ESOPUS

Incredible magazine, massive variety of work from very different artists, designers and writers.

Yvonne Jacquette

Yvonne Jacquettes aerial view cityscapes are incredibly effective, the use of just black and white is very striking and very powerful but her technique of painting is beautifully subtle. 

Daily Reminders

For 15 years on every school day Robert Guest would wake up early to write a note for each of his two children. Daily Reminders, Letters by Robert Guest is a sampling of the thousands of notes his wife collected and saved from laundry piles and lunch boxes. The notes are incredibly moving. They are funny, smart, wise and very loving. The amazing collection was featured in Esopus magazine. The cover showed a huge pile of the notes neatly folded into small triangles, how he would give them to his children, and inside there are 19 to read.

Harewood House

I recently revisited Harewood House located just outside leeds. The national trust House was build for Edwin Lascelles in the 18th century. Each room is filled with beautiful furniture, paintings and china. The furniture is mostly designed by Thomas Chippendale as he lived in Otley.

It is a really amazing and historic house, as you wander through each room you learn more about the Lascelles family, who still live there today. I discovered how Edwin Lascelles earns his fortune that pays for Harewood House to be built. Each room also has such an impressive individuality the decoration varies greatly, each room incredibly impressive in a completely different way.

Tracy Emin

The ideas behind Ghada Amer's work remind me of those of Tracy Emin. Her "everyone i have ever slept with tent" has a similar concept behind it. By embroiding all the names on the tent she is showing that it is her body and she shouldn't be embarrassed by what she does with it.

Ghada Amer

Egyptian born american artist Ghada Amer's work depicts erotic images of women that you would not expect to be created by a women.

She creates feminist images that revolt against the masculin ideal of femini beauty, she is clever in that shows explicit sexual acts by using typical delicate feminin handycrafts such as embroidery. Her whole idea is that she wants the female body to be reclaimed from men by women.

"I believe that all women should like their bodies and use them as tools of seduction," Amer stated

And the Beast, 2004. Acrylic, embroidery, and gel medium on canvas

Snow White Without the Dwarves, 2008, Acrylic, embroidery and gel medium on canvas

Living in a blue house

I read an interesting fact that blue houses are selling for more than any other coloured house. And that the average person living in a blue house is in a long term relationship and has two children and four close friends. This is very random but i thought it was of some interest. I couldn't think of any explanation for this, perhaps it is just coincidental.