Showing posts with label Kensington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kensington. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2021

Pink spoon on a blue background

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Pink spoon on a blue background





The pink spoon was in a rack in one of the local ice cream places, which I went to with J. 

We agreed that it was the best ice-cream place so far that we had been to, because of the ice-cream itself, although the flavour range is more limited as is the choice of weird sweets, condiments and syrups.

I had a forest fruit ice-cream scoop and one with mint and chocolate in a cone. The forest fruits flavours are glorious- a little sweet but a little acidic too. Wow! The mint chocolate is utterly amazing, the taste sophisticated like an discreet corner of Kensington, and the colour is divine, a visual victory. 

However, the combination was not ideal, the mint chocolate rather overwhelming the forest fruits. I think the solution is either to choose more complementary flavours or to add at least a mini scoop of vanilla as this might act as neutral bridge between contrasting flavours.

J., in the meantime, had found a plastic bowl and in it built a chocolate ice-cream hill from a phenomenal number of scoops. He said he had to try all the different chocolate flavours. He bent over the bowl and, shovelling , ate uninterrupted for thirty minutes to finish.

Anyway, this spoon is one of a sort you can take from a  rack- it`s in a little cellophane envelope, which also contains a serviette, folded very neatly and almost useless. 

Next time I`ll get a spoon in another colour- there are yellows and blues, and maybe even a green. I very much liked the bubble-gum pink, it seemed so fifties, so utterly unselfconscious.




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Monday, March 5, 2012

Back from a painting trip to London, Edinburgh and Tunisia: London: a selection

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The Tower, oil on card, 14.5 / 9.5 cm  NOT FOR SALE




Well, I am back, and it is tremendously hot here. I've been to Tunisia and Edinburgh. These visits were bookended by London, and instead of posting absolutely chronologically, I´ll post according to place categories: its just easier to make sense of a broken up painting trip.



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A view near Earls Court, oil on card, 10 x 10 cm unavailable





I stayed in Kensington and most of the pictures are from my wanderings in Kensington and its fringes: up near Kensal Rise and across to Shepherds Bush. 

The days varied, sometimes with that incredibly crisp winter light you get in London, to days of unrelenting grey: both have their charm. 





Holy Trinity, Brompton, oil on card, 12 / 10 cm  - available











An old pub, the North end of Ladbroke Grove, oil on card, 12 / 14 cm  NOT FOR SALE










Kensington Gardens, Winter, oil on card, 14 / 13 cm   SOLD












 A house in Kensington, oil on card, 12 / 10.5 cm  AVAILABLE









Warehouses serving a shopping mall, Shepherds Bush, oil on card, 8 / 10 cm  SOLD










Ladbroke Grove, looking North, oil on card, 13.5 / 10.5 cm  AVAILABLE








I generally feel that the fringes of a place offer the key to understanding the centres: life is less regimented, there are more spaces, things have gone wrong, the clock shows its mechanisms.



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The London trip ended with a show of pictures at Matthew Cushen's beautiful apartment overlooking the river: thanks to him, and to Lise and Chris for hosting me, and making my time in London so pleasant.



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