The Affordable Art Fair in London occurs twice yearly and offers the chance to take home a piece of quality artwork from both up and coming and established artists for anywhere from £20 to £3000. With pieces ranging from prints to paintings to pottery and with over 120 galleries displaying work, it’s a huge event and for the first time this weekend, I had a chance to visit the fair with our Spoonfed arts editor Tom.

While I didn’t end up leaving with any affordable art (seeing as their definition of affordable and mine don’t entirely match up), there were a number of pieces that caught my eye and I would have loved to own - along with a number of pieces so hideous I wondered if it was some sort of joke. All in all, it was a fantastic art fair with the whole range of pieces to laugh at, gaze at in wonder and covet. And butterflies. There were lots and lots of butterflies.

Favourite Pieces

Here are some snapshots (in appalling quality) of some of my favourite pieces. Embarrassingly, I managed not to get the artist, title and gallery name in all cases, so if you like it as well but I haven’t listed the details, sorry, can’t help you out there!

“Old Books and a Porcelain Jug” from The Framers Gallery in London

“History of England” by Thurle Wright

“Octosub” by Graham Carter at Boxbird Gallery

“Magic Benni” by Hilary Twiselton

By far my favourite gallery was the Boxbird Gallery in Hove (just near Brighton). I didn’t end up buying any prints or pieces which I am just beginning to regret although Tom took home a cute piece by one of their artists, Zara Wood, and I had to talk myself out of spending £250 on a print by Graham Carter.

It was a great afternoon and I really enjoyed the event - I’m looking forward to the Autumn AAF and who knows… maybe next time I’ll even go home with some art!

“Polkabrella” by Graham Carter at the Boxbird Gallery

Can I just say that I love Courvoisier and their venue, The Future Gallery? While I was first introduced to the cognac brand and their Future 500 network through our Spoonfed directors who are part of the network, I’ve now had the opportunity to experience first hand three of the events that Courvoisier has hosted and boy, do these guys know how to throw a party (and make punch). First was the Mixology Event which saw top bartenders from London helping us create the ultimate Courvoisier-based cocktail. Second was the rather epic giant Punch Bowl Experience which saw me floating across a giant cocktail on a wooden orange slice.

Continuing in the tradition of events that at first cause visitors to ask “what’s the point of this” and see them leaving asking “when can we do this again?” this weekend Courvoisier is hosting the Cafe du Pique-Nique at the Future Gallery in central London. Described as follows:

From the 13th to 20th March, The Future Gallery will be transformed into a vast indoor picnic area. For just one week, while the wind, rain (and most likely snow) rage outside, you can enjoy your indoor picnic, in a perfect grassy setting, in contented warmth.

Exactly as described, we stepped into the Future Gallery which, rumour has it, was jointly designed with SAD experts who advised on the optimal amount of sun lights needed for the perfect cheery summer effect, to discover a carpet of fake grass, a room of fake sunshine and a really great summertime feel. Dozens of visitors sat on picnic blankets in summer dresses, enjoying the Courvoisier punch, nibbling finger sandwiches. Our group grabbed a drink and stretched out in the artificial sunlight. My coworker immediately started sneezing, his apparent reaction to the nice weather and anticipation of pollen, and we all agreed we were feeling much more cheerful - the pique-nique was certainly having the desired affect (or was that the punch?).

Regardless, it was an excellent opportunity to relax after a very long week and I can’t wait until Courvoisier’s next event.

Finding a place for a quiet drink after work was proving to be a bit more difficult than I had imagined - the issue was the friendly between England and Egypt which meant that any pub with a screen would be packed with punters eagerly awaiting the first of England’s efforts as we move towards the summer World Cup.  This meant that I had to find a place off the beaten path, without a television and with easy transport access. Where else to look than Notting Hill in West London?

After a few false starts (both of the original pub choices had TV screens and, in an indication of how noisy it would be, numerous England flags already hung in anticipation of the match) we decided on the gastropub/wine bar The Mall Tavern which, while only a few metres from the Notting Hill Gate tube station, felt quite removed from the busy high street.

As far as a gastopub goes, The Mall Tavern was much what you’d expect, comfortable tables, dimly lit, nice wine - my friend was at first impressed at their range of imported beers on tap, then less so when it turned out they were out of nearly all of them. It would have been a fairly average pub-going experience had it not been for one thing: the free scotch eggs and pork pies.

For whatever, reason, the kitchen decided that this was the day they would provide all punters with some of these traditional British delicacies. Having never had either a pork pie or a scotch egg before, this was an opportunity to expand my British horizons. A scotch egg is a rather hideous creation of a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, wrapped in bread crumbs. With an off the charts calorie, fat and salt count, it’s probably not something you’d want to eat more than once a year but having heard so much about them, I figured I might as well give them a try (that and my friend was in shock I’d never had one before).

While I can’t say I’ll be ordering a scotch egg again any time soon (for health reasons much moreso than taste) nor was it, according to my friend, the best example of a scotch egg that Britain might provide, I will certainly be returning to The Mall Tavern. It’s quiet, friendly, provides decent drinks and, best of all, bribed us to return with free food. Works for me!

The Mall Tavern
71 Palace Gardens Terrace
London W8 4RU
020 7727 3805‎

Although getting back to London (where it immediately began to rain) was less than pleasant, the city and its terrible weather is definitely made more bearable through weekends like this one. Here are a couple of snapshots of the house, the fields and our walk through the British countryside.

]]> http://www.thetopfloorflat.com/2010/02/countryside/feed/ http://www.thetopfloorflat.com/2010/02/the-next-women-event-video/ http://www.thetopfloorflat.com/2010/02/the-next-women-event-video/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:01:00 +0000 Meaghan http://www.thetopfloorflat.com/?p=947 I mentioned a few weeks back that I attended an event hosted by the group The Next Women. They’ve recently published the event video - take a look for a couple cameos by me!

TheNextWomen from Newspepper on Vimeo.

I went to a play! My first review on Spoonfed in quite a while and it was worth the wait, for me at least, as it was a brilliant event.

Entirely new, utterly creative and complete with the risk of everything going disastrously wrong. What more could you want out of theatre?

Read on: Round 2 at The Electricty Showrooms - Spoonfed London.

Last night was the official kick-off for the week in London where the who’s-who of London technorati came together to network, chat about the industry and drink while tonight was the 10th Shoreditch Twit, the Twitter meetup for Shoreditch (the area where the Spoonfed offices are located) locals.

The idea behind social media week, I believe, is to show case an industry that was in its infancy in 2009 and will grow in both scale and professionalism this year and decade. I’m lucky in the sense that both London and Spoonfed seem to be embracing this trend and I’ve met a number of local tech-savvy marketers, PRs, entrepreneurs and tech consumers who are interested in driving the industry forward.

For social media week, why not take a look at Twitter if you haven’t before, or see how Flickr can help you share photos with friends. At the very least visit Meebo and see how they can simplify and consolidate your online communication, just to get in the spirit of the event. Have a great Social Media Week and welcome to the consumer-created web.

However while the gym may have taken over my mornings and weekend, January has proven to be the month of meetups in that I’ve attended some quite fantastic ones over the last few weeks, and branched out from my regularly attended London networking events.

First was the fabulous YesAndClub, a group founded on the basis of the idea that you want to surround yourself with people who say “yes… And?” To an idea rather than “yes, but…” I had heard a lot about the group before I visited as a guest (members must either be recommended by a current member or apply) and found it to be a fantastic collection of people. In particular, it was nice to be around people whose background covered a range of business initiatives rather than just tech.

Also that week I attended a dinner hosted by online publishing company Blurb, who print high quality books users create themselves. Not only did we have a chance to see the quality and range of products that Blurb produces but we also spent an enjoyable dinner discussing the pros and cons of social media in business, and how small companies can leverage that medium. It was a ton of fun, not least of all because all of the invitees were women, which led to some lively conversation.

Speaking of women, the following week I had a chance to attend an event hosted by TheNextWoment, an online magazine and business network for women that also hosts fantastic speaking and networking events. The event I attended featured a range of speakers talking about business strategy, as well as an excellent opportunity to network with some of the most accomplished women in London.

So in the space of a few weeks, I’ve had a chance to connect with a fantastic range of people, learn some business and social media strategy and, of course, join a gym. Not a bad start to the new year! Happy Feburary everyone and if you’re stuck for what to do on the 14th, take a look at Spoonfed’s Valentine’s Day ideas for a laugh, if not necessarily for the world’s most romantic date ;-).

On Saturday, a small group of us visited the London Dungeons, a tourist trap of epic proportions featuring mangled London history, mutilated “facts” around horror stories and a combination of cheesy and spooky live acting and props that would put the Disneyland haunted house to shame.

I was somewhat surprised by what a great time I had.

The family entertainment was certainly less scary than I (in my ‘fraidy-cat-ness) had feared, the amazing snapshot above being a product of the drop-zone type ride at the end of the tour. There were a fair few ‘things that jump out at you with a loud scream’ or ‘things that go bang behind your ear’ but the majority of the tour was actually pretty witty scripting for the live actors (who included the unfortunate souls surrounding such infamous names and events as Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd or the bubonic plague).

The circumstances that saw us purchasing tickets were a special event at the dungeons that lowered ticket prices by more than half - and I honestly can’t say it was worth the full ticket price. But at ten quid a head and on a gloomy Saturday morning, it was the perfect London entertainment.

2009 has been quite a year and at the Fitzgerald household, we’ve been paying attention to local, national and international news to look for key trends that will affect our economy, our world and our future. As we’re sure you’ll agree, 2009 had one big takeaway: you’re nobody if you’re not on reality TV. Not to be outdone by Balloon Boy’s family or the White House gate crashers, the Fitzgeralds too plan to cash in on this lucrative and attention-seeking pastime.

Lila, between taking care of the family, continuing to cook incredible meals and kicking butt on the tennis court, has honed her business skills working as a finance and HR manager for a Bay Area start up. She will be pitching an Apprentice/Iron Chef crossover where she evaluates small business proposals, rewarding promising startup ideas with baked goods and office management advice and chasing the bad ones out of the meeting room with a tennis racquet.

Jim is staying fit with regular morning exercise at hours he claims exist before 7am and is excited about a new startup project he is leading which will most likely change the world as we know it. With that in mind, Jim proposes a business show in the style of Gordon Ramsey’s The F Word or Biggest Loser where he goes into small to mid-sized businesses, yells at them until they cry, makes them do pushups, then saves their crumbling business.

Connor is 16 and is planning a new mashup show of Survivor and American Idol. As a Boy Scout finishing up his Eagle project and a member of a local band, he would be ideally placed to beat out the competition as he eats bugs to survive and makes alliances, only to stab competitors in the back by stealing the lead guitarist spot right before the big show. If worse came to worse, he could always appear on Pimp My Ride, as if his driving the family car weren’t horrifying enough to his sisters.

Kelly turned 20 this year and we fully expect her to be the star of House MD International, where, as an up and coming college biochemistry major, she travels around the world solving medical mysteries. Since she spent the summer working in hospital placements in Argentina and already speaks fluent Spanish which she continues to study at Vassar College, the show will send her to remote forests with forgotten languages – just to keep things interesting.

Meaghan is 23 and has moved to London where she is working for a tech startup doing marketing and sales while drinking lots of tea and trying her best not to acquire a British accent. Because her company reviews and lists London events and entertainment, Meaghan plans to star in a cross between the Amazing Race and Paris Hilton’s New British Best Friend where she travels around Europe looking for the best parties and wearing the best clothing on a limited budget.

As you can see, the Fitzgeralds are perfectly placed for prime time action. Any producer would be crazy to pass on these opportunities and all of the exciting things to come in 2010. Of course the supporting cast of all of our friends and family have really made this year red carpet-ready and we couldn’t have done it without them.

That sounds like our cue, and we wish you the best for 2010. Look for us on Channel 2… we’ll tell Balloon Boy you say hello.

Love,
Meaghan and The Fitzgerald Family