Paris

At the start of this month I joined the college trip to Paris. I concentrated on my small watercolour set. Here are a few of the results.


Becka couldn't resist playing games with the ancient stone monkeys in the Louvre. Here she and Josef are, demonstrating their full respect for the exhibits.

Wine Labels & Calligraphy

I give you my wine label find of the year so far.

I enjoy the contents, but the label is very important in swaying me to spend my pounds on a bottle. This one was brought by a guest, but I certainly would have headed straight for it in a shop. Many of the dark lines in the design are gold on the label; and pomegranates are one of my favourite devices. Here's the back.
Joe Staples showed me the work of the calligrapher and wine label artist Jordan Jelev at this site.

... which leads on to Niels Shoe Meulman's work under the title of Calligraffiti, much of which is collected in a desirable book. Both of these artists mix the density of European scripts with the flair of Islamic calligraphy with a poise that I envy.

Cats

Living with a cat for the first time is a distracting experience. His name is Mopsy. He reminds me of Edward Lear's set of pictures of his cat Foss in heraldic poses.