Glastonbury

No, we didn't go to the Glastonbury festival. Never have and probably never will. But we watched it on the BBC (note that the player can't be watched outside of the UK, for some strange copyright reason). That's a few weeks back now. But we discovered a few bands I had never heard of (Brendan knew a lot more of them than me). Gorillaz, Vampire Weekend, Mumford & Sons are the ones that stand out for me. And the Pet Shop Boys show was amazing in its visual and choreographic production.

Abstract Exercise #1 - variation #2

I like the colours in this one better, but the textures are not so good. I'm thinking of calling it "Batman"

Cool Phrases in Japanese

Have fun with these:
http://genkienglish.net/genkijapan/japanese.htm
I can already count to 20!

Abstract Exercise #1 - variation #1

Today was a gloriously sunny day - at  long last. So, the weekend wasn't as productive from a painting point of view, but I did manage 2 abstracts yesterday, as the weather only improved today, after 4 or 5 weeks of dull days.

Good student that I am, I went back to exercise #1 and painted the variations suggested under the theme of expressive shapes!

Here is Variation #1, which I call "Go".

Here is the first attempt:

watercolour techniques

The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook by Gordon MacKenzie contains a lot of useful tips. Things I haven't come across in other books (and I've gone through many over the years), including how to hold your paint brush and how to twist it to vary the thickness of lines. Here are a few of the doodles I produced last weekend with leftover watercolours. I love these rusty colours. I'm not sure how to use these techniques in an actual painting, but they might come in handy for card designs!

The Other Boleyn Girl

There are 2 movies based on Philippa Gregory's book The Other Boleyn Girl. I had watched the Hollywood version a few months back. It was good, but it was the BBC version I had heard about, and I was delighted when it was one of my birthday presents this year. It's very atmospheric, not as glamorous, and it absorbed me completely. A perfect complement to the book.

Bandits

I'm trying to catch up on movies and books. This one, Bandits (don't read the last 3 paragraphs of the plot summary - it gives away the whole story), we watched on the telly months ago, but I never got around to writing about it.

It's a brilliant movie. It doesn't seem to have done that well at the box office. I don't know why. I think it's excellent. Funny. Tongue-in-cheek. Great action, and plenty of twists. Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton are bank robbers. They abduct Cate Blanchett, a bored and depressed posh housewife. They both fall in love with her and she can't decide. Perfect love triangle. They all go on a bank robbery spree. Can it last forever?

Chiming Wedgebill

I think the sound clip of a chiming wedgebill, which I had posted a couple of years ago, has gone missing, so this is the perfect excuse to post it again. (Recorded in Alice Springs Desert Park in 2008)

Jean Byrne - nice dresses

It's a while since I've talked about Jean Byrne - it's not that I'm not interested any more! The simple reason is that she's been wearing lovely clothes lately - simple dresses (even the bright yellow one) that flatter her figure, and she's been accessorizing them with simple jewelery. And no little bolero cardigans in sight!

The Outlander

The Outlander is Gil Adamson's first novel. The story of a young woman on the run, it's got its ups and downs. It got great reviews, and I can see why - it's a good story, written in beautiful language.And I loved the end (I'll say no more). But I found the story unevenly paced - great speed and suspense in parts, and a slow, settled flow for a large section of it, which didn't appeal to me as much.

It's worth the read, certainly, but it didn't quite meet my high expectations after reading the reviews.

La vie rêvée des anges

Despite the explanation in Wikipedia, I don't really get the title of this movie, which Brendan had taped for me recently. The story of 2 young women in a small town in Northern France, La vie rêvée des anges is very bleak - it always looks cold and grey there, and life is hard. Of the 2, Isa is a happy-go-lucky kind of girl, who finds a positive side to all situations, she treats others well, and she cares for her friends. Marie, on the other hand, is a very troubled young lady - she doesn't seem happy with her lot, she dumps a really nice guy (OK, he's fat, but he is really nice!), she falls in love with the wrong man, she expects the worst from life, and life generally delivers. And there is a 3rd young woman - Sandrine, who is in a coma. Neither of the other 2 knows her to start with, but they are connected. Isa decides to visit Sandrine in the hospital, whereas Marie has no interest.

Not surprising that the 2 actresses got the Best Actress award in Cannes in 1998. Natacha Régnier, who plays Marie, is Belgian by the way. Worth a mention!

Kildare Village

The forecast for yesterday wasn't great - mind you, the only difference with today was the showers. So we decided to take a drive down to Kildare to check out the Kildare Village outlet centre. (Yes, it would seem that radio advertising works!).

I was expecting disappointment. I have this thing about outlet shops since I got a jumper (or was it a scarf?) with a hole in it many many years ago. But it turned out pretty good. It took 45 minutes to get there, it was easy to find, just off the motorway. The car park was fairly quiet when we got there around 12, but there were plenty of parking attendants, who were making sure that no-one parked in disabled spots or loading bays. The place has a bit of a Disneyland feel to it. We decided to have lunch first - in L'Officina (it looks nothing like the picture on their website) - Brendan had the antipasto misto, I had a bruschetta al pomodoro and strawberries and cream for dessert. All perfect and yummy.

Now, don't believe the website, listing about half a dozen restaurants - the only 2 places for food and drink in the village are L'Officina and Starbucks. L'Ecrivain and Bentleys are in Dublin city centre, so I have no idea why they are listed as an eating option in Kildare Village! Not that we'd have gone there anyway.

The shops are all lined up in a Disney main street, so you can get it all done really quickly if, like me, you skip all the shops that don't interest you (I'm not a great shopper - I have no patience for browsing). There is plenty of choice - Levi's, North Face, LK Bennett, Coast, Monsoon, Clarks, Desigual, Bally, to name but a few, and there are genuine discounts. All shops felt spacious, despite the large crowds descending on the place (mostly young couples, some with babies or young children), and service was generally with a smile (staff at North Face and Desigual get my vote for friendliness).

We were all done by 2:30, at which point the car park was nearly full. Recession? What Recession?

Airfield

It's been a very dull July - temperatures haven't been too bad - for Ireland that is - 18-22. But we've had this grey blanket over the sky. It hasn't even rained that much, so we feel like we shouldn't complain, but I'm craving a bit of sunshine.

Not great conditions for taking pictures in Airfield, but I did get one good one out of the lot. Whichever way Brendan had set the camera, it produced this lovely blurred background. You will probably find this in my watercolour collection at some point.

Piglets at Airfield

There is a new litter of piglets - they're growing fast, so make sure to get to Airfield to see them soon. Aren't they cute? (and smelly!)

View of Lagrasse #3

3rd and final attempt - I painted this one on a block of Daler Rowney The Langton rough paper (300 g/sqm). The previous attempts were painted on a lighter cold-pressed (fine grain) paper (Canson 200 g/sqm), more suited to precise wet-on-dry painting. The rough paper works better for the grainy textures.

That's it. Onwards to the next project! I might frame this one.

View of Lagrasse #2

Attempt #2: Much happier with this one. The door and the small window look 3-dimensional, and the flowers are more vibrant. And the glass panels on the larger window look more convincing with a bit of white in each lower corner. The main weakness is that it is a bit too dark under the large window. More to come!

View of Lagrasse #1

We've been to Lagrasse a few times. It's a lovely little town - quite sleepy. I guess we're there a little bit ahead of the tourist hordes that must descend upon it in the summer.

I've based this watercolour on a photograph we took there a few years ago (the light wasn't so good this year). The techniques I've used are inspired by Ann Blockley's Watercolour Textures - she has a section on painting buildings, which really helped me in achieving the effect I was looking for here.

1st attempt - my main problem here is that I forgot all about perspective when I applied wax, so I have some white texture lines at odds with the strong window and kerb lines.

Château de Caraguilhes

You all know I don't drink really (unless you knew me 20 years ago - in which case, you knew me as straight-vodka, straight-whiskey and pints of guinness drinker - but I used to get so sick!).

So you wouldn't expect me to talk about wine.

This one - Château de Caraguilhes rosé - is an exception. Brendan has found it in O'Briens in the Beacon. He picked it because it was a Corbières wine, and we're particularly fond of these, as we've holidayed in the region 3 times (and we'll be going again, no doubt).

So we were delighted to find a wine from a vineyard that we can not only place on the map, but that we've actually driven by on several occasions.


It's a gorgeous rosé. And the fact that it's organic is just an added bonus. I know I'm biased, but there are not many wines I like, so this is high praise coming from me. We must drop by next time we're in the region.

Plenty more lovely pictures on their website, so have a look.

China Sichuan

They're Back! China Sichuan is open again. We tried them out last Thursday for lunch (they had a special offer  - €12.50 for a 2-course lunch, incredible value! The usual price is €15, which is still very good), and we were not disappointed. I had spring rolls and sweet and sour chicken, while Brendan had bon-bon chicken and prawns in black bean sauce. All excellent. There was a good buzz around the place, probably mostly people working in Sandyford Industrial Estate, or maybe not.

Next time, we'll try their early evening menu - 5-7:30, 2-course for €20. I can't resist a bargain.

Delighted to see them doing well. We wish them the best of luck!

Plain Truth

Jodi Picoult is a very prolific writer. While there is a sameness to a lot of her stories (young person gets into trouble, how do their parents react? a lawyer gets involved, sometimes beyond the legal realm,...), she writes well, and, with few exceptions (House Rules being the main one), I've enjoyed her books.

Plain Truth is no exception. Set in an Amish community, Plain Truth tells the story of Katie Fisher, a young Amish woman, and whether or not she had a child out of wedlock, and whether or not she killed her baby.

I thought Jodi Picoult handled the Amish angle a lot more subtly than she did the Asperger's Syndrome in House Rules. And she keeps you guessing right to the end, with plenty of potential options. Definitely one of her better ones.

PS: amazing how many different covers there are for the same book by the way (and none of the ones offered by Zemanta matched the one I read)

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

It was a case of the book cover attracting the eye rather than having read reviews about The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Now, the cover of the book does not look like the picture here, but I've just started using Zemanta, and I'm using recommended photos and links. This is quite cool if you don't have time to go looking for just the right link or just the right photo. But it kind of limits your options to the top 10, and therefore helps homogenize what appears on the web, doesn't it?

Anyways, back to the book. It's not a big book. It's quite a good story - really it's about the mother-daughter relationship, and how it can mess up your life. The characters are engaging enough, but I felt there were too many people for such a short book. Not enough time to get to know them all in depth. It probably works quite well as a movie, which is what attracted me to the book in the first place - I think I had vaguely heard about it. I did enjoy it, and I did get into it, but I think I was expecting more from the book than it was able to deliver. I might read it again in a few years' time.

And by the way, here is the cover I found through googling, and it is the actual cover of the book.Now, there are a good few steps to putting it up here, so I can see the advantage of using Zemanta if you don't have much time. You have to google it for images, then save it to your computer, then add it through blogger, find it on your computer, click here, there, ... it all takes time. But I think I'd rather make my own choices. Plus you never know what you're going to discover on the way.

Dandelions #2

And here is the Second Edition - a centred stem (maybe a little thick?) and stronger colours, but the salt didn't work as well. I wonder is it because it was so humid yesterday? So, I splattered a bit of gouache to break the expanse of strong orange.

Dandelions #1

I might as well start numbering them straight away, as I get the feeling I'm going to paint a good few of these dandelions. Ruth Harris has been a real inspiration, with her step-by-step how to paint a dandelion on the Masquepen website. (I'll also mention she's got a Zazzle shop - just like me - except she's way more talented than me!).

And I also learned lots from Ann Blockley's book on watercolour textures (another birthday present), which contains plenty of information on techniques, and some lovely paintings. Unfortunately, one of the main tools she uses is granulation medium, which I couldn't find in any of the shops here (I tried Art&Hobby in Dundrum, Nimble Fingers in Stillorgan and Kennedys in Harcourt Street.). I'll have to get it from Cheap Joes next time I'm ordering supplies.

The beauty of masking fluid is that you can let your creativity, and your paint, flow while white areas are protected. And I do find that Masquepen works best for me, and I'm delighted to have found a set with a finer nib for small detail. I've used nearly half the bottle since I bought it last weekend. Just as well, as it tends to go hard over time. So, here is my first attempt at a dandelion watercolour (major flaw is that the stem is not centered, but apart from that, I love it):

Inception

It's a good while since we'd been to the movies, but we decided to go last Sunday, as the forecast wasn't great. The day turned out better than expected, but we had our tickets booked, so we headed down to Movies @ Dundrum.

Inception is a movie for boys - with many scenes inspired by The Matrix (low-gravity fight scene), The Bourne trilogy (aerial views of exotic cities, and mad pursuits in African alleyways) and James Bond movies (bunker on top of a snow-covered mountain, lots of baddies on skis and snowmobiles).

But there is a lot more to it than just action scenes. There was plenty to keep the mind active (with lines like "whose subconscious are we in?", you know you're going to have to pay attention if you want to figure out what's going on) and there is a human angle at the heart of the story. They don't call it "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind" for nothing!

And excellent actors too - Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy and Ellen Page played the main characters.

The sets are wonderful - the scene of Paris blocks folding over each other alone was enough to get me hooked. And it's not all CGI apparently - they've filmed as much as possible "for real", before adding some CGI. According to the very interesting production notes, "one of the most complicated sets was a long hotel corridor that was able to rotate a full 360 degrees to create the effect of zero gravity".

A good movie - and, thankfully, not in 3D. I'll look forward to the DVD.

Watercolours

I found the website from the lady who gave these most helpful step-by-step instructions on how to do dandelions with masquepen. Her name is Ruth Harris. I'm going to be looking for tips on her blog! I've already done one dandelion painting following her guidance and it's not half bad. From Poppies to Dandelions we go!

Koishi

We had a lovely meal in Koishi with Niall and Rita last night. It was only our second time there. The last time was a good while back, a Saturday lunchtime I think, and we were the only ones there. But thankfully, there were a few groups last night and a bit of a buzz around the place.

When we arrived, we were served a bowl of warm edamame sprinkled with salt (much nicer than I expected) and a few pickled vegetable bites. We then had a sushi and sashimi selection - salmon, tuna, prawn, octopus and  some california rolls. And then a mix of tuna, salmon and avocado rolls. With plenty of green tea. All very healthy and fresh.

Service was very attentive and helped make the evening flow nicely.

masquepen project idea

I've found this wonderful step-by-step instruction on a link from the Masquepen website. I must try this soon!

squeezing out the last bit of paint

And one more with the same colours (and some brown ochre added to give rich tones). I do like the really small cats done with my new Masquepen supernib.

More watercolours

I hate throwing away paint. So, if I have a nice bit of paint left when I finish a painting, I tend to start another painting using the same colours. Not always the best idea. But since I got Rolina van Vliet's abstract painting book for my birthday, I can use all my wonderful left-over colours!

Here is one I produced with my Poppy #5 & Poppy #6 paints:

Sigur Rós - Ára Bátur HQ (recording)

I discovered Sigur Ros a year or two ago, when John Kelly started playing them on the JK Ensemble. I loved them instantly. I found this YouTube video on the JK Ensemble Facebook page today. It's a beautiful song, but I would recommend not to look at the singer - he's way too pale and looks like a vampire on a diet - a bit scary.