Art Sunday; An all round nice guy.

Art Sunday; an all round nice guy.

I sat at this computer for an hour yesterday hoping for inspiration for toady's Art Sunday, I was completely devoid of ideas and by the evening I had almost decided to re-post an old one.

But then Rolph Harris appeared in Piers Morgan's Life Stories and I became sucked into the telling of this guys life story. The overwhelming impression left by the programme is ‘what an all round nice guy’. There are so few completely unpretentious genuinely nice people around these days but he has to be one of them.
AND………..he is so multi talented.

http://www.rolfharris.com/

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM  was born 30 March 1930 has been all of these things; a teenage champion swimmer, musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.

He was born in Perth, Western Australia and when only 16 I had his first solo exhibition in Perth, showing a collection of watercolours and a few oils of local landscapes.

All the paintings sold and he had another show the following year. He struggled at university and left after two years to enroll at a teacher training college. His first job was teaching children to swim which he loved until he fell in and was hospitalised with a mystery viral illness. During the months he was ill he made the decision to move to England and Study art.

(That goes to show how silly preconceived ideas are, I never expected his to paint snow so well)
Below MachuPicchu and a Snow scene in England.

In 1952, just before his 22nd birthday, he left Australia on a ship bound for England and enrolled as an art student at City and Guilds Art School, Kennington, South London.

He met his wife, the Welsh sculptress and jeweller Alwen Hughes, while they were both art students, they married on 1 March 1958. They have one daughter, Bindi Harris who studied art at Bristol Polytechnic and is now a painter.


He has become a household name around the world, particularly in Britain, Canada and Australia. He is known as entertainer, TV personality, singer, artist and all round Mr Nice Guy.


He is a guy universally hated by critics, and loved by the public.

On the programme last night he talked about his invite to paint the Queen to celebrate her 80th birthday. He told how the artist is allowed to choose what the Queen wears and he chose the bright turquoise dress.

While looking trough his paintings I realised this colour is exactly the same colour as the dress worn by his wife in his portrait of her. Its also the same colour he uses for the seas and rivers he paints around the world. He must be very fond of that colour.

Below, Felluci and Venice.


Above, portrait of him painting his wife with the family pert
The Queens comment on Rolphs portrait of her was that it looked ‘friendly’, and it does. He manages to make Queen Elizabeth 11 look like someones granny in her favourite turquoise dress. Now that’s an achievement.

Piers Morgan introduced him as ‘the man who makes people smile’, apparently every time Piers told someone he was interviewing Rolph Harris, their reaction was to smile, I can see why.

Below; a Wispa Gold billboard competition

Song Saturday; Ian Anderson + Lucia Micarelli

My ten year old granddaughter has been playing the violin for about 3 years now. I happened to be visiting while she practiced and it set me thinking. I realized I didn’t know an awful lot about violin music………….well look what I found, a young classically trained violinist playing alongside Ian Anderson…………….wow, what a treat.

Lucia Micarelli & Jethro Tull - Kashmir Cover



Ian Anderson + Lucia Micarelli - Mo'z Art Medley

Occupy London another video

A good report on the St Pauls protest site.

The Shadows and other early memories.

I’ve had these twangy tunes going on in my head all day………no idea why but thought I should share. When I was about 11 my dad arrived home with a record deck just like the one above and a few old Shadows 45 singles. That summer he took my sister and I to see ‘Summer Holiday’ at the cinema. Up until then the only cinema I had been to was the sixpenny Saturday morning cinema where we saw things like The Lone Ranger or Rin tin tin.

The Shadows - Apache



The Shadows - Wonderful Land

St Paul's Dean Graeme Knowles resigns over protests

St Paul's Dean Graeme Knowles resigns over protests

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15524483

Another senior member of St Pauls clergy resigns, this follows last week's resignation of Dr Giles Fraser, who had been sympathetic to the activists. What a moral dilemma these people are finding themselves in

St Paul's Clerics suppress report on bankers' greed

Exclusive: Cover-up at St Paul's
Clerics suppress report on bankers' greed to save church embarrassment

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-coverup-at-st-pauls-6255110.html

‘’A highly critical report into the moral standards of bankers has been suppressed by St Paul's Cathedral amid fears that it would inflame tensions over the Occupy London tent protest.
The report, based on a survey of 500 City workers who were asked whether they thought they were worth their lucrative salaries and bonuses, was due to be published last Thursday, the day that the Canon Chancellor of St Paul's, Giles Fraser, resigned in protest at the church's tough stance.
But publication of the report, by the St Paul's Institute, has been delayed in an apparent acknowledgement that it would leave the impression that the cathedral was on the side of the protesters.’’

On the side of the protesters??....................oh dear,  can’t have the world think St Pauls is in favour of social justice can we? what a terrible reputation that would give them.

I hate the bloody conservative government

I hate the bloody conservative government


I’ve just heard on the news that this government, partly in response to the riots earlier this year, has decided that if a person is in receipt of benefit and unemployed the courts will be able to take £25.00 per week from their benefits in court fines if they break the law.  This will come into effect in 2013. Previously the courts were only able to take £5.00 per week from benefits. I’ve been online and made a rough calculation. A couple, both over 18 with two young children will receive approx £150 per week, £105 income support for them and £45 tax credit for the children. Take £25.00 from that and you are left with about £120 per week for a family of four. Our lovely Prime Minister has decided this, the same man who has reported personal wealth of £30 million.


My major concern is not with the ‘crime’ what ever that was, but the family, those two children will be living well below the poverty line, and the poor parents will probably be forced into further law breaking just to feed their children. Why should the jobless be treated more harshly than those in work?? Is this just another punishment for being jobless in a society that fails to provide jobs for every one? Why should a person without a job be left with less to feed his family than another man who has committed the same crime but happens to have a job??