burne-jones exhibition ~ london trip

My husband David and I traveled from our little home in the woods at Frog Hollow to the big city of London last week to catch the once-in-a-lifetime Burne-Jones Exhibition before it ended. Love travelling with him as he is a calm and outgoing balance to my stressed and introverted silly nature.

While planning the trip I was looking forward to viewing my work on display in the gift shop, but by the time we got there to my surprise the entire collection had sold out! This was a great "problem" to have and of course did not detract from the absolute wonder and gift it was to be able to see this beautifully curated show of work by my beloved Ned. It was also fantastic to meet a few of the kind folks at the shop that helped my Amulets sell out so quickly. (Thank you everyone at the Tate Britain Shop!!) And thank you to everyone that went in and purchased them, sent me photos of the display, or just were happy to see them there. It means so much to me that they were so well received, a high point in my life to have been a small part of this breathtaking exhibition of my favorite artist's work.

View the full Burne-Jones Exhibition gallery on Flickr 

It had been many years since I had been to London, and somehow got to see so much more of it this time around though we had such a short stay planned. A vast city, I think we got less than one quarter through our wish list (already whittled down) but walked and experienced so much and met so many lovely people there (and one very sweet cat!). 

View the full London Gothic inspiration gallery on Flickr 

My friend Kelley had very thoughtfully arranged a meeting with the co-writer of one of my all time favorite books to reference, and BBC's Antiques Roadshow expert, the remarkable Geoffrey Munn! What a gift! I was feeling so very intimidated and shy but he couldn't have been kinder. He met us at the Tate and were lucky enough to be able to sit and chat about his fascinating background in jewelry and Historic research (had to ask about his family saving baby foxes too!) Then we had a walk through the Tudor Portrait Room while he spoke on gemstone lore and the deeper meaning of jewelry used at that time to give visual cues to the the viewer on the status of the sitter. So fascinating, and now it feels like it was all just a wonderful dream.

Later in the day Dave and I met up with friends old and new to celebrate my 50th at The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker for delicious food and great conversations (and music!) (Thank you Moyra, Jenna & Susan! Wish we took photos that night...but will hold on to the memories.)

The next day was for visiting Two Temple Place for the Ruskin Exhibition with a wonderful tour guide, Lesley Ann who works at the Tate Gift Shop! Really enjoyed this show encompassing Ruskin's work and passions, held within a historic building with the most ornate woodcarving I had ever seen! (And a lovely lunch with in between in a beautiful greenhouse-like cafe I've now forgotten the name of. Thank you Lesley Ann!)

View the full Two Temple Place gallery on Flickr 

We also managed to get into the Arts & Crafts rooms of the V&A before they started locking the doors behind us.

View the full V&A inspiration gallery on Flickr 

A whirlwind of inspiration that could feed me for the rest of my life.  Thanks to all of our friends who recommended places to stay, places to eat, places to visit! Already plotting our return as there was so much we didn't have the time to see. (...to my great dismay we missed the Tate slugs somehow!!!)

Thank you for reading along, hopefully my post travel-weary writing makes sense. Now to dive into all the Exhibition books I was lucky enough to come home with! Expect an All-Things-London inspired collection very soon.