On Monday 9th November Sally Prideaux and I drove down to north Devon to do an introduction to glass blowing with the gaffer and glass blower Simon Moore. Simon has his own design company, furnace and also lectures on glass and ceramics at the Royal College of Art in Kensington.
Emma Hope had kindly lent us her house which is nestled in its own Cove on the North Devon coast and so conveniently close to Simon Moore's furnace. It was to prove to be a remarkable experience. Emma's beautiful house and spectacular location was home for a while to the legend of the 70s, Deep Purple. It was a lovely place to stay.
Simon Moore worked thoroughly and hard over the two days to valiently pup our designs into actual samples. He made the whole thing look fantastically simple as he is such a splendid artist and master blower. He had been trained in the late 70s and early 80s by 'Two dinners Wilkinson' who was one of the last great glass blowers who had been all his life at Whitefriars until it closed in 1980.
It was simply wonderful to walk away at the end of the second day with our first working samples from which we will make drawings from which full production may be made. It is a very exciting time for Whitefriars..
Immediately I got back to London it was the turn of two Lady physicians from British Columbia. We visited the Wallace Collection to glance at the Hirst exhibition... hype over substance...(heard that before?) as he clearly cannot paint. These look like they might have been created on board his aircraft after a session although I understand that he doesn't drink anymore.
We also visited Joel's new shop Coco Maya on Connaught Street which is even more fabulous and decadent than before.
Borough Market is a feast in very sense and we were seduced into buying a picnic there and then. Brindisa, founded by my friend Monica Lavery some 18 years ago, supplied the most exsquisite Black Pig ham and that with peppers, bread, olives and a superior bottle of Rioja made for a splendid lunch in the car whilst our diver Jools did a wonderful route past the Tate Modern, The Eye, Parliament and then on to Windsor.
I left them that evening to go into Warhorse togther. I did meet with them for champagne, smoked Salmon and Scones the next day at the fifth floor of Harvey Nichols before they went on to Billy Elliot.
I made my way on to M.Y. Debra, a rather romantic and beautiful private yacht moored on Cadagon Pier at Chelsea. Ben Gordon acquired it this year and it is a proud, beautiful vessel that is a great reminder of the good life in the '50s. You have expected to see Tony Curtis or Frank Sinatra on board. The food was delicious, prepared by Debra (the wife, not the vessel) and I had the pleasure of meeting Georgia Gordon who works for Luxor Magazine (we will work together) and her brother Beau, who is a personal assistant to Kevin Spacey. Beau introduced me to the lovely Libby who runs the friends of the Old Vic and I am sure our paths will cross again.
London - from its restaurants, buildings, ice rinks to its private yachts on the Thames - is moving towards Christmas with great cheer and some optimisim. Its going to be fun.