Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art Exhibition Review

This exhibition is running at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square until tomorrow (22nd May) which explores the impact that Eugene Delacroix had on fellow artists and the up and coming artists after his death. I always like to go to see museums and art exhibitions because it’s all about learning new things and discovering a part of history and I enjoy that experience. I received some free tickets (worth £20 each) and I don’t think I would have paid to go and see the exhibition or at leasg wouldnt have paid mord than £12, as I’ve said before I love doing free things to save money!

The exhibition was a lot bigger than I expected, it was comprised of 6 rooms with about 10 or so paintings in each room, some with more, some with less, and there was also a cinema showing an explanatory video of the collection and the life of Delacroix. I had briefly heard of this artist before in other exhibitions but I went in basically knowing nothing of who he was. Considering he was such an influence to other artists such as Renoir, Matisse, Van Gogh, and many more I was suprised that I didn’t know already. He was essentially the first to really begin experimenting with more creative and unusual painting techniques and colours, and for most of his life he was completely disregarded and shamed for his paintings. Most of the paintings that I saw in the exhibition were so beautiful, some were very unusual and there were a few that were too abstract or foggy for my personal taste. But for the majority of the paintings that I saw I found it strange for them to be treated by the community at the time with such negativity. Delacroix was clearly a true great, and many of the artists that followed him used his styles for their inspirations. I remember a quote said “there is an element of Delacroix in all of us” and many revered him as a kind of God. The styles that he used varied to the point that entire artistic movements such as impressionism derived from one of the methods used by Delacroix.

My favourite paintings in the exhibition were Bathers, Immortality, and The Death of Sardanapalus. I choose these three, made by other artists in homage to Delacroix, because the intensity of colours and details really drew me in, but this is present in other paintings, what made these special was the arrangement of the figures and the subject matter was more interesting to me. Bathers was a beautiful scene in nature, with light pouring in from a ceiling of highly detailed trees, and nude females looking flirtatious and inviting. Immortality was a large painting of an Angel holding a vine of colourful flowers and it was just beautiful, it just is! The Death if Sardanapalus however, was a painting with a lot of things going on, concubines were being killed and the Kings possessions were being destroyed upon his instruction before his suicide, I liked how all of the aspects came together and could spend a long time looking at all the different things present.

As the event ends tomorrow there isn’t really much point to recommend visiting it but I would recommend researching into the art of Delacroix if you are interested in art!

Stephanie

The Crystal Maze Experience Review – North London

Hey there!

So recently I went with a large group of my friends and acquaintances to the Crystal Maze Experience near Angel station in North London. I loved the Crystal Maze TV show as a kid in the 90s and it’s amazing that a group of people crowd funded this idea to recreate that TV show for anyone to be able to play today! I think the idea was amazing so the fact that me and my friends got to do it was an unforgettable and enjoyable time.

At first I wasn’t sure how accurate it would be or the size of the play area we would be in. But ultimately the amazing team pulled it off. In the beginning we were given our team jackets and we were the blue team (there are 4 teams of 8) and we start running around this place. The four areas from the TV show are there, Aztec, Industrial, Medieval and Futuristic and we were led around by a comedic nutcase named Bison (probably not his real name right?) and he was hilariously one of the best parts of the experience Richard O’ Brien would be proud!

I definitely won’t give away any of the puzzles but they all seemed achievable in the time allocated and it was very fun to shout help at eachother, yes that’s right, shouting advice to help. Take it for what you will but it’s all a part of the fun and games! It was not quite as active as I expected as I thought that there was going to be a lot more running and climbing involved but it was paced just about right.

I was very proud of myself for earning a crystal for the team before we got to the final with the Crystal Dome. This was the part that looked the most difficult honestly when all you have to do is catch the floating foil tickets. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter as long as you enjoy yourself, and our team came second place so that’s good enough for me. I just wish we had a crystal each to take home as a souvenir like in the TV show! That would be my only wish!

I would readily recommend this for anyone eager to try it out! It’s definitely worth it, I would do it again. Just make sure you watch a few old episodes beforeand for a recap! 😉

I would get in fast though as they are already fully booked for months! It’s no suprise haha!

Live, Laugh, Love

Stephanie

My journey to Morocco! Jun 2015

Hey there!

Upon reflection it seemed like a good idea to talk about my experience and review my trip to Morocco last year in June 2015. It was a complicated experience because I had never been to Africa and I had never imagined I would be going with a girl that I hardly knew and being surrounded by the Muslim culture. You could definitely say it was intimidating! We stayed in a hotel called Dela Rosa that was not far from Marrakech city. This hotel was promoted by lastminute.com with a fairly cheap offer but my warning to you is beery careful with holiday special offers because this one was a bit of a nightmare! The staff were rude, the service was bad, the rooms had major faults, the drinks were terrible, the swimming pool was small, deep and in the shade so it was always freezing.

But I think the main flaw that I took from the holiday was the attitude of people towards me, I am not a racist person but the Muslim people there were treating the tourists as animals full of cash for them to entice and play with. I saw it many times that people were tricked into buying things 10 times the price that would be given to locals and if you walked away or past any stalls in the shopping centre you get harassed. Me and my friend were tricked by a taxi driver who took us to his friends shop where we were ripped off extremely.

It isn’t as if all the experiences there were bad, we climbed orange trees and picked fresh ones, we went to the coast and to the mountains to hike to the top to the waterfalls and see the monkeys!

The place itself is beautiful especially in the mountains but it seems a shame that the stress and the attitudes of the people in the busiest places were letting it down. Overall I would probably say it’s one of the worst holidays I’ve ever had but I would say it’s worth trying as long as you can handle yourself and are experienced enough as a traveller to avoid the problems there.