.
I’m outside the door
if you’d care to take a look
it’s been a long time
.
by Scooj
Waiting
Tag: London
Thursday doors – 25 April 2024 – Doors from Highgate, London
Doors 262 – Doors from Highgate, London, November 2023 (Part I)
Last November I went to London to visit one of my uncles who has been rather unwell. He lives in Highgate in North London, where I lived for much of the first eighteen years of my life. After paying my uncle a visit, I thought I’d nip up to Highgate Village which was once so familiar to me when I was growing up, and where I went to secondary school.
Of course when I lived there I never really took in the special place, the architecture and of course the doors – I think appreciation of doors is something that comes with age. This post is the first of several selections of doors that I managed to snap in the space of an hour, before a rapid retreat back to Bristol. My uncle, in case you are wondering, is recovering well albeit quite slowly. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection:
Spending time in Highgate and writing this post now fills me with nostalgia. There will be plenty more doors to come from Highgate in the next few weeks. May I wish you a very happy weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
5904. Southampton Row, London
Serendipity is real – some things are just meant to be. I recently ran a workshop in Holborn, London and had engineered enough time, after the event, to walk from Holborn to Bedford Square where I lived with my parents for a few years when I was home from University. I simply wanted to see the old place and feel that nostalgia for a time when I was in my prime. To get there, I did a spot of psychogeography, knowing roughly where I was heading, but taking a random route to get there. My reward was to stumble across this Dan Kitchener extravaganza on the NYX Hotel in Southampton Row. I had no idea of its existence.
I imagine that Dan Kitchener charged a hefty sum for this extraordinary commission incorporating a collection of pieces. The first section features one of his incredible rainy urban Tokyo scenes full of nocturnal buzz and bustle – a scene that he has perfected over many years.
Adjacent to this is a beautiful portrait, stunningly painted, of a woman wearing a see-through plastic coat and pink neon glasses, straight out of the dystopian world of Blade Runner. Indescribably brilliant.
Next up, opposite the entrance to the hotel, is this concrete column painted with an outstanding ‘wet window’ effect piece. This is such a clever technique that leaves you wondering, how on earth does he do this?
Finally, and on a huge elevation, Dan Kitchener has painted a piece which extends from the top of the hotel to the ground, a total of eleven floors I think – a truly world-class piece.
The top section of the mural features some stylised views of the city, while the bottom is a busy wet London scene, complete with red buses and black cabs – perfect for a tourist audience. Rarely does one get to see such a collection of artwork, and yet here it is in the centre of London – I wonder how many people simply walk past it without so much as a glance – more fool they. A perfect end to a great day in London.
E and R
.
You kept us waiting
twenty three years a couple
tied the knot at last
.
by Scooj
Journey
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Bristol to Bath Spa
Swindon and Didcot Parkway
London Paddington
.
by Scooj
* I know. A rather lazy haiku today.
A new dawn
.
Passing through fog banks
glimpses of sunrise between
train trip to London
.
by Scooj
Roo
A gallery of outstanding animal characters from London artist Roo.
Instargram: @roo_art
All photographs by Scooj
The visit
.
An old man declines
this strong man now so fragile
our hug long lasting
.
by Scooj
Sprint
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King’s Cross train in five
I’m in St Pancras station
an ungainly sprint
.
by Scooj
5252. Lighthouse Community Garden, London (10)
Here we have another wonderful portrait piece from the Lighthouse Community Garden in London, this time from an artist called Vane MG. She is an artist and designer originally from Colombia, but is now living and working in London. The following is from her excellent website:
She worked in the Design world from 2009 & in 2015 she started working on projects which focussed on highlighting the importance of Latin American women. Her objective is to attempt to reclaim elements of the cultural past, integrating it with the present and creating new images that help to define a lost identity.
The portrait of a young girl is exquisitely painted in lilac and turquoise tones, creating depth with clever light and shadowing. A child’s windmill is in front of the girl, whose expression is slightly haunting, with the glimmer of a smile hiding a sadness – at least that is how I see it. A truly lovely piece for another artist who needs to be snapped up for the next Upfest festival in Bristol.
Natural adventures 