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Talented Polish/British artist Googie McCabe creates lush vintage inspired illustrations steeped in Polish folklore. Her art is brimming with timeless wisdom and she harnesses the pleasures and pains of being a mum to create beautiful and often hilarious paintings, illustrations and books. I have always drawn, painted and doodled. My first pregnancy somehow unlocked it...…
Continue reading ➞ Artists and Writers in Their Own Words: Googie McCabe
You shouldn't want it all by Piet Hein You shouldn't want it all You are only one part You own a world in the world You need to make it whole Choose just one path, and be as one with it. Other paths must wait. We always come back. Don't hide from troubles. Confront them…
Continue reading ➞ Comforting thought: You shouldn’t want it all
Immensely talented Irish composer and musician Gareth Quinn Redmond reinterprets and pays homage to Japanese Environmental Music or Kankyō Ongaku in his music. A genre inspired by the conceptual genius of Erik Satie's Furniture music, which then found fertile growth in Japan in the 1970s and 80's. [Kankyō Ongaku] leads the listener into another world,…
Continue reading ➞ Artists and Writers In Their Own Words: Gareth Quinn Redmond
Jane Cornwell creates soothing and emotional art that speaks to the soul I was accepted for Glasgow School of Art age 16 and I loved it... I have a notebook from school, age 5, with a little drawing of me standing at an easel. I’ve always had a compulsive need to draw, paint and make…
Continue reading ➞ Artists and Writers In Their Own Words: Jane Cornwell
Do you need some hope in your life? Do you want to feel some love and light in your bones and restore some wairua (spirit) to your life? Here is a beautiful Māori waiata (song) Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art). I'm not really that religious, but this song made me feel something in my…
Continue reading ➞ Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art) by Hollie Smith & Teeks
"When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
“Wisdom is oft-times nearer when we stoop than when we soar.” ― William Wordsworth, The Excursion 1814 “Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.”― William Wordsworth “With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.”― William…
Japan is a country close to my heart and since I first went there a few years ago, I have become a big fan of Japanese fiction and Asian fiction translated to English. Japanese fiction tends to emphasise the liminal and fantasy aspects hidden at the edges of everyday reality and also exploring the inner…
Continue reading ➞ Seven Unique and Moving Fictional Books Set in Japan
Lost Wisdom and its two other companion books Lost Crafts and Lost Lore are beautifully typeset and laid out. Their contents are a cabinet of curiosities - a wunderkammer of the same sort as the Book of Barely Imagined Beings, which I have mentioned in the past. Although in this case Lost Wisdom runs the…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Lost Wisdom by Una McGovern and Paul Jenner
Edward Brooke Hitching, history-hound, lover of quirky things and writer for the ever-popular and erudite quiz show QI, has written The Sky Atlas. A treasury and history of some of humankind’s most beautiful maps and charts. Yet this book is more than that, it’s a sparkling and glittering array of sky-bound achievements. It’s a visual…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: The Sky Atlas by Edward Brooke Hitching
Highland Cows or as they are commonly known in Scotland Highland Coos are an ancient breed known to have grazed the rugged Scottish landscape since the sixth century. Their genetic origins are still up for debate. They may be native to Scotland or introduced by the Vikings to Great Britain. One scientific train of thought…
Continue reading ➞ Travel: A History of the Beautiful Highland Cow
1. Natalie Wong's exquisite and strange fantasy coral murals made from paper https://youtu.be/KjuITFhgP0s Read more 2. This guy who really wanted McDonalds but could only go through the Drive-Thru https://twitter.com/vickie19761/status/1268158165377482753?s=20 3. How to break free of the stimulation nation Some advice from the always relevant Dr Eric Perry Here are some steps that I use…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet this Week #11
Mother Nature - I don’t really need people but people need me
For every force, there is a counter force. Violence, even well intentioned, Always rebounds upon oneself.
1. Subterranean murmurs and echoes from beneath the ice Two hours of haunting, swirling and otherworldly sounds as ice crackles in a frozen river in Sweden. This is a nice lullaby for going to sleep. Although you may have strange vivid dreams! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-CwJa1SHE 2. Jessica Baumgartner on how to find balance on a global, local…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet this Week #10
Many years ago, I went hiking in Ireland in Glendalough I saw some magical landscapes. Ireland has a beautiful soft light in the summer. The diffused sunlight is speckled with clouds that pass over the vast valleys and mountain-sides. It's possible to sit there all day and just watch the way the light travels over…
Continue reading ➞ Travel: Among the Irish Faeries and Norse Gods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-dRf7Zxf8Q We write to taste life twice...in the moment and in retrospection. Those few moments of communion with the world are worth the pain. Writing is worth it for others. It's an inheritance for others. A gift to others in the end. One has to create a world in which to live. I could not…
Wherever you are, whatever stresses you are feeling, just remember the free and beautiful moments and memories from your world, relish and collect them and hold them close to you. They will sustain your heart when it feels fragile and sustain your soul when you are riven with fear. You have oceans of love inside…
Continue reading ➞ Hold the shell of your consciousness to your ear
Here are some randomisities both old and new that I found this week and wanted to share with you. Take 1 or two with a cup of tea and a few buttered scones and have a good lie down if you want to have a break from the world for a while. 1. In the…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Uplifting Things I Found on the Internet This Week #8
According to the Romans, every sound and motion the bird made had a different meaning according to different circumstances, times of the year and other factors.
Today is the longest night and the shortest day in one of the most southerly capital cities in the world. There rain and hail is incessant and the amber glow of my salt lamp guides my thoughts towards reflecting on life, love, and the progress of time. Yule is a time to give thanks and…
Art Historian Jake Hartnell takes us on a macabre and enthralling journey from head to toe in the medieval human body. This is fascinating because, even though we share the same bodies as our medieval ancestors, we had wildly diverging beliefs about the inherent symbolic power of parts of our bodies and what could heal,…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Medieval Bodies Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jake Hartnell
This is an incredible book. Written by Desmond Morris who is a prominent Zoologist and well-known for his book The Naked Ape. It's possibly less widely known that Morris was himself a surrealist and knew many of the prominent surrealists in the art movement. I have to admit not knowing much about Surrealism prior to…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: The Lives of the Surrealists by Desmond Morris
1. Moons of Nirn: A 90 minute atmospheric ambient mix An epic and transporting mix of emotional ambient music, along with stunning footage of the Aurora Borealis. This makes for an awe-inspiring background soundtrack to the rest of my top ten. https://youtu.be/U9Phu1vCUVE 2. Wycrow: Finding Stillness Inspiring fellow blogger Wycrow talks about how to find…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Uplifting things I found on the internet this week #7
