Frida Kahlo

I went to the Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up exhibition last Saturday at the V&A. It was beyond fabulous. Full of wonderful photographs, video of Frida drawing, her famous clothes, make-up and even bottles of medicine. It was an intimate portrait of a person who created despite having to deal with immense pain throughout her life.
For me, the most touching exhibit was a pair of her shoes, some beautifully made high heel lace ups with one toe cut out because her foot had gangrene and removing the toe eased the pressure. The toe of the shoe had been so carefully cut out so the shoe still looked immaculate and wearable even though it had been vandalised. That attention to detail illustrated to me how small details in life can help ease the pain, in this case quite literally too. Indeed Frida herself said "As long as I can paint I am happy to be alive."

You weren't allowed to take photos in the actual exhibition so these are some pics I took in the shop of the merchandise you could buy.

A very sunny Luton Carnival 2017

Thankfully The Luton Carnival was a very peaceful event, people for all religions and cultures celebrating together, the costumes were inspiring and the music loud - brilliant! Nice to visit my old stomping ground too as I grew up in Luton. It felt very nostalgic to be back in such a familiar place.  : )

Joseph Frank

I loved the Joseph Frank exhibition at The Fashion and Textiles Museum in London. Big prints, gorgeous colours and fabulously presented. Inspirational! It finishes soon though so get a wriggle on if you want to see it : )

Trip up north

I used to work in the north east and still have friends there so it was lovely to visit and spend the weekend in Darlington. In between talking, laughing, eating flapjacks and drinking tea we visited Bowes Museum to see the Yves St Laurent exhibition. It's not a very big exhibition but it's well worth a visit if you are near Barnard Castle. You will see some of the most fabulous iconic outfits also many working drawings, embroidery samples and toiles. It's not on for much longer so get a move on if you fancy it : )

Mad Hatters Tea party

My mum treated me to tea at a local hotel - yey! It was all mis-matched crockery, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee nestling in the table decorations, tea pots and beautiful tea plates at our mad hatters tea party. My mum and I scoffed cucumber sandwiches, scones and cakes and drank tons of tea. A perfect afternoon of indulging and nattering, thanks mum...

Manchester part 2

Here are some more snaps of our visit to Manchester. We loved it there, so vibrant and inspiring. I haven't been for twenty odd years and it's changed so much. We loved buzzing about on the trams which was so easy and cheap. We had a fab time in Salford too and visited Media City (saw my beloved 6 music studios - yey), The Lowery and Old Trafford (for my son). I'm on a mission now to take my kids to all the major cities in the UK, they don't know yet but if I promise them meals out and ice creams they might just entertain the plan.

Manchester

We had a fab. time in Manchester last week. We went "up north" to see my 10 year old sons painting exhibited in The Whitworth Art Gallery. He entered The Little Painting Challenge and was one of only 10 highly commended out of 27000  entries. What he drew had nothing to do with me, it was his choice to draw a war scene?!? The judges must have liked it though : ) The winners and highly commended were all in frames in a separate area, then in another gallery there were 1000 of the best entries overall hung on washing lines. Here are few of the other postcards that caught my eye but my sons drawing is best whatever any judges says...

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Winter Light

Bruce Monro has another FABULOUS selection of light installations in the Waddesdon Manor gardens this Christmas called Winter Light. It was freezing cold but great to see more of Bruce's creations. Works include "Gathering of the clans" which has neon pegs on washing lines representing birds perching, the wonderful "Field of light" which is a flower garden of changing colours and a huge dome called "Beacon" made from plastic bottles. If you live nearby it finishes soon so try and get there if you can. The house is beautifully decorated too : )