Sharon Kendrick's Blog, page 25

STAR-SPOTTING

Yesterday, I was at the uber-buzzy Caprice for lunch with an urbane diarist from one of our national dailies and a famous spin-doctor who always makes me laugh.  He's a sometime food-writer and this is his favourite restaurant.  Easy to understand why.  The monochromed interior is pleasingly sleek and the walls are hung with stunning black and white portraits.   Images include a young, grinning Mick Jagger and a laconic Michael Caine (with fag dangling from lips) and reminded me what...

LIGHT AND SPACE AND COLOUR

I love stained glass - and my favourite place in Paris has an abundance of it.  LA SAINTE CHAPELLE is a gothic masterpiece situated on the Ile de la Cite.  Built by Louis IV in the 13th century to house the crown of thorns - I first went there with an Australian medical student back in the eighties.  He was living in Paris and had a list of beautiful destinations to visit - but this one easily topped the list.  It was so gorgeous that I wondered if I might have imagined it - built it up in...

I NEVER KNEW THAT!

Arriving (deliberately) early for lunch near the National Gallery gave me the opportunity to go and look at a painting or two without having time to go round a whole exhibition.  Much better.  If you have no agenda then your imagination and your footsteps can take you where you please.Found a wonderful Botticini hidden above a dull, grey lift and then I lingered awhile by this amazing painting by Botticelli.  It's one of those images which adorn a thousand post-cards - Mars, God of War ...

DISCOVER THE SECRET OF.....

Life?The Black Magic box?Well, maybe.....But also about how to write a Mills & Boon romance.
It's at Winchester Discovery (notice the subtle play on words) Centre on Thursday, 4th February, 2010.  

I asked our wonderful PR person what the talk was to be called.  LOVE CONQUERS ALL, she said.Original, I commented.  Which bright spark came up with that little gem?Er, you did.Right.  So there you have it.  A brilliant title - with many clever references to Virgil (not!).You can find out more here...

A TRICK OF THE EYE

Trompe d'oeil has fascinated me ever since I saw Rene Magritte's fabulous painting of the easel and the smashed window containing the shattered clouds - and experienced that blinking moment of disbelief as I asked myself:  is it real?
I like the topsy-turvy sensation that Trompe d'oeil evokes as a metaphor for life itself.  That nothing is ever as it seems...(HEAVY!).  And it's always good to look at things in a different way.


While in Avignon last November - we seemed to find an example of...