{quotable thursdays/garden study}

Hello dear blogland!
I know I've fallen behind on blogging recently. But there's been lots of stuff going on in my life and this weekend marks 2 years since I moved into Chota House! It's been an exciting two years, making this little home my own.
My garden study is now almost done, with replacement light fixtures and some artwork and plants... I've come a long way!
So today's blog will look at the improvements done in the study. What I love most about my study is that all year round I still feel like I've brought the outdoors inside...and that relationship to flowers and birds and plants is calming!

{wild things}

Even on the darkest winter day, the place feels light and I have never had to put the lights on in the day....

{I collected ferns from a nearby walk & pressed them}

{plenty of entertainment for Simla, who watches the birds from the window}

{light and airy, the outside feels like it's inside!}

Before I moved in, the previous owners had done the extension and used it as a breakfast room. The red and stripes was a theme throughout the house (not particularly to my taste!):

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

The red carried from the kitchen to the study, something I quickly changed with a few coats of paint!

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

{AFTER}

& those sconces, they really had to go!

{oh dear! are we in a bad hotel from the 90s??}

{after = antique brass sconces + picture frames}

It's now simply a lovely place to work, that ties in with the garden theme outside...

How I feel at home! and what a productive space it's been!!

xo

L

{quotable thursdays}

{walking to the AAH launch event on Tuesday}

In the past week I've been at two events that give me hope in the discipline I've dedicated my life to. Last Friday I hosted an event for Open Arts Objects,  a project I'm leading, which provides short films and support materials to support the teaching of Art History in schools. (It was held at the charming Art Workers' Guild)

{presenting at the Art Workers' Guild}

For my presentation I put up on the powerpoint an excerpt from our statement that we wrote during the campaign to save the A-level Art History:

One of Art History’s many strengths is that it is fundamentally interdisciplinary. Through the study of art you can learn about gender relations, philosophy, anthropology, sociology or economics, not to mention its important relationship with history. At a time when everyone is glued to their smartphones, looking at images on twitter, Instagram or Facebook, the ability to understand, and more importantly, to be able to analyse critically the wealth of images that bombard us seems more pressing than ever.

It's been hard work but well worth it, and I would say perseverance is the key... Recently I've been busier than ever and feeling rather stressed. But for the first time in my life, I feel like things are starting to fall into place, and the hard work has paid off.

{success}

On Tuesday I was at another event, the launch of the new redesigned Association for Art History (previously the Association of Art Historians). There, once again was a palpable energy...energy in a discipline that is seeking to widen its horizons by expanding global definitions of art, and doing so by teaching a global art history. An Art History for all, not only for a select few. We are a discipline that is seeking to widen participation in every possible way. 

It's exciting times and I'm happy to be apart of it.

{new horizons!}

If you've got time, why don't you check out our really short films? you might learn a thing or two! and not just about art but about the complexities of our world.

xo

L

{quotable thursdays}

Happy Thursday! You know what Thursday means? Friday is tomorrow!
It's been quite a week!
On Monday I went to the Rothschild Headquarters at New Court for a champagne reception. Way up in the Sky Pavilion the views were fabulous and it is a completely different take on London from those heights. It was a fascinating evening filled with enough characters to write a novel with.

 Baron de Rothschild was there as well as a handful of wealthy art collectors, and a Russian oligarch (descendent of Napoleon's niece), and then some academics and historians of collecting thrown in for good measure. The accents were marvellous, or should I say marbellous--yes, full of marbles (!) Following a presentation we sipped on delicious Rothschild wines and ate delicious hors d'oevres...

{the smallest fish & chips I've ever had!}

{love looking down on the gardens & rooftop restaurants}

{the sun was setting as we left}

Then Tuesday I sat in an MA exam board and have been busy since then going through my long to-do list, as well as preparing for the big launch/info event for Open Arts Objects that I'm organsing/hosting tomorrow at the Art Workers' Guild.

So today, a reminder to look up...and never stop! You might just find yourself on top of the world, or in a Sky Pavillion!!!

{look up!}

{the views from the Rothschild headquarters' Sky Pavilion}

xo, 

L

{sisters reunion}

Today I went for a lovely country walk in the perfect English summer sunshine--the birds were singing and as I walked through some farmland and across a bridge over a stream, I came across children who were busy catching crayfish. It brought back memories of my childhood, reading of heroines walking through the English countryside in my favourite novels by Jane Austen, the Brontës, George Elliot...the list goes on. Growing up the youngest of five girls, it's no surprise we liked to think we were the Bennett sisters and would often get dressed up in bonnets & long dresses and pretend we were walking to Meryton.
So it was with great excitement that we decided to have our sisters reunion at my house here in England in April. We didn't receive a proposal from Mr Darcy, but we did enjoy country walks, stately homes, lots of tea, and a masked ball.
I realise these pics are very late--it has been a particularly hectic time with work, finishing up two books on top of lots else, but looking at these pictures brings a big smile to my face & I feel so very fortunate to call these amazing women my sisters!

{Woburn Abbey}

{having tea in the gardens at Woburn Abbey}

{& of course! matching pjs to drink our tea in!}

{& a Sunday roast dinner dressed in our finest!}

{masked ball}

{we are 5!}

So you can see we really had fun! Now I just can't wait for the next reunion!
xo
L