Caps and hats

This is a cap and hat shop in Covent Garden London. Lairds make headgear for both men and women. Their hats include the Fedora, Homburg, Trilby, Top Hat, Pork pie and Panama and their caps include the Bakerboy, Brooklyn, Baseball, Flatcap, Duckbill amongst others.

Love at the Southbank

The Festival of love is on at the Southbank Centre in London. It includes artworks, installations, exhibitions as well as workshops. I have tried to capture a little flavour of the festival for you.

The Love flags are everywhere. Designed by Mark Titchener, he combined the lover's knot with rainbow colours to symbolise the work of the peace and gaypride movements.

Outside in front of the Royal Festival Hall are rooms created with colourful plastic walls. You enter from any direction and once inside this peaceful sanctuary you look out onto a different world.

Inside the Festival Hall, the Australian artist Nike Savvas has created yet more colour with these brightly coloured ribbons hanging from the ceiling. It is when they move in the breeze that the full effect can be appreciated.

Rather than try and explain this neon installation I have included the Southbank's explanation.

This installation is called Pulse and Bloom by Shilo Shiv Suleman. The fabricated lotus flowers have LED lights which are activated when you place your hand on a sensor. The flower then pulses with your heart rate. I enjoyed playing with this one.

The pulse sensor for you to lay your hand on and control the lights.

The festival is on until the end of July and is free to wander around and enjoy.

Sharing with Our World Tuesday

Love the Yarn

This is the beginnings of a textile sculpture entitled 'Love the Yarn'. I happened upon it last week when I visited the Festival Hall on the Southbank in London.

Once I read this sign that was it, I was hooked.

I love knitting and couldn't resist picking up a pair of needles and some wool and adding my own contribution to the sculpture.

It was a very social event chatting whilst we knitted. I was only sorry that I had missed the other two workshops as I enjoyed it so much.

My work of art swimming through the yarn!

Queen Elizabeth Hall and reflections

Behind the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South bank of the River Thames are some wonderful reflections of murals, staircases and places to sit.

 There is also this art installation by Carlsten Holler from his exhibition 'Decision'. These are slides but I have yet to see the exhibition to explain further so possibly more about that in the future.

Sharing with James at  Weekend Reflections

Tom Cribb

Walking through from Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square I noticed this pub which appeared to have some age and possibly a history. I then noticed there was a  blue heritage plaque high up on the wall.

Tom Crib was the British bare - knuckle boxing champion between 1809 and 1822. He had his first fight  after  returning from the Navy. Cribb became a coal porter at Wapping and was known as the 'Black  Diamond'.
This pub which appears to date from the early 1900s was widely known as 'Cribb's Parlour' and featured in Thackery's 'Vanity Fair'. It was also referred to by Conan Doyle in Rodney Stone as 'Tom Cribb's Salon'. The name of the pub was officially changed in 1960 in his honour. So yes this pub does have a history.