Five people holding hands and dancing in a circle. Dance (La Danse) is a 1910 painting by Matisse. The bodies are painted red, they dance on a mound of green, the backdrop behind them (sky?) is blue, and they are naked. The colours are vibrant – two primary colours, one secondary – and the simple, primitive style … Continue reading Gotta Dance
The things you learn at school set hard like concrete. You don't know they’re buried deep in your brain, until something is said and all of a sudden - pow! - like cracking through the earth and tapping the well, out pour words or songs or facts; pure springs of knowledge you’d forgotten you knew. So … Continue reading Let Me Count The Ways
Own up: how many of you, when alone in the car, or the kitchen, or the bath, take to an imaginary stage and sing along to whatever song is playing on the radio (or inside your head) with fluent, free flowing nonsensical lyrics that you valiantly make up on the spot? Thank goodness it’s not … Continue reading Singing Along
I’m back in Yorkshire for a few days. Mostly I’ve been in York itself, town of snickets and ginnels, inviting little passageways that you might call an alley, close, entry or vennel, depending upon where you come from. Last time I was down here was December and I could barely move through the narrow streets, … Continue reading Yorkshire Sayings
My Edinburgh Press 