Hockney...

A wonderful day was had by all, apart from a bit of a cock up on my part, when my good friend David and I hit the galleries in London. The plan was to go and see the Turner and the Masters at the Tate and then work our way up to the National Portrait Gallery for the Portrait Photographer of the Year exhibition. The rest of the day we would fill as we saw fit. Well we did the Turner exhibition and I have to say it left me somewhat cold. The idea was to show Turner's work alongside his influences. The problem for me was that in many respects Turner did not come out very well - all it demonstrated to me was that Turner had his limitations and that whilst much of his work is of the highest standards he is mortal. Still it is worth while going to see but expect crowds.

After lunch we explored the Tate and this in itself was a joy. I especially enjoyed seeing the Pre Raphaelite work after the recent excellent documentary series on the painters and the scandalously enjoyable TV drama. We walked out of this gallery and wonder a bit further into a large room and there was one of the painting I had wanted to see - the David Hockney paintings of East Yorkshire. The room has three identical paintings made up of 50 panels of a copse near to Bridlington. The first is the actual painting and the other two are digital copies on a 1:1 scale. I could wax on about these paitings for hours - just to say it made our day.

After this it was a bit of an anti climax and to an extent that is what the Portrait Photographer of the year exhibition was. I found much of the work cold and impersonal. I am not sure that using models to enact something really is a portrait but it was accepted so what do I know. Perhaps the best portrait for me was self portrait of the photographer when he had chicken pox.

So a good day out and filled me with inspiration. The journey home was entertaining as well as I got into a conversation with a young mother and her 5 month old son. She had just been to the Argentinian embassy to renew her passport as they were both travelling to Argentina in December for her brother's wedding. Good luck to her - she'll need it and what an example of the indomitable human spirit.