Lucian Freud...Portraits

@ National Portrait Gallery
9 Feb - 27 May 2012

A collection of very powerful imgaines that flood in your mind even after the exhibition.

Rachmaninov

Philharmonia orchestra @ royal festival hall

Conductor... Leif Segerstam
Piano... Denis Matsuev

Sibelius Nightride and Sunrise
Rachmaninov Piano concerto no. 2
Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 2


Rachmaninov Piano concerto no. 2 is one of my favourite pieces and it always makes my hair stand whenever I listen to especially live. This was the main piece I went for tonight. I go to listen to this piece at least once a year and interestingly someone will be playing it. A piece in demand by londoners!

I also love Rachmainiov's Piano concerto no.3, which many people will remember through the film 'Shine'. One of the most demanding piano work for performers to accomplish. The pianist's play was very sharp and clean. I will certainly look out for him again. For Rachmaninov fans, pianist, Nikolai Lugansky is another Rachmaninov player who appears is London quite frequently.



.

meditation...

I wrote after seeing Richter's exhibition that I wanted to paint.
I managed to get my acts together and equipped myself with some basics.
I have chosen acrylic paints for practical reasons.
I must say the act of painting itself is so relaxing that it almost feels like
meditation, which I needed today. I got carried away painting for hours!

Both paintings unfinished...
Left one is Richter inspired
Right one is Hockney inspired

A difficult conversation...

I wrote about a cancer service user previously.
She and her partner are not the easiest people to engage with
but they are so funny and warm when you get to know them better.

Palliative Care Team is involved but the couple is new to them and the
social worker who was going to support her with writing a will
came back to me for help. So I went to help her filing out the
will booklet to be sent to the solicitor. I left it with her two weeks
ago but there were areas she has not decided on yet e.g executor etc.
The important parts of the will required more decisions to be made.

She become tearful a few times and diverted the conversation to another
subject and I had to make her focus on a number of occasions.
I said to her that it is a difficult conversation and she is
welcome to take her time to think about her will.
On reflection, did I really want to arrange another visit to gather more information?
Not really, I was actually quite keen to complete it today and post it to the solicitor.
          A, I did not want to delay the process
          B, Tight with time to visit again.

I agreed to return next week so that she has enough time to think about
the detailed information. I knew that it was not going to be finished in one visit
and End of Life Care work does require more time and patience. Although,
in practice, I realised I was rushing myself to gather the relevant information.
It is painful enough for her to face her own death and to be making plans for
after death would have been more difficult. I am honoured to stay with
her through the journey for the next few months.

If I were to remain in practice for longer, palliative care social work would
have definitely been my next move.

Research Updates

SPRU 2011 Annual Report is now available.

It contains a wide array of social policy research, 33 projects in total, covering:

* social care services - choice and personalisation, integration, transition
* disability, long-term, and life-limiting conditions - children, young people and adults
* welfare to work
* foster care, maltreatment and corporate parenting
* health and work

We also feature reviews of: our successful 5-year DH Research Programme; the best way to deliver care closer to home; the impact of our work on policy and practice; aiding Parliament as expert witnesses and workshops on becoming a researcher. There is information on the many external activities that we take part in which contribute to the health of the social policy community, and news of all our publications and international presentations in 2011.

http://php.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/2174/

St.Ives, Cornwall

A week of post Easter break in St.Ives was amazing.

What I was doing in St.Ives...new inspirations!

guitar, coffee and painting...have it all!

A bigger picture.. D Hockney

I absolutely enjoyed his exhibition at RA.

21 Jan- 9 Apr 2012

It was nice that he actually recorded the audio guide.

How many artist's voice do you get to hear as most of them are dead!

These are the quotes I liked;

Nature cannot be controlled but followed



Planned to be spontaneous

Technology need mad imaginative people to use it

This was the highlight of the exhibition.

You can feel his energy from the size of the painting.

The colourings was just amazing although

after 2 hours your eyes can get a bit tired.

I was surprised to know that he was commissioned

to paint for this exhibition.

Excellent evening out!