‘Si toute vie va inévitablement vers sa fin,
nous devons durant la nôtre,
la colorier avec nos couleurs d’amour et d’espoir…’

Marc Chagall

Some of the things I like; to begin, a general archive of this and that…

Train journeys through Switzerland, drawing like dancing, the poetry of line, painting, beautiful textiles  – crushed silk, creased white linen, crêpe de Chîne, more painting!  The ‘Très Riches Heures’ as well as contemporary art, contemplation on the way of things, spending time with friends…

French literature, aubergine coloured silk, dark green and crimson velvets, la bîche blanche, commedia dell’arte, muscat grapes, pears with Brillat Savarin, fromage de chèvre, Amarone, venison, figs, chestnuts, the opera, November foods, Charlemagne – chocolats amers belgiques, aux saveurs subtiles des gingembres de la Chîne… storytelling.

Nureyev, les vieilles tapisseries, chanterelles, fresh lemon verbena, Venice, raspberries, the smells at night in the orchid house of the botanical gardens, the Akris winter collection, Hokusai, the Parfin de Siècle theater company, astronauts, my cream kid leather gloves, haikus, Vienna, beautiful shoes, borsalino hats, big old libraries, japanese rhubarb, camellia, monnaie de pape, acorns and witch-hazel seeds. Tulpenbaum seeds, wisteria, anemone furs, seeds in every shape and size, saving these for sustainability’s sake in our own garden’s  seedbank.

Handwritten letters, exquisitely decorated fans, soft pink lining, Maseratis, masks, old dictionaries, serendipitous encounters, cloaks, gilt mirrors, peony roses, le tour Eiffel, Bally boots, blueberries, Ricardo Muti, the sea, Isola Bella, wallpaper, monasteries, the patterns and the dancing of light reflected through the window on the wall… new books and old. Thimbles. Another new word in another new language. Captain Kirk. Bourdieu’s discourses on cultural capital, the knowledge that nothing is ever as it seems… the belief that good architecture can re-create the soul.

Nature; le jardin secret and its many facets – the gossamer light of spring, the intensity of summer, the subtle odours of autumn… and the silent beauty of the first snows.

Art for Art’s sake…