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The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
In a virtually black and white world, the shapes and textures of winter stand out like objects in some surreal amusement park, but all represent the forces of nature...gravity, liquidity, temperature, solidity combine.
One more version of the same shot.
Notice how this one was taken from the exact same camera height as the first version, and yet it appears as if we're shooting from a slightly higher position. That illusion is the result of seeing more of the upper area of the scene, which gives some "lift" to the camera angle feeling.... in some ways perhaps encouraging us to identify with the position of the tree, because we see more of its branches.
The square format of this shot, which offers a feeling of solidity and groundedness, also adds to the idea of "k'un" - which in Chinese represents earth.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) Yelabuga, Vyatka province, Russia—died March 8 [March 20], 1898, St. Petersburg, Russia), one of the most popular landscape painters of Russia. His paintings of wooded landscapes led his contemporaries to call him “tsar of the woods.”
Shishkin was the son of a merchant. He studied art with a characteristic thoroughness, first at the School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in Moscow (1852–56) and then at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1856–60). In 1860 he was awarded the Academy’s Gold Medal and granted a stipend to travel to Munich, Prague, and Düsseldorf, Ger., to add final lustre to his art education. It was mainly the Düsseldorf school that furthered his inclination toward exact reproduction of nature and linear severity. His ink drawings were received with much acclaim in Germany, and while he was there he became familiar with the techniques of etching and lithography, which at the time had not yet gained a foothold in Russia.
When Shishkin returned to St. Petersburg, he became involved with the studio of Ivan Kramskoy, and in 1871 he joined the Peredvizhniki (“The Wanderers”), where his ideas about Russian landscape painting were enthusiastically welcomed. His paintings united fidelity to nature with an individual epic style. Shishkin preferred to paint pine or oak forests in their pristine state during dry, sunny conditions. These primordially Russian landscapes—seen in paintings such as Rye (1878), Far on the Plain (1883), Distant Forest (1884), and The Oaks (1887)—are imbued with folkloric associations. The naturalistic depiction of every blade of grass paradoxically created a sensation of the majestic scale of the whole, as the entire painting was conceived as a quantitative apotheosis of separate details. The artist’s rejection of the plein air style, which was roughly impressionistic, corresponded with his belief in the constancy of Russian nature and its abiding monumental order. The absence of an airy perspective in his landscapes (the trees grow smaller the farther they stand from the viewer, according to the rules of linear perspective, but they do not lose the definition of their contours) also helped create the image of epic Russian steadfastness. In the late 1880s Shishkin fell under the influence of new artistic currents and attempted to imbue his work with “atmosphere” (Morning in a Pine Forest, 1889), but even the air in such paintings gives an impression of solidity.
Shishkin’s “portrait” of Russian nature—expansive and rich, not subject to time and not dependent on human emotion—became associated with the staunchness and power of the Russian national character and with patriotic overtones of national history. Being in this sense an incarnation of the “Russian spirit,” Shishkin’s paintings entered everyday life in Russia, becoming the decoration on candy wrappers and illustrations in textbooks
"Conversation", painted in the artist's country house in the summer of 1909, is one of the important works Matisse produced during the highly productive period 1908-1913. Only slightly smaller than "The Red Room", the images are simplified, minimalised. The central figures of Matisse and his wife Amelie are schematic, while still retaining a portrait likeness. Most importantly, whilst depicting a moment in real life, Matisse "captures the truer and more profound meaning behind it, which serves the artist as a point of departure for a more consistent interpretation of reality," as he himself wrote in 1908. We enter into the blue world of the "Conversation", sink deep into the atmosphere of colour. The blue colour does not represent solidity; this is not the colour of the carpet or the colour of the wall. Filling a large part of the paintign space, the blue bears the concept of space through the force of the associations it gives rise to. It is cold; it is emotional and significant; it excites us with its profundity. Submitting to the blue's dominance, the green becomes not only the colour of the meadow but a symbol of the earth, a symbol of Life, an image which is reinforced by the straight, strong trunk of "the tree of life". In this ideal world of pure light-colour we find two figure-symbols embodying the two eternal sources of Life. In the contrast and mutual attraction of the straight lines (male) and the soft, emotional, lines curving (female) lies one of the mysteries of existence.
HSBC Bank, 331 Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, 1888.
By EW Johnson.
For the Preston Banking Company.
Grade ll* listed.
Halls of the Gods.
Classical Architecture ruled when the banks competed with each other for solidity and splendour. Built by the Preston Banking Company in 1888 to the designs of E. W. Johnson. The Preston Coat Of Arms is carved in stone. This Bank has one of the finest Corinthian facades in the North of England.
Blythe size stand made of painted acrylic resin.
Inspired by the mexican Día de Muertos skulls, this stand shows a big eyed and toothy one which has conveniently lost its jaw in order to fit on the shelf ;)
Because of the nature of the material used, it has a nice strong and compact presence and a stone-like solidity.
Height: 7.5 inch / 19 cm.
Diameter: 4.7 inch / 12 cm.
Weight can vary: 0.9 pounds / 400 g.
Chixxie: Ms. Beetlejuice dress (Kupra)
Chixxie: Ms. Beetlejuice tie
(Kupra)
Luxrebel: Wolf & Shadow eyeshadow #24
Hoodlem: Mulatto
Rosary: Solidity nails
Punklist: Bantu base
Punklist: Roco braided bun & puff
Body: Maxine body V2 "Dutch"
Foundation stone 7 Mar 1937 by Archbishop Andrew Killian, architect Herbert H Jory, Mount Gambler coraline limestone, opened 27 Jun 1937. Earliest services began in Institute. First church foundation stone 16 Apr 1883 by Bishop Christopher Reynolds, opened Feb 1884.
“the church, had it been three times its size, would have been crowded. As it was, only a comparatively, small number of those desirous of witnessing the ceremony were able to gain admittance. The church, which is a neat little edifice, was hung with a number of pictures, and the altar was decorated with flowers.” [Border Watch 27 Feb 1884]
“ ‘That little church on the hill, which was built 54 years ago,’ said Father Sparkes, indicating the existing Catholic Church across the road, ‘has outlived its suitability as a place of Divine worship’.” [Narracoorte Herald 12 Mar 1937]
“Ruskin, prince of architectural writers in English, lays it down as a norm that, taking it by and large, a church should be architecturally as beautiful as possible, and structurally as faithful as possible. That both conditions are fulfilled in the building at Naracoorte seems evident from even a cursory glance at the plans and specifications. . . The facade is in the manner of the English village church. Here pleasing effects are obtained by grille openings in pressed cement, and, notably, by a rose window towards the apex filled with choice glass of many tints. Six buttresses in stone impart an air of great strength and solidity to this northern aspect.” [Southern Cross 18 Jun 1937]
Alexander Calder
American, 1898-1976
Croisière, 1931
Wire, wood, and paint
Calder Foundation, New York
Croisière describes disparate, yet complementary, forces: solidity and transparency, volume and void, activity and inactivity. Reflecting later, Alexander Calder observed, "At that time and practically ever since, the underlying form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof... What I mean is that the idea of detached bodies floating in space, of different sizes and densities, perhaps of different colors and temperatures, and surrounded and interlarded with wisps of gaseous condition, and some at rest, while others move in peculiar manners, seems to me the ideal source of form."
Christian Ploderer, 2008
Una nuova serie di elementi illuminanti a soffitto e a parete del designer Christian Ploderer.
Il nome Brikett ad evocare la solidità di un corpo compatto, in due dimensioni, caratterizzato da un impiego polivalente e da un emissione luminosa d’accento (spotlight) piuttosto che diffusa (floodlight).
A new line of ceiling and wall lamps by designer Christian Ploderer.
The name "Brikett" recall the solidity of the compact body that keeps a versatile use and is characterized (in both the shorter and longer version) by an accent lighting (spot) or a diffused lighting (flood).
Real estate industry have been in the business for a long time. It started during a time when humans have stopped being nomads and started having permanent lands. They started having tribal leaders, who overseas their whole land and settle disputes with other tribes. This is also the start of other tribes trying to take over the lands and defending their own. This is observed in human history as this is the main reason why war between countries started, conquering different lands or countries for their resources and their location. As the time goes changes are need to be made, revolution for the industry is needed hence the start of what we know today as real-estate.
Real estate business involves buying and selling of real property, it can be land, building or maybe a house. Seemingly easy buying and selling of real estate is tough. The documentations and requirements needed are really a pain in the ass. One more thing to note is that requirements per country differs from the other. Lets try to break down what makes real-estate business a tough one.
1. Documentary Requirements
– This is the most and tedious process of either buying or selling real estate property is the documentary requirements. Documents for each property must be fully authentic and free of anomalies.
2. Legitimate Seller/Buyer
– This is also one of the issue, as we know sometimes the ones posting the properties for sale are not the owners itself. Third parties have been always involved in real-estate. The problem with having third parties is that you are not 100% sure you are getting the best price for your dream property.
3. Hidden Cost/Charges
– Almost everyone in the real estate business have been a victim of this atleast once. Hidden charges really makes buying/selling really irritating because they will only tell it to you once all have been settled with.
So what should we do? Time to use MUXE!
MUXE will provide all you need at the end of your fingertips.
-Documents? MUXE will make sure all the properties being listed for sale have complete and authentic documents.
-No more third parties, because we ensure all the users who post their items are of their own.
-Definitely no hidden charges and all cost/ expenses to grab that dream house or property will be displayed on your device. It’s like purchasing a product at your shopping website!
Will you ever risk your precious investment on the old ways? or try MUXE services.
You decide!
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‘Scene’ in Hebden Bridge, West Yorks 1.
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
Friend Peter Rose had one of his occasional breaks in Hebden recently and has forwarded these images. They are reproduced here with his permission and my thanks.
I have visited Hebden Bridge several times and I always like the stone buildings that are the backdrop to the images. To me, they signify solidity and strength.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
American Radiator Building (which was renamed to the American Standard Building) is a 103 meter tall building in New York City in the borough of Manhattan, located at 40 West 40th Street looking out onto Bryant Park.
With 23 floors, it was conceived by the architects Raymond Hood and John Howells in 1924 and built for the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Company. The form of its structure is based on the building of Chicago Tribune.
The black brick on the frontage of the building (symbolizing coal) was selected to give an idea of solidity and to give the building a solid mass. Other parts of the facade were covered in gold bricks (symbolizing fire), and the entry was decorated with marble and black mirrors. Once again, the talents of Rene Paul Chambellan were employed by Hood and Howells for the ornamentation and sculptures.
Ponce County, Puerto Rico
Listed: 06/25/1987
The predominant style is related to the Beaux art neoclassical, with three horizontal bands defining this wraparound facade. The base is made of a pinkish stone extracted from a quarry close to the city. This stone has been commonly used in other Ponce buildings. Over said base, there is a body defined by a colossal Corinthian order, with paired pilasters turning into columns at the most dramatic point, where the front to the Square is defined.
The building's major occupant since its construction - the Banco de Ponce – was founded in 1912, as a bank oriented to finance the needs of the locally-based largescale cane and coffee industry. At that time, Ponce was in the midst of an economic boom which entailed the construction of Beaux arts and eclectic buildings in the city reflecting the "cultured" taste, of the wealthy landowning class. This particular building is a relatively late but very successful example of Ponce interpretation of the FindeSiecle Beaux Arts architects. Its architect Francisco Porrata Doria, had, at the time, recently returned to Puerto Rico, after studying engineering at Cornell University and some architectural courses at Columbia University.
This may account for the academic correctness of the detailing, also evident in the next-door Banco Credito y Ahorro Ponceno, another of his works. Later Porrata-Doria would evolve stylistically to execute Streamline, Art Deco, and even early International Style designs; several of these examples are located very close to this building, right on Ponce's main square. The Banco de Ponce's setting on the city's main square contributes to the elegance of this part of the city. Several adjacent structures are already listed in the National Register: the old Firehouse (1883, NR 07-12-84) the City Hall 1845, NR 11-19-86) and the Cathedral (1841, NR 12-10-84). The latter's facade is a 1932 Porrata-Doria design. Banco de Ponce's monumental exuberance expresses the pride of the institution, its solidity and its capacity to hold its own against far more wealthy Stateside institutions competing for the dollars of the local moneyed classes.
#3171 - 2016 Day 248: Hardwood furniture has a feel of permanence about it, with solidity and wonderful texture. But I can't help feeling that it should not be in my lounge; it should be in a forest somewhere ...
Blythe size stand made of painted acrylic resin.
Inspired by the mexican Día de Muertos skulls, this stand shows a big eyed and toothy one which has conveniently lost its jaw in order to fit on the shelf ;)
Because of the nature of the material used, it has a nice strong and compact presence and a stone-like solidity.
Height: 7.5 inch / 19 cm.
Diameter: 4.7 inch / 12 cm.
Weight can vary: 0.9 pounds / 400 g.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Woman and Child
Mary Cassatt (United States, Pennsylvania, Allegheny City, active France, 1844-1926)
United States, late 19th or early 20th century
Through the generosity of Deborah and John Landis, the museum acquired its second Mary Cassatt painting, Woman and Child (Mathilde Holding a Child). Cassatt was one of the foremost American artists of the 19th century. Almost her entire career was spent in France as an expatriate, and it was there she became a confidant of Degas and a member of the radical circle of French impressionists. The only American invited to exhibit with them in Paris, Cassatt first presented her famous “mother and child” images at their annual shows. Mother About to Wash Her Sleepy Child (1880), the museum’s other Cassatt oil, is believed to be the artist’s earliest dated modern Madonna. Woman and Child is slightly smaller but equally rich in palette. Manifold are the discussions about Cassatt’s maternal themes and their relationship both to her own life (she remained single, but lived in close rapport with her extended family) and to a contemporary religious revival in France. Recently, scholars have begun questioning the identity of these so-called mothers, and clues can sometimes be found in their attire. Is the woman in our 1880 painting the mother or a servant? She appears to be wearing intimate at-home attire, but an upper-middle-class woman probably would have relegated the domestic chore of her children’s toilet to a nursemaid. One of Cassatt’s servants, Mathilde Vallet, often posed for the artist; but in the context of Woman and Child is she to be read as the mother? There is not enough detail to know what she is wearing. Moreover, although the young child hugs Mathilde, her eyes express a slight skepticism rather than the confidence one would expect. Woman and Child actually has two subjects, for the paint surface is as significant as the imagery. The canvas was intentionally left unfinished (it is signed), suggesting that the artist wanted the viewer to luxuriate in the paint’s physicality. Its surface consists of neutral-colored passages of underpaint as well as areas finished to varying degrees. Cassatt varied her approach, using sweeping strokes, wiggles, parallel lines, and even rubbing out the pigment. The canvas also offers insight into the artist’s working methodology. Typical of an academically trained artist, the faces are the most fully realized. Yet Cassatt built up her three-dimensional forms, first drawing in cobalt blue a quick, sure outline, than applying strokes one over another so that her figures simultaneously suggest solidity and movement. Cassatt had been criticized for her defective drawing by her teachers, who considered her approach slovenly. Today we realize how brilliant a draftsman she was. Mother About to Wash Her Sleepy Child and Woman and Child document Cassatt’s importance to both American and French painting.
Blue Grass, Green Skies: American Impressionism and Realism from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
JANUARY 24, 2025 - MAY 18, 2025
"It must not be assumed that American Impressionism and French Impressionism are identical. The American painter accepted the spirit, not the letter of the new doctrine." - Christian Brinton, 1916
In 1874, a group of avant-garde French artists, including Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, organized the first exhibition of the “Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc.” in Paris. Although working independently, rather than as a unified movement or school, they came to be known as the Impressionists—a term first used to disparage their works as unfinished “impressions.” Defined by their loose brushwork, vibrant color palettes, and attention to capturing the ephemeral effects of light and atmosphere, these artists rejected established academic traditions and developed innovative approaches to depicting modern life.
Impressionism’s influence was felt globally, but perhaps nowhere as profoundly or as long lasting as in the United States. American artists working abroad had opportunities to see and study Impressionist works, but it was not until 1886—when the movement had lost some of its radical edge—that the first large-scale exhibition of French Impressionism was held in the United States. The New York Tribune reported that although Impressionist pictures were often criticized for their “blue grass, violently green skies, and water with the coloring of a rainbow,” Americans would nevertheless benefit from studying the “vitality and beauty” in these works.
Over the next three decades, artists working across the United States adapted Impressionist aesthetics to depict modern American life. While their works embody the optimism and nationalism that then defined American culture, by the turn of the twentieth century, rapid urbanization and industrialization had transformed the nation, giving rise to new artistic tendencies. A group of younger artists, often described as Realists, rejected Impressionism’s colorful palette, instead portraying the grittier side of urban life. However, like their Impressionist contemporaries, they continued to paint the American scene, focusing on life in the city, the country, and the home. Drawn from the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the works in this exhibition highlight the evolution of Impressionism’s blue grass and green skies into a distinctly American art.
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"Acknowledged as the first museum in the world dedicated solely to collecting American art, the NBMAA is renowned for its preeminent collection spanning three centuries of American history. The award-winning Chase Family Building, which opened in 2006 to critical and public acclaim, features 15 spacious galleries which showcase the permanent collection and upwards of 25 special exhibitions a year featuring American masters, emerging artists and private collections. Education and community outreach programs for all ages include docent-led school and adult tours, teacher services, studio classes and vacation programs, Art Happy Hour gallery talks, lectures, symposia, concerts, film, monthly First Friday jazz evenings, quarterly Museum After Dark parties for young professionals, and the annual Juneteenth celebration. Enjoy Café on the Park for a light lunch prepared by “Best Caterer in Connecticut” Jordan Caterers. Visit the Museum Shop for unique gifts. Drop by the “ArtLab” learning gallery with your little ones. Gems not to be missed include Thomas Hart Benton’s murals “The Arts of Life in America,” “The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy, September 11, 2001” by Graydon Parrish,” and Dale Chihuly’s “Blue and Beyond Blue” spectacular chandelier. Called “a destination for art lovers everywhere,” “first-class,” “a full-size, transparent temple of art, mixing New York ambience with Yankee ingenuity and all-American beauty,” the NBMAA is not to be missed."
www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33847-d106105-Revi...
www.nbmaa.org/permanent-collection
The NBMAA collection represents the major artists and movements of American art. Today it numbers about 8,274 paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and photographs, including the Sanford B.D. Low Illustration Collection, which features important works by illustrators such as Norman Rockwell, Howard Pyle, and Maxfield Parrish.
Among collection highlights are colonial and federal portraits, with examples by John Smibert, John Trumbull, John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, and the Peale family. The Hudson River School features landscapes by Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Martin Johnson Heade, John Kensett, Albert Bierstadt, and Frederic Church. Still life painters range from Raphaelle Peale, Severin Roesen, William Harnett, John Peto, John Haberle, and John La Farge. American genre painting is represented by John Quidor, William Sidney Mount, and Lilly Martin Spencer. Post-Civil War examples include works by Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, George de Forest Brush, and William Paxton, and 19 plasters and bronzes by Solon Borglum. American Impressionists include Mary Cassatt, Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman, J. Alden Weir, Willard Metcalf, and Childe Hassam, the last represented by eleven oils. Later Impressionist paintings include those by Ernest Lawson, Frederck Frieseke, Louis Ritman, Robert Miller, and Maurice Prendergast.
Other strengths of the twentieth-century collection include: sixty works by members of the Ash Can School; significant representation by early modernists such as Alfred Maurer, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Max Weber; important examples by the Precisionists Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, Preston Dickinson, and Ralston Crawford; a broad spectrum of work by the Social Realists Ben Shahn, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Jack Levine; and ambitious examples of Regionalist painting by Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry, and Thomas Hart Benton, notably the latter’s celebrated five-panel mural, The Arts of Life in America (1932).
Works by the American Abstract Artist group (Stuart Davis, Ilya Bolotowsky, Esphyr Slobodkina, Balcomb Greene, and Milton Avery) give twentieth-century abstraction its place in the collection, as do later examples of Surrealism by artists Kay Sage and George Tooker; Abstract Expressionism (Lee Krasner, Giorgio Cavallon, Morris Graves, Robert Motherwell, Sam Francis, Cleve Gray), Pop and Op art (Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers, Robert Indiana, Tom Wesselman, Jim Dine), Conceptual (Christo, Sol LeWitt), and Photo-Realism (Robert Cottingham). Examples of twentieth-century sculpture include Harriet Frishmuth, Paul Manship, Isamu Noguchi, George Segal, and Stephen DeStaebler. We continue to acquire contemporary works by notable artists, in order to best represent the dynamic and evolving narrative of American art.
A family memorial chapel built near the graves of the first Collins generation in 1900-02, to honour that generation, has the solidity contributed by the rough drressed honey coloured sandstone (quarried from a paddock less than a kilometre away) that is not common in Queensland rural churches. The tower, added in 1915, adds to this with its Norman-style keep. The walls are buttressed.
The family ias associated with the North Australian Pastoral Company, and one of the daughters married into the Fraser family that produced Malcolm Fraser, prime minister 1975-83.
Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
St.Mary
A cruciform church of C12-C13, outside a preaching cross, with some remaining detail. of particular note is the nave with its fine capitals, which even though over restored, still have a shapely grandeur and solidity that makes them and the church worthy of special attention. The chancel is long with lancet windows, the whole feel of the place is grand and well proportioned.The monument is of John Seymour brother of Jane Seymour Queen of Henry VII. The heraldic glass was brought from Wolfhall by Georgina wife of the 5th Marquess of Ailesbury in 1905 from Wolf Hall at Burbage.
The Church of the Transfiguration in Kizhi.
The uniqueness of the buildings lies in the fact that they were built without nails. The craftsmen, moreover, used only the simplest tools - with a carpenter's axe and chisel they fitted the logs together in such a way that the solidity of the buildings was ensured. The main attraction is the 22-domed Church of the Transfiguration. Who exactly the builder was is not known. Legend attributes the glory to Nestor, who, the story goes, threw his axe into Onega Lake when he had finished the construction work with the words: "This church was built by the master Nestor. There never has been and never will be anything like it evermore".
In tension (Coventry, UK)
Created as an experiment to seek form from tension, a piece of fabric was stretched inside a wooden frame. The tension and drama from pulling the strings has resulted an entity that would be with volume and shape, taking a life of its own. The entity is ever changing and manipulative, conforming to the forces it has been given to, while inviting to interact, using senses to feel. Its lack of solidity resembles the feeling of being in water or gas matter, while pushing back sometimes, to give its own force to the person that touches it. It is mutual and considerate, as if it had feelings.
Roof bosses in the north transept.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Foundation stone 7 Mar 1937 by Archbishop Andrew Killian, architect Herbert H Jory, Mount Gambler coraline limestone, opened 27 Jun 1937. Earliest services began in Institute. First church foundation stone 16 Apr 1883 by Bishop Christopher Reynolds, opened Feb 1884.
“the church, had it been three times its size, would have been crowded. As it was, only a comparatively, small number of those desirous of witnessing the ceremony were able to gain admittance. The church, which is a neat little edifice, was hung with a number of pictures, and the altar was decorated with flowers.” [Border Watch 27 Feb 1884]
“ ‘That little church on the hill, which was built 54 years ago,’ said Father Sparkes, indicating the existing Catholic Church across the road, ‘has outlived its suitability as a place of Divine worship’.” [Narracoorte Herald 12 Mar 1937]
“Ruskin, prince of architectural writers in English, lays it down as a norm that, taking it by and large, a church should be architecturally as beautiful as possible, and structurally as faithful as possible. That both conditions are fulfilled in the building at Naracoorte seems evident from even a cursory glance at the plans and specifications. . . The facade is in the manner of the English village church. Here pleasing effects are obtained by grille openings in pressed cement, and, notably, by a rose window towards the apex filled with choice glass of many tints. Six buttresses in stone impart an air of great strength and solidity to this northern aspect.” [Southern Cross 18 Jun 1937]
Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
St.Mary
A cruciform church of C12-C13, outside a preaching cross, with some remaining detail. of particular note is the nave with its fine capitals, which even though over restored, still have a shapely grandeur and solidity that makes them and the church worthy of special attention. The chancel is long with lancet windows, the whole feel of the place is grand and well proportioned.The monument is of John Seymour brother of Jane Seymour Queen of Henry VII. The heraldic glass was brought from Wolfhall by Georgina wife of the 5th Marquess of Ailesbury in 1905 from Wolf Hall at Burbage.
Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)
Boat in the Flood at Port Marly
1876
La barque pendant l'inondation, Port-Marly
In 1874, Sisley moved to Marly-le-Roi and became the chronicler of this village situated a few kilometres to the west of Paris. His most beautiful motif was when the Seine burst its banks and flooded the neighbouring village of Port-Marly in the spring of 1876. The artist produced six paintings of this event. He captured the great expanse of water with moving reflections that transformed the peaceful house of a wine merchant into something mysterious and poetic. Two of these paintings are in the Musée d'Orsay.
In this version, Sisley positions the house at an angle, leaving a large amount of space for sky and water. For the flooded area he used light colours and broad, brushstrokes placed side by side. Conversely, he expressed the solidity of the house and its pink and yellow walls, with very precise brushwork. Thus, the stability and permanence of the solid elements contrast with the fleeting movements of the water, which at any moment might recede.
The presence of several human figures in boats reinforces the impression of an ordinary day transformed by "a devastating invasion where the familiar, everyday, usual aspect of things was irresistibly substituted by a new, unexpected, enigmatic and disturbing expression" (Paul Jamot, La peinture au musée du Louvre, Ecole Française XIXe siècle, 1928).
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When we visited the Musee D'Orsay in September, 2016, we had less than 90 minutes to actually view the collection, so I concentrated on the Impressionist works on the top floor:
www.flickr.com/photos/ugardener/albums/72157673375527190
When we returned to Paris in May, 2017, I made sure to cover the floors and areas of the Museum that I had missed on my first trip.
Since the D'Orsay owns many more top flight paintings and sculptures than it has room to show at any one time, and lends many works to other institutions, there were many works of art on display in May that had not been there the previous September, so there is little overlap between the two albums.
I also have a separate album about the special exhibition - "Beyond the Stars -The Mystical Landscape from Monet to Kandinsky (Au-dela des Etoiles - Le Paysage Mystique de Monet a Kandinsky)":
www.flickr.com/photos/ugardener/albums/72157681909848733
.......
The side view shows both the strengths and weaknesses of this design.
Pros:
- It raises the screen by about 8 inches, which is about right.
- The legs form a stop against which you can butt the keyboard, which gives the whole thing a sense of solidity.
Cons:
- I didn't cut the legs to exactly the same size, so the keyboard butts against them at a slant.
- There is not enough support at the back of the stand, leaving the whole assembly vulnerable to tipping over backwards, especially when opening the screen.
wow. day 300. only 65 to go, surreal.
i dug this bottom pictures out of a shoebox. it's from 2006, on a bus heading home from an absolutely fantastic experience up north. leaning over that seat, cheesing it with Luke, what a great time.
we must always try to live every day like the days we remember, like this one. when smiling is hard to do and youre tired, your head hurts, and you have days upon days of make-up work to get done, just breathe Jake, remember these days and make them today.
i will have solidity in You. You know me more than anyone ever will.
goodnight and God bless.
Model: Violet Noir
MUA : Kamikazii / Kayleigh Oliver
Photographer: Armineh Kamali-Rousta
Location: Southerndown, Victorian Garden
Some play with exposures , quite fond of it really, could be a little better if i had made a zoom out next to this image. Will try that out with one of the other images that is with a different background and scenery.
~♥~
The Rock of Gibraltar is located at the entrance of the Mediterranean. Its strategic location and history have made it an international symbol of solidity and strength, and is frequently featured in the world press and media. Gibraltar is connected to the Spain by a sandy isthmus, and ferry to Morocco. The subject of repeated conquest and sieges Gibraltar has been a British Territory since 1704 when it was ceded forever under the Treaty of Utrecht. Since 1973 it is part of the EU under the British accession. A short distance from the Concrete jungle called the Costa del Sol, Gibraltar stands apart with its history preserved waiting to welcome you to this small friendly British territory located on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsular where you will find something truly different. When you first see the Rock of Gibraltar, whether it is from the air, from the sea or from either the Costa del Sol or the western end of the Bay, it is its impressive stature, towering isolated above the surrounding countryside, that causes the greatest impact. It has had this effect on people for many thousands of years
This is a combination of the Avenger Super Clamp and the Zacuto Zicromount. The Zaffer allows users to attach 15mm rods or Zamerican arms to mount monitors, lights, hard drives, etc. It’s able to clamp onto a variety of gear including tripod legs and handles, with Zacuto quick-release.
Avenger Super Clamp Specifications:
-High performance aluminum
-Clamping system achieved via a metal knob ensuring extra solidity
-Clamp Range: .51"-2.1" (round tube): 2.1"
-Load Capacity: 33 lbs
-Material: Aluminum
-Weight: 0.99 lbs
Zicromount Specifications:
-Includes a 1/4 20" screw
-Has a 15mm hole to mount an articulating arm or 15mm rod end to give you quick release action
Special education & orthopedagogical expertise centre. The building is a single volume with a neutral, oval basic form. The separate entrances and schoolyards were carved out of this main form. These incisions give the different sections their identity, and each features its own colour and material. The oval outer wall is made of rough natural stone and exudes solidity, while the inner sides are made of glass and steel and have a much more delicate feel: like a hard shell with a soft centre. Inside, each section has its own world, organized around its own stairwell, directly accessible from its own schoolyard. The common gymnasium and the expertise centre are located in the central part of the building. (built 2004-2008, see tags for further known data).
Op dit werk is een Creative Commons Licentie van toepassing.
You’ve seen the advertisements here on Bastos and elsewhere: the curve is coming to a Housing near you. It seems at first glance a simple innovation, in some ways even a predictable one. Watching commercials for Building’s new line of Housing , I find myself wondering why it’s taken this long for curved facade to arrive. And it’s altogether possible that I’m asking that question because to my brain—and quite likely to yours—the curve simply fits.
Behavioral researchers have known this for some time; people consistently show a preference for curves over hard lines and angles. Whether the object is a wristwatch, a sofa, or a well-designed building, curves curry favor. Neuroscience, following the lead of behavioral science, is on the hunt for a neurally-hardwired preference for curvy elegance.
Of course, Housing with curved balconies offer technical advantages beyond aesthetics. Curvature is making the viewing experience easier on the eyes, and simultaneously creates the illusion that the viewer is surrounded by the balcony . The so-called “sweet spot” at the center of the illusion is a comfortable magnet for our attention.
But aside from those advantages, studies suggest that merely viewing the curves of an object triggers relief in our brains – an easing of the threat response that keeps us on guard so much of the time. While hard lines and corners confer a sense of strength and solidity, they are also subtly imposing. Something about them keeps our danger-alert system revved.
Research shows that we subjectively interpret sharp, hard visual cues as red flags in our environment (with corresponding heightened activity in our brain’s threat tripwire, the amygdala). Even holding a glass with pronounced hard lines and edges has been shown to elevate tension across the dinner table. Curves take the perceptual edge off.
I The softness of contour may also play out in our brains not unlike an emotionally satisfying song or poem. A new discipline known as neuroaesthetics—an ambitious vector between neuroscience and the fine arts—is exploring this idea, shedding light on why the love of curves is seducing technology manufacturers. Recent research under this new banner suggests that curved features in furniture, including TVs, trigger activity in our brains’ pleasure center. We derive a buzz from curves much as we do when viewing a beautiful work of art.
The overlap of visual impact from things as commonplace as chairs and tables and TVs, and emotional impact at such a high level (a level we’d normally reserve for art and music) suggests that the ordinary elements in our environments aren’t so ordinary after all. Skilled industrial designers have known this for quite some time, but now science is adding an explanatory dimension that makes the point all the more compelling.
And if it’s true, as the research indicates, that the curve is an emotional elixir for anxiety-prone brains, the latest trend is likely to take hold and transform our interface with all things digital.
Having said that, the true test of the curvy trend’s appeal won’t happen until the price point drops considerably. Curves may calm, but the prices on many curved screen TVs are anything but calming. We’ll have to wait a while for that to play out to know whether the brain’s love of the curve translates into an enduring shift in technology.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Astounding! Gracious custom built single family home in Chicago's East Village. All brick residence offers elegant finishes with coffered ceilings and crown molding and perfectly selected stones and tiling. Comfortable rooms including massive master suite with a spa-like bath. This is a home that will not disappoint, especially the attached garage or decks atop the home and garage. Call Tom McCarey to arrange private showing at 773.848.9241. Delightful custom built single family in Chicago's East Village. What sets this home apart? Its profound solidity of construction, made of all brick with limestone accents, the detail within with coffered ceilings and crown molding, and the degree of detail with perfectly chosen stones and mosaic tiling in the baths. The home features three outdoor areas that include decks atop the home and garage and a balcony off the home's great room. Another unique and unexpected plus is an attached two-car garage. Arrange private showings with Tom McCarey of The Real Estate Lounge Chicago at 773.848.9241.
The High Court of Australia, designed by architect James and Nicholas and completed in 1980, is a prominent example of Brutalist architecture. The building is characterized by bold geometric forms, with its massive concrete structure and large, angular volumes dominating the site. Its use of raw concrete and sharp lines emphasizes a sense of solidity and permanence, aligning with the Brutalist emphasis on functional design and a stark, utilitarian aesthetic.
The building’s design prioritizes function, with large, open spaces to accommodate the needs of the judiciary. Its geometric configuration, while imposing, ensures that the court's operations are central to the design, with clear divisions between public and private areas. The architectural language of the High Court reflects Brutalism’s commitment to raw materiality and practicality, providing an efficient, no-frills environment for the country’s highest legal institution.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.