Foggy London Town

 A few times I have mentioned my aspiration to go to "something" at least once a month, a concert I'm not playing in, an exhibition, a play ~ not anything but definitely something! Well, today I did do my something, I went to the Monet in London exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery. I am normally very fond of the Impressionists and of Monet in particular so I was looking forward to this exhibition as well as a trip up to "Town"! It was my first time at the Courtauld Gallery, and they clearly have some wonderful works in a very impressive setting. Indeed I gather that this wing of Somerset House used to host the RA before they moved to Burlington House. At some point I fully intend to go back and take a proper look at the permanent collection.

Waterloo Bridge, Gray Weather

The actual exhibition was based on plans made by Monet himself to exhibit his London paintings in London, including is series on Waterloo Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Charing Cross Bridge. It was fascinating seeing these paintings together so close to where they were painted, side by side, the different light, the different effects of the fog, and the differing times of day, yet I still found the whole thing vaguely disconcerting. Monet was fascinated by the London weather ~ what we would call bad weather! Mostly the fogs that would blur views, filter and colour the light and mute the sunlight.

Parliament, Sunlight in the Fog

Now, this is my city, and I am just about old enough to remember the smogs ~ they were blinding, smelly and we now know a serious health hazard, they were caused by the coal burning industries (power stations, gas works, mills etc.) featured in so many of these paintings, along with all the coal fires heating all the homes and offices in what was at the time the World's most populous city. Monet is even quoted as saying that he only liked London in the winter because of the fog! Looking back I can understand that, a bit! Back in the 1960s I remember all the buildings and monuments in London as being black, the Houses of Parliament were black, Nelson's Column was black, even Whitehall was black. London was black! No wonder it didn't attract the artist when all he could see was black.

Walking from The Strand to Piccadilly today I was very conscious of all the colours the white Portland Stone, the aged brown brick of St James Palace, the warm yellow sandstone, red brick and yellow stucco, the contrasting black and white of Trafalgar Square. All this is now visible because all of the coal soot and stains have by now been cleaned off. Somerset House itself now rejoices in it's almost baroque splendour and decoration ~ this is my City, this is the London I love! Maybe it is the reminder of what London used to be, the grubby, dirty, foggy, industrial city that my Grandfather knew and my father grew up in that has left me feel uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong I recommend a visit, if you can get a ticket, my reaction may not have been the one intended by the artist or the curator, but it was definitely a reaction! I wonder if all my fellow visitors who viewed it all through the lens of their camera phone can say the same!

A Bad Year for Show Offs

A few years ago I went to the Rodin
exhibition at the Royal Academy. It
Truly was life changing

In my last post I mused on the opportunities I have had recently for introspection, I suspect that a lot of us have been looking inwards and trying to analyse a lot of feelings in response to this strange year. Now I'm no stranger to a bit of introspection, I don't think anyone would go through transition without a lot of self analysis! Well I thought I had sorted all that out and could just get on with my life, but of course 2020 had other ideas, cutting me off from so many of the activities I love, the occupations that define me, and the affirmation of friends and family. So what have I learnt;~

• I am a performer! That may sound like a statement of the blooming obvious, but reflection has shown me just how much I have missed my musical performances ~ I enjoy rehearsals, but they are a means to an end it is the performances that I miss. Rehearsing or practicing is very much about the players, the techniques of the instrumentalists, melding them into a single statement rather than a selection of different ideas ~ it is the performance that then becomes a conversation between the performer and the audience. Of course this is more obvious in other performance arts than orchestral music, but it is very much there, and I have missed it. But dare I say this too is pretty obvious, it is what I do!

A bit of a show off

I have also found that I have missed the speeches and presentations I make, these are mostly for groups I represent, Croydon Pride, TransPALS, and others. I rather thought that I was doing this because I was the one best placed to do it, I even tried to tell myself that it was a burden, but on reflection I love it! In short I do rather like to be the centre of attention (as long as it's in a good way!) and that hasn't happened much in 2020

Two years ago I managed to do my Stand Up routine, while I have no plans to repeat the experience I'm glad I did it, the experience was interesting ~ if a little terrifying, and has made me realise that if I wasn't playing music then I would still have to get on a stage somehow, who knows I might even have tried drag!

• I need people! Maybe this is linked to being a performer, but I miss the companionship, and the comradery. Most of the year I have been OK as I have been able to work which means going out and seeing people, being active and doing something I love. But without people I find myself wondering what my purpose is, the old "what am I here for" question. In a way it is a sort of validation that comes from others. I remember when I first started my transition it was imperative to me not just that I understood myself to be a woman, but that others also saw me as one. I am sure that this is as a  type of validation that I can only truly get from others  ~ maybe that makes me shallow, maybe it makes me insecure, or maybe others are like this too but don't show it as much. I used to suffer with (sometimes) crippling imposter syndrome ~ particularly when on stage ~ I have not had that for some time, but however much I tell myself I am fabulous I still need others to tell me as well.

• I like dressing up, ~ well dur! In more normal times I will be out rehearsing up to six times a week, with a few performances thrown in as well. I will meet friends for a drink or dinner out. Again most of that has gone out of the window this year, but as I have said before I have been able to carry on working. I would normally get home have a shower get changed and go out. This year it has been more like get home shower and put on my pyjamas! 

All dressed up, but at least I had somewhere to go

My work clothes aren't exactly fun, or glamourous! Every now and then it's fun to dress up a bit! I always think about what I am wearing, whether it's a costume to help me to play a part, Gardener, Office Manager, Musician, Politician, looking the part helps me to behave in the appropriate manner; but it is also fun. I have missed the posh frocks I wear for concerts and receptions, but I have probably only worn any sort of dress four or five times this whole year.

I think I may reintroduce "Dress Up Friday" since we are all dressed down all the time now we don't need a special day to be allowed to dress down, but some of us do need an excuse to dress up!

Exhibitionist!

A couple of times I have written about my friend Vanessa and her photography.   A couple of times she has visited me and taken some shots for her photography degree course, she is a lovely, sympathetic person and I think that her photos reflect this as much as they reveal the subject.

Now you have two opportunities to see some more of her work, the Embassy Tea Gallery are putting on an exhibition of some of her work (along with the other graduates), she has also put together a Tumbler Blog on her finals project called "Altered Images" please take a couple of minutes out to go over there, and have a proper look.

In these days of a digital camera built into every phone, giving everybody the ability to take photos whenever and wherever they like we are simply bombarded with images.   Often these images are simply an entertaining or pretty moment captured, a kitten looking cute or a flower looking pretty.   With access to such high quality digital cameras we all consider ourselves to be photographers, but a true artist using photography as their medium is a different matter altogether.

The artist will be expressing something about the human condition through their images, whether the subject is a landscape or a portrait it should be telling us more than what the subject looks like.   I think Vanessa manages this, her photos require a bit of effort in the viewing, but then we wouldn't expect to understand all of a painting or sculpture at a glance so maybe we should give photographers the same respect we give to other artists.

Looking Back 1

Yes it's that time year, the tie when we look back over the last year and see how we have done, did we live up to our aims, what did we do right and where did we go wrong.   Try to assess the bad as well as the good, and through that try to see where we go next.

Just over a year ago I listed six resolutions so lets see how I did

1. To achieve solvency - Fail, I am slightly less broke than I was a yea ago, but still up to my (very nicely shaven) armpits in it.
2. To take of one day each month solely for my own edification - Fail I have been to some very good and interesting exhibitions, but I have not managed the regularity I had hoped for, I will continue to try to do this as when I do I do find it helps.
3. To spend quality time with my wife, to restore our relationship and to get better at communicating - Fail, big time on every count.   I gave up conducting my local Brass Band to have more time, somehow it was never going to be enough, I think I never really understood what our relationship was actually based on, and the only thing that we have managed to communicate between us is that my wife no longer wants to be with me.   well as they say some you lose, and some you lose.
4. To enjoy Paula, but not let her take over - not sure how I have done here, a year ago I knew Paula was an important part of me, a part I could not suppress but was fearful that she might take over and that somehow I would lose some of what is the essential me.   I was not prepared to kill off Paul to allow Paula to take over.   I have spent a lot more time as Paula, I have enjoyed that time, as always I have felt a sense of loss when I have cleaned off the make up and got changed, I don't think this is about the clothes or the make up, I think it is about me being authentic.   For a long time now I have been saying that this is not something I do, it is something I am.   I am now reassessing what that means, what it means to be trans gendered, and more to the point what it means to me.   I think that I no longer spend time as Paula, I am just as much (or possibly more) Paula as I am Paul it's just that sometimes I wear different clothes.   Now I need to work out what if anything I am going to do about it.
5. To perform as Paula - yeh at last I can put up a big Success! I have played with the LGSO on several occasions, I have played with the LSW band and more recently I have played with the Pelly Orchestra.   In many, many ways these concerts have been the highlights of my year.
6. To play more music - some success, I have been listening more I have managed to retune y radios so that on occassion they will now play Radio 3 and Classic fm, but there is just so much music and so little time.

So some limited success, the previous year I managed to achieve five out of my six resolutions, maybe I set the bar too high.

Photo finish

Sorry, I've not been around on the old interweb for a couple of days, what can I say I do have a life outside of the web as well.   Sometimes it's not such a great life at others it can be wonderful and I have had a little of both very recently.   Thursday morning I woke up to the sound of rain drumming against my bedroom window, just from the sound of it I knew that I would not be working that day, adding that to my already pretty low mood, I ended up not even managing to get out of bed till the afternoon.   I managed to get up and out in the afternoon and started to feel a bit better in time to go to my daughters school for a parents evening.

By total contrast Friday broke bright and I managed to get a great deal done ~ I always feel better if I can get outdoors for at least some of the day ~ if I can get started I will generally be OK but sometimes the problem lies in getting started.   Recognising this I have booked appointments for every morning next week, knowing that someone is waiting for me should get me going.   Friday evening I went up to town to visit the National Portrait Gallery.  



I wanted to see the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait of The Year exhibition and was not disappointed.    I went with my daughter and we were both really impressed with some of the photos, but not necessarily the same ones, or indeed the prize winners.   In the age of digital photography anyone can take lots and lots of pictures and simply by the number taken there should be some decent ones, exhibitions like this one show that there is still a place for the skilled creative trained professional.

I would love to share some of the pictures with you all, but copyright restrictions quite rightly apply so I can only recommend you go and see the exhibition for yourselves, if you can't follow the link above and you can see most of the on the National Portrait Gallery web site.

Just to make my point I have put up a couple of pictures, a selfy and a professional portrait by Justin David, I'm sure you can tell which is which.

An Exhibitionist

Well despite everything I arrived at the RA roughly on time, and as there was quite a queue for the Ladies I went straight into the exhibition.   Fortunately for me the RA have a few couches in their main exhibition rooms so along with some others I was able to sit down to enjoy at least some of the paintings.

The exhibition is pretty complete with an amazing range of well known, and not so well known paintings, and pastels.   I am not normally a fan of portraiture, but I did enjoy a lot of this, and particularly enjoyed seeing the development of his style, and how the paintings made a record of the time society Manet occupied.   I was interested by the rage of style, some portraits, like that of his friend M Antonin Proust on the left being very polished "traditional" Status portraits for exhibition, then others, almost unfinished, certainly painted quicker, which appear to have been retained in the family.

I feel as though the exhibition was almost too complete, with too much on display.   Personally I have a limited capacity for how much I can take in and appreciate in any one visit, and certainly when it comes to portraits of people I don't know or indeed have not even heard of that limit gets a little smaller, but this may just have been my feet talking.  Either way I was quite happy to leave, stop at a local Nero's sit down and enjoy a coffee.

 

Having travelled by train I was forced to continue to the end with my poor choice of footwear, but ahh the joy and relief when I got back  my van and could change into something more comfortable.

 

Maybe it's the influence of those boots (much though I love them) but I intend to feature shoes in my back grounds this week, the lovely the elegant the sexy shoes that we all love but maybe wouldn't want to wear for a whole day.

Boots, boots, boots

Today (Thursday 28th Feb) I went up to London to the Royal Academy, I had a ticket for the Manet Exhibition, which I had been looking forward to for some time. I had decided to take the whole day off and make sure I had a leisurely morning getting ready.  I took my time deciding what I was going to wear, (Matalan Grey and Black panel dress) and doing my make up, however I had major problems with my nails, and ended up actually having to re-do them twice!

Eventually I was happy with how I looked, gt in the van and drove to the station, it was only when I got there that I realised I had forgotten my ticket for the exhibition, so I had to return home to get it, then back to the station.   By this time time was beginning to get tight, I parked as close as I could to the station but was still left with quite a walk.   I soon started to regret my choice of boots, I had gone with my favorite 3 inch stiletto heels, they look great, but are definitely not made for walking.    As I approached the station entrance I could see my train pulling in and ran for it, those boots may not be made for walking, running is a big no no!   It was nice to get in the train and sit down.

One at Victoria I could put some more money on  my Oyster and then get the tube over to Green Park for the RA, of course there were no seats on the train, and by the time I had walked up Piccadilly I was once again regretting those boots.   I should know better by now, function before form, they are lovely and warm, and great to look at but for a full afternoon on your feet, no, not good.

A good day II

After getting my hair cut I popped home to sort out a few things before going up to town.   I drove to the station and caught the train, not so long ago this would have, indeed did terrify me, now I take it in my stride and just enjoy the ride.   I arrived with plenty of time so first off I visited a bank and paid in some cheques before having lunch.   I enjoyed a nice pasta dish with a glass of wine and followed it up with a coffee, I was very tempted by some rather lovely sounding desserts, but resisted.   As the RA were expecting this to be a busy exhibition it was timed entry, and my time was 2:00 p.m. so I finished my lunch and made my way back down Piccadilly to Burlington House.

I will admit that I was little disappointed in the exhibition itself, for my taste they relied a little too heavily on etchings and did not make their argument about the development of British Landscape Painting very clearly.   On the other hand there were some very fine paintings on display, and everything was from the RA's own collection.   I have been in the habit of going to exhibitions for a few years now, and have built up a special affection for the RA and this is the first exhibition I have been to where I have felt at all disappointed, so overall I don't think I can complain.

After the exhibition I wandered up Regents Street window shopping, but saw nothing that grabbed my attention so I made my way home and got back with plenty of time before my rehearsal.

Meg has been writing recently about the euphoria of dressing and wondering if she will ever lose that.   I have found that the fear has gone, and with that maybe some of the excitement.   Now I find that I am enjoying a comfortable experience, yes there is a certain euphoria, but not over riding, there is still a joy, but what highlights this even more to me is the down when I get changed back into drab, it always makes me sad, I just want the girl time to continue.

Meanwhile in other news

• I have a support group meeting tomorow night that I want to attend, I have had a couple of e-mails from other members and it sounds like there are quite a few decisions that will have to be made.
• I still can't manage to get photos uploaded onto Blogger.
• I have been asked to play in a concert ~ as Paula ~ first rehearsal on Sunday evening.
• I am wearing trousers, leggings and low or flat heels partly so I don't have to shave for a while, and partly to test whether the attraction is the dress or the femininity ~ i.e. do I still enjoy my femininity when I am expressing it with jeans and a sweater or is it that high heels and a short skirt turm me on?.
• I have made a fresh appointment with Relate for us, I hope that things will continue to improve, but worry that I am over commited to too many things outside the family.

A busy day ahead

Looking back at what I planned, or maybe aspired to, this year I have got off to something of a running start.   I have not had a proper Paula day since my wife put her foot down.   We have cleared the air a lot since then, she has given a little leeway and I have restricted my "activities".   So tomorrow I will be having quite a busy day, I will be starting out having a hair cut, it has got quite long and a bit "shaggy" but I am now of the opinion that I can get away without a wig.   I find this a lot more comfortable, after all it is much more natural, nearly all the time I am wearing a wig I am self conscious as to how it is sitting, is any of my own hair showing etc. etc. Anyway I will be going back to Nicola, if she carries on as she started I am sure I will be happy and that it will be money well spent.

Anyway I start with a haircut, the hairdresser has only Paula and that will continue, after that I will be going up to town to the landscape exhibition at the Royal Academy.   It feels like quite a while since I went to an exhibition so I am looking forward to this, it is also a nice chance to spend some time out, look at some of the West End shops and have a nice lunch.   After that I will be dashing back for a visit to the osteopath.

I have still to make the decision about what I will be wearing, I have more or less narrowed my choices down to my nice M & S Trouser suit, a grey panel dress or a slightly shorter mauve panel dress. The final decision will be down to what accessories I can wear, at the moment I limited to trousers or opaque tights.   One of the "activities" I have had to curb is shaving, at this time of the year that should not have too big an impact as long as I wear high necks and trousers or thick tights, it will seem a bit strange stripping off for the Osteopath and being hairy again.   I am sure he is far to nice and polite to comment but I am sure it will not go unnoticed, I have decided however that at the moment I have more than enough to worry about and will therefore choose not to worry about this.   Then at the end of the day I have a band rehearsal, the first since Christmas and it coincides with S's birthday.  

All in all I am packing a lot into a single day, but I feel I am better just taking the one day off work and filling it rather than falling into the trap of tacking several bits, and then finding I have missed a lot more productive hours.   With all that going on I doubt I will have much of a chance to post tomorrow.

Progress with the computer ~ limited I may have lost so much data and what I can access is a newer version of Office arghhh it's just all such a pain!

Resolutions II

So having had a look back at how I have done over the last year it's now time to look ahead at what i want to achieve over the coming year.   Unlike last year these will not all be trans related, with more frequent posting I have found that I writing more and more about other aspects of my life, this seems only right as I am not a one dimensional person, and I am often far more involved in family, work r music matters than in any trans issues that may be around.   However like last year I am going to limit myself to six

1   To achieve solvency ~ I think I have mentioned before that money is an issue, like so many other people I ran up credit card and other debt that I suddenly found I could no longer service.   I have had to make "arrangements" with my creditors and have, with difficulty being sticking to these arrangements.   Towards the end of 2013 I anticipate a small windfall, nothing substantial, but it should be enough to settle everything except the mortgage, that would be a very nice feeling!

2   To take off one day each month, solely for my own edification.   I have tried to do this a few times but have always ending up missing few, these are my days to go to an art exhibition visit a garden or house, time to myself to go out and do something that will inspire and enlighten me, I expect that these may well also be Paula days.   I have already set this in motion I have booked for a couple of exhibitions at the Royal Academy.

3   To spend quality time with my wife, to restore our relationship and to get better at communicating.   I think we have started this and things have improved over the last month or so, but I am still very aware that I could "blow it" big time with one false move.   When our daughter was born I bought my wife a gold chain, a couple of years ago it broke, as part of her Christmas present I had it repaired, this was meant to be symbolic of my determination to repair our relationship, I hope this was noticed.

4   To enjoy Paula, but not let her take over.   I love the release of being Paula, of dressing up and going out, but I do not want to become Paula, full time, I need to be him, for myself, for my family and friends but most of all for my wife and daughter.   Like so much else this is complicated I know that I can't put the genii back in the bottle, but I need to limit the amount of time, money and emotional energy I devote to Paula, however having said that when I do go out, I need to make the most of it and do it as well as I can.

5   To perform as Paula, yes I still fancy doing some stand up, but I would also love to be able to play a concert as Paula, uniting two of my passions, unfortunately I am not sure how easy that woudl be with any of the ensembles I am currently playing with, I still have some hopes of the LGSO and associated wind band, but other than them I am not sure how I will achieve this one!

 

6   To play more music, by this I mean both recorded music to listen to and as an instrumentalist.   I need to do more (or indeed any) practise, especially on the tuba, I have noticed that I am not as good a player as was even a couple of years ago.   I think that a lot of this is down to my conducting, this takes a lot of the time that I was previously devoting to playing, and I have not made up for it any other time.   To a certain extent it is just keeping the muscles in trim, but I definitely need to play teh bass guitar more so that I can get to the level where I am playing the music, rather than the instrument!   It also struck me the other day that I rarely get to listen to music, the television tends to dominate in our household, but I am determined that I should listen to more of the music I know I love, and some that I don't know, I think this is one of the ways that we grow as musicians, exposure to new music as well as looking deeper into what we already know and love.   It could be as simple as retuning teh radio to Radio 3 and Classic fm occasionally rather than leave it stuck on Radio 4.

Maybe these are not all SMART i.e. specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, but they are at least all timed.   I'm not always good at making changes, but it is always worth trying to change the things you are not happy with.

Pole

Jenson Button

I watched qualifying for the Belgium Grand Prix yesterday, a great performance by Jenson Button.   My friends waiting at the bar will know that I am a bit of a fan of his, so I hope this is going to be  turning point in his season, the championship is still possible, but a bit of a long shot.   I think I would be happy if he could overtake Hamilton on points and then two years running outscore him.   Hamilton has improved this season, maybe he doesn't seem to be quite as fast as he was, but that could well just be the car, but his race craft does seem to have improved.

I shall be watching the race this afternoon, I think I should make sure I have a couple of cool Belgium beers to drink while I'm watching.

Yesterday was a bit strange, I almost felt bereaved, although I was glad to have my family back I missed Paula, and checking my diary I struggle to see when I will next have some decent time.   I called B and he had woken on Friday with a spectacular hang over around midday, well after I had left for work, apparently with no knowledge of much of the previous night.   While it does look as though I have "Got away" with  my risky behaviour last week, I think I need to take stock and be a bit more careful in the future.

There is an exhibition on at the Royal Academy that I would like to see, so maybe I can make that a day out for my birthday.   I have got into the habit of taking my birthday off and going out to do or see something, this year my birthday falls on a Sunday so maybe I will take a day off during the following week and take a trip up to town.

All in the Best Possible Taste

I have been watching Grayson Perry's series on Channel 4 on British taste, and have to say I am pretty impressed on every level.   Like most people Grayson Perry first came onto my radar when he won the Turner Prize a few years ago in 2003.   At that time he was rumoured to respond to the news that he had won that "It is about time a transvestite potter won the Turner" At that time most of the media made more of Grayson's idiosyncratic style of dress as Claire than of his work.   It is easy to see why.

Grayson Perry wins the Turner 2003

As a cross dresser I may not share his taste in clothes, but I am impressed with how open he is about this aspect of his life, how he is quite "up front" about it but does not seek to justify or explain it, just states things like "as a transvestite I am interested to explore this as a woman as well" and gets on with it.    I would love to be able to be as out and honest, but our family circumstances are very different.   I get the impression that he is very happy in his skin comfortable and confident in his choices, in short a bit of a role model whether he wants to be or not.

This series is an interesting insight into his character, his methods of work and his background.   Of course f special interest to us it also gives us some very interesting insights into his dressing.   What I find most interesting is the way in which he embraces Clare into his work, and how comfortable the all people who meet him both as documentary maker, famous artist, man and woman appear to be.   This must be a testimony to his personality, watching him on TV and hearing him on the radio I can't help thinking that here is one "celebrity" that I would like to meet.

At the very least I will be going to see the tapestries that are the finished items resulting from his exploration of British class and taste.

Turner

So after (a very nice) lunch, I finally made it to my destination, the reason for my day off / out the Turner Inspired Exhibition, the exhibition was fascinating and gave me some fresh insights into the work of this very important and popular artist.  

Turner, Caernarvon Castle

Just about all of the people I have spoken about the exhibition to have know and loved some of Turners works, (The Fighting Temeraire, etc.) but have not even heard of Claude.    Known simply as Claude or Claude Lorraine after the area he was born in, Claude became one of the most influential landscape artists of his generation, and was certainly a major influence on Turner, and therefore on the impressionists.   It is a shame that he is not better known as his paintings are well worth a viewing

Claude, The Enchanted Castle

I would strongly invite you to follow the links to learn a little more about the man and his work, that is of course if you like this sort of thing.

After the exhibition I decided that I would walk up Regents Street to see what I could see, once I got as far as Oxford Street I felt obliged to look in a few stores.   I fancy a three peace lingerie set, that is matching bra, panties and suspender.   I want something pretty, not bridal white or ivory, nor sexy black, just pretty.   Now I understand that a lot of girls don't seem to like wearing stockings, well I understand that they don't I don't understand why, but that's another story.   What I don't understand is that in about half a dozen major Oxford Street stores I couldn't find anything that fitted the bill.  I want to be able to wear stockings, particularly over the summer months, but the two suspender belts I have are both "going home", one has a split in the fabric, the other has a broken fastener, and as I have mentioned before I simply don't trust "stay ups" because they don't.

While I was still at the National Gallery I was beginning to regret my choice in footwear by now my feet were killing me!   I paused for a coffee as much for the chance t sit down as for the coffee, so just to give me an excuse to sit down a little longer I had a slice of carrot cake with it.

Exhibitionist

Sorry not to have managed an update for a couple of days, at the moment life just seems to be like that, never a spare moment.    It is now Saturday morning and I am typing this prior to going off to work again.

Thursday morning I had a little chore to complete before setting out on my expedition to the exhibition.   One of my customers had asked me to pick up an Acer as a present for her father, she needed it by Friday night and I knew Friday would be very busy so I made an early start and picked one up at my favorite garden centre on Thursday morning.   After that I could put on my nail polish, change what needed to be changed and put on my make up and glitteries.   As it was slightly less hot than the previous few day I finally opted for the grey dress, with grey jacket and my new ox blood heels.   I felt this was an appropriate outfit for a day in Town while still cool enough for the weather.

I caught the train up to Victoria and then the tube to Charring Cross, as usual when I do anything like this I wonder how people can go through that every day.   I arrived in plenty of time to have a look around Trafalgar Square there was a lot of activity with things being prepared for the weekend, but I did have a chance to have a look at the current exhibit on the "spare plinth" a little boy n a rocking horse.   I rather like this, firstly it is very well done, is the right size and makes an interesting juxtaposition to all the military equestrian statues around there.

As I was wondering around trying to decide on where to have lunch I encountered a couple of Americans, discussing the area, they were trying to find Admiralty Arch, I was able to show them, and was drawn into conversation with them about the jubilee celebration, when they asked me where was the best place to watch the parade, they weren't impressed when I said the on the Television.   Ir seemed strange to be an English republican talking to a couple of ardent American royalists, but then there are many strange things in life.

After a very pleasant lunch in Cafe Rouge I made my way back up to the National Gallery.   The exhibition is in the Sainsbury wing.   This is still relatively new, and caused quite a degree of controversy when built, personally I think it blends in with the rest of the square very well, while not trying to mimic the styles of a different century, it is unashamedly modern, but still blends well in colour, scale and style.  As I was approaching the entrance I was accosted by a turbaned gentleman telling me my fortune, he was very smartly presented, quite impressive and I was complimented and therefore quite tempted, he told me that I had been unlucky in love, and that I would meet the man I would fall in love with in he month of July, it as off course when he asked for money that I came to my senses and told him that as a follower of Jesus I could not consult fortune tellers.   This was turning out to be an interesting day and I hadn't even got as far as the exhibition yet.

The House That Paula Built

I commented a while back on the trials I had building the base for a green house, well I have now more or less completed the greenhouse as well.   This is the first time I have built a green house so I didn't know how long it would take, or quite how complicated it would be.  

Of course it would have helped if the instructions had been printed in English, rather than something that looked like English, had all English words, but didn't make sense in any language I know.   It also would have been good if the holes had been the same size and shape as the glass, I had to make a few adjustments.  

Overall I am pretty pleased with the results so far, and the customer is very happy.   I still have to put in the automatic vent controls ( they have to be placed in a fridge for half an hour before being fitted) and there are a couple of things, like a replacement for the pane of glass that got broken, I am waiting for before I can really be finished.

Now I am feeling very tired, with a lot of aches and pains from lifting, stretching and getting into some pretty odd angles, so I am looking forward to a session with the osteopath tomorrow, I may well carry on with my tease, but I am in need of the the ministrations.   I am also looking forward to my trip to the Turner Exhibition on Thursday.

Something to look forward to

As you may have noticed I have been a little down of late, I seem to be working flat out when I can or getting frustrated looking at the rain when I can't, with pretty much just more of the same to look forward to.

Next week the Brass Band are playing at a craft fair on Monday and then on Tuesday my wife has to go into hospital for a simple procedure, should be in and out in the day, but she will need a few days to recover.   I hope she will be OK by Saturday evening when my support group meets.   I missed last month's meeting as I was in Cardiff so I would like to get to this one.   This is an occasion to glam up a little and since my brother is n holiday I will be able to use his flat to get changed ~ luxury!   I anticipate another rather hectic week.

William Turner ~ Flint Castle

So sitting sulking on Thursday I thought I should start planning a day out.   I always enjoy a good exhibition so I checked out what is going on.   The National Gallery has a Turner exhibition drawing to a conclusion, that looks as though it should be interesting so I have booked to go on the 31st May.   I have always liked turners paintings, especially his use of light which prepared the way for the Impressionists much later.

I have timed the tickets for 14:00 so I can travel up in a leisurely fashion and have lunch first, and being a Thursday I can stay up in town for a while and not have to dash home to go out somewhere else.   Nearer the day I shall n doubt start to worry about my route and what I will wear, but right now i am just looking forward to a day off, an interesting exhibition, and some Paula time in town.

Grayson Perry and the purpose of art

I have written before of my fondness of visiting an exhibition and my interest in the activities of Grayson Perry, I'm afraid that I have been too busy with work and stuff to take advantage of an opportunity to combine these two pleasures.   Perrys' exhibitions the "Tomb of the unknown craftsman" at the British Museum will be closing soon and I just haven't time to get there.

I would like to thank Stana for bringing to my attention this interview with Perry, if anything it serves to enhance my esteem of him both as an artist and as a person.   Although iI was originally drawn to Grayson Perry because of our shared cross dressing activities I find that his work is always interesting and always has something to say.   I am of the opinion that the purpose of art is to communicate, and if the art fails to communicate to the viewer the intentions of the artist then it is just decoration, and of our decorators we probably require a better technical standard than most artists can manage.