Kew Gardens

Catch-up time yet again; it's always a quandary, should I write about what I'm doing NOW or should I deal with some of the back-log? Well, I love Kew Gardens- and have since I was a student in London many years ago- and so although this last visit took place a few days after I returned to the UK from LA at the end of March, here goes:

As it was a cold day and trying to rain, I first made for the wondrous glass Palm House, built between 1884 and 1848. Immediately, my camera lens was obscured by the tropical rain forest humidity- but I did manage to take some photos, relishing in the patterns everywhere:







I next explored the Princess of Wales Conservatory. Both here and in the Palm House, it was quite strange to see palms and cacti that grew happily outside in Los Angeles- it made me feel I was still there! I loved the snake-like look of this trunk:



and the coils here:


and the insect-like look of this Mangrove:


It was hard to believe that this was not a plastic flower!



The Orchid section came next- always amazing...



and then the Carnivorous plants: I have been fascinated by this sinister concept since I was a child on the Scottish moors, where carnivorous Sundews and Butterworts were abundant. This particular one had a wicked art nouveau elegance:



Now it was time to leave these tropical exotic delights and enjoy some of the trees outside. After all the tree destruction I have been witnessing, it was good to see this Black Locust Tree- planted in 1762- being still held together!



and what wonderful bark it had...



This monstrous tree is a Weeping Beech, the first I have come across:




While this is a Cucumber Tree, a member of the Magnolia family:


I will conclude this visit to Kew with some Magnolia flowers. Although most of them had lost their bloom I found some that entranced me:

Hollywood Junipers Destroyed:

May 5th, and I still have a lot of catching up to do...

A month ago, on April 5th, Santa Monica City Council yet again sanctioned the destruction of healthy, useful trees for "design" purposes- this time 45 Hollywood Junipers- so named because they have been very popular and successful in the area.

When I first came to Santa Monica I was immediately attracted to photograph these crazy trees (described by one person as "Drama Queens"!), their dark green colour and mad misshapen, sculptural shapes making a great visual note in an urban setting.

These particular ones bordered Reed Park's tennis court on Wilshire Boulevard, between Lincoln and Seventh Street and I always enjoyed walking past them. However, the powers that be decided to re-design the park and this involved the removal of the trees, in spite of the fact that they are drought tolerant as well as environmentally invaluable- and have a life expectancy of 300 years! They were to be replaced by vines growing up the tennis court fence.

When Santa Monica's Treesavers learned of these plans they immediately took action, gaining the support of the local Wilmont Neighborhood Group as well as many individuals. City Hall's reaction was to say that these trees were a threat to pedestrians who found them "spooky", providing shelter for homeless people. Apparently, the trees obscured visibility of the tennis courts and area from the police- which seemed strange, as they were high upon a bank, with a clear view of the courts between their trunks...Next, it was decided that the Cities' own severe pruning had made them lose their structural integrity...



Although the battle was lost, at least the City climbed down in that it asked the Designers(!) if three trees could be incorporated in the design. This was a agreed, and 3 out of 48 trees were spared. Regardless that this was a nesting time for birds, the 45 Junipers were felled on April 5th...by Santa Monica, Tree City USA, in the Year of the Forest...

I just cannot get my head round this: every day we are made aware of the necessity of our tree canopy to fight global warming and yet every day City Councils all over the World- for no good reason- destroy them.



And who can seriously think that a few vines climbing up this fence will compensate for the loss of the Junipers?


First 4 photos taken by Cosmo Bua and 5th by Monica Mejia

Holly Becker: Decorate

PART ONE:

Although I still have not finished my catching up on Los Angeles, I now want to do a bit of UK catching up. In my last post I wrote about a book-signing by Alicia Silverstone in Santa Monica, and now I'm eager to write about one by blogger extraordinaire Holly Becker in London. Holly is the founder and editor of the groundbreaking blog Decor8. Although the main theme is decorating it covers many other aspects of life, helping one to enjoy one's environment- apart from in itself being a visual joy!

Together with author Joanne Copestick, Holly has just written an amazing, very personal book, Decorate, full of stunning photos by Debi Treloar.


Liberty- since I was an art student, one of my very favourite London stores- launched Decorate last Wednesday. As part of the launch, Holly organized a demo of table decoration in Liberty's new Dining Room, using their tableware and fabrics. She also held talks and book signings on both Wednesday and Thursday.

Having enrolled in her first Blogging Your Way on-line course in 2009, I felt I already knew Holly, who was a wonderfully generous teacher, so I was delighted to go to both the demo on Wednesday and the talk in Liberty's Heritage Room on Thursday. I will start with the Demo in the Dining Room:

Arriving early, the Table Setting was still being titivated:


This gave me time to wander round appreciating and photographing the details and the subtle differences in the elegant, stylish, very Decor8 layout:






Soon the room filled up with eager Bloggers and followers of Deco8. A glowing Holly arrived, proving to be the incredibly warm person that we knew on-line!

She gave a brief talk about the display, saying how thrilled she was to have Decorate's launch at Liberty's and how she wanted to incorporate their fabrics. Here she is describing how the collages in the notebooks under the napkins were made and how they served as both decorations and pretty gifts for your guests to take home:



She then introduced her colleagues, Sania Pell- photographic stylist and author of the Homemade Home:


and Leslie Shewring- photographer and stylist who writes Color Me Pretty, a monthly column in Decor8:


Holly handed us over to these two ladies, to describe how they had styled the Table Setting and made the decorations, including the Liberty fabric rosettes and this elaborate, exotic overhead piece:



Now it was Book Signing time. It was such a great pleasure to meet this lovely lady when she signed my copy.

PART TWO

The next evening I was back in Liberty's, this time in the Heritage Room. I felt extremely lucky as we were a very small group (20 maybe?) so it was an intimate gathering and everyone had a chance to talk- thanks to Holly's handling. I was really impressed yet again by her warmth and the fact that she clearly likes and cares for people.

She talked at length and in detail about the conception and structure of the book and about working with her colleagues- including co-author Joanna Copestick (who was there) and photographer Debi Treloar. It was very illuminating- such as when she said how she wanted it to be a book that you wanted to read, rather than just flicking through the pictures, so included quotes to draw you in.

The evening was next opened up for questions, starting with us all introducing ourselves. Holly's answers to questions were always thought provoking and she has many interesting ideas about fulfilling yourself- it was a fascinating evening.

And then a further Book Signing:


After which Holly took us to the Dining Room to see and discuss the Display:


Holly went into some detail about the development and construction of everything. Here she is showing how for the tablecloth it was necessary to have an under layer of linen beneath the thin Liberty print dress fabric:


And here talking of ideas for place settings:


Here she describes the concept of the mobiles above the area where she signed the books- how they introduced the neon ribbons as a foil to the subtle Liberty fabrics and to introduce a contemporary element:




On or way to the Dining Hall, Amy Butler- designer of exquisite fabrics- had arrived. Holly was delightfully excited to meet her in the flesh and here they pose together:


And here they are joined by co-author Joanna Copestick:


We finally left, all having spent an inspirational evening with the warm (I have to keep repeating that word!) and generous Holly Becker.

THANK YOU HOLLY!