It is hilarious looking on Facebook today at the barrage of hatred directed towards Simon Cowell.  Usually I don’t mind him, but on this occasion I have to say, what an idiot.  You may remember my X Farce predictions post.   I have to say, so far I have been on the mark with all of them.  Last night was no exception.  Having said that he will stop doing the X Factor if people keep voting for John and Edward (hence encouraging a larger public vote and more money for his chubby little pockets), Simon Cowell managed to be totally confused when asked to choose between John and Edward or Lucy.  There is no contest.  Lucy is brilliant.  John and Edward suck.  But John and Edward get Simon free publicity every week.  John and Edward rule Facebook statuses and groups all over the UK.  John and Edward make the X Factor a show.  Once they go, no one will be that fussed about the result.  So long as they get to the final, people will watch.

So predictions now….  Olly, Joe, Stacey and Jedward.  Jamie afro will go out soon – he isn’t needy enough and has a style that is too particular.  Olly or Joe may win.  I don’t think Stacey will and Jedward, like I say, will get kicked right at the end.

My latest project to go with my dressing table has been a mirror…  I acquired a picture frame in antique gold and have painted it cream (you’d be amazed how far a little ‘bathroom paint leftovers’ can go!)I then sanded back the cream in the corners and at the edges to reveal some of the antique gold, to age it.

Now I need to find a piece of mirror glass… Hmm tricky…. Where do you find that?

before ageing process…

Aged!

Corner

I love these spam emails that I get from time to time:

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I hope you can enjoy shopping from the company your own!

I am thrilled at the prospect of purchasing a Rolex (which I am sure will be genuine – haha!) from a ‘renowned’ company with a yahoo email address that cannot traslate a simple email into English!  Excellent.

This Chagall painting was not from the Bible series but I really loved it.  It is called “still life”.  I love th crude scribbly nature of it that is distinctly Chagall. The more you look at it, the more you see and the detail is brilliant despite it all being in one colour.  It is not beautifully executed in terms of proportions or accuracy, but it is lovely, especially the textures.

Today I had the immense privilege of going to see the Marc Chagall exhibition at Martin’s Gallery in Cheltenham.  I love Chagall’s artwork and this fantastic (free) gallery was exhibiting some of his biblical series (which I believe were painted around 1945-1950ish?).  Chagall was a Russian Jew and, from his artwork, had a clear understanding (if slightly surreal at times) of the wonder, awe and majesty of God.  The show was significant for me not just because I love his paintings, but also because the subject matter is very important to me.

It is possible to meet with God anywhere, not just in a church building and art offers one of those opportunities.  Sometimes when you read the Bible it is hard to picture what you are reading and therefore make it seem real or tangible in your head.  Somehow when you see someone’s visual interpretation, it can bring the moment to life, looking at a revelation they have received (albeit in their imagination) about how this particular event may have looked.  As they say, a picture can tell 1000 words.  In these pictures we are looking at a moment where somebody (Chagall in this case) encountered God and that is what makes them so special.

Here are some examples of the original lithographs (created in Paris after the war, which held up the job)…

Angel

This is one of my favourites, called “Angel with sword”.  I love it.

Cain and Abel

This is also a lovely one, of Esther.  Esther was a remarkable woman and I thoroughly recommend a book called “Hadassah”, which is a modern novel about her life.

Garden of Eden

Moses