Patchwork

 A morning spent sifting through my sewing bag over the weekend and gathering bundles of fabric together for potential quilts. I collect fabric at any opportunity - which makes for quite a mixed selection of print and colour. Charity shops often have brilliant scraps of vintage fabric, but of course Shepherd's Bush market (the motherland) is hard to beat. Two quilt options below.

All The Pretty Horses

I've just finished reading All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. A fantastic book which I urge anyone to read - especially if like me, you love cowboys... Such beautiful descriptions of Mexico, friendship, love and honour. I was reminded of my trip to Mid West America back in 2011. Cowboy country - so many diners like this one, selling delicious things... See the cinnamon buns below. Big enough to feed a cowboy and his horse surely... 

Woven Wire

A beautiful and inspiring show earlier this year at David Zwirner Gallery in Mayfair - Ruth Asawa's woven wire sculptures and line drawings. I love the relationship between the two - and how one informs the other. Asawa's sculptures were inspired by a trip to Mexico in 1947, where a local craftsman taught her how to weave a basket out of wire.

Loved this picture of Asawa working at home surrounded by her children

1957

Photo by Imogen Cunningham

Whitechapel

As the Nation's windows fill with rainbows drawn by children for NHS workers - in Whitechapel saris' have been used to create an alternative version.

I love Whitechapel, normally so lively and bustling! Yesterday I walked down a very quiet Mile End Road, noticing lots of buildings and shops for the first time. Like the rainbows, all over London messages of positivity are popping up.

From houses and flats to billboards and graffiti, it's great to see street art of one form or another being used to buoy each other along.

Dawn Walk

Spring getting on with things while we're all living altered patterns of life... Loved the pattern these neon green grasses made in the River Lea

Easter Monday

Beautiful sunshine, shadows and colours on a walk round the block on Easter Monday

Bank Holiday Haiku

Easter Bank Holiday has passed - and so differently to previous years spent with family in Cornwall. I spent the weekend cooking, and enjoyed some wine I bought with winnings from the virtual Grand National earlier this month...

Haiku

A perfect white wine 

is sharp, sweet and cold as this:

birdsong in winter.

By Wendy Cope

from Family Values

More time can be spent over breakfast at the moment - and so a chance for every jar and condiment to have its moment of glory.

Finding what I've been squirrelling away in the fridge and cupboards has been eye opening - several jars of open mustard, capers, tahini, tamarind paste...? The list goes on......

Anenomes

Wild anemones growing in my local park - Spring flourishing!

Still Life Saturday

Saturday in isolation - put together a quick still life to draw. Not entirely successful but a nice way to spend an afternoon!

Cañas with Mum

With so much more time on my hands at the moment, and with so much to think about - I find myself turning to my sewing bag for some relief

I embroidered a photograph for my wonderful Mum for Mother's Day - cañas and calamari sandwiches in Madrid, a treasured lunch repeated many times over the years. Something to look forward to when the world calms down a bit. The food, drink and sun - but mostly my Mum.

Radical Figures

Loved my trip to the exhibition 'Radical Figures', at the Whitechapel Gallery today. In a rather worrying current climate the trip offered some much needed escapism! This is a group show and focuses on the human form - well worth a visit just for the colour and vivacity of the work. 

Detail from 'Asger, Bill and Mark' (2015) by Daniel Richter

Detail from 'Lucky Beach' (2017) by Cecily Brown

One room explained the different artists' practice a little more - fabric scraps from multimedia artist Tschabalala Self, or postcards from Ryan Mosley's studio wall. Mosley once worked as a guard at the National Gallery and collected postcards from his time there.

Radical Figures is on a The Whitechapel Gallery until 10th May 2020

Pizza & Curry (and the first of the blossom)

Roman Road, Feb 2020

Coastal

New Coastal Editorial now on my website

www.josie-harris.com

Shot by Jonny Mallen

Make Up by Sophie Higginson

Hair by Emma Small

Styled by me

Wineglasses

John Singer Sargent, 1875

Little is Enough for Those with Love

Little is Enough for Those with Love, 2019

Sad Man with Flowers, 2019

A new artist and a new gallery - to me at least - I loved the Cassi Namoda exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery last week. Intimate and colourful paintings about love, family and cultural traditions in Maputo, the artist's birthplace.

Well worth a visit: see here for details. On display until 7th March 2020.

Translyvania

Photos from a recent train journey in to the Transylvanian Mountains: Sighisoara, Malanchrav, Brasov

Bucharest

A recent adventure in Bucharest, Romania - the first stop of a train holiday inspired by my mum's past travels. Bucharest is like nowhere I've been before - crumbling disrepair and new buildings alongside. The centre of the city seems to convey some wealth and stability - the old town full of history and beautiful buildings. Close by though things start to fray very quickly... We walked from the city centre to the international train station where we were catching a train up to the Transylvanian Mountains... more to come

White Blazer

 Shot for 5 Eleven

 Photographer Arved Colvin-Smith

Hair Ernesto Montenovo

Make up Christabel Draffin

Model Sofie Theobald

Styled be me

Midnight Cowboy

I'm one of the few people in London/UK/The World it seems that still uses a DVD player - and borrows DVDs from their local library. A recent hit was Midnight Cowboy, a 1969 Oscar winning film starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. While being very dark in places, the film is also very touching in the relationship forged between pretend cowboy Voight and outcast vagabond Hoffman. And of course....the clothes....