village Underground Wall
Fanakapan Paints "Drunk Glass Elephants"
Fanakapan, Horror Crew, & Jerry Rugg
Louis Masai and Fanakapan: "Freedom?"
New Chrome Street Art Mask by Fanakapan
Balloon Animal Street Art
Cranio & Fanakapan
Fanakapan and Horror Crew
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)
Cranio Returns to London in 2020 and Paints Brick Lane

Hailes Abbey, located in Gloucestershire, was one of the famous abbeys in the Middle Ages. It has connections to the royal family through its founding from Richard, brother of Henry III, who founded the abbey in 1246. The king and his family were buried at the church in the high altar area. It was once a famous abbey with pilgrimage site. Today, there is little left of the abbey and its buildings as the stonework was used on other buildings after the dissolution. It is managed by English Heritage and owned by National Trust.

The abbey's first monks came from Beaulieu in Hampshire and then helped to set up the running of Hailes Abbey.

The main part of the abbey that is still standing are the walls of the cloisters. The remaining walls of buildings around the cloisters are low-level on the ground. 

The abbey was a famous pilgrimage site as it held a vile of blood relic that was believed to be the blood of Christ. It was brought in 1270 to the abbey, named "Blood of Hailes", and the abbey became rich off of money from those who came to seek it for miracles and other reasons. The location of the vile of blood was at the altar, which would have been where I am standing in the below photograph. The mound of earth shows where the altar and burials of the king and his family would have been.

The Black Death was one of the contributors to the abbey's financial downfall, and it also struggled with good leadership. It was revived in the 15th century due to direction from abbots who helped to manage it and gain funding from important families.  

There are a couple of museums on site, and one is in the main building with important finds at the abbey. The other is just outside and features information panels with some stonework. 

One of the items in the museum is a part of a monk's glasses that date from the 14th century. Glasses were invented in the 13th century in Italy, and this is one of the oldest pairs to exist.

Other items in the museum are the carved bosses that used to be on the connecting vaulted ceilings. Some of them mark crests of important families, and one of them is a carved sculpture of Samson fighting a lion.

Another item in the museum was a seal for the relic of blood, pictured below.

Figures that used to adorn religious books and other items were also discovered.

Outside the abbey is Hailes Church.

I visited Hailes Abbey in the middle of June and spent an hour and a half wandering around the ruins, listening to the audio guide, and visiting the musuem.

Street artist Unify creates walls filled with hearts and other happy subjects with the objective to spread love and happiness. I first noticed the artist's work back around 2014 or 2015 when I worked on Brick Lane and spent my lunch breaks walking the streets to find new street art. The artwork was always stencil-based and featured a subject (a bear, a child, or something similar) holding a sign or a balloon. Rivington Street was a popular spot for the artist in the early days. I've captured some of the more recent work by the artist below, and the style keeps evolving. 

One favourite pieces by the artist was painted just before Valentine's Day in 2021, and it shows a knight surrounded by hearts "chivalry is not dead". This is one of the most recent works that I have discovered.

Below are additional works I have discovered around east London - a chimp with "I love you", children holding windmills, hearts, and stuffed bears.

I finally got over to Penge at the end of 2021 on a street art tour arranged by London Calling Blog to see the street art in the area. I am not familiar with Penge, so this helped me to get my bearings, and I've been back to visit the area twice since then to see the artwork that I didn't get to see. On the visit, I also watched Airbourne Mark creating one of his newest murals in a residential area in Penge. 

The largest of the murals is titled "The Clinging Cat of Penge", and it took the artist three days to complete last summer. Below are some of the individual details of the large mural.

This rose was painted off the main road in Penge in a back alley, and it is one of the original Origami Riots works.

Airbourne Mark has also painted a series of cards with a heart on them, and these are numbered pieces. I have located numbers four and five in Penge below.

The mural that I saw being painted on a residential shed is "Fallen", and it was painted at the end of 2021. The below piece was the artwork in progress and not too far from being completed.

The below rabbit painted in a residential area on a garage in Penge was painted in 2020.

"Paper Stars and Origami Cranes" on Maple Road, painted in 2017.

For those interested in seeing more form Airbourne Mark, I previously covered some of his work, in with a round-up of other artwork in early 2014 here, a round-up in 2015 here and here, in early 2016. In addition, see the below:

Airbourne Mark Street Art Roundup - 2020-2022
Airbourne Mark and Aspire Collaboration - "Music to Prey To"
Airbourne Mark's "Workhorse" - Origami Riots 
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Airborne Mark Paints "Greek Mask" - Origami Riots
Airborne Mark Paints 'African Mask' - Origami Riots
Airborne Mark Paints "Paper Sprite" - Origami Riots

The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne is a five-star hotel located on the seaside, and I booked a romantic getaway to have a much-needed break. A bottle of champagne, chocolates, and strawberries awaited us in the room along with a gift of Molton Brown products. There is an outdoor pool, although I forgot to pack my beach-wear. I enjoyed a tasty three-course dinner and breakfast and drinks outdoors on the terrace. 

The Great Hall was used to host concerts and broadcast on the radio in the 1920s and 1930s. It was regarded as one of the best venues for acoustics. 

The bedroom had a side view of the sea, which was lovely with a beautiful breeze coming off the sea. This was so lovely.

Two swans made out of towels and flower petals greeted us.

Various mocktails and cocktails were enjoyed with a book.

Dinner consisted of tomato soup and rolls to start. I ordered the chicken risotto, and the bloke had steak, which was a Sunday roast option. I had lemon dessert, and the bloke had a chilled chocolate dessert. The food was very good. The restaurant was very hot, however, and I was feeling too hot.

For breakfast, I had pancakes with a side of bacon. The bloke had the English breakfast.

Overall, it was an amazing stay but over too quickly. I would love to visit it again, especially as the check-in is 4:00pm, so you really need to use extra time to take the full advantage of the facilities.

For the second year in a row, Canary Wharf have hosted "Summer Lights", the summer edition of their popular Winter Lights festival featuring various colourful sculptures. The "Winter Lights" festival was cancelled this year as there was uncertainty about lockdowns, and due to last year's disruption, the summer edition was born. Whereas "Winter Lights" focuses on illuminated sculptures to bring some brightness into the dull January days, "Summer Lights" focuses on colour and using the sun to project colourful artwork. Below are the sculptures for this year's "Summer Lights", including some items that have previously been on display.

Expanded Landscapes by Nathaniel Rackowe

Tear by Richard Hudson

Hudson's work is organic in form, and this mirrored tear-shaped form is displayed permanently.

Lights on Data by Fisheye

Visitors are encouraged to sit inside this sculpture and to see how the sun casts shadow and colour around you. This sculpture contains a solar-powered phone charger.

Love Birds by Atelier Sisu

This immersive installation glides above the viewer; colourful birds move in the breeze, and their semi-translucent form casts shadows and colours.

Kaleidoscopic Prisms by Fiona Grady

Not pictured as I photographed it last year, and it's mainly covered by bikes and kiosks, the pyramid of glass above Jubilee Place Mall contains trinagular shapes and colour that reflect as the visitors walk through.

Gleamhhh by OGE Design Group

This sculpture was designed to create a sense of awe as the sunshine and wind interact with it. Visitors can also spin it. Apparently, it is meant to play melodies, but I did not hear anything when I interacted with it.

The Knot by Richard Hudson

Organic and natural shapes are created by this sculptor, who also created the mirroed "Tear" mentioned earlier. This is an abstract form of organic shapes, which looks almost like a mirrored body at certain angles. 

Planet @ Risk by Mark Swysen

This globe-like sculpture uses the sun to appear to shine through and reflect the light while it also projects their reflection. I'm not sure it was working correctly during my visit as it was fenced in and underneath a tree, so it wasn't able to get much sunlight.

The Long and Winding Road by Ottotto

This structure is made from recycled materials - yellow pipes that encourage visitors to walk through and to be immersed in yellow. The sculpture has been made to tour different festivals, and it can be dismantled and reused, resulting in zero waste.

Infinity and Beyond by Martin Richman & Emma Kate Matthews

Visitors can look through the holes in these sculptures to see the reflections of themselves and their surroundings, similar to a kaleidoscope. The panels are located at different heights so that different visitors of all different sizes (and wheelchairs) can view the work.

Expanded Landscapes by Nathaniel Rackowe

Colourful and transparent panels appear like architectural forms, which depicts the scenery of Canary Wharf. The reflections and light create shadows and shapes.

O.T. 1131 by Stefan Reiss

This sculpure started its life as a digital drawing transformed into 3D. 

Love IRL by Stuart Langley

This colourful heart encourages people to connect with it to create photographs.

Captivated by Colour by Camille Walala

This is a permanent installation at Canary Wharf and uses patterns and colours to create shapes and forms. It is always a popular spot for photographs.

Ebb & Flow by Louis Thompson

This installation is located inside One Canary Wharf and was inspired by towering skylines, and it celebrates United Nations 'Year of Glass 2022'. There are thirteen sculpture installations in this series, and I have photographed a few of them below.

Pointillist Bird by Yoni Alter

The artist was inspired by the 1880s pointillist painting movement (small dots like pixels to create a picture when stepping back). These large dots create the form of a bird, and the forms create shadows to help give it definition. I think you have to use your imagination to see the bird.

Helix by Calidos

The form of this rainbow-coloured sculpture represents a DNA strand. Visitors can interact with it by spinning it.

Ocean Rise by Aphra Shemza

The purpose of the sculpture, which is a permanent edition at Canary Wharf, is to highlight the rising sea levels. It is made from recycled materials. 

Shine Your Colours by Tine Bech

These coloured glass panels reflect the different forms behind them, so visitors can become a part of the artwork.

Summer Lights takes place until the 20th of August.

Previous Summer Lights sculptures at Canary Wharf:

• Summer Lights at Canary Wharf (2021)

Previous Winter Lights sculptures at Canary Wharf

• Canary Wharf Winter Lights (2022) - Cancelled
• Canary Wharf "Connected By Light" 2021
• Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2020
• Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2019
• Winter Lights @ Canary Wharf 2018
• Canary Wharf Winter Lights (2017)
• Winter Lights @ Canary Wharf (2016)

Standen House is located in West Sussex and is an example of an Arts and Crafts house that is designed in the style of Morris & Company, a popular designer. The house was built in the late 1800s, but it is set up to appear like it may have done in the mid-1920s. The house is now in its 50th year of management by the National Trust, and a special 1970s theme is presented in line with the year it came under the management. This 1970s exhibition is taking place until the middle of October. I had previously visited Standen House and Gardens during the pandemic, so I have never seen the full house open until this visit. In addition to the 1970s theme, the Surrey Sculpture Society trail exhibited close to a hundred different sculptures at the location for a month-long residency.

In keeping with the 1970s themes, there were special touches around the grounds of Standen House, such as the "Space Hopper" toys that children could play on.

I visited the house to see the interiors for the first time since the pandemic restrictions were lifted. Many of the small touches around the house paid homage to the 1970s.

One of the items was a pick between David Cassidy and Donny Osmond, two teenage heartthrobs for people in the 1970s.

The pool table had a series of felt colours and shapes inspired from the 1970s, and visitors could make their own 1970s image or flowers from the shapes.

A group of board games from the 1970s were on display.

The rocking horse was wearing a pink wig.

I am not sure if the gnome is from the 1970s or if it is always there.

The living room also had board games and some snack packaging from the decade. There was also a projector placing a series of photographs onto the wall.

A 1970s hair dryer was on display in the women's dressing room.

The men's dressing room had various floral 1970s men's shirts and a velvet suit.

The flowery bedspread, toys, and magazines are all from the 1970s in the bedrooms. There were also vinyl records on display.

The bathroom had various products with the vintage packaging from the time period.

In addition, each room contained a little mouse, and these were dressed up in 1970s-inspired clothing. I remember seeing the mice on a previous visit and trying to find them in each room. This is to done to keep children from being bored while looking around the house.

This large Mother of Pearl box was impressive.

Upstairs, one room was dedicated to Morris & Co's interiors with a showcase of floral designs for furnishings and wallpapers.

The dining room contained a spread of 1970s pottery and plates, including a fondue set. The designs with the bright colours is very much a product of the era - florals with bright yellows, browns, and oranges were traditional colours.

The kitchens also contained the mice and recipes for items popular in the decade, including Coconut Ice squares.

Leaving the 1970s behind, I visited the gardens to check out the sculptures and the gardens. I previously visited Standen House in the mid-autumn and in December, so I had not seen the gardens in the summer.

"Metamorphosis" - Claire Nelson

"Shell-Emerald Chasm" and "Cone Shell-Life Entwined" - Ben Nicolas

"The Boxer" - Steve Bicknell

"Helmets for War and Peace" - Teresa Martin

"II Cavallo (maquette)" - Maggie Butler

"Horse Head XI" - Kate Woodlock

"Hex" - Elizabeth Leyland

"Galetea" - Malcolm West

"Cloud Nine Feline" - Teresa Martin

"Veg Plot Totem 2" - Karen Pearson

After the visit to Standen House, I stopped off at a pub and enjoyed a bit of lunch in the lovely sunny and warm weather. 

Previous visits to Standen House and Gardens on this blog:

A Morning at Standen House and Gardens (West Sussex, National Trust): Lockdown Edition
Christmas at Standen House 2020

London-based street artist Airborne Mark is inspired by paper-crafting Origami. Airborne Mark's street art career started in 2005 in Poland before coming to live in the U.K, and he created a series of murals called "Origami Riots". The artist continues to paint these murals inspired by Origami, and he creates the murals from models that has has made. Part of the ritual is that he will burn the paper model once the mural is completed. I've captured several of his murals across the past few months to show.

I caught the artist painting "Clipped Rose", which is a paper rose with cardboard leaves. I captured the image this spring. The finished piece is below.

"Swift Arrival", painted in February 2022.

A collaboration with Eyesaw for Halloween last year. 

"May the Folds Be With You", featuring Yoda. This was painted in the spring of 2021.

The paper rose is located in Camden and part of the "Origami Riots" series. It was painted in 2016.

This piece also appeared in Camden town and features an emoji.

This mural features paper airplanes for "Meeting of Styles" in 2016.

"C R E A S E S A U R U S M A R X" dinosaur painted near Shoreditch station.

"Frogger" appeared near Grey Eagle street in the back alleys, and a stupid white van kept blocking it when I visited.

"Shoreditch Sonata" was painted in time for Valentine's Day this year.

This piece was painted in early 2020, before the pandemic.

This "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat" was painted in Camden Town in 2018.

"Bottled Up" was painted in the spring of 2021.

Th last mural that I captured ("Fat Cap Morgana") was taken this spring in Allen Gardens, and I watched it being painted. 

For those interested in seeing more form Airbourne Mark, I previously covered some of his work, in with a round-up of other artwork in early 2014 here, a round-up in 2015 here and here, in early 2016. In addition, see the below:

Airbourne Mark and Aspire Collaboration - "Music to Prey To"
Airbourne Mark's "Workhorse" - Origami Riots 
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Airborne Mark Paints "Greek Mask" - Origami Riots
Airborne Mark Paints 'African Mask' - Origami Riots
Airborne Mark Paints "Paper Sprite" - Origami Riots

Street art with the tag "Helch" has been appearing across London and outside of London along the roads and on motorway bridges for a few years now, but his artwork seems to be almost everywhere now and across all of London. The first tag or reference to "Helch" that I discovered was on the M25 near Denham in 2019. This was the famous grafitti bridge that used to read "Give PEAS a chance" in capitol letters. An artist named "PEAS" tagged the bridge, and someone else added "Give" and "a chance" as a play on words, such as the famous John Lennon song. 

A lot of people were upset when Helch tagged over the name "PEAS", ruining the grafitti. For many, it was a game to spot the bridge or acted as a timing mark in a journey between London and Oxford. The grafitti had a lot of fans, and that's why it was sad to see it ruined in 2019. The following year, it became painted over again with a tribute to the NHS.

This post contains several Helch tags that I have spotted across London.

Street artist Jim Vision is one of London's busiest street artists; many of London's walls have had his work on it at some point. The photographs in this post have mainly dated from a couple of years ago. Jim Vision's style is quickly-drawn illustrations that primarily feature fantasy heroes and adventure scenes with an element of science fiction or fantasy.

One of my favourite murals by Jim Vision was located on Hanbury Street and featured fantasy-style tribal portraits. The wall seemed to be a collaborative effort with grafitti on either side of the work, which I pictured belo

One of his pieces I spotted in Soho.

Below are some of the street art murals by Jim Vision that I have spotted over the past several years.

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

Not far from London Fields is a doggy daycare (Molly and George), and there is a giant street art pug painted on the building. I happened to locate it this winter while I was out walking around, and I could not locate the artist until visiting Instagram. The artist is Thomas Moore, and I loved this giant blue pug peeking out at me from the building.

Painted in 2015, this looks like a one off commission as this artist seems to be more paper-based. Their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/thomasmooreillustrates/?hl=en