Monthly Archives: January 2011
I am 36 turning 37
So Tuesday I turn 37 and I was a little anxious about reaching such an age but my old philosophy of age doesn’t matter still rings true – mentally I still think I am 18 and I am out there doing things and enjoying life so age is irrelevant.
The cat that's got the cream
I am not one for organising birthday parties or drinks for myself but this year I felt I wanted to celebrate.
We started our day in Convent Garden having a browse around shops such as Penhaligons and Molton Brown where we bought some nice things for the bathroom. Following this we made our way through the hoards of tourists (I really do hate Covent Garden) had the obligatory visit to the Apple store and then onto Ecco as I wanted to look for some new work shoes.
Friends and readers of old will know the trouble I have had with my back – well sadly it has returned and a visit to the doctor this week highlighted therapy, drugs or a possible visit to hospital again for another round of injections. I don’t want the drugs or injections so hope that my new round of physio which starts this week will help sort matters out.
Anyway… I went to Ecco as their shoes are tremendously comfortable, they give sufficient support and last an absolute age. The Firetrap boots I bought not 3 1/2 months ago have started to fall apart and I am sure the crap soles on them are the root cause of my back pain.
So I tried on some shoes and have opted for some classic tan brogues and am now £100 worse off then when I began (actually that’s not strictly true as Richard gave me some money for my birthday so this goes towards the shoes…). I hope they end up helping my back and I can return to full health as soon as possible.
From Covent Garden we made our way to Leicester Square where we were mindful of the vibrations from the helicopter above which signalled the student rally which was passing through the Square. We took diversionary tactics and managed to avoid the mob (apparently the rally was peaceful), and headed over to Piccadilly and the White Cube Gallery.
The latest exhibition, the Urethra postcard art of Gilbert and George is on and it’s as enlightening, filthy, entertaining, disgusting and fun as any work I have ever seen the suited artists produce.
Courtesy of Gilbert and George
I was a little shocked when a well-to-do couple brought their 3-year-old son in to run around – after the mother finally clocked all the cock, butts and tits on display the husband and the child left the gallery 
))
Following the White Cube we stopped at a Patisserie in Piccadilly where we gorged ourselves on cream tea (as you can see from the photo above), as if this wasn’t decadent enough we then had a browse around Jermyn Street and Fortnum and Masons (Richard hopefully will have gotten the hint about the Vivienne Westwood laptop bag!).
So from Piccadilly we made our way through the West End, avoiding the police vans, the crowds, Una Stubbs and the police helicopters to wind up in The Duke of Wellington (does anyone see a pattern forming here) where we met friends for a couple of drinks before heading off to the Eagle Bar Diner.
The Welly was full of large bears yesterday – more so than normal. I felt positively svelte when compared to the clientele. It felt like they’d all be rounded up and herded into the Welly to keep them off the streets.
I do enjoy watching the pattern of events in such bars, the comings, the goings, watching whose cruising who, seeing whose looking at you etc – I find it quite amusing. Of course the introduction of a particularly fit friend of mine to the bar had some eyes headed naturally in our direction! LOL
So as mentioned in the review below we had a rather raucous time in the Eagle Bar Diner with lovely food, great cocktails and wine and lots of merriment. I am not sure such places are that plentiful in London but it was fun to be able to attend for a meal and then the place kind of morphed into a bar/club – the DJ was spinning some interesting tunes – the music in fact was very good.
I had a lovely day, a wonderful evening and our friends made me feel sufficiently special for my birthday – there were some encouraging comments about the painting too – I look forward to delivering it to the Royal Academy.
Today will be much quieter – we had a late night and have both had busy weeks again so today will be spent chilling out and resting my back.
I hope you’ve all had fun this weekend?
Oh I just want to say Hi to Jeff and best of luck with the move to San Francisco (via New York darling!)
Qype: Eagle Bar Diner in London
London – Eating & Drinking – Pubs & Bars – Bars – Eating & Drinking – Restaurants – American
A group of us booked this place for my birthday as we wanted to try a new venue. I am not sure what we expected but what we were pleasantly surprised.
As there were six of us and we booked we were given a booth, for a Saturday evening it wasn’t particularly busy but there seemed to be customers in and out all night.
Eagle sells itself as a Bar Diner but to be honest I am not sure I would go there just for a drink – although plenty of people were doing so.
The predominant food stuff is burgers but various meats and styles which separates the Eagle apart from the swarm of gourmet burger places currently flooding London.
We all had various burgers from traditional, Italian, Greek (Lamb) and Hog all of which were lovely. The meat is top quality and the food is cooked exactly as you request.
My friends had cheesy fries and they were not up to par as they were french fries and ultimately not very nice. I had the chunky chips with my main course and they were lovely.
All the courses, the starters (large sharing platters) and American style desserts were lovely and all cooked very well… We left the Eagle Diner very full but happy.
The cocktail menu is rather vast and we all thoroughly enjoyed the cocktails we had ordered including the current cocktail of the week. There is a small selection of wines but the wine and red we ordered was lovely.
I have to give a special mention to the staff who were friendly and very attentive. Poor Oscar (a young waiter who just moved to London from Uruguay/and Gran Canaria) didn’t quite know what hit him when he had to deal with us – as you can see we asked him several personal questions! That said he took it all in his stride and for that he received a generous tip.
Lovely food, big venus, great cocktails and a central location – how can it fail?
Check out my review of Eagle Bar Diner – I am trunkguy – on Qype
Well it’s done…
Frame fitted, sealed and tagged. “My Baby” is ready to be delivered to the Royal Academy of Arts at the end of March.
It’s the weekend!
Whatever you are up to this weekend have lots of fun.
Me – it’s my birthday next week so I am going to enjoy a day in town with my baby, Gilbert, George and some friends! Who knows I may see you about town!
Gilbert & George
9 years ago…
9 years ago Richard and I met and our lives have never been the same since.
Happy 9th Anniversary Sweetie xxxxx
I’ll take that bet!
A rare glimpse of Prince online – and this is a very rare appearance on the Muppet Show (Muppets Tonight) from the 1900′s
A decision has been made
Firstly I would like to say thank you to everyone who took the time to browse through my work and leave me at least with a vote for your favourite painting.
All of my paintings received a number of votes but there were a number of works that did much better than others. You particularly liked Orford Ness and Sunrise over the M5 (above).
In fact “M5″ and one other work in particular were pretty much neck and neck when it came to your votes and your feedback.
I found this a fascinating exercise as I am usually quite shy and self-critical when it comes to my painting and I was heartened and interested by the wealth of feedback and comments I received from you all.
As I mentioned M5 came in alongside another painting, both of which I wasn’t sure I would even consider entering into this years Summer Exhibition. It was the feedback from you guys that led me to consider entering these works in the first place.
I did tell myself that I would see how the voting went but decide myself what to enter at a later stage. In the end I have agreed with the consensus and will enter the piece that you all like the most.
Most of you made great comments about it such as it being “very personal”, “individual”, “emotional” and that it would “stand out”. I have taken a hard look at the work and decided I will give it a go…
Therefore this morning I visited a local framers and have had the painting measured for a natural frame to accompany it – once this is complete I can then finish all the forms and get them in the post in good time.
What was the work? Well it was “My Baby“…
It will be very interesting to see if it gets in as I am entering a completely different work from what I did previously. This is definitely outside of my comfort zone, being more abstract and cubist in its execution but I agree, it is a very personal piece (and a painting that has been on a shelf in our dining room for about 4 or 5 years!).
I did enjoy painting this portrait and a lot of love and patience went into it as it took weeks to complete. I remember Richard thinking it wasn’t finished but this was exactly the effect I wanted to create with the work.
Maybe you all saw something in the time and effort I put into the painting? Maybe you saw that this is a very personal piece for me (and a portrait which I am convinced I am crap at painting!).
Whatever any of this means it does ultimately mean that not only could I have a painting hanging in the Royal Academy of Arts but it would be one of Richard – we’d both be on show!
Thanks again for your kind words, feedback and critiques – please keep everything crossed for me!
If you’d like to see more of my work please visit my page on the Saatchi Gallery website.
Worst day of the year? Crap week?
The news was full of stories of the most depressing day of the year and loads of people are commenting that this week has been dreadful… here’s a little pick me up to (hopefully) bring a smile to your face and start off your weekend in the right mood…
