Archive for

Dec 31

2017: My Year in Photos

There is no doubt that my favourite post of every year is this one: the moment when, in looking back over a year of photos, I am able to consolidate the last 365 days and review an overarching visual picture of the year. There’s nothing quite so fulfilling as the recognition of a year well spent, and looking back over this year’s photos, I am able to confidently conclude that 2017 has been an extraordinary year.

It was extraordinary for many reasons, not least for the variety not only of our holidays, but of our lifestyle changes too. At the beginning of the year, we were living in Mallorca and I was working in Marketing. By the end, I am once again a hardened (but wiser) Londoner, but with an altogether more exciting role in commercial law. It was consequently a year of big changes, and not least in our home, where a total redecoration accompanied our return to the big smoke, and Farrow & Ball calke green became the indubitable shade of the season.

But if I was to remember 2017 for one thing, it would be for the breadth and diversity of our travels. 2017 saw us setting foot on African soil for the first time, and the cultural shift which resulted just a few hundred miles south of Spain is an experience which will stay with me forever. But similarly variable were the sun-baked lands of Sicily whose Eastern shores we explored in June. Whether it be the explosive volcanic soils surrounding Etna or the proliferation of baroque architecture peppering the ancient towns, Sicily was a true hot bed of unique creative and natural passions. Then there were the lush vineyards of Tuscany, the ochre glow of Aix, aperol spritz in Siena, the great stags of Windsor…

So scan your eyes over the photos above and below and bask in a glorious plethora of multicoloured captures – clear evidence of a year which punched above its weight in scintillating sites and alluring appeal. It was a year of great holidays, but also of staycations too – a warm and balmy English summer provided us with the perfect excuse to explore the leafy gardens of South West London and enjoy the very visible changes of the English seasons, from floral Spring in Battersea Park to an auburn Autumn on Clapham Common.

Now the seasonal chapter is shifting once again. Christmas is over and the days of wintery cold have just begun. But just as I reflect with relish upon this last year in its final fading hours, I look forward with anticipation to the year soon to come. New sights, news sensations, and another cycle of seasonal variations has started all over again.

: George III

: Noto skyline

: Chelsea White

: Modern lamp, Marseille

: Rolling hills of Tuscany

: Hampstead Heath

: Ham House

: Pure Tuscan Red

: Wimbledon Common

: Ravishing autumn

: Cactus detail

: Marbella as the sun sets

: The Ancient Theatre

: Sunset in Marseille

: The old port of Marseille

: The coast at Taormina

: Taormina clustered

: Chelsea Embankment

: Marseille on guard

: Japan in Kew

: Modica skyline

: Andalucian moment

: Moroccan Grasses

: Tongue out, Windsor Great Park

: New decor, London

: Aperol in Siena

: Kew Hote House

: Sicilian splendour

: Patched up Aix

: Peacock majesty

: Noto baroque

: Hallway at Christmas

: Sunset in Mallorca

: Patchwork stage, Sicily

: Etna rock in Ragusa

: Hampton History

: The Majorelle gardens

: Autumn leaf-bed

: Colours of Castagneto

: Christmas at home

: Taormina’s charm

: Ortygia

: St Petersburg Palace Tree

: Aix-en-Provence

: Autumn

: Winter sunrise

: Ragusa Ibla

: Magnificent Malaga

: Palma burning

: Marrakech Pink

: Larger than life in Marrakech

: Richmond

: Birthday baroque

: Catania fish market

: Marseille’s big wheel

: Woodpecker in London

: Moroccan gardens

: Messy eater

: The colours of Spring

: Tuscany at its best

: A walk on the Downs

: The Atlas Mountains

: Sussex salutation

: Autumn mushroom

: Siena Duomo

: Battersea

: Marseille urbanscape

: Downtown in Marseille

: The mosque of Marrakech

: Rooftops of Tuscany

: Balcony in shades of red

: Tuscan Vineyard

: Bedroom delight

: Windsor

: Sun effect

: Tuscan landscape

: Marseille

: Clapham in the Autumn

: Sicilian Baroque

: Henry Moore at Battersea

: Opulent Catania

: Spring arrives

: Marbella abstract

: Le Marché d’Aix

: Cassis sur la plage

: Marrakech magic

: Italian Grasses

: Do not disturb

: The Guard at Windsor

: Marrakech spices

: Modica, Sicily

: Marseille silhouette

: The gentle shore of Castagneto

: Sleepy afternoon in Bolgheri

: Cassis centre

: Eton

: Battersea spirituality

: Mediterranean stock

: Battersea Park

: The land of Italy

: Bathing of the swans

: The Souk of Marrakech

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2017. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Dec 25

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A very Normy Christmas

Christmas is all about nostalgia, for the Norms as much as for us humans, and when the Norms think of Christmas, they reflect upon snowy days in their family homes, when the ground is as white as they are, and they can roll around unnoticed amongst the frozen snowflakes and white-covered landscapes. So what better way to wish all readers of The Daily Norm a very Merry Christmas than to share with you all this depiction of a Very Normy Christmas, as we join the Norms in one of their family homes on Christmas Day. Whether it be building a snowman, putting up the tree, or taking a breath of fresh air after a hearty Christmas lunch, the Norms love their Christmas afternoons out in the snow. Even Father Christmas Norm appears to have stuck around for this one (if you can find him!).

This is actually the Norm sketch I created for my Mother’s present this Christmas (don’t worry, she’s already opened it, so I’m not spoiling the surprise by sharing the sketch with you all this Christmas Day morning). Each Norm represents a member of my family at Christmas, and the house you see is my family home and the setting of all of my childhood Christmases. Even though I won’t be there this Christmas, it’s a setting where my mind always wonders on these nostalgic days of Christmas.

What more is there to add than to wish you all a very Merry, Normy Christmas – look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the artwork of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, visit http://www.delacybrown.com

Dec 21

Christmas Comes Home: Party time!

I’m not ashamed to spend many an hour making my home wonderful for Christmas just for myself and my partner to enjoy. Who else really matters? After all, it is us who get the ultimate pleasure of waking and sleeping to lights twinkling like an enchanted forest all around us. Nevertheless, there is something of the Nigella in me, and I can’t help but revel in the opportunity to share my winter wonderland with friends. So in this last post extolling the virtues of my home at Christmastime, why not take a glimpse of the flat all trussed up for a small soiree we held last weekend.

Central to the event was the table. A vase at its centre hosted a flurry of discarded Clapham Common tree branches. What the wind had cast asunder, I recycled, creating the perfect skeleton for a cornucopia of lights and dazzling gold and glass decorations. On those branches, our glass treasures from Venice have never looked so beautiful, hanging freely, suspended in mid air, rather than getting caught up in the denser gathering of Christmas tree branches. Beneath this composition, a plethora of festive food gathered: a cheese board bedecked with berries and nuts, freshly cut meats from Italy and, best of all, the “Merookies” (a cross between meringues and cookies) recently featured on the newest Christmas episode of Nigella Lawson’s At My Table series. With an exquisite salty pistachio balance to the sweetness of the meringue and the rich depth of chocolate chips, I was completely sold on these Nigella creations. So was everyone else – they disappeared in seconds.

I love Christmas parties. I love sharing with friends. And I love seeing my home so pristine in its presentation for a night out on the town. But even more, I love the clearing up at the end of the evening – when empty champagne flutes tell of hours of merriment enjoyed, and the crumbs of cookies and Christmas biscuits intermingle with fallen shards of glitter flickering in the dying candlelight. Home sweet home.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Dec 18

Christmas Comes Home: St Petersburg Palace

Christmas is in full swing. Ridiculously there’s only a week to go! While that makes me panic ever so slightly, the best tranquiliser is to switch on some Christmas carols (or Nigella Lawson’s Christmas series on TV…oozing pure aesthetic) and sit in the warm glow provided by my beloved Christmas trees. Last week I shared with you my new kitchen-inspired carrot-laden scheme. Today I want to take you to frostier quarters, where elegance reaches an all time high: my tree inspired by a St Petersburg Palace.

Replacing the annual real tree whose needles played havoc with my cream carpets, this year we have introduced a new 7ft snow sprayed false tree adorned with warm lights and begging for the fake polar-bear throw which is wrapped around the base of the tree and provides a wonderful soft landing for all those gold and white presents. On the snowy white branches, I added golden fern leaves for embellishment, and thus set the scene for my favourite ever set of decorations: an abundance of whites and golds and blues of every shade, all in homage to the glory and opulence of a Russian Christmas.

Choosing Russia as a theme meant a stark contrast to the interior design of the bedroom setting which is very Mediterranean in feel. But what better way to get cold blue and warm gold into a tree theme than to translate the tones of a Mediterranean beach into the frosted splendour of a St Petersburg Palace. With its onion-roofed houses, night-sky baubles, glass whales, white nutcrackers and elegant Russian dolls, I love the way this design has pulled together. It is the ultimate bedroom tree and a true delight to both see out and see in these festive wintery days.

Dec 14

NG1 (after Sebastiano del Piombo)

Those eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that in the background of my freshly dressed kitchen Christmas tree (featured on Tuesday’s blog), a new painting lay in the shadows. Recently completed after some months of on and off work, the painting, NG1, is the latest in my series of interpretative abstracts which aim to reinterpret great masterpieces in an abstract form. This work is based on the great painting by Sebastiano del Piombo, a protégé of Michelangelo’s and who painted the work as a commission for Cardinal Giulio di Medici in around 1518. Entitled The Raising of Lazarus, the original work shows the moment when Jesus performed the miracle in which Lazarus was raised from the bounds of death. My reinterpretation aims to follow the exact compositional and colour profile of the original, dramatic scene, while presenting the moment of this miracle in a far more modern light.

It was important for me that I was able to present the background in an almost identical form to the original. But that is where the similarities end, and the figures which dominate Sebastiano’s original are henceforth reduced into purely abstract forms. The result loses nothing of the compositional force of the original, yet feels like an altogether more contemporary work.

As for the name – NG1 – this emanates, very simply, from the inventory code for the original painting relative to its place within the collection of the National Gallery in London. As the first major masterpiece purchased for the Gallery’s collection, it gained the code no.1, and is today unsurpassed in retaining its prominent position hanging gloriously amongst the Renaissance masterpieces displayed nearby.

The original work, The Raising of Nazarus by Sebastiano del Piombo (1517-19)

Dec 12

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Christmas Comes Home: The Kitchen Tree

I am ashamed to see that the last post on my blog is entitled “An Autumn Overview”. It’s shocking testimony to the fast passage of time. Now in mid-December, the comforting glow of Autumn leaves have been replaced by ice and snow. But December brings with it a very joyous respite from the arrival of cold in the form of the festive season – simply my favourite time of the year. And while work has largely prevented me from hanging out on The Daily Norm, it has not precluded me from that most important of annual tasks: decorating the Christmas tree.

Regular readers of The Daily Norm will know that I love Christmas decorations, to an almost obsessive degree, and while I always make a few small tweaks to my scheme as each year goes by, I enjoying taking out the old familiar decorations year on, year out. However, this year, as if in celebration of our return to London and the house redecoration that accompanied it, I’ve shaken things up a bit in the Christmas decoration department.

The modernist black trees of old went into black bags, and out came an altogether more traditional look. Sage and forest greens now host warm oranges, berry reds and a little silver and black (a small nod to the modern surroundings). Glass carrots and green glass mushrooms bring something of a culinary vibe, while ravishingly regal cheetah heads sit proudly upon their festive boughs. And as if to complete the animal theme, underneath the tree, fox furs and presents round off the scheme with a cosy but finessed twist.

And that’s just the lounge. In the bedroom we’ve gone all white and frosty, like a scene from Dr Zhivago. But I’m going to save that until next time…