A painting what I did for my son

Tue, Jul 8th 2008, 10:18

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Some holiday pictures

Mon, Jun 1st 2009, 10:53

A couple of watercolours I did while chilling out in Cornwall. Never been a big one on painting but I quite like these.

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Forest tea

Tue, Jun 2nd 2009, 09:20

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The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Thu, Jul 2nd 2009, 09:00

The other night Greg and I had the pleasure of being invited to a private exhibition and meal by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in our home town of Stratford upon Avon.

I have to admit to having a preconception that the tour and facilities would be a bit old hat, with nothing much to see. I'm not quite sure where this preconception came from, but it's probably common to people living on top of tourist attractions. I remember visiting Toronto and going up the CN Tower - then chatting with a local policewoman who'd lived in the city all her life and never been up the tower!

In fact, the team running the Trust were really friendly, forward thinking and the pre-tour audio-visual experience was actually very engaging. It was a little like a ghost train (without the train) where you are led through a series of rooms which feature different artefacts, models and mini-films about Shakespeare's life (read by Juliet Stevenson and Patrick Stewart).

The highlight of this had to be the First Folio which they have on display. Wow! We didn't expect that to be there. Without the printed folios Shakespeare's plays would have disappeared into history. Shakespeare himself might have been forgotten. Stratford upon Avon would certainly be a different place and I would never have met my wife (yes Shakespeare was part of the reason we met!). The First Folios originally cost £1. One was sold in 2006 for just under £3million. Not a bad investment if you happen to have lived for 400 years.

We were then given a tour of their exhibition "Shakespeare Found" by Stanley Wells CBE, which features some remarkable portraits of the bard himself, including the Cobbe portrait which may represent the closest likeness of the man compared to any other scultpure, engraving or painting.

It also has portraits of Shakespeare's patron The Earl of Southampton - who may also have been the bard's Master-Mistress (sonnet 20) if you know what I mean!

Anyway, if you're in Stratford, I'd certainly recommend to take a visit to the Centre on Henley Street. Well worth it.

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