Sculpture of the Month - Encore, Encore !

It is Saturday afternoon and Bernard is playing in the local hospice in his village. 

He plays the usual classics - Bach's Chaconne, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9, but he always likes to finish with a fun number, "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles. 

That always gets everyone tapping their feet and singing along, the folks enjoy his finale the best.

One of Bernard's greatest fan is Beryl, and when she attends, he is sure to get a standing ovation and roses through at his feet... You will often hear Beryl call out " Encore Bernard, Encore ! ".

Painting of the Month - Just You and Me

This is Dean and Alessia, and they are in love. 

They love eating juicy mangoes, playing scrabble, their pet parrot Felix, and in particular... Sun, Sea and Sand!

Each weekend they hop into their beat up old car and escape to their secret destination. 

They then swim out to their idyllic island, it is so far away from anywhere... no one else is ever there ! 

And when they reach the beach, they lie on the warm sand and say aloud "Just you and me".

Just Dean and Alessia

Painting of the Month - Don't Look Down

Derrick is your average 20 something. He is a landscape gardener, he has a girlfriend called Becky, he loves his parents, he enjoys racing his fiber glass laser on Saturday afternoons and he adores his dog Sam. 

Derrick has also recently discovered a new love... Funambulism! The art of walking along a thin wire or rope, you will know it as Tightrope Walking! 

His family and friends are a little perplexed, as he is quite afraid of heights, so he will often say to himself "Don't Look Down! Don't Look Down! Don't Look Down!"

  

Painting of the Month - You Cannot Be Serious

This is Jeffery, he is 50 something, works for Great Western Rail, enjoys watching SAS shows on television and he LOVES foraging for wild mushrooms. He often says "All mushrooms are edible, but some only once !"

Jeffery also plays tennis!  Everyday, at the same time, on the same court, at his local club. 

He is a keen, emotive and let us say, a passionate tennis player. He is quite a good player, fair and correct, however, he can be feisty, a little grumpy and a times a little loud. 

Please do not be too alarmed if you hear a huge "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!", it is not the legendary John McE nearby, it is only Jeffery, he has missed yet another drop volley shot!

Painting of the Month - Love Is In The air

This is Lenny, he enjoys danish TV dramas, perfecting his dark chocolate soufflè, reading the FT weekend and playing his prized, classical Stradivari violin.  
Lenny is married to Isotta.
Isotta is a nurse, she is a great fan of all Agatha Christie novels, she listens to Steve Wright on radio 2 and she prefers Dairy Milk Chocolate. 
They are so different and yet, they are perfect together.  
When Lenny plays his violin, he pictures Isotta, his wife of 39 years, and love of his love. 
Love is ALWAYS in the Air, for these two.

Famous Fowey Regatta

It is Regatta time! Fabulous Fowey Regatta Time! And the town is BUZZING!

There are - boats races each day of the week, a pasty eating contest, a fabulous traders carnival, crabbing competitions, flora dances, swimming races, fun runs, a very interesting town band, breathtaking fireworks and much much more. 
Well worth the visit.

No prizes for Dino and his friend!

Dino's first ever Regatta race, in our wooden Fowey River Boat, called Hedgehog... We are LAST !

Place grounds are only open ONE DAY a year... So put the regatta in your diary

Each year, the traders have a theme and there are prizes for the most creative, hence, we all try to decorate our shops and ourselves...  Guess what Dino is ?

The river swim... Dino finished it, that's all that matters

Painting of the Month - Next Man In

This is Ian, he has been playing cricket ever since he can remember. He can reel off almost anything to do with cricket: the players, the history, the commentators and the various cricket grounds - his favourite, by the way, is the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antiqua. 

All members of his family play, watch, read and think cricket. Even his mother Jeanne, is involved, she is in charge of the afternoon tea, making sure that the scoring is correct and the bus schedule for the team.
During the summer, on most Saturday afternoons, you will see Ian preparing to be the "Next Man In", he will wait patiently in the clubhouse, sipping on peppermint tea, listening to his walkman, singing along to The Carpenters "On Top Of The World".

As well as cricket, Ian also enjoys his extensive model plane collection, especially the Nieuport 17 model, practicing Chinese calligraphy and fiddling with old lawn movers.

Manufactured and distributed by the Academy Plastic Model Company, headquartered in Korea, the Nieuport 17 model airplane is a historically accurate replica of a famous allied fighter in World War I. - See more at: http://model-airplane-stores-review.toptenreviews.com/academy-nieuport-17-review.html#sthash.2fHHQAfS.dpuspecially  and he is studying chinese caligraphy.

Just cannot stop running!

By now, you may be aware, that Fowey is a very social little village. 
Most days, we have friends drop into the gallery and somehow, at the end of our working day, we finish up at one of the many pubs and clubs, all walking distance from our home. 
So about 18 months ago, we decided to start early morning, coastal running in order to combat our very social evenings.

Then came parkruns, followed by short fun runs, we subsequently joined the St Austell Running Club and now HE is running night marathons and even ultras! 

nice long socks boys !

Who runs 44 miles for fun? 
Not stopping for over 10 hours? 
Wearing head lights and carrying foil blankets and glow lights?
Well, he does.

Once the bug bites, that is it! One cannot go back. 
Naturally, he HAS all the gear... all spanking new, all the right brands, and all colour coordinated.
He also has a wall of honour, yes, you got it... the MEDAL wall!
Boys and their medals, madness.

Painting of the Month - Ciao Bella

Dino love Angelina, what more can one say. 

Dino also loves tennis, reading his running magazines and tagliatelle with crab. 
Angelina enjoys pètanque on the beach, reading Country Living and also tagliatelle with crab.

You will often see Dino the Gondolier, rowing under Angelina's home, calling out "Ciao Bella", as he hands her a lovely bouquet of flowers.

Ahhhhhhhh... They make a great team!

Even in the Guardian!

That's the CORNISH Guardian, not THAT Guardian! Dino was asked to answer a few questions in the local newspaper, now he thinks he is a published author.
Actually, back in Venice, with his "proper" job, as a gondolier, he has been in the newspaper, magazines, on the radio, in documentaries and even on TV: with actual famous people, does the names Suggs mean anything to anyone? He appeared in Suggs' Italian Job, teaching Mr Suggs how to row a gondola, quite compelling viewing.

This is a still clip from the "Suggs' Italian Job"

This is a still clip from a documentary called "Hidden Artists" by Radu Zaplitnii
you will find it on youtub
Art for Serious People "Merica" by R. Zaplitnii "Artisti Nascosti"

Back to Cornwall... the local newspaper, the Cornish Guardian, each week, asks a person from the town to answer 20 questions and one particular week they asked Dino. He was a little nervous, but due to past experience, breezed through it.

Here it is:

Dino De Zorzi answers 20 Questions

1. Childhood hero: Blackbeard.
2. Hobbies: Racket sports and gardening.
3. Favourite music: Cha-cha-chà music.
4. Favourite book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
5. Favourite film: The Courtship Of Eddie's Father, with Glenn Ford and Ron Howard, a 1963 romantic comedy, a classic.
6. Favourite television programme: QI.
7. What's so good about living in your town? Sometimes I see Dawn French when I'm running in the mornings!
8. What would improve it? You cannot improve on perfection.
9. I'm very good at: Annoying my wife

10. I'm very bad at: Remembering trash night.
11. A phrase I use too often: What are you drinking?
12. Three people (dead or alive) I would invite to dinner:
Richard Burton, Oliver Reed and Richard Harris.
13. I'd like to be stranded on a desert island with (apart from other half): My gondola.
14. I'm embarrassed by: Comments that were written in my old school reports cards.
15. Proudest moment: Winning last week's badminton match with my partner Chris.
16. Best things about Cornwall: Seagulls.
17. Worst things about Cornwall: See above.
18. Which of our country's laws would you change? Chewing gum.
19. Overrated public figure: Peter Andre.
20. In another life I'd be: Björn Borg.

Is it film night tonight?

Let me see, is it film night? On most Monday afternoons, I usual ask Dino this question.... "Is it film night tonight?".

I then proceed to go to the Lost in Film website and see if tonight is the night!

From September until late June, the wonderful people from Lost in Film, our local Film Society, show films in the Church Rooms in Lostwithiel, there are normally 2 screenings a month.

We really don't care what is showing, I normally buy the tickets on line, turn up, grab our usual seats, buy two small bottles of wine, and relax. Sometimes, there are even a few tables with chairs. So very European. So very civilised!

The usual suspects are there, most of us gravitate to "our" chairs, there is no assigned seating, however, we all basically sit in the same seats. The experts bring there own cushions to sit on and some even a blanket. Now that it is daylight saving, even though the curtains are drawn, it is so lovely having the evening sun try to creep in through the edges.

Maybe we will see you there next Monday.

Painting of the Month - Catch A Falling Star

Tristan is a dreamer, aren't we all. 

He thinks constantly about outer galaxies, planets, comets, orbits, gravity, and so on and so on.
However, his greatest love are the STARS!
By day he works at the local news agency, he is a loyal and trusted volunteer at the RNLI, he really enjoys partaking in a good old singalong with the Fishermen Friends from St Ives and he will never say no to a pint of ale.
By night, is gazes up at the sky and ponders. Tristan has been fortunate enough to see shooting stars, and one day, he would really love to "Catch A Falling Star"...
We can hope!