Squares and rectangles

Over the Easter break we spent a weekend in the Cotswolds. It's been years since we've been, and for Oomoo it was like being there for the first time. He was only two the last time we brought him there, and he couldn't remember it at all. Needless to say he fell in love almost as soon as we arrived. Once there we went on long rambling walks, flew his kite, explored the ruins of a Roman villa, got chased by a herd of young bulls, and read loads of Asterix & Tintin comics. And me, I took a lot of pictures of windows - ha! The next post will be a little bit more representative of our time spent there, I promise :)

Sky high

Spring has sprung

Why hello there! Sorry for the absence; it's been a long Easter holiday over here. About a week ago the weather turn more spring-like, which made all the difference. I don't know how it is for you, but when I find myself in the middle of winter it always feels like spring will never come. And then one day it does, and it feels unreal, like how could it possibly be sunny and warm?! Huh?? These days spring is my favourite season; for years it was autumn, but now the season of re-birth and hope is the one I most cherish. So, in London, there's really no better place than Kew Gardens to witness the explosion of new life, or growth I should say... Anyway, we went there with friends last weekend and it was just beautiful. The kids and the grown ups loved it, and I can't wait to go there again. I'm promising myself that we must go there during every season of the year from now on.

The moments in between

Perfect light

My friends and hosts in Amsterdam run a restaurant and a deli in the city (Rainarai - if you're in town go check them out, they serve delicious Algerian food), and one afternoon when we popped in on some errands the light was truly magical. For about 15 minutes I sat there just enjoying the show, and bizarrely took most of the pictures on my phone - uuhm, idiot! I still dream of the tasty tagine we ate there. Must go again. And again. And again. And move there. No, sadly that won't happen, but a girl can dream! Happy Friday and thank you so much for your comments here and on Instagram about MFE's birthday and the new website. You guys rock.

My Funny Eye = 7!

Hey, guess what?! Somehow the blog has turned seven years old! I can't quite believe it! In a time where most people and their mother (including mine!) are on Instagram, blogs are still dear to me. It's more fun and interesting to see a fuller story behind an image or an experience, to gain something a bit more substantial than a little short comment (which I am guilty of over on IG) and a nice picture. Thanks to those of you who still take the time to check in here, and especially to those of you who leave a comment, I really appreciate hearing from you.


In other news: I have made a portfolio website - finally! If you hop on over to www.famapa.net you can check it out for yourselves. And commission me and give me work, and an exhibition etc etc - haha! This is the year when I'll take my photography a bit more seriously, and hopefully there's some new adventures on the way. Let me know what you think!

Now if you excuse me, I think I need to go and get me some cake to celebrate. Hip hip!

The back

At the Stedelijk there was a section showing how the museum kept their art safe during the Second World War. They built a bunker in the dunes by the sea where they hid priceless art from the Nazis, and implemented a system of marking the back of paintings, according to how important they were. These three paintings were hung back to front to show the different coloured dots (sadly I can't remember which of three colours was deemed "irreplaceable") - don't they look great?! I might blow one of these up big, so I can hang one on our wall...

Arty farty

Some more of the art from the Stedelijk. Happy Friday!

Graphix

Saw some great graphic posters at the Stedelijk. The font in the poster on the left in the last picture pretty is awesome, don't you think? And it's from 1929! It's making me miss my graphic design days...

At the Stedelijk

Hoi! It's been a while innit? Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that I was in Amsterdam again last week - my first trip away on my own since having Oomoo. It felt strange to be there without them as we all love it there, but I enjoyed being able to take in more of the city, and go and do things that they don't enjoy as much, like looking at art and around shops. It's been hard for me to put together posts from the trip; I was taking pictures for pleasure and not for the blog, if you know what I mean. Anyway, these are all from an afternoon that me and my local friend Z spent in the Stedelijk Museum - and yes, we are matching shoe friends :)

The little wanderers

What a Guy

We went to see the amazing Guy Bourdin exhibition at Somerset House a couple of weeks ago. It's on until the 15th of March, so I urge to go if you can, and it's probably not one to bring the kids to - if you know what I mean. His approach to his photography is fascinating; he would draw his photographs on a grid, placing everything perfectly before going anywhere near the camera. There are also some large paintings in the exhibition, where if you look closely, you can see how he's painted on top of a 1cm x 1cm hand drawn grid! That's some serious OCD. Have a great weekend!