Posts tagged ‘The Daily Norm’

Feb 23

Mallorca My highlights – Part One: The First Year

A big move is in progress. The Daily Norm has one gelatinous leg in its new London home, and the other floating somewhere in transit as we await the delivery of all the possessions – and post importantly the computer – which makes writing of The Daily Norm a regular possibility. So excuses are sought from all readers for the temporary scarcity of posts. But at the same time, as any self respected blogger, I don’t want to lose this moment to reflect upon the magnitude of this change, nor to miss the opportunity to look back on my time in Mallorca. For two short years it may only have been, but those 27ish months provided a lifetime of unforgettable experiences for which I am so grateful.

So in the next two posts, I plan to reflect back upon those two years, doing so by way of the medium of my photos which is surely the best way of reliving the memories. For the mere process of selecting these photos for part one of these posts – the first year of my Mallorca experience – demonstrated with such potency what an incredible time we had. The colours alone speak of a thousand moments, of all those sunsets and sunny days and spring flowers and autumn leaves. The incredible mountains and the craggy coast, the windmills and the sheep and the little shops of Palma’s Casco Antiguo. All goes in the mix as I reflect on my first of two years in Mallorca – two years which can be very easily labelled the best in my life. So far.

: Autumn arrives

: Biniaraix

: Easter parades

: Mountain Valleys

: Sa Foradada, Deia

: Wine harvest

: The Cala Deia in summer

: Easter parades

: Deia at sunset

: Sunset over Palma old town

: The church at Pollensa

: The Church of San Francesc

: The freshest produce

: Mountain resident

: The coast near Valldemossa

: The Cala Deia

: Sa Foradada

: Old Town fountain, Palma

: The stunning landscape of Formentor

: Skyline, Palma old town

: Porto Colom

: Old town reflection

: Palma’s enchanting old town

: Ducks at sunset

: Portixol

: The Baños Arabes

: Alfabia Gardens

: Palma’s resident swan

: Day of the Dead

: Valldemossa

: The gardens at Alfabia, Soller

: Ripened winter oranges

: Breakfast at the Son Viscos, Valldemossa

: The stunning beauty of the Malloquin countryside

: 2 days before Christmas

: Olive terraces

: Awaiting his owner at S’Estaca

: The best sweet shop

: Grape harvest

: Yachts in Palma

: Lilies in shadow

: Colour contrast

: The beach at Palma

: Cemetery tiles

: The monastery of San Francesc

: Palms by sunset

: The mighty scale of the mountains

: Old town basket shopping

: The palms of Palma

: The beach at Formentor

: Traditional craftsmanship

: Turquoise seas

: Fountain, Passeig del Born

: Dominik, the explorer

: Palma’s City of the Dead

: Soller’s famous lemons

: Flowers, Deia

: The bay of S’Estaca

: Turquoise perfection

: Valldemossa street

: Mallorca’s famous windmills

: Robert Graves’ house

: Christmas light delight

: Tramuntana locals

: Sun through the reeds, Andratx

: Church doorway, Palma

: Cala Figuera

: Miramar monastery

: Sunshine in Deia

: Almond blossom season

: Pollensa Bay

: Formentor

: The graveyard at Deia

: Mallorca “lenguas” in production

: Refracted colour

: Another incredible sunset

: No photos! Mallorca produce for sale

: Rippled water

: First days

: The Caves of Drach

: Beyond repair, Palma

© 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 work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Jun 19

The Daily Norm: 3,000 followers and counting

Since posting my last article on The Daily Norm, I gained my 3000th follower of this blog. Despite having written this blog almost every day since the end of 2011 and therefore being well accustomed to using words to express my feelings and experiences, I struggle to put into words just how delighted I am with the success of this blog, and how grateful I am for all those who have followed me since its inception. 3000 followers is as incredible number, and I can only hope that all those who have supported me will continue to do so as the years of blogging go on.

I was always a prolific diary writer (I’ve been writing a diary packed with pictures of my art and travels for 19 years now), but blogging really took my diary writing to a new level, not just because it enables me to share all of the photos I have taken and art works I have made in a digital format, but because it enables me to share my life with a far bigger audience. Because I try to keep my blog as an all-embracing homage to the good life, full of the positive notes which embellish my life with the colour and excitement that gets me out of bed each day, knowing that my blog enables me to translate that positivity to a wider audience has encouraged me to see life for all that is good in it.

When I go on holiday, I start compiling in my head how I will present those wonderful new experiences on The Daily Norm; when I create new artworks I get excited about sharing them on my blog way before they ever get seen in an art exhibition; and when I take photos, I get even more pleasure in perfecting the results knowing that now it is not just me and my family who will share in these images, but an audience of thousands. In short, blogging has changed my life.

French Norm (2011 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, digital image)

So I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for following me and sharing in my life, and hope that you will continue to do so. I want to thank my dear friend Cassandra, who suggested blogging to me as a way of expressing my relentless flow of creative energies, and also wonderful Wordress for giving me this fantastic platform to share my thoughts with the world, and with such ease and pleasure.

So by way of celebration I thought I would share, appropriately, a picture of my Norm, the character who is at the heart of the stories and illustrations which I post intermittently between art and travel posts on this blog. This picture was created digitally on my ipad, taking inspiration from David Hockney who has used the medium to create some of his most engaging recent works. My French Norm plays on all of the stereotypes of the typical Frenchman – the stripped jersey, the beret and the string of onions, and I just love him.

So please come back and see many more Norms, art works and travel tales on The Daily Norm soon and tell all your friends – 3,000 followers is incredible, but can it be bettered? I hope so.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Nov 18

6 Comments

Daily Norm’s 2nd Anniversary/ 30th Birthday/ new website/ exhibition preview spectacular!

Christmas may be merely 5 weeks away, but its been all about a mighty great November for me. Not only have I been celebrating the relaunch of my official art website this month, but I have also been busy organising the first solo gallery showing of my artwork in 6 years, which will make its debut in London in the Spring of next year – more details will follow soon. Not only that, but I am still reeling from the shock of turning 30 earlier this year, but nevertheless still determined to celebrate it for as long as the year goes on. And finally, this month (and in fact the 14th November last week) marks the two year birthday of The Daily Norm!

From its very humble beginnings, this blog has now been freshly pressed 3 times, gained 2,332 followers, had 301,364 total views and even received 2,527 comments. And statistics aside, it has just been a joy from beginning to end – an outlet for my creativity; a mirror on my soul, and a magnificent far-reaching channel through which my thoughts and experiences can be shared with the world. So a huge thank you just has to go to everyone who has supported my blog all of this time. I feel incredibly honoured that you take the time to share just a little of my life with me.

My paintings on show at the Benugo Drawing Room private cocktail bar, last Friday

So how best to celebrate all of these marked feats of November jubilation? Why, to throw a private party of course! Yep, last Friday night, the best and beautiful of my inner circle – both friends and colleagues alike – gathered in their glad rags to belatedly celebrate my birthday, mark the relaunch of my website, reflect on the success of The Daily Norm, and look forward, in equal measure, to the prospect of my solo art exhibition next Spring. And in celebrating the latter aspect, what better way to anticipate what I hope will be the art show of the 2014 Spring season than to kick things off with a warm up preview of some of my latest works!

So for all those friends of mine rocking up at the British Film Institute’s secret cocktail bar within its main Benugo bar last friday evening, they were treated to an impromptu display of some 20 of my works, including a selection of my latest Compositions series, a few of my Norm originals including my Norm take on Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe and Flamenco Norm, and also a few examples of my more contemplative works, such as Pink Bf, Return Journey and Pupillage.

The evening was a fantastic success, a wonderful opportunity for some of my latest colourful paintings and more subdued, delicate etchings to benefit from an outing to London’s cultural South Bank centre, and a fine way to touch base with my ever faithful friends, many of whom I have not seen for months, if not years. And I sold 3 more paintings to boot – which can’t be bad!

Sadly, as far as recording this magnificent event goes, I can only show you photos taken as the paintings went out, but before the people came in. No sooner had the first friend arrived than I was occupied talking to my guests all evening – and my well intentioned desire to record the evening through photos got quite lost in the revelry. But that is surely a sign of a good party.

Stay tuned, as ever, into The Daily Norm for exclusive details of my May 2014 art exhibition – coming soon!

And in the meantime another huge thanks to all those who have supported me and my blog for the two years of its happy existence. Here’s to the next!

Nov 14

6 Comments

Happy First Birthday to The Daily Norm!!

Where has a year gone? When I sat down to write my first ever article for The Daily Norm one year ago today, I typed my first words with trepidation. I had chosen my wordpress theme, uploaded some artwork, and now wondered 1) what on earth I would write about and 2) whether people would be interested in what I had to say. One year later, and with 240 posts written, liked and responded to, with 180,099 total views and counting, and with some 510 current followers, I have to wonder why I was so scared. My initial misgivings soon turned to passion, as I caught the blogging bug big time.

Thanks to my blog, I see the world through new eyes – I see the polish and shine in everyday monotony, I appreciate the finer details of an exhibition or a show, I take greater note of names and situations, and I paint and photograph as though my very legacy depended on it. I no longer walk away from an event thinking – what a good show. Now I think – I can’t wait to write about this on my blog. My attitude has changed from solitary satisfaction, to a passion for sharing. I believe it’s worth writing a good post, even if one other person reads it – even if none do at all – for the process of writing about an experience, recalling the light and shade of an occasion, and immortalising an event in words and pictures gives the writer, to my mind, a tremendous sense of satisfaction. It makes you appreciate your life, encourages you to pack every hour with new and worthwhile activities, it installs a fantastic discipline of review and reflection, and it enables small experiences, which may be commonplace in one part of the world, to be shared across the globe.

The Daily Norm office celebrates its first birthday (2012, Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

The Norms (my little white blobs, who were of course the source of and inspiration for this blog) and I would like to thank you all so much for your support, for your readership and for your comments over the last year. We want to thank my dear friend Cassandra who, if she is reading, knows only too well that it was she who suggested I start a blog at that time when I was so down in my life. And we would also like to thank all of those who have kindly nominated the blog for a variety of awards including the “Blog on Fire Award”, the “HUG award” (Hope Uniting Globally), the “Very Inspiring Blogger Award” and the “Versatile Blogger Award”. Your support makes me want to go on blogging, and for that I am truly grateful.

Here’s to another year of the Daily Norm!

Jul 26

3 Comments

Bologna: La Bella – My Photographs

Bologna the beautiful – not one of the triptych of epithets for which Bologna is known, but truly deserved nonetheless. From the sheer volume of photos below, there can be no doubting how much of an inspiration this red-hued city provided me and my little pocket camera. Endless arcades and porticos delicately interspersed with rusting iron shop signs, discolouring marble madonnas and wrought iron balustrades. Bologna’s sky was like a complex network of fine-threaded black lace, as a grid of wires criss-crossed piazzas and porticos from which hung characteristic flat-bottomed lamps whose glossy base reflected the pink haze of the sunlit streets and red-suttererd palazzos. Contrasts are everywhere: Elaborate churches adjoin multicoloured graffitied university buildings, ornamented baroque fountains balance coarser Roman relics, and chic polished shopfronts adjoin bustling market stalls and busy al fresco cafes.

Bologna is decadent in its fading elegance and retro, rather than modern. Progression in this city has thrived in the minds, while all around, a Unesco protected city centre has been perfectly preserved as a museum of multi-layered history, and as a testament to architectural, gastronomical and artistic sophistication. I could have photographed forever. And no doubt I will return to capture this city in changing seasons and altering light. But in the meantime, here is Bologna, La Bella – a city captured on my camera.