Climate Crisis - Autumn renders Holt Soupless!

Yup - autumn is really here...

1. This morning's school run required a rapid U-turn to don an extra layer.

2. The Gallery heater has been cranked back into service for the first time since last winter.

3. Chilled-out of hiding, Holt's 'invisible army' of lunching lawyers, epicurean estate agents, hungry hairdressers and snacking shop-assistants had drunk Byfords dry of soup by lunchtime!

GirlFriday was thereby rendered lunchless - even the very name of the tasty-looking 'Friday Staple' flavour chalked-up on the blackboard was gone by 1pm!

Falling back on takeaway cappuccino and a micro-ed plastic pot of pesto pasta (just not the same...) an online horoscope instructs 'share fondest fantasies today'.

Thus - by clicking on the above image - this blogger is happy to provide a DIY 'Delia-Deli-dejeuner' for fellow art-n-soup-lovers who might find themselves similarly (dis)-placed...

Sea your name in lights with Cromer's X-Factor

BBC Radio Norfolk, the EDP and the Pavillion Theatre Cromer are in search of a star for Seaside Special 2010...

The lucky hopeful will win a spot in the town's famous End-of-the-Pier show - now in its 32nd year after notching up over a million bums on seats

Entries for 'Norfolk Find a Star' close on 31st October, with successful acts being invited to audition in early November. The best of the board-treaders will then 'face the audience' in a thrilling tenner-a-ticket Showcase Final. (Hopefully the worst ones won't be forced to walk-the-plank...)

Potential stars-in-the-making (who must be aged over 17 on 1st April 2010 and be able to commit to a show season running from June to September) should send details of their act including a biography, colour head and shoulders photos and -if possible - a performance DVD to show what you can do.

Applications should be sent to: Norfolk Find a Star, The Box Office, Cromer Pier, Cromer, NR27 9HE.

Hatfield Hines' Naomi Clements inspires the EDP

Hatfield Hines artist Naomi Clements talks to the EDP about drawing, Old Masters and a room of one's own - down at the bottom of the garden...

"Naomi is a stickler when it comes to drawing. 'For me drawing is the key to good painting - you can tell by looking at a painting if the artist can draw. Drawing forms the basis of everything from the composition to the execution,' she explains.

She is very inspired by the Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershoi. 'He does these marvellous paintings of interiors where he often paints his wife as well - not as a portrait but as a rather fleeting figure who seems to add something mysterious to the mix.'

She is fascinated by the Old Masters and often visits the National Gallery to research her work. 'For portraits it may be Goya, Rembrandt or Durer. For interiors I may look at Pieter de Hooch, Vermeer and Hammershoi. I long to achieve the depth and beauty of the Old Masters but with comtemporary settings and subjects.'

Naomi's studio - at the bottom of the garden - is pristine and tidy. 'I do find my studio a haven of tranquility after the chaos and noise of family life in the main house. When I get in and close the door I breathe a huge sigh of relief,' she says."

To see more of Naomi Clements' work click here.

Something for the (Heritage) Weekend..?

Fancy getting to grips with gas, plumbing the depths of the Victorian loo or taking a sedate saunter round a stateley pile - all free gratis and for nothing? Griff reckons this weekend's Heritage Open Days event could be for you...

The annual history-fest - England’s biggest and most popular voluntary cultural event - glories in England’s architecture and culture by allowing visitors free access to the weird & whacky properties that are either not usually open, or would normally charge an entrance fee.

This year's offering - officially launched by Griff Rhys Jones and Baroness Andrews in uber trendy Brighton - also includes tours, events and activities that focus on local architecture and culture.

Co-ordinated via English Heritage, but organised by volunteers - usually property owners or managers - for local people, the event attracted around 1 million visitors last year.

Sites up for grabs for gratis this year include follies, contemporary buildings, churches, factories, tunnels, temples, offices, private homes, industrial sites, castles, windmills, town halls - guided walks, concerts, re-enactments and trails.

For full details of what's on in the Norfolk area click here to visit English Heritage's website.

To whet your appetite - look out for: Fish 'n' Ships in Great Yarmouth; Charles Darwin Visits King's Lynn; Trials at The Old Courtroom in Norwich and Civil War re-enactors setting off canons at Greenland Fishery..!

King Henry's single handed band-aid for Salthouse

Last weekend St. Nicholas's Church Salthouse was crammed with 'krummhorns', 'nakers' and 'sorduns' in the name of charity, as mad-early-music-minstrel Robert Fitzgerald brought King Henry's Band to town.

As the concert began, it occurred to the uninitiated in the audience that Ye Olde Facebook could be called for, since the 'Band' consists of Fitzgerald plus four 'missing members' (variously dismissed for a string of historic misdemeanours involving excessive imbibing, unseemly lustiness and generally ill-considered merry making).

The ensemble sound is achieved by the layered use of pre-recorded backing tracks (in which Fitzgerald plays each individual instrument) augmented with his live performance of a 'missing' instrument.

Between tunes, Kelling-dweller Fitzgerald waxed lyrical about the history, pedigree and construction of the many wind, string and percussion instruments presented including the bizarre 'gemshorn' crafted from an exotic-looking animal's horn.

The concert continued for a marathon three hours on a revolving come-and-go-as-you-please programme and raised over £400 towards church funds through contributions and CD sales.

Afterwards, Fitzgerald still had enough puff left - incredibly - to furnish groupies with tales of construction ups and downs.

We left with extensive programme notes and a CD, desperate for a peek into his garden shed!

Camden Town meets Kitchen Sink in King's Cross...

A collection of over 100 self-portraits by major British 20th Century artists is on show in a new public exhibition at canal-side King's Place Gallery in London.

The exhibition charts the myriad developing strands of an entire period in British art, spanning figures from the inter-war years through the 50s and 60s, right up to 1971. All kinds of artistic influences are evident: art school academicism, Camden Town, Expressionism, the Euston Road School and Kitchen Sink.

The collection - which represents a remarkable historical archive of the London art world in the period just after the Festival of Britain - was amassed over fifty years by German-born Ruth Borchard, who together with her husband Kurt fled to England in 1939 to escape Hitler's National Socialists.

Originally a collector of diaries, autobiographies and letters, Borchard's interest in artists was ignited after reading Jack Beddington's book 'Young Artists of Promise' and by viewing art school shows and the 'Young Contemporaries' exhibition. It struck her that the idea of introspection in painting truly meant the intimacy of the self-portrait.

With astonishing bravado, she set a ceiling of 21 guineas for any one picture, irrespective of artist, and usually succeeded.

Amongst the artists spotted by Borchard during their student days were: Mario Dubsky, Peter Philips, Antony Green, Ken Howard and David Tindle. As the collection grew, she began to approach artists more advanced in their careers, most of whom were intrigued by the project. Michael Ayrton wrote to her 'I will accept the 21 gns and I much admire anyone who can obtain so many works for no more than that figure.'

The Ruth Borchard Collection: British Self-Portraits in the 20th Century runs until 29th August.
King's Place Gallery
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
Gallery Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm; Sat 12-6pm
Admission: Free

Prince Charles' artwork to inspire budding painters

Calling all budding landscape artists... Paint or draw your 'Special Place' - inspired by Hatfield Hines' August exhibition of the works of HRH the Prince of Wales - and you could win a set of artist quality art materials.

Prince Charles's favourite places include Windsor Castle, Sandringham, the Yorkshire Dales and the Scottish Highlands - all of which he has captured in watercolour.

We now want you to show us what is special to you about your own environment. Your picture could show your favourite countryside view, a scene from your house or garden, your school, your playground or sportsfield - even your room.

Winning entries will also be featured in the Gallery.

Just the thing for those grim wet days over the long, long, long, long, long summer holidays..!

For full details, and to download an entry form (PDF) to print off at home, visit the Hatfield Hines Gallery website by clicking here.

Closing date for entries: 22nd August 2009.

Exhibition: 'A Sense of our Place: British Landscapes'
1st-29th August 2009 at Hatfield Hines, open during normal gallery hours.

Other artists featuring in the exhibition will include Paul Maze, Frank Beanland and Arthur Knighton-Hammond.

Triple encore as 'the Ukes' get plucky in Lynn

On Wednesday, anarchy hit the UK as the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain rolled into King's Lynn...

The melee in the foyer of the Corn Exchange was testament to the diverse crossover audiences which pool to form the Ukes fanbase - everything from mad-keen junior school children to pashmina-porting 'prommers' to aged rockers.

It is rare to find a band who can demonstrate classical skill and sophistication without the stuffiness; who can entertain and enthrall as well as excite; who can make the old seem new and the new seem old: that is the magic formula captured by the seven friends and 28 strings of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

With an inventive repertoire which included everything from a 'happy' version of Anarchy in the UK to a 'Cossack' slowed-down version of Formby's legendary Leaning on a Lampost to 'simul-segues' of threads of six different classic rock tunes woven into the fabric of Bowie's Life on Mars, to Teenage Dirtbag sung as a down-tempo, sentimental ballad - there was wall-to-wall delight, suprise and inspiration.

Quite simply, the best £21.50 I have spent in many a long while, and the 'Live' CD of their 16 most popular performance tracks is a bargain at £10. If you get the chance to see them - go!

Arts & Crafts at Voewood Midsummer Fete

This weekend bunting meets bedouin as millionaire book-dealer Simon Finch throws open the gates of Voewood - his amazing arts & crafts country mansion - on the outskirts of Holt.

As well as enjoying vintage clothes, arts and craft stalls, home-made cakes, preserves & teas, and Moroccan 'saw music' (no - I'm not kidding) - in the formal gardens of this listed 'Butterfly House', a number of guided interiors tours are up for grabs on both Saturday and Sunday for the lucky few who pre-book.

Following Finch up and down a plethora of wooden staircases, tour participants will discover the labyrinth of quirky, individually decorated bedrooms, bathrooms and public rooms which house his priceless modern art collection, assembled over many years.

Here's a taster, for those of you who are terribly intrigued but just can't make it...

Enjoy!

GF