‘Disneyland for design geeks’ is how Denmark has been described. On the outside Finn Juhl’s house with its unassuming exterior couldn’t be further from Cinderella’s Castle but inside the Danish architect and furniture designer has worked his magic in this early example of open plan living. The floor plan has been designed meticulously so that each room has its own clear function but you can always see the next room
Opening this weekend at St Andrews Museum in Fife is SJ Peploe: the French Connection, an exhibition which demonstrate the influence of France and French painting on the famous Scottish Colourist’s work. Samuel Peploe was born in Edinburgh in 1871. He studied art in his home city as well as in Paris. Along with contemporaries such as Fergusson, Cadell and Hunter, he took many painting trips to France where, inspired
Sometimes referred to as an ’embassy for Scottish art’, The Fleming Collection in London’s Mayfair is reputedly the most significant collection of Scottish art in private hands, comprising over 750 oils and watercolours from 1770 to the present. There are Raeburns, McTaggarts, works by the Glasgow Boys and the Colourists – including the Cadell above – and an ongoing programme of acquisitions focuses in particular on young Scottish artists. The Collection’s
Dunkeld is a small picturesque and prosperous town in Perthshire that is worth a visit for a few hours. Among the mostly independent cafes, shops and restaurants there’s a butcher, a fantastic hardware/kitchen shop called Kettles,a few antique shops and a couple of small galleries. In the centre there is also a smoke house where you can get your day’s catch of salmon smoked – both salmon and trout are
Other than waltzing across the beach like the couple in local boy Jack Vettriano’s famous painting, the people of Leven have not had much to do in the way of entertainment. Thanks to the efforts of local volunteers however they now have their very own cinema showing a mix of blockbuster and arthouse films, seven days a week. Having spent years as a bingo hall, The Regent Cinema reopened its doors
Today’s post comes courtesy of Jennifer Cairney – teacher, East End resident and lurker in graveyards – who on a recent walk around Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park was struck by its magical, secret garden quality. It may not have the celebrity internments of other London graveyards but it still has plenty of stories to tell… ‘The tilted gravestones, toppled statues and overturned urns of Tower Hamlets Cemetery park make it
Until 27 May, The Freud Museum in London hosts a unique exhibition of the work of Louise Bourgeois which features, along with her sculptures and paintings, papers documenting her 30 years in psychoanalysis. Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911 and died in New York in 2012. She is seen as the founder of confessional art with her famous ‘maman’ spider sculptures hinting at the fragility and strength of the
If you’ve done yurt, the romany caravan and the shepherd’s hut, how about giving this old firetruck a whirl for an unusual overnight stay? The Beer Moth, which enjoys a spectacular setting in the grounds of Inshriach House near Aviemore, has been thoroughly renovated and now boasts oak parquet flooring (salvaged from a Tudor mansion no less), wood burner with hot plate and oven and capacious Victorian brass bed. Making
No, it’s not Treetops in Kenya, it’s The Treehouse Restaurant in Northumberland. There’s a log fire in the centre of the room and trees growing through the floor. It’s open at weekends for dinner and for lunch the rest of the week but it’s advisable to book and check opening times before you go. It’s part of Duchess of Northumberland’s vision for Alnwick Garden which she started just ten years
Your kids dinner money is enough to get you into a knitting group at The Woolly Brew. Everything is £1; £1 for coming, £1 for a cup of tea and £1 for a piece of home-made cake. Other more formal workshops might cost a bit more than this bargain price. Fiona Wright (left) and Karen Grant host groups in their yarn shop which opened in Pittenweem, Fife, December 2011. The idea