Ingrid Petrie Design

All images via etsy.com/uk/shop/IngridPetrieDesign

Just in time for Christmas, check out these prints here and more. All original work by the lovely Glasgow-based artist, Ingrid Petrie.

notes from a quiet break

 

And as the weather in Edinburgh started becoming truly rubbish about a week ago, my daughter and I hopped on a plane and fled to the Gard and its 30 degree welcome. Things of note during our stay this last week: a trip to the tremendous Musèe PAB in Alès that has a fine collection of modern and contemporary art and a gem of a shop housing a wonderful collection of prints and publications; the sighting of a prehistoric-looking praying mantis; writing Christmas food and drink articles for The List magazine whilst sitting in crazy heat, eating ice-cream, and enjoying Tracy Thorn's brilliant book, loaned to me by my friend Brian friend before heading off.

We leave the south of France tomorrow.

Edinburgh Open Doors weekend

Image via ifeecosse.org.uk

This weekend will consist of:
1) a baby shower
2) a children's party
3) a trip on a fire engine (if I play my cards right) courtesy one of my favourite free things to do in   Edinburgh.

For this weekend is Open Doors, the city's annual architectural event supported by Edinburgh's Civic Trust. This is when you can saunter into and choose to explore different buildings throughout Edinburgh which are mainly out of bounds to the public for the rest of the year.

Last year we visited the Lothian Region bus depot and rode around on old and new forms of transport, as well as open-top buses. This one is great for the kids. We also popped into the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop to check out the wonderful building there and meet the artists in residence. As previously mentioned, this year there has been a request to visit the Fire Service Museum. There looks to be a very good exhibition by Marseille-based photographer, Geoffroy Mathieu, at the Institut
Français d’Ecosse, too.

Make the most of it if you can, it comes but once a year.

In Another Country

Image via hancinema.net

Autumn is here and though we in Edinburgh are experiencing what I guess can be termed an Indian summer, it is almost time for us to start hibernating and dip into our stash of films that we have been saving up those chillier days.

In Another Country is my current recommendation for that time. By director Sang-Soo Hong, this minimalist comedy-drama is set in an undisclosed seaside town in South Korea. Slow-moving, cosy, with a quality that leaves you with a sense of detachment throughout (in a nice way), it also stars one of my favourite French actresses who, I feel, never disappoints. The graceful and ageless Isabelle Huppert plays the role of three different French women tourists, all called Anne, who in search of a mini lighthouse. Whilst having been met with mixed reviews, it was tipped for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

I say no more and let you track it down to make you own mind up.

ahem

Walking around Venice this summer, we came across this poster. "Arrgh, why could we not have been in Paris for this?", we said, "Quick, take a photo anyway to show the folks back home". Such a line-up would have been a beauty to behold, right enough.

Turns out it was all a ruse. An elaborate fake by French-Portuguese graffiti artist, André. He posted this and others in several major cities around the world, some more obvious than others. Had we seen the one boasting Serge Gainsbourg, Boris Vian, Jacques Brel and Nina Simone, 'For One Night Only', we may not have been quite as foolish. I blame it on the sunshine.

plump for pissaladière

Edinburgh 2013 is experiencing one of its best summers in years. We have all been enjoying an almost consistently high standard of sunny weather for the last month or so. But, as our family has not made it to the Gard this season, I chose to sort of bring it to us instead by making that most celebrated of onion tart/pizzas from the sunny South of France, the pissaladière. The thyme is the all important bit you really should try not to miss out. The herb ensures you are serving up a taste of the real deal; one whiff of it transports me immediately to the hills up behind my grandparent's house in the Languedoc-Rousillon. A fan of fishy fare, my Scottish francophile chum, Claire, was summoned round to sample this Gallic beauty. Recipe below if you fancy a go yourself at home (dead easy to make):

pissaladière

4 tbsp olive oil
ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (do make it yourself if you have the time)
4 large onions
handful of fresh/dried thyme
3 ripe tomatoes skinned, de-seeded and roughly chopped
2 x 50g anchovy fillets, drained
20 or so black olives
ground black pepper
salt

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onions on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until softened. Add the tomatoes, thyme, along with a good amount of salt and ground black pepper. Switch the oven to 220 degrees C. Continue cooking the onions on a lower heat for about 20/30 minutes until golden in colour and slightly caramelised.  Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and cover with the pastry. Spread the onion mixture over the top of the pastry. Arrange the anchovies in a criss-cross shape over the onions and fill each diamond with a black olive. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

It was a thumbs up from Claire, by-the-way. This one is for you doll (and anyone else with a bit of a savoury tooth). Really good straight out of the oven, but my favourite is eaten once left to cool and had warm, or cold. Serve as mini appetisers or as part of a perfect picnic.

run for the hills

Living in Edinburgh, we are most fortunate to be able to experience the many festivals, almost on our doorstep. I have been loving the Fringe 2013 so far, but with city's population doubling at this time, things can become pretty stifling. Earlier this week we shot off to the capital's Pentland Hills for a bit of a breather.

Italia 2013 #4 Venice Biennale

My edited highlights of last week's trip to the Venice Biennale 2013. We were there six years ago and loved it so much we returned, with a 3-year-old in tow. She seemed to like it too. With so many things to see at one of the greatest shows on earth, it is hard to pinpoint favourites. Here are some of the things that certainly stood out for me in 2013: Channa Horowitz, Ryan Trecartin, Prabhavathi Meppayil (Cut, 2011), Italian photographers Luigi Ghirri and Luca Vitone, Transfiguration at the China pavilion, Morton Bartlett's dolls, Kohei Yoshiyuki photography 1946, Mathias Poledna 2013 at the Austria pavilion (last photograph above), the Russian pavilion, all work by AES+F. Plus many, many more.