Some recent excursions

Sonia Delaunay (on till 9 August) - a rather hurried visit, lingering over the portrait paintings in the first room, including some of these -

Crouch End Open Studios - how lovely to wander the back streets, enjoying the gardens, seeing inside people's houses AND seeing their art! Mark Entwistle, Jane Human, Andy Metcalf, and Julie Leonard were on my route.

Mark Entwistle, Daisey on Stairs

Jane Human, Kintyre

Andy Metcalf

Julie Leonard (artist in residence at Crossrail)

Julie was showing someone the basics of iPad drawing, which was most interesting, and whetted my appetite for the course I'll be doing in October. You can start with a photo, trace a few lines to get a "skeleton", then use that skeleton as the basis of your drawing ... interesting ...

Finally the talk by Jack Zipes about his translation of the first edition of Kinder und Hausmaerchen by the brothers Grimm. It contained a scholarly apparatus and was not an immediate best-seller, though by the 1850s it was in its 7th edition. It was a translation into English by Edward Taylor in 1823, in which he put the tales into colloquial language and added illustrations (by Cruikshank), that turned the tide and indeed changed the Grimms' mind about presentation. The rest, as they say, is history. Jack Zipes' translation is into "colloquial American - the first American translation."

Book signing queue

I bought the book (and had it signed) . Its 519 pages include illustrations, an introduction, and notes, and index - and 156 stories.