The Light Aquatic

Based Upon ~ Metal Storytelling

 Set up by twin brothers Ian & Richard Abell Based Upon is a team of incredible craftsmen, metalworkers and artist that create spectacular designs out of liquid metals and resins. Personalized large scale Artwork, Sculpture and Furniture is painstakingly made with outstanding results. We all have a story or a memory that we want to have with us always, Based Upon can manifest this for you in an unforgettable way. 

Browse their website which is full of interesting information on what they can create for you.

Storytelling in Liquid metal, now that is unique. xo

Images sourced via their site,

Based Upon

Based Upon Unit A121 / Faircharm 8-12 Creekside London SE8 3DX UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 83202122 info@basedupon.com

Swimming Pools II

California Bernard Trainor Architect

Ibiza Antonio & Ignacio Saorin

Morocco Jaouad Kadiri

Washington DC Thomas Pheasant

Napa Valley Pool Pavillion Tom Leader Studio

Mexico Michael Schaieble

Nantucket Karin Blake

Formentera Jordi Canosa

Florianopolis Carlos Miele

Trancoso Daniela Oliviera

Hamptons Tim Whealon

Jamaica Ralph & Ricky Lauren

Formentera II Jordi Canosa

Tropical Island Simon Upton

Venezuela Fernando Arriaga

Lebanon Pool of Elie Saab Design by Chakib Richani

Summertime is here and what is more beautiful than having a great pool to spend it in. I can only dream that one day I will have  my own house with a gorgeous garden and pool.

In the meantime I can only sit and look at these and get inspiration until the real thing.

Dream Away xo

Photos sourced via,

www.elledecor.com

www.architecturaldigest.com

www.jordicanosa.com

Bvlgari Hotels & Restaurants

Bvlgari Hotel Uluwatu Bali Indonesia

Bvlgari Ginza  Shop and Restaurant Tokyo Japan

Bvlgari Hotel Milano Italy

Bvlgari Hotel London Opening Spring 2012 in Knightsbridge .

I had a lovely dinner in the Bvlgari Mialno's gorgeous garden, and I have visited the spectacular one in Bali. Seems that Bvlgari are doing a very good job with their hotels.

Shame they can't have an outdoor garden restaurant in London, Hyde Park is only across the street. Maybe they will do a roof terrace , the views would be beautiful.

All Photos Via http://www.bulgarihotels.com

LONDON CULTURE NOV 2013 Klee & The Chinese Masters

Qui Ying ,Saying Farewell at Xunyang (Detail) Early 16th Century. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art Kansas City

Gaze of Silence Paul Klee 1932

Possibly Emperor Huizong, Auspicious Cranes  1112. Liaoning Provincial Museum

Comedy Paul Klee 1921

Attributed to Shi Ke, Two Chan Patriarchs Harmonising their Minds . 13th Century .

Chen Rong Nine Dragons (detail) 1244

Historical Site Paul Klee 1927

Yuan Jiang The Palace of Nine Perfections (detail) 1691

A Young Lady's Adventure Paul Klee 1922

This is my choice of London current important  exhibitions.

Masterpieces of Chinese Paintings from 700-1900 at the V & A. An incredible assimilation of rare art works from collections around the world. Categorized in different eras ans styles.  Objects of Devotion 700-950, The Quest for Reality 950-1250, Embracing Solitude 1250-1400, The pursuit of happiness 1400-1600, Challenging the Past and Looking to The West 1600-1900. The other part is that the exhibition is accompanied by the wonderful lectures and workshops not to be missed, Digital Dragons, Dim Sum Demonstration, Painting of The Mongol Dynasty in China and events for the whole family . Lastly there is a 14 day Imperial Jewels of China Cruise to be won and other prizes.. run to the V&A now. 

Down by the River at The Tate Modern  The Ey Exhibition: Paul Klee Making Visible, The "God" of Bauhaus . Abstract, geometric , organic. A magical man who was at one with cosmos as he was grounded in Life. He influenced so many other artist such as Rothko. 

"He used to gaze for a long time at his prepared canvas before he began the drawing… I have never seen a man who had such creative quiet. It radiated from him as from the sun. His face was that of a man who knows about day and night, sky and sea and air. He did not speak about these things. He had no tongue to tell of them. Our language is too little to say these things… Klee, when beginning a picture, had the excitement of a Columbus moving to the discovery of a new continent. He had a frightened presentiment, just a vague sense of the right course… Klee set out to discover a new land." Jankel Adler on Paul Klee .

One of my favourite artists of all time Swiss Paul Klee's  work is so refreshingly Modern but has the depth of another era that to me has not been seen in our Modern times of today. 

"I cannot be grasped in the here and now  For I live just as well with the dead  As with the unborn  Somewhat closer to the heart  Of creation than usual  But far from close enough."

Paul Klee own words on his tombstone. 

Enjoy. 

Masterpieces of Chinese Paintings At The V&A

26th October 2013 - 9th of January 2014

Corresponding  Workshops & Lectures 

Paul Klee at The Tate Modern

16th of October 2013- 9th of March 2014

Henri Biva (French, 1848-1928)

Pond in the mist, 1910

Oil on canvas

Midnight at The Oasis

Sunrise on The Great Sand Sea

Meet the Flintstones 21st Century

Bedroom Adrere Amellal

Siwi Man Photo by C. Stamba-Badial 

Drinks by the Salt lake 

This was were I stayed in Adrere Amellal view of the lake all around

Drinks at the Fire pit 

i

Temple Amon

Adrere Amellal Bedroom

Dunes of The Great Sand Sea

Date Palms at Siwa

One of the many lounging nooks in Adrere Amellal

Locally  handmade Kaftans by the Siwi Women

The natural spring pool at Adrere Amellal

Illuminated "Kershef " Wall  a mix of rock salt & mud

Dinning under the palms Adrere Amelall

Sweet water oasis in the middle of the desert

Riding the dunes in the Great Sand Sea

Dinner in the middle of the desert

Dusk at Adrere Amelall

Magic dinning locations dotted around the property

Candle lit bed time

Sun setting over the dunes

“Oh that the desert were my dwelling place,

With only one fair spirit for my minster.

That I might forget the human race,

And hating no one, love her only.”

Lord Byron

In the  magical Great Sand Sea of Egypt's western Sahara on the boarder to Libya lies a diamond named Siwa. An Oasis filled with history and legends,such as the Temple  of the Oracle of Amun~ RA. Were Alexander The Great consulted the oracle in order to seek confirmation that he was the son of Zeus and the rightful ruler of Egypt. Or something like that.

I was invited  about 8 years ago to a wedding in Cairo by dear friends of mine. Included was a trip to Siwa a couple of days  before the wedding, staying at the amazing eco lodge Adrere Amellal. The love project of  visionary Dr Mounir Neamatalla a very elegant egyptian environmentalist. The words eco lodge dont always make me jump with joy, but a trip to the Egyptian desert I could not miss . 

When we arrived we all had a big smile on our faces as we took in the scene before us. The sacred white mountain towers over the property with views on  a vast salt lake , date palms  and in the distance the dunes of the great sand sea. Dotted around this setting are traditional buildings made by combining rock salt and mud called "Kershef", 40 rooms all furnished in locally artisanal furnishing, beds made out of palm with Egyptian cotton sheets and fluffy pillows. Bedouin carpets and beeswax candles everywhere  there is no electricity, no phones, no air conditioning or wifi.

Really a place to give in to the mystical call of the desert, at night they light up all the pathways with candles and dinner is served in the most amazing locations all over the property with the light of the stars as company. Date souffle served on silver plates and wine drank out of crystal glasses, the food was amazing, all the staff are local Siwi whose origins are Berber. On one night they came and played traditional Bedouin music , they danced like mad and so did we! When ready to retire, A member of staff would accompany you with a lantern to your room that glowed with candles, I would slip myself into the soft sheets with the breeze of the desert lulling me to sleep. 

Morning starts with a delicious breakfast over looking the lake and then preparation for a ride on 4 X 4 in to the Sand Sea so called because it was actually a sea, you can see fossils everywhere, as you ride over the dunes driven to mad perfection by the charming and hilarious locals its an exhilarating experience. They would stop and give you a board to surf the dunes if you wished or just sit and take in the unforgettable experience, everyday they planned a new surprise in the desert, which I would not give away as these surprises are truly special.

Once back at the lodge there are many more things to do, you can float on the lake or swim in the natural green pool under the palms, or for some you can go riding in the desert. There was also a trip into town to meet the local women whose embroidery is magnificent all supported by  Mounir Neamatalla and his also very elegant sister Laila, they produce kaftans, home furnishings and jewellery done by the local community. There is also a lot of history in the area and again I will not divulge too much here as to make you want to go and see for yourself but one of things is have swim in Cleopatra's Bath. 

 Thank you Dr Mounir for creating such a wonderful place and thank you my dear friends for letting be part of such an amazing journey. When are we going back?

  Adrere Amellal

Siwa

Photos via above websites & Flickr.

Dashi Namdakov: A Nomad's Universe

“I would like to understand Buryat and Buddhist tradition rationally, yet I believe something within me knows it better than I do." Dashi Namdakov

Dashi Namdakov lives in the South Eastern part of Russian Siberia near the absolutely magnificent Lake Baikal, the world’s cleanest and biggest fresh water container - one of the Worlds Natural Heritage Sites. The local people Buryats believe the Lake to be sacred.

Dashi was born in 1967 in a small Buryati village near the Russian Chinese border. His father was a well-known craftsman in the village who was famous for his versatile abilities to make things with his own hands furniture, metal handles and even carpets. His wood-carved sculptures of buddhist gods and tangkas (Buddhist icons) were installed in monasteries. So, from early childhood the kids learnt different skills through helping their father.

This is the atmosphere Dashi has grown up in and by the time he became a young man he had a good command of various manual skills. But at the age of 15 Dashi suddenly got very sick and for 7 long years no doctor could heal him. The boy was near the death's door.

Finally the parents found themselves at a shaman who found the cause of the sickness. It was the negligence that people show to their roots, their predecessors and their names. She made her ritual. Incredible enough but the pain stopped instantly. And 7 days later Dashi was in another city looking for a job. That shaman predicted that Dashi would see a huge success due to his ability to observe the beauty of the surrounding world and to recreate it in metal.

He moves to Ulan-Ude, Buryati central city and starts his carrier in the workshop of the locally well-known sculptor G.Vasilyev. In 1988 Dashi is admitted to the University of Fine Arts in Siberian Krasnoyarsk city. This is where Russian famous artists Lev Golovnitsky, Yuri Ishkhanov, Azat Boyarlin and Eduard Pakhomov taught him the academic art.

After graduation in 1992 Dashi returns to Ulan-Ude. In the year 2000 after his first personal exhibition in Irkutsk it becomes clear that a new star was born in the world of arts. The exhibition came as a furore to the art establishment. The first exhibition was followed by other successful venues in Russia and other countries.

The mysterious images often haunt Dashi during nights when the consciousness is in transition to another world inhabited by celestial creatures and spirits. Dashi scrupulously renders these visions to the paper for him not to forget - and then the night dreams are imprinted in bronze or silver.

Dashi's sculptures belong to other, remote worlds where the man and the cosmos are one, where every single thing is an integral part of the universal construction each having its own individual place and yet constantly reincarnating. This is the oriental idea of the world seeing beauty in the fragile harmony of things and fearing to break this beauty with an awkward move.

This is why old shamans talk to the spirits and heal people in Dashi's world. His old warrior does not look barbaric at all rather he is tired and wise. However one feels that his wisdom does come from a lot of pain. Knowing the real cost of the victory the warrior becomes wise and thus more humane than anybody else. Dashi's women are sensual but shy in the oriental manner. Looking at a wild fallow deer how can anyone fail to see a beautiful girl? If one takes a close look at the world around he must be able to see its beauty.

"The Creator is wiser than you", - say Dashi's sculptures.- "If you take the world as it is its secret beauty will come out to you".

"My Grandpa was a very gifted story-teller. He knew a lot of legends and stories about Buryats. And I remember them with my bones, inwardly. This feeling is very strong and more on subconscious level. I would like to understand Buryat and Buddhist tradition rationally, yet, I believe, something within me knows it better than I do. My teacher at the Art School was Lev Golovnitsky, a very fine and good Russian sculptor. And he helped me to appreciate and understand the art of sculpture and world tradition. And I am a student of Michelangelo and Bourdelle, Bruegel and Old Japanese art. And I am also myself. " (Dashi Namdakov).

Text above from Halcyon Gallery,

I have always been fascinated by Nomadic Tribes and the lands of Mongolia , Siberia, Russia and central Asia. Especially their traditions and mystical faiths of Shamanism and storytelling. Dashi Namdakov has managed to capture all of these things and more in his incredible sculptures, paintings and jewellery design. This is is his first solo show in the UK, The collection includes 45 sculptures and drawings created by the artist over last 12 years and showcases the artist’s extraordinary craftsmanship and highly original style which combines traditional spiritual imagery with present day realities, make sure to also go and see this and the sculpture in Marble Arch. Out of this world.

Thank you Halcyon Gallery for bringing us such a magnificent talent,

16th of May-7 July 2012

Halcyon Gallery

144-146 New Bond Street

London

Photos sourced via,

www.halcyongallery.com

www.dashi-art.com

www.khankhalaev.com