The Red House

Have you been on any adventures recently?

I don't think I do it enough, mostly I spend my time bouncing around Islington (where I live), St John's Wood (where the BF lives) and Hackney (where I go to exercise and drink cocktails), with occasional trips to the west end.  But going outside Zone 2 well that is almost unheard of!

But not last weekend.  I had my parents to stay and my Mum being a big William Morris fan we thought it would be fun to go and visit the Red House, which is in Bexleyheath.  Upon investigation we realised we could get there in an hour using the excellent London Overground.  So with our Oyster cards at the ready we headed out.

The Red House was designed and built for William Morris, it was completed in 1860.  It is a really beautiful place, with an equally beautiful garden.  It is owned by the National Trust now, and they are gradually restoring it and discovering beautiful paintings on the walls.

It was a really lovely day out and I would recommend a trip, my only criticism would be of the explainers who worked there.  They were a little bit over enthusiastic in their desire to explain everything (but that may be just me). For more information and how to get there click here.

Here are some photos I took of the house and garden.

The exterior from the back

A beautiful fig tree

A panel of tiles

Wall paper

The stairs

hand painted stain glass window

The ceiling upstairs

Love these red flowers

A really long tunnel of roses

A rather lovely scarecrow

A beautiful cabbage.

love these light switches

I also have another connection with the Red House, as I am going to be taking part in a pilgrimage to the Red House, in September.  The pilgrimage starts at The George Inn on Borough High Street and ends at the Red House. The idea is to discover the pilgrim routes that inspired Chaucer and the Pre-Raphaelites. There will be sites along the way where the pilgrims will stop and take part in an activity with an artist.  I am proud to say I am one of those artists.  It's taking place on 7 September, find out 

more here.

I'd love to hear about any adventures you have been on recently or places around London that you would recommend a day trip to.  Leave me a comment below!

cx

Owls on Boats

Hi

I've been a bit quiet here recently, I've been taking a bit of a summer break.  But am back now!

I'm starting with this lovely photo sent by someone who had seen my work in the Paper exhibition at CODA in Apeldoorn.

He actually posted an image of one of my birds on twitter, which i retweeted and then we struck up a conversation about what the piece was about.

We'd been discussing the idea that through global warming animals and humans find themselves in places that they might not expect to be or are really suited to be.

He sent me this photo of an owl, that he took whilst on a boat between Ireland and the Mediterranean, not a place you would really expect to find a Barn Owl.

Do you have any stories of birds in unusual places, please share them in the comments below if you do.

cx