The Collection at the Royal Academy

Posted on June 4, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…a gem in Piccadilly Circus

After seeing the Victor Hugo show we made our way to the first floor to check out the main permanent collection. We were blown away when we rounded the corner and came across two giant murals on opposite sides of the room.

One was a replica of the Last Supper.

I had no idea that the original painted by Leonardo da Vinci had deteriorated very quickly and many of the features seen in the replica are no longer visible on the original. Several of da Vinci’s students painted the replica roughly 20 years after the original was completed.

These threes paintings are replicas of Rafael’s work created by Sir James Thornhill, almost 200 years after the originals were made.

The rest of the gallery housed everything from classical to contemporary sculptures and paintings.

*Futuristic work station installation made with aluminum*

We ended our day with a lovely soup from the RA café.

Street Art Along Church Street in Stoke Newington

Posted on June 3, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…London, England

Street art is everywhere in London but especially on the walls surrounding construction sites. These panels are directly across from Clissold Park.

CFFC – Things Made of Metal

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…Thanks to Dan from No Facilities for hosting CFFC https://nofacilities.com/2025/06/02/things-made-of-metal-cffc/

Pull Up a Seat at the V&A East Storehouse

Posted on May 31, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Xing Fu Mama for hosting the Pull Up a Seat Photo Challenge https://xingfumama.blog/2025/05/30/pull-up-a-seat-photo-challenge-2025-week-22/

The V&A East Storehouse officially opens to the public this weekend. Kevin and I were given a private tour of the facility on Thursday by our son Brendan.

Vivienne Chow from Artnet News has written an excellent article about this amazing space and one press release said that ´the museum is the exhibit’ . https://news.artnet.com/art-world/inside-va-east-storehouse-2651021?amp=1

One place where you can actually pull up a seat is here where you can recline back and enjoy this wooden Spanish fresco from the 15th century.

Here are a few more seats to enjoy.

If you live in London or are planning a trip to this great city, the V&A East Storehouse is a must see.

A Trip to Piccadilly and the Royal Academy of Art

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…the bus took 29 stops before we arrived at our destination

By the time we arrived in Piccadilly we needed a coffee. We knew that we were going to a pay a premium price going into the bistro that we chose but we didn’t care. We just wanted a comfortable place to sit, a good cup of coffee and a small treat. We thoroughly enjoyed our coffees and Kevin said that his pain de raisin was the best one he ever had. I checked the prices for the same thing in the art gallery coffee shop and they were very similar. In fact coffee everywhere in London runs about £4 or more in coffee shops.

After being thoroughly caffeinated we headed out to find the Royal Academy of Art. We walked too far and passed some very pricey shops but happened to stumble upon a gallery shop featuring David Hockney. Kevin and I love his work but a single print sells for £80,000.

We had a very nice conversation with gallery administrator about Hockney’s work and she directed us back to the RAA.

The Royal Academy of Art is featuring the drawings of Victor Hugo, the famous French author and play write from the 19th century.

More about the RAA tomorrow…..

Trios from the V & A East Storehouse

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Mama Cormier

What an amazing place. I’ll be writing about our visit in a separate post. If you have any photos of trios to share just copy my link and paste it into your post. I’ll be sure to check it out.

Monster Monday from London

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…back to using watercolours

This week Kevin decided to lay down some watercolour onto to paper and then looked for any shapes that emerged and from there created his monsters.

*Sevin thought this one looked like a sea monster dragon*

A Trip to the Artist Run Gallery in Angel

Posted on May 24, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in this lovely little gallery

The Bakery Art Run Gallery is situated on a small side street and is home to the work of 19 artists who curate the work themselves and is always manned by one the artists. On the day we went we met Natalie Kingdoms who specializes in silk screen printing using half tone dots. For more information about the gallery you can check out their website: https://thebakeryartgallery.com/

Trios of the Art Project

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…for Thursday Trios

If you have any trios you’d like to share, I’d love to see them. Just copy my link and paste it into into your post.

A Week of Art

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Mama Cormier

…enjoying other people’s art

Last Thursday I enjoyed a concert in the afternoon put on by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. They featured the tenor Asitha Tennekoon with pianist Steven Philcox and a string quartet. Here is short description of this man’s musical journey into opera.

https://www.amplifiedopera.com/asitha-tennekoon

After this very moving concert I walked over WAAC and took in the the show featuring photography for this year’s Contact Show.

On Saturday Kevin and I drove to the Better Living Building and spent a couple hours exploring the beautiful art at the Toronto Art Project. It was fun meeting artists that we followed on Instagram and conversing with new artists.

*That’s me being secretly photographed while speaking with the artist*

On Saturday Kevin and I continued our our art filled weekend and took the train into the city and enjoyed an afternoon listening to a big band group of young people , the Angela Pincente Orchestra at the famous Rex.

The Rex is Toronto’s oldest jazz club.https://www.therex.ca/events/angela-pincente-large-ensemble-9gmm4-txnft-w799d-h3m7j