O for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. So wrote William Shakespeare in the Prologue to Henry V – and a few days ago we were in the garden at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, site of Shakespeare’s former family home – infusing marbles with the power of that same muse.Continue reading “Garden of Significant Inspiration and Curious A-MUSE-ments at Shakespeare’s New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon”
Category Archives: Art
What does Eadfrith, artist-scribe of the Lindisfarne Gospels, have to teach creative writers and artists today?
Nothing much, you may think – because Eadfrith was a seventh century monk in a monastery on an island, and we live in the fast, materialistic, time-pressured world of 2016. I’ve just spent three days on Lindisfarne (otherwise known as Holy Island), just off the Northumberland coast, where Eadfrith sat in the monastery scriptorium and scribedContinue reading “What does Eadfrith, artist-scribe of the Lindisfarne Gospels, have to teach creative writers and artists today?”
Rain Soaked Odyssey of Delight Round Highgrove Garden
Drenching rains accompanied our tour round HRH the Prince of Wales’ intriguing garden at Highgrove but with so much to wonder at, we all kept going and completed the tour. Highgrove Garden made me think of the plot of a children’s book, quirky, fun, playful. At every turn there is a new surprise, like somethingContinue reading “Rain Soaked Odyssey of Delight Round Highgrove Garden”
Believing in Dreams
It is a dream… of what has never been… true, it has never been, and therefore, since the world is alive, and moving yet, my hope is the greater that it one day will be… dreams have before now come about of things so good… we scarcely think of them more than the daylight, thoughContinue reading “Believing in Dreams”
Witty Insight into the London Art World
For all those who’ve wondered how one starts to get noticed as an artist in London, and is in the mood for a light-hearted approach to the subject I can recommend a book which might have escaped my notice if I hadn’t recently met the author at a conference. Emily Benet first posted her bookContinue reading “Witty Insight into the London Art World”
Red Poppies and the Power of Story at The Tower of London
A family trip to the Tower of London at the weekend reminded me once again of how much I love visiting English castles. at the Tower of London (photo credit SC Skillman) I was trying to account for this in one of my previous posts, but a fellow-writer put it beautifully; when you go roundContinue reading “Red Poppies and the Power of Story at The Tower of London”
200 Years of Australian Art at the Royal Academy: Connections Between Painting and the Spiritual Realm
From indigenous art through to ‘discovery’ by European explorers, this exhibition of Australian paintings at the Royal Academy, London, in November 2013 took me on a journey through the spiritual heart of Australia. As Russell Drysdale said, “In Australia there is a quality of strangeness that you do not find … anywhere else.” Reviews of theContinue reading “200 Years of Australian Art at the Royal Academy: Connections Between Painting and the Spiritual Realm”
What Do We Do About Art? There’s Always a Little Shop At The End
What do we do about art when we wander around great art galleries and museums? We see wonderful things on the walls and maybe we’re overwhelmed. These great art works are distanced from us, somehow, by the awesome spaces and dimensions of the gallery. We could never have these original art works on the wallsContinue reading “What Do We Do About Art? There’s Always a Little Shop At The End”
Passion, Obsession and Curiosity at the Alternative Guide to the Universe, Hayward Gallery, London
What makes art? A listener posed this question to our tour guide as we stood looking at two art gallery walls covered with self-portraits of a bag lady, taken in various public photo booths. And this was the question I pondered as I , with my two teenage children, looked round an exhibition of wondersContinue reading “Passion, Obsession and Curiosity at the Alternative Guide to the Universe, Hayward Gallery, London”
I’m on Instagram!
I have just joined Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/scskillman I’ll be posting pictures relating to my books and anything else that takes my fancy. I’ll also be posting individual character pictures, and pictures relating to the themes of Mystical Circles. Many of the pictures and photos will be created by my talented media student daughter Abigail Robinson. IfContinue reading “I’m on Instagram!”
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