The Scaffolding has Come Down

The scaffolding has come down! With the roof being finished and all the extra snags fixed the scaffolding comes down. What a difference it makes. The inside of our house is suddenly brighter. Here is our before picture when we first bought the house. The windows have all been restored to the original design, the white has been repainted, and the terracotta tiles replaced where needed and repainted. The only things left to restore is the door with stain glass and a different colour and the white painting on the ground level. The last day of the scaffolding I am up putting the finishing touches on the paint work. Little things about to drop off... ...we fix with long screws, scrape, fill and repaint. I try to reach the awkward bits that are a bit lower than the scaffolding. This is my last view of the street from this vantage point. The property line goes right through the centre and if you look closely you can see we paint only up to the halfway mark with the white. This is the back before our renovations started. It was the worst view of the house and our neighbours joked it was the worst back to any house on the block. And now the exterior back is DONE! Here is a clear picture of the difference in the two styles of loft: mansard (on the left) and dormer (on the right).

Wimbledon Studios £50 Fundraising Art

My new studio requires that if you take part in the Open Studios that you must paint an image on a square foot board they provide for their fundraiser event outside the buildings. Mine is pictured above. They go for about £50 each, which I think is a real bargain. They must have had trouble in the past getting artists to do them as they now implement a £30 fine. So in money terms the best situation is if an artist does one and sells it, the second best thing is if the artist doesn't hand one in and gets fined. And if an artist does one and it doesn't sell, you have the added bonus of a load of work with no where to go.

Wimbledon Arts Open Studio: May 12-15 [Studio 217]

I am very excited about my newest studio. It is the largest artist studio in the UK. Please join me in an Open Studio at Wimbledon Arts Studios along with 130 other artists. You will find me in STUDIO 217 in the RED BUILDING. The event is this coming week from Thursday May 12 to Sunday May 15th. Thursday & Friday 2pm – 10pm Saturday & Sunday 11am – 6pm Our Preview Evening will be on the Thursday 12th May from 6 – 10pm. A late view will be on the Friday 13th May. All are welcome and tickets are not necessary. We will have both the Red Studios and the Blue Studios open with the marquee joining both together at ground level. We have full disabled access and free parking. Sunday will be our 'Family Day' with storytelling and quizzes for the kids (and adults). The show attracts over 10,000 visitors annually. Wimbledon Art Studios Riverside Yard Riverside Road London SW17 0BB United Kingdom We are based on Garratt Business Park Industrial Estate, Garratt Lane. We are half way between Earlsfield overground railway station and Tooting Broadway underground station. By Foot: We are approximately 15 minutes walk from Earlsfield overground railway station or Tooting Broadway underground station via Garratt Lane. By Bus: The 493 can be taken from Wimbledon railway/underground along Plough Lane. Alight at the Wimbledon Stadium stop. The 44, 77 & 270 run along Garratt Lane between Earlsfield railway station and Tooting Broadway underground station. You need to get off at the Texaco Garage and cross the road to St. Martins Way or Riverside Road. By Car: There is free parking at Wimbledon Art Studios in Riverside Yard. Our postcode is SW17 0BB for satnav. By Train and bus or foot: Earlsfield train station is 3 station stops from London Waterloo train station or one stop from Clapham Junction and Wimbledon train stations. Wimbledon overground or underground stations are NOT our nearest stations. More information: http://www.michal.ca http://www.wimbledonartstudios.co.uk/

Magical Korean Curing Recipe

I lived in Florence, Italy, for a year in a flat in the heart of the old city with 6 other artist. It was not your average set up. We were all in Overseas arts programs (6 in a Canadian program and one in an American program). I had one Korean roommate, 4 English-Canadians, one American, and one Italian-Canadian roommate (who spoke some Italian which came in handy with our Italian speaking landlord who was always worried we had made the living room into a 7th bedroom to reduce the rent. Of course not, we told him. Of course we did! They would always have me, blond and innocent looking (!?) cooking in the kitchen when he would come to collect the rent. He seemed to think that all was under control if someone like me was making homemade
food.)

Anyway...this is a blog about a recipe, not my Italian landlord. My roommates liked to drink, smoke and listen to music late into the night. I loved them all, but lived a very different lifestyle. I was up early, cooked all my own healthy vegetarian food and didn't drink or smoke. So you would think that they would be the ones with the severe hangovers, wouldn't you?

One morning after my roommates had had a particularly rowdy night. I woke early in the morning and upon opening my eyes found the room spinning. I shut them quickly. I tried to get up and make my way to the bathroom. My balance was completely off and I crashed back and forth down the hall way, falling along the way and just barely reached the bathroom. I threw myself at the toilet bowl and vomited. I closed my eyes and the room stopped swimming. I opened them and couldn't make out up from down and threw up again. I continued this until I was dry heaving hoping each time my eyes opened I would be okay. I kept my eyes shut and felt so weak that I groped for a toilet roll put it under my head and just lay there not moving on the bathroom floor with my eyes shut.

Not knowing how much time had passed as I tried to sleep, I heard my Korean roommate, Mija getting up. I could hear her footsteps coming down the hall and into the bathroom where she found me half conscious on the floor.

"Michal, are you okay?" she asked.

"Mija, I am so sick." I opened my eyes to peer at her and instantly the room started spinning out of control again and I quickly sat up and hugged the toilet again to begin dry heaving all over again.

Mija was not put off in the least. She was a roommate I was in awe of. She could chop food faster and more professionally than anyone I had ever met. AND she could split an apple in two with her bare hands. She would wedge her thumbs on either side of the stem and in one swift movement snap the thing in half. I have tried it so many times and have never been able to copy her.

She leaned in very close to where my face was practically in the toilet and examined me as if I were a scientific specimen.

"There is nothing coming out" she announced at my dry heaving. "That is not good. Come with me." She helped me up and half supported me into the kitchen.

"Sit down" she said as she got busy with a pot of water, ginger and an unknown citrus quantity in a jar sitting on the counter that she told me her mother had brought her from Korea.

Once it had boiled she poured me a cup of it, made me drink it, and then led me back to bed and told me to sleep. I slept 4 hours until the afternoon. When I awoke I felt perfectly fine. Years later I deduced I must have had vertigo that morning. I don't know what was in that concoction Mija made me, but whenever I am ill I try to mimic that drink and I always feel much better.

RECIPE:
1 pot of water
ginger - peeled and sliced (amount depends on how spicy you like it)
marmalade - several big scoops (amount depends on how sweet you like it)
Boil it all up and drink!

Enjoying Our Wood Burning Stove

Plastering the Loft

The plastering of the loft has begun. Slav starts with the ceiling. He does the first coat and then the second coat is for perfecting the smoothness. He takes one segment at a time. The ceiling is now completed. From the middle floor it is draped in drop cloths. The walls begin to emerge. The edges are all sharp. I don't know how he managed to get in and out of there AND plaster it. The plaster slowly dries and turns lighter as it does.

God Save the Queen

Here is a little clip of where I am standing while the ceremony is going on. The ceremony is broadcast in the streets and you can hear God Save the Queen.

The Royal Wedding: London

I arrive this morning at St. James Tube Station. Not too early, mind you, as I like my sleep. I can opt to head for Westminster Abbey or head to the The Mall near Buckingham Palace. I choose the Abbey to begin with. I can get a good shot of the door which everyone will go through, but am still so far away that I decide I am early enough I can wander the rest of the route to see what it is like. The corner of Parliament Square already has all the prime spots taken. So I nip down a side street to see what else there is. Here I am in front of Big Ben. The problem is the door everybody is crowded around here is the wrong Abbey door. They are going in from the other side, where I just came from. I confirm this with a police man and move on. I head down Whitehall where the procession (coming and going) will head after it leaves Westminster. It is a bit tight getting around corners in the crowd. But once I am on that street there is much more room and only about 3 to 4 people deep lining the road. I wonder what time you had to get here to get a seat? That is the cenotaph where I wind up in the end. Hmmm. Where was I here? I wander down Whitehall confident that all this room might even exist on The Mall, the long run up to Buckingham Palace. The shots are great and most people are wearing blue, red and white. Union Jacks are everywhere. The only security I see at this early hour are the police. The media have come from all over the world and are perched in all sorts of places. Wait a minute, that is the police. The weather, which was forecast for rain, is cool with only a bit of overcast.. Perfect for someone who burns. I am getting closer to The Mall now. I have been working at home all this week so have not been out and about to see all the decorations going up. Ahead is the Horse Guards where pedestrians cannot go, but the procession cuts through to get to The Mall. There is no shortage of places to buy flags. Those are media crew on the cranes. Media has decended on this city from all over the world. Then I get to Admiralty Arch (beside Leicester Square) with The Mall beginning just on the other side. I get closer. I see the long road leading up to Buckingham Castle where the couple will emerge on the balcony with both sets of family and kiss (something that royals have never done in the past). But the crowds are so thick this way I can barely push through. Excuse me, that is your elbow in my ribs. I turn back to go to Whitehall where I think the best spot is. I have myself positioned and click the tail end of the car carrying Prince Harry and Prince William to the Abbey. ...And the mother of the bride. I have to lift the camera above my head to get a good shot of the road. As a result the pictures are a bit dodgy and scattered from this point on. I am back at the cenotaph (which you can see ahead). Oh, there is the bride heading to the church with her father. Let's zoom in on that shot. Hello, Kate! The ceremony is broadcast from loud speaker over the city centre. A hush falls on the crowd and cheers as the "I do's" are said. Then a myriad of military processions begin. I wish I knew all the different uniforms and which regiments they were. Guards emerge and begin to be dispersed in orderly fashion. 5 metres apart each. Things are getting excited and the royal couple are expected soon. We wait in hushed anticipation. Then the horses start to come. A different set of guards on horseback for each carriage. Blurry and zoomed in, but unmistakably them. I think Kate got a tan for her wedding. The carriage passes by and I hear a young woman catch her breath and say, "she is so beautiful". I keep thinking how petite she looks. Hello! They are the first of many carriages. Each with its own cavalry. Unfortunately I don't aim the camera right to catch all the others which carry Pippa, Prince Charles and Camilla, Kate's parents, and the queen. It is grand. Once the procession has passed most people head to the Mall where in an hour's time they will emerge again. I head away from the crowds back home. The street one over from ours is having a street party. We crash it and eat cake. The corner shop has a special window dedicated to the wedding. We would like to buy the union Jack butter dish and jug as a little celebration.