Regent Street

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Pebble Art

Somewhere along the beach in Hove

Snow!

I love the snow.  I love the way it transforms old, familiar landscapes, making them appear magical and new. Let’s hope this weekend’s weather continues and we wake up to a snowy white Christmas.

The Buccaneer

19/10/2009 The Buccaneer, 186 Kings Road Arches.

Arrrh shiver me timbers, there is nothing quite like an alfresco, out of season fry up right on the sea front  to really make a breakfast special – with the wind whistling through your hair and the tang of seasalt flavouring the air around you; not to mention the odd maurauding seagull or two.

Braving the elements one brisk wintry morning, we decide to  eat at The Buccaneer, one of the many cafes nestled in the Kings Arches along the seafront.

Menus are on the tables and you order at the counter. Coffee soon arrives and is piping hot, providing a welcome releif from the brisk breeze that is beginning to blow in from the sea. Breakfast arrives soon after and I pleased to say it’s heated up nice and hot and served on warmed up plates.

Both platters are attractively laid out with a delicious home cooked flavour to them. Eggs are served over easy and the beans were especially high quality – it was nice to have beans that were full of them (beans that is) instead of just a few swimming inside  a pool of runny tomato sauce.

Service was especially attentive, this seems to be a family run cafe and the waitress regularly came by to ask if everything was ok. Both breakfasts with drinks came to £10.95, not a bad price at all for Brighton and all the lovely fresh air made our fry ups seem especially healthy!

Happy Autumn

Today’s Autumn Equinox marks the end of summer and the beginning of one of my favourite times of year for taking photographs and admiring the  beautitiful palette of  colours  created by winter creeping ever closer….

Tales from the Seaside

Nice to see neglected buildings put to good use – as in the case of the old music library in Church St which is now home to  the Prescription Art Gallery and its rather fabulous exhibition of Street Art. Spread out over three storeys in this splendidly dilapidated listed building, the exhibition features artwork by over 25 artists from around the globe. From monumental monopoly boards to basement Madonna’s and scary wooden robots this is an amazing collection of artwork.

I loved this and cannot recommend it enough – there is something about the combination of crumbly mansions and cutting edge creativity that always manages to warm the cockles of my heart and as we speak I am scrimping and saving my pennies so I can buy one of their gorgeous canvases – failing that I guess I’ll settle for one of the brilliant books or bargain prints on offer.

And if that isn’t enough spray can splendiferousness for you, an exibition of local grafitti legends Heavy Artillery will be opening upstairs in the gallery from Wednesday 12th August, featuring special screenings of the film that followed the creation of their work in Kensington St. For more info go visit Prescription Art.

Mommy, what’s a Coccolithophore?

Why dear, it’s a single-celled algae responsible for forming the chalk bed we now call the South Downs and the inspiration behind the lastest art installation at Fabrica. Called The Elephant Bed and created by John Grade, this sculpture consists of a series of beautifully crafted horn shaped cones suspended in the gallery, some of  which are left hanging over a pool, slowly disintgrating into the brackish water.

John Grade’s work is characterised by the crafting of sculptural objects which are then left outside to the mercy of the elements and Fabrica are running a series of events throughout the installation celebrating this sculpture’s ongoing decay and eventual destruction. Last Wednesday we attended a free Drawing to Film evening in the gallery. Hosted by artist Jane Fordham we were invited to draw our responses while watching the classic sci fi film The Day of the Triffids (1962 Dir Francis & Sekely)

This film is based on the John Wyndam novel and was chosen by John Grade specifically for the fact that those pesky Triffids were eventually destroyed by sea water, in much the same way his sculpture will be. The evening was free and all art materials supplied. It was a great fun and a wonderfully eerie location to watch a movie with the advantage that, being in the dark, you don’t even need to be able to draw too well! There will be another Drawing to Film event this Wednesday featuring The Creature from the Black Lagoon in glorious 3D no less, so that should inspire some interesting pictures too.

Fab Art

On the morning of August 31st the Elephant Bed will be laid to rest on the beach to dissolve forever into the sea. For more info on this beautiful, haunting piece of work and future events contact Fabrica.

100 Reasons to Love the Seaside

Number One: The Sea!

Are we really only halfway through the week? The weekend seems so far away…. Last Saturday marked my first swim in the ocean this year (though I’m using the term loosely here- spluttering around trying not to swallow too much sea water more like) and it was wonderful, here’s hoping for a long hot summer (and I wonder how many of us are seriously considering throwing a sickie tomorrow…..)

Armed Forces Day

Yesterday’s Armed Forces Day in Brighton got off to an exhilarating start with a parachute jump over the West Pier. Performed by the Tigers Freefall and Parachute Display Team it was amazing to watch what at first looked like tiny toy action men jump out of a plane miles overhead- then land with incredible accuracy on to a 3ft by 3ft  spot marked out on the seafront. Fantastic.

Severn Beach

Even more desolate than a seaside town out of season is a seaside town that’s never in season, and the poem below about Severn Beach, once a popular seaside resort – alas no more – captures that sense of forsaken melancholy perfectly. This rather pensive piece of prose comes from our amazing Dominic – who has branched out with a blog of his own so check out: Poetry Shelf for more poems and discussion on all things lyrical.

Out on Severn Beach

Out on Severn Beach

The shingle feels the rain

set upon forgotten earth

away from all that’s sane,

the sky frustrates the light

dictating moods below

the bridges’ shadow casts across

that takes away the glow,

voices pass through the air

then descend in to the sea

nothing lasts to tell a soul

nor pass the words to me,

pity takes the evening

when the dormant sleep

for pity stalks the coastal path

where it earns its keep.

Dominic