My Thoughts and Activities
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Wood carvings and snowdrops - the annual snowdrop walk in the grounds of Burton Agnes Hall in East Yorkshire
If it is mid-winter then it must be time for tye annual Burton Agnes Snowdrop Walk - a fascinating glimpse of the first signs of spring in the grounds of Burton Agnes Hall. The walk is a mile long…
The Gallery, Hornsea opens a music themed exhibition of paintings
They say that art about art is a bad idea. I agree. But I think that art about music or theatre is a great idea as these dynamic art forms lend themselves to depictions in art - just think of…
Ukrainian artist Mariia Moiseienko has an exhibition of her paintings at the East Riding Theatre in Beverley
Ukrainian artist Mariia Moiseienko has an exhibition of her paintings at the East Riding Theatre in Beverley. It runs until 6th February. Born and raised in Kyiv, she has worked in the creative…
On the considerable beauty of Burton Constable Hall in East Yorkshire
I am a frequent visitor to Burton Constable Hall, a large Tudor mansion in East Yorkshire, England. The hall is brick built and its exterior has a different beauty from the nearby historic houses of…
The Hull Print Collective has its 2025 exhibition at Burton Constable Hall. Some excellent fine art prints can be seen in the exhibition.
An exhibition by the Hull Print Collective is always worth a look. The 2025 exhibition at Burton Constable Hall is no exception. The exhibition is in the Stables Gallery and is open from 10am to 4pm.…
The relationship between art and meditation - exploring the intersection of creativity and mindfulness
What is meditation? Meditation is an ancient practice that involves training the mind to empty itself of everyday thoughts and concentrate on something very simple such as breathing or simply nothing…
What is the difference between the spirit, the heart and the soul? And which of these parts of our being makes and enjoys art?
What is the difference between the spirit, the heart and the soul? Where between them does art come from? Since art appeals to and is created by the spirit or heart or soul, or our inner selves, we…
A look into the fascinating world of Islamic art and its long history as part of Islamic civilisation
Recently during my wandering on the Internet I found an article about the Islamic artist Mir Musavvir. Musavvir (1510-1555) was Persian painter at the Safavid and Mughal courts who painted what…
Beverley Open Studios 2024 - Beverley's artists show their work
Beverley Open Studios is always a fun time for art lovers in East Yorkshire and 2024 was no different. Artists showed a variety of work. There are at least two well established mural painters in the…
A Fred Elwell painting unexpectedly turns up in Grimsby
Recently I visited Grimsby Town Hall in North East Lincolnshire on private business. I was surprised to see a Fred Elwell painting hanging proudly alongside many other plaques and memorabilia of the…
A river cruise along the Mainz river to explore some of Germany's beautiful medieval cities
River cruising is a great way to see many parts of the world. The great rivers of Germany are no exception. And so I boarded a large river cruiser in the company of a hundred other guests for a…
East Riding Artists Annual Exhibition 2024 at Market Weighton Town Hall
The East Riding Artists Annual Exhibition starts on September 30th at Market Weighton Town Hall. See the image below for opening times and the address of the venue. I have entered a picture titled…
Renowned artist and academician John Sprakes has an exhibition at the Gallery, Hornsea
John Sprakes has been a feature of the British art scene for many years. A resident of East Yorkshire, John is pleased to hold a special exhibition at the Gallery, Hornsea. A range of John's paintings…
Reflections on the Greenbelt Festival - Britain's arts festival inspired by faith, spirituality and the earth
As a veteran of some 13 years of the Greenbelt Festival I have observed steady changes over the years in this venerable arts, spirituality and thought festival. It is inspired by, but by no means…
A moving exhibition of art about violence against women, In the prestigious Brynmor Jones Art Gallery at the University of Hull
At Hull University's prestigious Brynmor Jones Gallery there was recently a remarkable exhibition of paintings on the difficult and challenging subject of violence against women. The art in the…
The first official portrait of King Charles III has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace. It is bold, modern and predictably controversial
The first official portrait of King Charles III has been unveiled at Buckingham Palace. The 8 foot 6 inch oil on canvas shows a King Charles wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards.
It was painted by…
A marvellous series of wildlife murals has been unveiled beneath a concrete road bridge over Beverley Beck
A series of wonderful murals by artist Emma Garness has been unveiled beneath a concrete road bridge over Beverley Beck in East Yorkshire, England. The murals were commissioned by the local council…
An artist's struggle with macular degeneration, an incurable eye disease
I thought I might blog about my diagnosis of macular disease in May 2022, and how things are going after two years. As I recovered from my first bout of COVID-19 in early April 2022 I noticed…
A pleasant wander through Bridlington's Old Town
Bridlington is perhaps best known as a bustling seaside resort where candy floss, buckets and spades, prosecco, fish and chips and fairground rides can be had. And they can. However, away from its…
Luxmuralis light show at Beverley Minster
A projection of giant animated cogs - Luxmuralis at Beverley Minster On Valentine's Day 2024 my wife and I attended the 'Luxmuralis - Illuminating Art' event at Beverley Minster. This is a multimedia…
What Frederick Nietzsche really said about art
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a misunderstood thinker, we can safely say. He coined the term 'Superman', was a friend of Wagner, and was German. This was enough to attract a bad fan base in…
Painting a tree of life with water-based oils
Recently I began work on a tree of life for an exhibition in which I am taking part. The exhibition will be called 'From the Earth' and held at Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire in Spring 2024. Tree…
First impressions of Golden Open acrylic paints - slow drying acrylics which allow wet-in-wet painting
Every artist knows that oil paints dry slowly and are thinned with oil or solvents. Conversely acrylic paints dry quickly and are thinned with water. There are some brands of acrylics which dry slowly…
The art in Andy Warhol's industrial production of art
Recently I watched a television documentary about Andy Warhol (1928-1987) which claimed that he was the greatest artist of the twentieth century. Given the competition that is quite a claim to make. W…
How an oil painting is made - step by step layering of oil paints
Oil paintings are usually made in layers. The old masters used many thin translucent layers to build up their masterpieces. More recently some very spontaneous works by the Impressionists were laid…
Are artists' acrylic paints really permanent?
I was startled to read a recent article which included a quote from the American professional conservator Mary T Baker, who said that the Mona Lisa will outlast NASA Apollo space suits. She said this…
Dickie's institutional theory of art - has it harmed fine art
When reading about aesthetics I encountered George Dickie's theory of art, which he described in 1974 and then revised and refined in response to criticism. Dickie was a Professor of Philosophy at the…
What type of painting do you want to create? The first step in learning to paint.
A beginner's guide to starting out in painting To begin painting you first need to consider what it is that has inspired you to want to paint in the first place.
Then you can choose your medium, which…
Is visual art a sign language between hearts - the semiology of art
For centuries philosophers have been arguing about the definition of art. We can sidestep the debate and ask the question - is art a medium by which we communicate via signs? This might explain Kant's…
What are the basic materials for oil painting?
This page is intended for complete beginners. Perhaps the best way to learn about oil painting is to seek out local art teachers, art societies and art college courses. Many artists supplement their…
Beautiful painted medieval church in East Yorkshire
'Pre-Raphaelite'. Painted church - Adam and Eve
The murals retell the stories from the bible. Above can be seen the tales of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, complete with forbidden fruit and the…
Ayn Rand's Aesthetics - Important or Not? Though not a philosopher, Ayn Rand's observations on art are interesting and part of her worldview
I had time on my hands one day and wondered if Ayn Rand had any view on aesthetics. Of course she did - her views are well documented and this being Ayn Rand, controversial and argued over. Ayn Rand…
A brief look into dinosaur art or paleo-art - the notable artists who have painted dinosaurs in the last 150 years
In the early mid-1990s days of the Internet I would spend time looking at art by professional painters who specialise in dinosaur art. This was a few years after the smash hit film 'Jurassic Park' was…
A visit to Beverley's beautiful Guildhall and its Fred Elwell painting
Recently I was fortunate enough to be present at an event in Beverley's beautiful GuildHall. The building has been in civic use for centuries and some of the structure dates back to medieval times…
ChatGPT and the philosophy of aesthetics? I asked ChatGPT a few questions about aesthetics. The answers were not bad.
You may recently have heard about ChatGPT, the online artificial intelligence (AI) software which answers questions and composes text which can be used in web pages and anywhere else where text is…
Whatever happened to NFTs? Apparently this revolutionary idea saw a lot of people lose a lot of money in a short time
You may remember that in March 2021, Christies sold a digital collage NFT by the artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) for nearly $70m (£58m). The picture itself was called 'Everydays - the first 5000 days'…
An artist's first foray into art created by artificial intelligence from the DALL-E engine
We all hear more and more about the role in our lives of computers, the Internet and latterly artificial intelligence (AI). Recently there has been the appearance of a new generation of AI software or…
Exploring the art and culture of the Spanish city of Alicante
The Spanish city of Alicante is the gateway to the mass tourism destinations of the Costa Blanca. Many thousands of tourists pass it by every week during the summer as they land at its airport and…
Fred Elwell's craftsman father and a carving in an East Yorkshire pub
I was at a social function in the Ferguson Fawcett public house recently when I noticed a carved wooden mantelpiece panel in a traditional English style. The carving depicts the lifestyle of the…
Painted pebbles in honour of Queen Elizabeth II - Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England
Recently I visited the fair village of Kirton Lindsey in Lincolnshire. There I saw some painted pebbles in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II
Outside of the period St Andrews Church I noticed this…
An attempt at a definition of art, which some philosophers say is impossible to define
Can we define art? Wittgenstein famously advised us to abandon any attempts to define art. He said there was too little commonality between various types of art. But maybe he was just too clever for…
What is the opposite of art? A philosophical question.
In August 2022 I attended the Greenbelt Festival of Art, Ideas and Spirituality in Northamptonshire, England. I was delighted to find that Brian Eno was one of the many speakers. As part of a…
The Lord of the Rings films and the lost world of Tolkien art
Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' series of films were excellent; I enjoyed all of them. Alas for me they also created a problem. I have very warm memories of me as a teenager curling up in a…
Hull railway station and its cultural icons
I like the way Hull City Council have made the railway station a place to remind travellers of Hull’s contribution to British culture. Philp Larkin was a librarian at Hull University and often wrote…
Roman mosaics are ancient, timeless and beautiful. They tell us a lot about the ancient world
Ancient Roman mosaics are made of small stones, often marble, known as tesserae, which do not fade in light. This makes them a permanent form of art in which the full glory of their original colour…
An artist reflects on the true meaning of the Russian doll he bought in St Petersburg
In the summer of 2010 I was fortunate to visit the beautiful Russian city of St Petersburg while on a cruise of the Baltic. After buying a quite expensive tourist permit to be able to set foot on…
A quick look at the development of contemporary painting in China
Often the artistic development of a people is linear with each new generation adding their own ideas onto the ideas of previous generations. This allows for the steady advancement of art into new eras…
First impressions with Talens Cobra water mixable oil colours - a review of these water soluble oil paints
Recently I tried some Cobra Water mixable or water soluble oil paints and here are my thoughts on them. Water based oil paints have been an impossibility for the past thousand or more years that oils…
The joys of Portugal - a relaxed European country with fine food, people and climate
I have visited Portugal several times and spent time in Lisbon, its charming and historic capital city. Portugal has a long, fascinating and sometimes dark history. It has been a European power state,…
The 25 greatest painters of all time - a highly subjective list
There have been hundreds of great artists from around the world, but here is my attempt to list the twenty five greatest that you should be aware of. If you know anything at all about art, this list…
The city of Hull in East Yorkshire has a fascinating historic Guildhall dating from the Victorian era.
Recently I was honoured to attend a civic event in the city of Hull, inside its historic Guildhall, the seat of local government in the city. The current Guildhall is Hull's fourth and dates back to…
Beverley Minster features many beautiful and historic carved statues
I live near the market town of Beverley in East Yorkshire and this in itself is a great privilege. In the centre of the town is Beverley Minster, a very beautiful Gothic church which is the spiritual…
Philosophy of Aesthetics - a painter's reflections.
Definition of Art Since Plato wrote on what we now call the philosophy of aesthetics, many philosophers have discussed the nature of art and beauty. They have ascertained art and beauty to be two…
Russian art in the early twenty-first century - tradition and modernity combine in interesting ways
Russian art in the twenty first century has come a long way since socialist realism Many people when thinking of Russian art tend to think of the pre-1917 avant-garde, or Constructivism in the years…
The late Beryl Cook captured quintessential aspects of the British character
Years ago I remember seeing a TV programme about a middle aged woman who ran a guest house and had begun painting as a hobby. She became renowned as a painter with an interesting and instantly…
My favourite art and artists - the art which has inspired and entralled me
These artists and works inspired me and I hope they inspire you also. A list like this could go on forever, so I have limited it to those artists who MOST inspired me! Mosaics
Mosaics are one of the…
The Ferens Gallery in Hull had a fabulous masterpiece by the Italian Venetian master Canaletto
Canaletto died on this day - 19th April - in 1768. The Ferens Gallery has one of his masterpieces. When I visited the Ferens Gallery in Hull years ago I expected, and I was not disappointed, to see…
As we endure the corona virus lockdown I''m nostalgic for the art of people watching in Hull
As the coronavirus lockdown continues may of us are feeling the stress from not being able to visit the public places we enjoy. I am sure that many of us in East Yorkshire are already nostalgic for…
An artist in enforced COVID social isolation
For some artists such as Van Gogh and Lowry isolation would have come naturally. They were isolated in the lives they led. On the other hand many artists such as Raphael were social men and women who…
Remembering the Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition in Paris 2020
In 2020, just a couple of weeks before COVID-19 closed Europe down, I had the privilege of visiting Paris to view the Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition. This is how it went. After a pleasant rail journey…
Paris is the city of light and one of the best places for people watching in its historic cafes
Arguably Paris is the world's greatest city for people watching. Students of human behaviour will think it is almost as if the city was made for them. The great tree lined boulevards, the…
Musee d'Orsay - the French made a gem of an art museum by converting an old railway station - and it works very well.
I was recently fortunate enough to visit the fine city of Paris including the Musee d'Orsay, which is an art museum located in a former railway station. This works out much better than you might…
Colourful building in London
I liked the colourful decoration of this building in Kings Cross London. It adds some zest to the area.
Art, culture and history in the attractive city of Girona, southern Spain
Girona is an ancient city in the Catalonia region of Spain. The city has long had a flourishing arts and culture scene and the many works from this long history can be seen in its excellent museums. T…
Blands Cliff street murals. Street art by the seaside in Scarborough, England
Street art often gives a means of expression to people who might otherwise be turned away by the art establishment. These street murals in Scarborough are not quite Banksy-style renegade art but they…
