blue

Carry's daughter Sienna, in blue.

That great BBCFour show - the History of Art in Three Colours - is now up to White, which we have two days to see. Blue was great. Starting with James Fox talking to us from a gondola heading into Venice, carrying a large chunk of blue lapis from the one cave in Afghanistan - the one place, IN THE WORLD, where it exists, and explaining that it was how it would arrive in Venice, to be traded for gold. More precious than gold. And he went on to show us the most amazing works - a ceiling of lapis blue, with gold, that showed us mortals what Heaven looks like.

Blue is my favourite colour (with aqua, esp. pale aqua, a close second) - and I love, come to think of it, the hot pink/orange with a bit of tan or black or sandy hues -  tropical Spanish bullfighter stuff - which I'm heating up for, as I think about how I can pare down my packing for Miami/Palm Beach. Can't wait! Leaving Sunday. Then back in time for London Fashion Week.

Yes, friends, I'm getting back on that horse.

I'll be shooting for LookBible, but also doing some posts here. So best to sign up - it's easy, and you'll love it - it's only two months old but growing fast thru the London girls, going global, and it's a really sweet, non competitive, friendly community. Please let me know when you're in - I'm Jill A, user 1718, so this way I can follow you.

Sienna's also wearing a dress designed by her mum's friend. And I love her chunky jazz tap shoes. I have a similar pair - which I've saved since I was her age in this shot - about 14 - but I don't wear them because of the taps. I really should: this way they can hear me coming!

gold, gone

I hope you're reading this before it's too late. I found the name of the show about gold, it's called The History of Art in Three Colours, presented by Dr. James Fox on BBCFour, but Gold is gone. GONE. It's too late for gold.

It's not too late for Blue, though: that ends tonight (on iPlayer, I mean: it will linger in our memories) at 9:00. So anyone reading this in the UK, if you're having a lazy snowy lie in today, definitely watch it. White, the last in the trilogy, is airing next week.

James Fox is a youngish guy, a professor, I suppose, with Dr. in front of his name, who dresses like the early Beatles: I love that style of white shirts, suit jacket, skinny black tie: he does his with a twist sometimes, like hiking in the German alps, in the snow, to find the perfect blue flower from an early novel that put blue on the romance map, with jeans and loafers below his black suit and tie.  I can't work out whether his area is science or culture or art.. it doesn't matter. He leads you on this journey, through history, in the case of blue arriving by vote to Venice carrying a huge piece of real Lapis, the way the traders did, from a cave in Afghanistan, the only place it's mined, that one cave, to trade for gold.

We - husband and I both - LOVE the series. We like to watch stuff together, and to find something we both love - like the Killing, which we're now devouring on dvd - is rare. This weekend, after I go out to meet a good friend, and he swims in the gym, we're planning to dive back under the duvet and have a Killathon.

This is Carry Sommers, who created Pachacuti, the wonderful ethical hat company, at the WEBA awards, where she was nominated. She had her golden dress made by a designer friend, whose name, alas, eludes me. I love gold at the moment - nearly as much as I love blue - and especially now. When it's cold out, I want to wear something warm, and gold feels warm. I think, though, I might wear a powder blue jumper and white jeans and thick warm boots. We've got a ball coming up on Monday, and it's 'black tie optional' so I'm wearing one of the cocktail dresses I've had made in the late 20th Century. Jackie Kennedy with a twist. I wish I could wear this dress, but I think I'm going for shimmery, silken, golden lime green.

Definitely watch the show on Blue: I'd love to hear what you think.

gold

I seem to have moved from a silver phase, into gold.

It's been happening for a while - subtly - but last December, when I was at a church Christmas sale thingy with the Mum-in-Law in Herefordshire, my eye was drawn to something sparkly and golden: a chain choker, the scale of the one shown here on Rhiannon. It cost something like £4, and the woman who sold it to me told us a lovely story about going with her late husband, to Egypt, and the man who sold it to THEM said it was real 'Egyptian gold'.

It's light as a feather - which is a plus for me if I'm wearing it round my neck (I don't do necklaces, as a rule, and especially not 'statement necklaces'. Pearls - a gift from my husband before we were married - is about as heavy as I like to go. Same reason I don't usually do turtle necks. And even the work choker makes me feel.. you know). I'm usually more of a bangles girl - I don't at all mind the danglingness around my wrists -  but this gold chain - and the story - caught my imagination. I pictured them knowing it wasn't real - or wanting to believe it was - and then paying a small fee, gong off with their treasure, knowing they'd made the man who sold it to them happy that he'd got away with something. Everyone won.

And then they packed it in their bag, and it left Egypt, and found its way to a church in rural England.

And I'm finding now, I'm drawn to it, and to all things gold -  just as I'm drawn to golden light.

There was a great show on recently, on the BBC, called the History of Art in Three Colours. If I hurry I'll catch my favourite colour, Blue. But the first- which I found fascinating - Gold, is gone. I'm fascinated with the idea that ancient civilisations believed that wearing gold - not as accessories, but we're talking sheaths of it, top to bottom - would protect them from the Gods in the sky. I read this at a little museum at the top of the World Trade Centre - the one time I ever went - and it always stayed with me. Because they also said that scientists have discovered that wearing told as a protective suit is the best ways to block out radioactive rays. For example, in case of nuclear attack.

But also, it looks really good with a tan, and - more than black, which is nice too - I really love the way my gold chain looks with a soft grey jumper.

cara

It's funny to think, at the time I took these shots - September 2010 I think - I had named the shots 'Poppy's friend' because she was clowning around with what turned out to be her sister, Poppy Delevingne. The third blonde with them - who I assumed was another friend, then later, possibly sister - was probably her mum.

Cara - as everyone is now calling her - liked my shots so much she used them on her private facebook page. And we're still friends. Even though she goes by another name there. Which I can't tell you, being, of course, private.

She's a delightful girl, with that innate effortless style that Kate Moss had at her age, and it's been fun to watch her grow in such a short amount of time. Although two years,  in model years, is probably longer than dog years. She's still really goofy and girlish in real life, but she can do grown up - as shown here in a Burberry campaign shot from 2011 - really well.

Is she this big outside London? It seems we're seeing her a lot here in England, where she's from. Thanks to Jennifer B. for posting this shot on LookBible. You've got a great eye: I want to re-post everything you've put up.

light

On the first day of the New Year, I was walking with my husband through our neighbourhood, South Kensington, and we wandered into the V&A. I hadn't brought my camera - my poor sweet Canon EOS 50D died before Christmas, and I have a vintage one that I haven't quite got the hang of yet - it's like the old soul hasn't yet entered it - and I need to get batteries to get back to using my dad's old Pentax (print film).

But I did have my phone. And there was something about the light.

I'm - like you, I'm sure - a creative being. And I'm constantly finding that when I pause or put on hold one of my means of creative expression - when I go on a creative fast - something else comes along. I'm always doing something, even if it's cooking. It's gotta go somewhere.

At the moment, I am obsessed with light. And the idea that photography is all about light. Shadows and light. What you are seeing is light coming through a screen. That's all it is.

But there are moments - you turn a corner, the light hits at a certain angle - that seem to transcend this mortal coil. And that day was one of them. The people around us seemed to feel it too. 

This trilogy, the first in a series.

Hope 2013 is going well for you, so far. Hope your days are filled with light.