The Black And White World Of Aubrey Beardsley.

One of my favourite illustrators of all time has to be Aubrey Beardsley. The amount of work that he managed to create within the six years of his professional career is astonishing. He was only twenty-five years old when he died from Tuberculosis in 1898.

But he was not only a prolific artist; he was also an incredibly talented one. He had the ability to draw something and leave it to the audience to add the finer details with their Full Story »

Chris Ofili At Tate Britain

A major new exhibition at Tate Britain, starting on 27th January and running until 16th May, will give a fascinating opportunity to see the spectacular, moving and sometimes controversial work of Turner prize winning artist Chris Ofili.

Ofili stands out amongst the Modern British Artist movement in making his Nigerian roots central to his depiction of modern England. There is a remarkable vibrancy to his work, conveyed through the use of vivid colours and unusual materials, that fuses traditional aesthetic Full Story »

A Return To ‘The Crusades’?

We are in the midst of a very turbulent time. Not only are there fears of how good our security is at airports but there is also the highly volatile situation of Muslim relations to think about.

Only a fool would think that all Muslims are terrorists. There are only a small amount of extremists who are causing this terrible situation around us all. Unfortunately, there are many fools in the world… There have already been quite a few unprovoked Full Story »

Trouble At The Beeb.

Hooray! I was beginning to think that it was only me who was convinced that the BBC had totally lost its way. Finding out that someone such as P.D.James has got a few things to say on the matter was a very pleasant surprise.

I wonder if the big guns at Broadcasting House will actually take any notice or not? Hearing common old garden viewers bitch about the poor quality of programmes is one thing, but when someone with a bit more clout has something to say it is a very different matter indeed…

So just what is it that has gone so wrong at the Beeb? Their schedules really do appear to be going from bad to worse and it seems that precious little is being done about it.

I suppose that the downward slope began after the golden days of the sixties and seventies. The nineteen-eighties seemed to herald a new generation of inferior programmes, but even then there were still a few very good ones to watch. These days it is common to hear people complaining about the lack of decent shows on the BBC. Saturday night used to be a treat for programmes but now it is often even worse than weekdays.

At one time (albeit a long way back in the past) the BBC was the world leader in quality programmes. How the mighty have fallen. Is it any wonder that there are still thousands of people each year who are caught for watching television without a licence? To rub salt into the wound, the Beeb appears to be channelling licence fees into the pockets of its directors rather than improving its impoverished broadcasting schedules.

Bring back good dramas and comedians who were actually funny! Perhaps the BBC should allow smaller budgets for its programmes and rely more on the quality of their actors. Dr. Who never used to cost the ludicrous amount that it now does for each episode. It may all have been crisp boxes that had been spray-painted in silver but it still managed to scare the pants off of its viewers.

On a completely different note: Pauline just got a really great new gig doing artwork for a company that does Bespoke Packaging Boxes, even after the insane year we have had! Lucky!