[pyä'nô nô'bē-le]

Under a Turneresque sky we ventured out on a site visit today to explore Greenwich. Leaving from Westminster Pier we traveled via boat taking in the incredible variety of architecture visible from the Thames. This Palladian gem, The Queen's House by Inigo Jones (1616-1635), was at the end of our tour. Unfortunately, we reached the galleries off the orangery (which are part of the National Maritime Museum) at closing time. Three of us stood looking thoroughly disappointed at a closed door. "Right. Just you three. In you go. Have a look." The guard opened the door to this most spectacular painting.

Artspeak

UNTITLED Bloomsbury Square, London, 5 September 2011

Although an early work, this piece spans a significant transitional period in the artist's oeuvre. The separateness of the objects within a vast field of uniformity reveals a  struggle with individuality and authenticity. Tension is further emphasized by the gesture to roll-down one of the pair representing the cultural dichotomy between youth and age. Whereas the political overtness of the piece- left vs right- is understood, one cannot readily distinguish whether movement is progressive or regressive. Furthermore, the artist has never conceded to the supposition that a subtext to this piece is the tenuous future of native cultures of the world due to deforestation,  over-urbanization, global corporate land seizures, and the misappropriation of cultural wealth by illegitimate governments for touristic schemes as a means of propping up their failing economies. 

Two Jammy Dodgers and a Cup of Tea

I imagined my inaugural post to this blog would be inspiring, possibly radical, and imbued with the spirit of revolutionary change!
Alas, it was no Sunday to write home about. In fact, I think it was a little taste of things to come.
After an uneventful voyage from Charlotte to London consisting of 2 planes, one train and a taxi, I arrived safely at my destination: SW9 (or South Lambeth). I made arrangements with my flat host, Emma, to arrive between 2 and 2:30 pm, which was my best guess at timing landing, border control, baggage, Heathrow Express train, and taxi from Paddington to get to her place. Upon opening the door there was no initial "Hello" or "Welcome" it was "You must be Patty. You're Spot on! 2 O'clock! Brilliant!" Yep, I have arrived.
The flat is lovely and well situated for the first week here as classes get started up. Friday I took a walk around the neighborhood to get my bearings. Walking through Kennington Park the sun was shining, locals were relaxing and sunbathing on the grass, and I overheard more than one person comment that it felt "like the first day of summer."
For me though, Friday was officially my last day of "vacation" before getting down to the serious business of being a student (again). So I had a pint of Stella Black at the local (The Oval Lounge) along with a meal that would make certain people very jealous. Let's just say that caramelized figs and goat-cheese crostini were involved and leave it at that.
I set several goals for Saturday and, thanks to another perfect weather day, all were achieved via the #159 bus (my new favorite). I will spare all the boring details, but most notably I now have a new mobile phone- technology circa 1997. Wait, I take that back. It has a color LCD, so, 1998? No matter, it does the job.
So here it is Sunday, the day before orientation day at SIA (for those who don't know that's Sotheby's Institute of Art). I have just completed my first assignment given to us via email. After a morning run through Kennington Park and a trip to the very super Sainsbury's (supermarket), I settled down to work with two Jammy Dodgers and a cup of tea just as it started to rain outside.
Perfect.