Life, Art, Oxfordshire and beyond
In the beautiful Cotswold village of Chadlington, three Oxfordshire Artweeks artists talk about their very different interpretations of the human form. Myrica Jones’ large-scale figurative ink drawings are themed around the tension between weight, constraint and power. Each is drawn with controlled precision in a single colour so it is almost as if they have …
Normally each May, Oxfordshire blossoms with art as the Artweeks festival springs up with hundreds of venues throughout the month like a spring garden full of colour. This year however they took this splendour on-line with an astounding range of art to explore, inspired by landscapes, flora and fauna both close to home and further …
On Sunday 29th March it’s The Boat Race: despite the hundreds of boat races that take place around the world each year, just one is globally known by those three simple words. Once a year sixteen mighty men take up arms in the form of rowing ‘blades’ and, guided by two cunning coxes rather smaller …
As photographer Philippa James prepares to launch her exhibition 100 Women of Oxford on Sunday 8th March for International Women’s Day 2020, Esther Lafferty went to meet her and find out about Philippa and the women she is putting on show in West Oxford’s Tap Social this spring. Philippa, who moved to Oxford ten years …
It was a dark and stormy night in the bleak midwinter at Radcot, West Oxfordshire, where the Thames flowed inky on a dark winter night in the late nineteenth century. In Once Upon a River, by Oxford author Diane Setterfield,the upper reaches of our iconic river throws up a surprise which affects the lives of …
Happy New Year – with a Maltese twist.
As we approach the new year and we all promise ourselves fresh starts and the courage to chase our dreams, Esther Lafferty reviews the latest book by award-winning Maltese novelist Lou Drofenik, Echoes: distant voices; distant lives in which characters cross continents and build lives elsewhere.
Drofenik’s books are centred around family, their characters pulled from across the generations and their interactions are defined by social conventions and the inner desire that people have to break free from these. Drofenik’s novels often flick back and forth between two times periods – in her latest book Echoes however she crosses oceans as she writes and the story falls into two distinct halves which illuminates the underlying theme of emigration from starkly different angles.
The story follows two families, the Farrugias and the Muscats, and their relationships with one another and the places they live. There’s youth and passion, pragmatism and stoicism…
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Abingdon’s ‘adventure-artist’ Leila Javadi is a finalist in the 2019 Wildlife Artist of the Year competition and the talent behind the brush at White Winter Gallery in Kennington. Her paintings transport you deep into seasonal snow and ice, whisking you far from the relative warmth of Oxfordshire. Leila herself has a chilled vibe that belies …
This year’s Abingdon Christmas Extravaganza is taking place on Saturday 30th November in Abingdon Town Centre. The annual Christmas market kicks off proceeding from 9am in Bath Street with local craft stalls offering festive gifts and treats, and local charities and community groups taking part in the celebrations. At midday, it’s time for the parade …
From hieroglyphic codes, bombs and betrayal to the magic of Christmas Science Oxford bring their ‘Makers Club’ to Abingdon’s Yang Science Centre (at Abingdon School) and on 23rd they invite youngsters from 9-12 to come time-travelling. Heading back thousands of years to the banks of the Nile, these Egyptologists will investigate hieroglyphic codes and use …
A snippet of Christmas in Gozo, as published in this week’s Sunday Times of Malta.
Taking the ferry to Gozo from the modern metropolis of Malta is like stepping back in time. Instead of tall tower blocks and bustle, the buildings nestle close to the land, an unassuming stripe along the skyline where traces of the old traditions of the archipelago can still be found.
During December, in the village of Ghajnsielem, visitors can travel yet further back in time, stepping 2000 years into the past to the days when Jesus was born. The name of this village, the first to greet you as you land in the small port of Mgarr and look up to the hillside above, translates as Spring of Peace. Freshwater water bubbled from the ground here in earlier times and flowed down the valley giving life to plants and people. Now during advent, another kind of new life is celebrated with the biggest Christmas crib in Malta. The tranquil landscape…
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