The biggest, best, most, highest, tallest - what has your country got? Here's Tanzania.

Flag of Tanzania.

Map of the world showing Tanzania on the East African Coast.

From Tanzania I received this message:

 Tanzania has the highest mountain in Africa, the Kilimanjaro.

Elephant and snow-capped Kilimanjaro. 

My husband did this climb, once. (I exercise daily, by climbing out of bed.)

A climber on Kilimanjaro.

Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyasa the three largest lakes in Africa are also largely in Tanzania.

Serengeti, the world largest game reserves and many other national parks are available in Tanzania.

What does your country have? Or your favourite country?

More on Tanzania

Art. Tingatinga painting.

Wikipedia reveals:

Tingatinga (also spelt Tinga-tinga or Tinga Tinga) is a painting style that developed in the second half of the 20th century in the Oyster Bay area in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and later spread to most East Africa. Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of tourist-oriented paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighboring countries. The genre is named after its founder, Tanzanian painter Edward Said Tingatinga.

The Tingatinga school of painting sold their work in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam. Picture from 1973

Tingatinga is traditionally made on masonite, using several layers of bicycle paint, which makes for a brilliant and highly saturated colors. Many elements of the style are related to requirements of the tourist-oriented market; for example, the paintings are usually small so they can be easily transported, and subjects are intended to appeal to the Europeans and Americans (e.g., the big five and other wild fauna).

A feature of the art, which was probably inspired by murals on the outside of houses in Tanzania, is the filling of the entire canvas.

In visual art, horror vacui (UK: /ˌhɒrə ˈvækjuaɪ/, US: /- ˈvɑːk-/; Latin for 'fear of empty space'), also referred to as kenophobia (from Greek for 'fear of the empty'), is the filling of the entire surface of a space or an artwork with detail. In physics, horror vacui reflects Aristotle's idea that "nature abhors an empty space."

The tallest land Animals - giraffes

(Where next? The famous Giraffe Manor hotel is in Nairobi, Kenya. Costing over 600 dollars a night if you can get a room. It has 12 bedrooms. Next door is a giraffe sanctuary where you can meet giraffes.)

Monuments

Arusha Declaration Monument, has murals around the plinths of the arches.

If you climb Kilimanjaro, you will have ample opportunities to buy tee-shirts with the word Kilimanaro on them.

However, if you don't want casual clothes but something special and national look for a Kanzu for men.

The male costume, especially for formal occasions, is a white or cream coloured kaftan or Kanzu or robe or floor-length tunic. The kanzu is worn with a cap called a Kofia. (Other African countries wear the same or similar). 

the female common costume is a kitenge, a wax print, brightly coloured, oblong sarong, edged on the long side. It can be wrapped around the body, used as a baby sling, a head-dress, a table cloth or wall hanging.

Useful Websites

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Arusha_Declaration_Monument_mural_B.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tingatinga_(painting)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzu

https://www.facebook.com/kitengeclothing/

https://www.businessinsider.com/giraffe-manor-center-travel-advice-kenya-instagram-famous-2019-4

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_mountains_on_Earth

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=471680081168487

About the author of this blog post

Angela Lansbury

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

 

Surrealist Art To See in New York And At Giorgio de Chirico House Museum, in Rome, Italy

Italian flag
(During 2020 due to covid19 many places are closed but you can do a lot of exploring and planning trips and research on the internet.)

The Giorgio de Chirico House Museum (Casa Museo di Giorgio de Chirico) is a house museum in the 16th century Palazzetto del Borgognoni at Piazza di Spagna 31 in Rome. 

De Chirico House Museum, Rome, Italy.

The house was acquired by Giorgio de Chirico in 1948. It was left to the state by his widow and opened as a museum in 1998. Only open by appointment, it is closed on Mondays and Sundays. The nearest Metro stop is Spagna.

The house has a large number of paintings as well as sculptures and you glimpse the rooftop terrace from which he used to look over the city. 

Exhibits In Italy

It houses several works belonging to the Giorgio e Isa De Chirico Foundation, including:

• Interno metafisico con nudo anatomico, 1968
• Il meditatore, 1971
• Sole su cavalletto, 1972
• Due cavalli in riva al mare, 1964
• Autoritratto di De Chirico, 1953
• Donna in riposo, 1936
• Naiadi al bagno, 1955
• Riposo del Gladiatore, 1968
• Orfeo trovatore stanco, 1970
• Ritratto di Isa con testa di Minerva, 1944
• Bagnanti, 1945
• Frutta con busto di Apollo, 1973
• Interno metafisico con biscotti, 1968
• Il rimorso di Oreste, 1969
• Bagni misteriosi, 1973
• L'anniversario del principe, 1973
• Triangolo metafisico, 1958
• Pianto d'amore (Ettore e Andromaca), 1974
• Le maschere, 1973

De Chirico in Other Museums
the Red Tower - Guggenheim Museum, New York USA





De Chirico in The Museum of Modern Art, New York USA

The Great Metaphysical Interior. by De Chirico.

The Nostalgia of the Infinite, by de Chirico, Museum of Modern Art, New York city, USA.
Thought to be inspired by a tower in Turin, Italy.

Self-portrait by de Chirico in Munich, Germany

The artist was rather fond of tall towers, which are a feature of some towns in Italy. His words remind me of Delvaux.

Some Italian words translated

Italian - English

amore - love

anatomico - anatomical

anniversario - anniversary

autoritratto - self-portrait

bagno - bath

bagni - baths

biscotti - biscuits

busto - bust

cavalli - horses

con - with

del - of the

di - of

donna - woman

due - two

frutta - fruit

interno - interior

le - the

mare - sea

maschere - mask

metafisico - metaphysical

mysteriosi - mysterious

nudo - nude

principe - prince

rimorso - remorse
riposa - rest

ritratto - portrait

test - head

triangolo - triangle

His paintings remind me of those by Magritte, and Belgian painter Paul Delvaux, who he influenced.
Wikipedia is good for the background of an artist's life. A convenient grouping pf paintings is in wikiart.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_de_Chirico_House_Museum
https://fondazionedechirico.org/?lang=en
https://www.wikiart.org/en/giorgio-de-chirico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_de_Chirico#Selected_works

The Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.

If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
learncool.sg
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Next post on translating and learning Italian

The Future of Travel In Cartoons - Art To See On The Underground At Newton MRT station, Singapore

'Starfish' travel. Artwork on Newton underground MRT station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

On closer inspection, I see that the windows are in a spiral, a bit like a seashell.

Jellyfish travel - or maybe inside a spider. Artwork photographed on Newton. Photo taken and named by Angela Lansbury.



Travelling in front of the fishtail. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

All over Newton underground train station walls on your way to and from the Downtown line are these cute little drawings. Teeny characters travel on a futuristic sci-fi means of transport, a cross between space travel and submarines. What does this picture remind you of? It reminds me of a starfish.

Useful Websites for travellers
singaporeair.com

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See next post on the giant mural at Newton, as well as other posts about sttion artwork in Singapore, the UK, and worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Where to See Art on the Underground railway stations

One of my favourite stations in Singapore is Newton. Scattered around the walls are tiny spaceship like vehicles carrying serious, stoical, lugubrious characters.

A magnificent mural by the escalators flashes pas almost too fast for you to appreciate it. I took a photo so I could look at it at leisure later.

If the small drawings around the corridors are like proverbs or poems, this mural is like a novel or a saga or a trilogy.

I see something new every trip.

Author
Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Learn Easy Spanish From Place Names And Signs

Spanish flag

Spanish - English
Costa del Sol region, El Corte Ingles department store - here are the word by word translations.

SPANISH - ENGLISH
angeles - angels
arte - art
avenida - avenue
calle - street
casa - house
corte - corner
costa - coast
del - of (the)
el - the
ermita - hermitage


Spain in Europe.


España - Spain
exposicion - exhibition or display
Iago - James
Ingles - English
la - the
libertad - liberty
los - the (plural)
miniaturas - miniatures
museo - museum
Plaza - place or square
san - saint
siglio - century
sol - sun
via - way
y - and

Useful Websites

duolingo.com
www.spain.info

You will find Spanish very useful in Spain, the USA, and South America.

Easy, isn't it!
However, wikipedia warns:

Many English words have their origins in Latin, which makes it easy for English speakers to guess the meanings of many Spanish words. However, Spanish and English also have a number of false cognates that one needs to be aware of to avoid embarrassing mistakes. -embarazada - pregnant; not embarrassed 
-suburbio - slum; not suburb 
-preservativo - condom; not preservative 
-bizarro - brave; not bizarre

Author
Angela Lansbury

Seen in Singapore - arty sleeping place

To me a stone slab for a resting place looks hard and uncomfortable. But for one man it was ideal.
He has not collapsed. He had chosen this place and taken off his shoes. The shoes are placed neatly together on the ground.

On closer inspection of the photo, he seems to have something under his neck. Supporting his head. Protecting his valuables.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Singapore by night outside the National Gallery art museum - near City Hall MRT

Beautiful view.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Travel Tips

https://www.nationalgallery.sg/visit

$20 for adults from overseas. Concessions. PR (Permanent Residents with NRIC identity card and citizens free.

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/public-transport/mrt-and-lrt-trains/art-and-architecture/art-in-transit/gallery/dtl.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_MRT_(Singapore)

visitsingapore.com

Singapore Airlines: singaporeair.com

Author

Travel writer and photographer, Angela Lansbury 

See my posts about Singapore and beautiful places around the world, 

Please bookmark and share your favourite posts.

Modigliani and more in the Museum of Modern Art in Lille, France

Problem
I received news of an art museum in Lille. It's unique feature is that is specilaises in the art of outsiders. Who is an outsider? Modern artists of recent times, Cubism, Surrealism.

The outside is certainly unusual, massive walls with blobs. But what is there to see inside?

After some searching of the museum's own website, I eventuallu founda page on which you could search for artists by name. I picked Modigliani.

Why Modigliani? He has become one of my favourites since I visited the Pinner restaurant in NW London (near Pinner station on the Met line) and saw the articwork decorating the walls.

Alas the Modigliani paintings at the museum on Lille did not attract me. However, as is often the case, you go to a gallery, shop or other place of interest, looking for one thing, but find another.

I like Lille. It's one of those places I like but can't explain what I like about it. Perhaps it's personal, because I wondered around a market and befriended an old man. When I asked him about his life, he showed me an Auschwitz tattoo. He is probably long gone.

Modigliani and most of the artists are also long gone. So is everyone in history, the Romans, Greeks, and the Surrealists and Cubists. Sculpture and art are the way that artists seek to both be in the moemnt and grab their share of immortality.

One day I shall visit the offbeat art msueum in Lille, and see their figures who were once outsiders, but now seem central.

A search of TripAdvisor revealed numerous photos of exhibits, some from previous exhibions, as well as sculptures in the grounds. Lille also has several more art museums, and museums for children and more.

What I remember most about Lille is that it is in Northern France and so nearby. We often stopped there on our way to somewhere else. Worth a longer look.

The museum name confused me. First I read about outsider art. Finally, I realised that it was an art museum which had received the gift of a collection of so-called 'outsider' art.  LaM.

The Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art(LaM), formerly known as Villeneuve d'Ascq Museum of Modern Art, is an art museum in Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.


How to get there?

Wikivoyage says:

By train[edit]

Lille Flandres Station

Lille has two major train stations: 

• 2 Gare de Lille Europe. Lille Europe lies at the heart of the Brussels-Paris-London high-speed railcorridor. TGV and Eurostar trains stop here; the TGV / Thalys journey from Brussels takes little more than 30 minutes, the TGV from Paris about an hour, and the Eurostar from London an hour and 22 minutes through the Channel Tunnel.   edit

• Check the SNCF website to see train timetables

If you are travelling from the United Kingdom, Eurostar is the best option to reach Lille through the Channel Tunnel. The journey time to Gare de Lille Europe is 1hr 22 mins from London St Pancras International, 1hr 8 mins from Ebbsfleet and just 56 mins from Ashford. Train connections run regularly by ferry from Calais. 

Lille is also linked by TGV to Lyon (3 hours), Nantes (4 hours), Strasbourg (3.20 hours), and Marseille (5 hours).

Useful Websites
http://www.musee-lam.fr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lille_Métropole_Museum_of_Modern,_Contemporary_and_Outsider_Art
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g196640-d247498-Reviews-Musee_d_Art_Moderne-Villeneuve_d_Ascq_Lille_Nord_Hauts_de_France.
https://www.facebook.com/interFR.France.fr/?brand_redir=308021655947
https://uk.france.fr/en/haut-de-france/article/discover-lille-museum-modern-contemporary-and-outsider-art-lam
https://uk.france.fr/en/happening-now-in-france

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See my posts on the Modigliani restaurant in London. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Translating handy and interesting double-barrelled German words for tourists

Here's a double-barrelled word on the stollen sold in Morrisons in a previous Christmas season.
The packet reads:

Multilingual sign. 

I don't know the first words. But the English is second. Military security zone. Entrance forbidden. (I would translate this as entry forbidden. Entry I would say is the act of entering. Entrance is a noun, a place, the point of entry, the opposite of an exit door; also a grand entrance, a grand act or happening or moment of entering.) 

French comes third: Zone de security militaries.  Interdiction d'entree. (Prohibition of entry.)

German at end. I can recognize the words Eintritt, meaning entry, and Verboten, meaning forbidden.

Before that Militärische Sicherheitszone. Eintrag verboten.

Stollen sold in Morrisons. That's the one I want. Luxury marzipan. The word at the top is Kuchenmeister. Master baker? 

It's coming up to Christmas when I shall be looking for German Stollen in the English supermarkets. Here's a picture of the Stollen we made from a cake kit from a supermarket a couple of years ago.

I was thinking of the Stollen when I read an old CD from Sachsen and found the word Silberstollen and several other double-barrelled words.

Problem
What do all those long words mean in German?

Answer
Often they are double barrelled words and you can recognise them and learn them by breaking the words into their component parts.

GERMAN - ENGLISH

(Notice some of these German words form plurals by adding the letter n.)

Double barrel words:

Baukunst - architecture

Dorfkirchen - village churches

Höhepunkte - highlight

kostbarer - precious

Musikfriunde - music lover 

Silberstollen - silver tunnel (think of the German stollen cake with the marzipan centre which looks like a roll or tunnel which you can buy in supermarkets at Christmas time)

zahlreiche - numerous

ENGLISH - GERMAN

Double barrel words 

architecture - Baukunst

art - Kunst  (used in the words art museum or art gallery and architecture - what a lovely phrase in English in literal translation - 'building art'!) 

Churches - Kirchen
highlight - Ho

music - Musik

silver - S i l b e r

stollen - tunnels 

village - Dorf (Think of door to a villa or dormitory town)

So, now you know a stollen is a Xmas cake from Germany sold in England at Christmas time, the word for tunnels, and you have a handy list of double-barrelled German words.

More information:

Learn languages through Duolingo.com

Trips
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/germany

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and languages.

A Little Known 'Museum /Attraction' in Singapore's Wallace Trail and Wildlife

Problem
What to do which is different, without the huge queues and crowded and high prices and time needed for major attractions?

Old Ford Factory
In the north west outskirts of Singapore I have enjoyed visiting the Old Ford Factory Museum with its exhibits on WWII when Singapore was under Japanese occupation. (Small fee, reduced for schoolchildren and Singapore Residents.) See my previous post.

You might be able to combine a trip to the Old Ford Factory with the Wallace Trail at Dairy Farm Nature Park and exhibition.

The Wallace Trail At Dairy Farm Nature Park
The website tells you lots of useful information about fruit trees such as identifying a durian tree.

The under cover exhibition is in a converted cowshed - from the Dairy Farm. If you've driven along Diary Farm Road and wondered what happened to the dairy and thought it was vanished without trace, like the Orchard on Orchard Road, and the beach on beach road, it's good to be able to learn about the old Dairy Farm.

I like the pithily expressed admonition on the Wallace website:

Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.

Wallace was an English naturalist.

Driving through the area, my friends told me about their visit to the Wallace exhibition, about Wallace and wildlife. London, England has a Wallace Collection, a lesser known art gallery. So make sure you specify the country when searching the internet for information on either of these two places.

Your internet search might also turn up the National Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland.

You could also combine a visit to the The Wallace Trail with a climb up Bukit Timah. (Bukit is Malay for Hill.)

Here are the links to these attractions:
Singapore
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/~/media/nparks-real-content/gardens-parks-and-nature/diy-walk/diy-walk-pdf-files/wallace-trail-at-dairy-farm-nature-park.pdf?la=en (Singapore)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Ford_Motor_Factory
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves/bukit-timah-nature-reserve

It's worthwhile reading abound the internet. Although the official website reminds you to spray yourself with insect cream on the trail, a local blogger gives close up (copyright so I cant reproduce them) pictures, and the warming that mosses are out 'in droves'.
http://thesmartlocal.com/read/wallace-trail-at-dairy-farm-nature-reserve

England
http://www.wallacecollection.org (Art in London)
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g186338-d187558-Reviews-Wallace_Collection-London_England.html

Scotland
https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g191266-d190216-i233555535-National_Wallace_Monument-Stirling_Scotland.html

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Art on Singapore's underground - Earthcake at Promenade on the Downtown Line

Above ground Singapore's city centre has skyscrapers festooned with creepers,and indoor and outdoor plazas with water features, ponds in the Community centres and condos, jumping fountains in shopping centres, and cafe centre,sheltered from outside rain you still see and hear fountains. Running though the city are storm drains which look empty one day,like raging rivers the next.

Below ground, sheltered from the damage of rain and sun, the train station walls are bedecked with art.

The Circle line's Promenade station has disco balls. The Downtown line was added below and here the walls display Earthcake by Ana Prvacki.

Tips
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promenade_MRT_Station

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

The Four Beauties

Problem
I have lost the four paintings, long vertical scrolls, I had of the four beauties. Now I wish to recreate them. Who were the beauties? Were they real people or legends? From which centuries - so wearing what era and style of clothes? Which symbols are in the pictures? Do they need to be Chinese or can I draw them as multi-national? If I am not sure of the time era or style of clothing, must they be clothes or could they be naked and concealed with hair whilst bathing, like theVenus de Milo emerging from the shell and sea? Are they by rivers or lakes or seas? (So could they have waves like the Japanese classics?

Answer
Wikipedia gave me the story of the four beauties. Each is depicted with a flower or fish or something else.


Story
My first idea was that I would have four women of different races, Chinese, African American, blonde caucasian, and a fourth. But when I looked up the story I found they were all Chinese. So that leaves the opportunity to create four types. These might include the round Shanghai face. Better still, find classic paintings from the era. Plus suitable clothes.

I was thinking of creating for working men who built civilisation. Perhaps: a tailor, a chef, a builder, a scholar. To be politically correct I would need four women in classic civilisation building occupations, especially those attracting beauties, maybe based on famous people? Who should I choose? Classic heroines? Florence Nightingale? I recall the debate about who should be on the British banknotes.

Perhaps I need to compile a list for every race and religion (except Muslims who do not want to be depicted).

Suddenly four seems a small number.

Should they be people who were princesses and courtesans?
Must they be good people?
What about Lucrezia Borgia?

Do ideas on beauty change? Elizabeth Taylor is said to be very beautiful.
Anne Frank?
Zsa Zsa Gabor?

Kings and Queens
Frankly, I can't understand what King Henry VIII saw in Anne Boleyn.

Females - ancient
Was Helen of Troy a real person?
Cleopatra.

Modern
Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly film star).
Princess Diana.
Marilyn Monroe - top of my list of attractive faces, but not a doer, nor a thinker.

Males
Rudolf Valentino.

Tips
One was so beautiful that - fish
another that - flowers.

1
2
3
4


Four handsome men existed two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Beauties
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s_Four_Most_Handsome_Men

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer and illustrator.

Sketching commuters on Singapore MRT have their art displayed on stations

Problem
How do you draw a sketch of somebody on a train without your hand jerking on the page when the train jolts and stops?
How do you deal with any angry person when you have drawn them or their girlfriend?

Answer
These questions are answered by one of the sketchers I found through the Facebook page.

Story
I was walking briskly through the underpass of exit C at Beauty World underground station on the Downtown line when a group of sketches caught my attention.

The information panel told me about the Facebook page Commute sketch.

Tips
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/artists-on-the-move-commute-sketchers-showcase-work-at-bus-train
https://www.cherngzhi.com/news/2017/2/16/how-to-commute-sketch-like-a-ninja
https://www.facebook.com/commuteart/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and illustrator.

Poems on the Underground, Art, and Maps

If you are passing through one of the larger stations in Central London look for the brochures in the racks on Poems on the Underground and Art on the Underground.

I had expected a leaflet about trains, but the leaflet I picked up was 'celebrating Irish poetry'. The poems included were by Yeats and Seamus Heaney. Something to read on the train, also to keep.

Poetry
tel.gov.uk/poems

Art
art.tfl.gov.uk
Facebook: /artontheunderground

The art includes tiles, mazes, quotations and drawings of the staff. I'd love to do caricatures of famous people associated with every station.

The larger stations such as Euston have a leaflet showing the station and nearby roads and buildings, handing for finding your way.

A map covering a large part of central London is inside the leaflet which has a bicycle on the cover and the title Explore London with Santander Cycles. The map does not show every road, just the main roads and a few prominent landmarks. But it did alert me to the Handel House Museum, showing the location near Oxford Street.

Every time I look at Poems on the Underground, or see one of the poems overhead as I'm sitting on the train, I get the urge to write a poem about train travel.

The Underground
by Angela Lansbury

The escalator goes down and down
The Circle Line goes around and around
Teenagers lives carried in big backpacks
Mums in jeans clutching babies on their laps

The city's veins in coloured maps
Recordings warn you, "Mind the gap!"
Mobiles put a smile on every face
The busker strokes a double bass

Commuters race past far too quick
To get their money's worth of music
You could spend your life in the underground
Where shops and cafés form a hidden town

Watch where lines cross and where they meet
Too soon upstairs in the neon street
Where gusty wind, or snow or rain
Make you long for the warm train home again.
Copyright Angela Lansbury 2016.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.