Well the sun is shining for the moment in London town and Summer seems to be peeking its head out of the clouds for just enough time to have a beautiful weekend of sunshine spent giggling, smiling and laughing with friends and family.
Last weekend my partner and I armed with Tupperware boxes, decided to head out into the evening sun and go blackberry picking! SO MUCH FUN!
We headed to the park, where people we riding their bikes, smiling as they cycled past tasting a few of our berries as they went past. Numerous people stopped and said it reminded them of when they were children! It did for me...memories of picking fruit with my Aunt down in Cornwall came flooding back, and despite the scratches and a few stings from the nettles on my legs, I had one of the best FREE evenings I had in a long time!
Now on to the BEST bit! My brother and his girlfriend sprung a visit on us and what better way to use the free berries than a crumble! yum! Armed with my trusty chef side kick we made, what I can honestly say..one of THE best crumbles I've ever tasted. Organic, wild, free blackberries!!!!
Blackberries, butter, green apples, sprinkle of sugar. Boom!
The best result was my brother who said "yeah I'm not really into crumbles" ended up devouring it out of the pan!
From the earth to art...simple pleasures in life are often the best
xxxx
This brings me on to my artist of the month who since I discovered on my first weekend in London have become obsessed with!!!
MEL RAMOS!
I found his book in an antique market near London fields and since then CAN'T get enough of his style and work.
'Rhubarb Ruby' The lost Paintings of 1965 #9, 1996
I love love love this painting.
Ramos, who grew up in California, embraced the pop culture scene and put his own twist on it, often using house hold items draped with beautiful pin up LA tanned girls. Everything that was mass-produced and served the masses entered into the work of the Pop artists.
I love the playfulness of these paintings, yet Ramos has developed his specific blend of artificiality and surreal precision, natural and synthetic colouring, depth and smooth flatness to perfection.
'Hamburger Hannah' The lost Paintings of 1965, watercolour 1999
What distinguishes Mel Ramos from his colleagues was the positive energy with which he represents the image of the female body in mass media, they have a friendly warmth about them.
'Barletts Pair': The lost Paintings of 1965, watercolour 1996
There are hundreds of his paintings I want to post on here, but you should check out some more of his work...the guy is amazing!!!!!!!!
I also recently stumbled across this great website...where they recently had a great interview with the cheeky painter, plus some really great interviews with the likes of Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep ... do check out this link:
click here for A-Z talks website! its cracking!!
