Makers at The Mill Exhibition...... Bromley-by-Bow

On Thursday I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the PV of a new exhibition at The House Mill, Three Mills which is running until Sunday 28th September 2014. There are several artists and designer-makers involved with this and the work on show ranges from photography and ceramics to large art pieces.

The invite came from fellow London Historian and illustrator Jane Young who is one of the exhibitors and an invite was also extended to Alan and Janetta Waltham who were behind the East London Art Group's recent show at Bow Arts The Nunnery.  After many months of missing each other I also got to meet artist Marc Gooderham whose work I have admired since seeing an exhibition at the Town House on Fournier Street earlier this year.

Thank you for the invite Jane and wishing all of you a very successful show.

It is a lovely exhibition and in such a fabulous setting but only on for another week. Full details are below...

Further information can be found here.. The House Mill

The Cornershop Bethnal Green

At the beginning of August a new shop opened in Bethnal Green just behind Columbia Road, a new cornershop but a cornershop like no other!  The shop looks like it has been fully stocked with groceries, sweets and newspapers but look a little closer and you'll see they are all made of FELT.

It is the work of Lucy Sparrow and it took 8 months to produce the 4,000 plus items. I visited yesterday with some friends and we spent a very long time looking at each individual item and seeing something new at every turn.  You cannot buy the 'stock' however you can order items to be collected or sent on to you. Lucy has also been running a series of workshops.

The exhibition is on until 31st August and is open between 10am and 7pm. Lucy can be found at Sew Your Soul or @sewyoursoul #thecornershop.  The 'shop' will be moving to a gallery in Brighton soon!

TIME Tattoo Art Today at Somerset House

This free exhibition started last month at Somerset House and had been on my To Do List for a while.  It is situated in the Embankment Galleries and displays original artworks from some of the most well known tattoo artists from around the world. Over 70 of them are represented in this colourful and thought provoking exhibition.

The theme of the exhibition is Time and the brief was to create an original artwork on any surface except skin, their favoured medium! My favourite is the beautiful Rouge painting by Rose Hardy.

It has been curated by Claudia De Sabe and Miki Vailetto and runs until the 5th October 2014. 

 Detail Rouge by Rose Hardy

Tower Hamlets at Street Level Bank Holiday Walks

Way back in April I mentioned that I was going to be doing an Introduction to Guiding Course in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and I don't think I've mentioned it again since... well a lot has happened since then....

I've walked an enormous number of the streets of TH, learnt the wonderful history relating to areas, buildings and people, met some great people who are also as mad about London as myself and as a result of the course I'm doing a stop on a guided walk very very soon!

After our course finished a core group of about 10 of us plus five guides who did walks for us each Saturday decided that it would be great to keep the momentum going and start looking into the possibility of putting a Tower Hamlets Guiding project together and the Tower Hamlets Walkshop evolved!  Course leader David Charnick discussed the possibility of starting with a series of  FREE walks over the Bank Holiday Weekend 23rd to 25th August 2014 one of which would involve six of the trainee guides.  This particular walk will take place on Sunday afternoon at 3pm and covers Bethnal Green and Mile End.

The other walks look at the very different areas around Mile End, Bow, Poplar, Limehouse, Stepney and a different side of Bethnal Green.

There is still more to learn about Tower Hamlets but I feel I know it as well as my home Borough now!

Here is the link to book these free walks on Eventbrite.  There are limited spaces so please book early!

There is also a page on Facebook with further information TH Walkshop

The RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 - The London Aquatics Centre

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for the Olympic Delivery Authority this building has been constructed and then partially deconstructed over the last nine years and this week saw it's finished beauty make the RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist 2014. The winner will be chosen on 16th October 2014 from a list that contains two other London candidates the LSE Saw Swee Hock Student Centre and The Shard.

I have visited The London Aquatics Centre often since it opened it's doors to the public, even attending a World Series Diving event and it is a very special place. Looking around you see concrete shaped into extraordinary curves and the metal fittings up in the spectator gallery mirroring those used in and around the pools...the pool steps and diving board handrails.  I particularly like the diving platforms, again shaped in concrete and the stunning ceiling.  When it was first opened you could look out of the windows on both sides however, those to the right looking towards the City have now been obscured.

Now that the side wings have been removed the building looks perfect and definitely worthy of being on the shortlist.  The building is now in the hands of GLL and open to the public for swimming, diving and swimming lessons.  If you don't fancy going for a swim and just want to have a look around the inside you can wander for as long as you'd like for £1.00! There is also a cafe area at entrance level.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this space is crowned overall winner for 2014!