The new Curzon Bloomsbury is perfect date-night material. With its gold bar, sleek lounges, minimalist look, “The Canyon” curving corridor, documentary bar, your date will be impressed. Trust me. And don’t miss the gleaming white loos with their seductive pink lit cubicles.

A short stroll away is The School of Life on Marchmont Street with its life-enhancing lectures.

Better yet are its one-liners. Buy a box for that witty someone. I have a friend’s birthday this week (no, not the Queen of England, just the Queen of Chelsea), and think this box of aphorisms will really strike a chord.

Yes Melanie, I like having that special place in your heart.

Then, there’s the Gavin Turk & Project Beard. Tomorrow sees the opening of The Other Art Fair on Southampton Row where oddball selfie king and celebrated YBA artist Turk poses as Rodin, Morris, Cezanne, Matisse, Man Ray and Dali. Talk about a man with a split personality.

An edition of 250 posters of the selfie master will be exclusively available for £50 each at

Other must Bloomsbury-sees are charming Lamb’s Conduit and neighbouring Rugby Streets.

I love this playground pavilion across the road.

Shopping opportunities abound. I didn’t walk into Maggie Owen’s fun faux accessories shop with these ear rings. But I did leave with them. (Could double as nifty Christmas tree ornaments)

I was tempted some more by these Murano glass statement pieces but held back.

Next door is equally tempting…

Or next door again at…

 Can’t have too many aprons…

Craft lovers take note: Its Open Studio weekend May 8-10. Cockpit Arts (just around the corner) will be showcasing lots of textiles, jewellery, ceramics  from 170 talented makers as part of London Craft Week.

April, 2015

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The New Craftsmen started out as a pop-up shop two years ago, and now has a real home in a light and airy Arts & Crafts building at 34 North Row.

North Mayfair, once the neglected Cinderella of Mayfair, is having a real renaissance with Selfridge’s massive £300mm makeover,  the stunning new Beaumont Hotel and come spring British designer Erdem is opening its flagship shop on South Audley Street. Landlord Grosvenor Estates has big plans for this forgotten section of swanky Mayfair.

Leading the trend is The New Craftsmen which works exclusively with British crafts makers (75 at the moment) showcasing objects that are intrinsically tied to culture and place.

I spoke with Catherine Lock, one of the shops three founders, who explained to me that after working at Habitat and Sainsbury’s she felt there was a growing desire for shops with more provenance, meeting the makers.

“People are willing to pay a little more to get a little more, ” said the inspiring redhead.

Works can be bought off the shelf, ordered bespoke or individually commissioned.

I love these lights –  a collaboration between glasswares artist Michael Ruh  and mixed media embroidery designer Aimee Betts.

This cushion by textile designer Rose de Borman is fab. Lock thought de Borman would be happy to make a customised whimsical cushion for someone’s beloved pet. I started imagining my pug Antoinette having a new embroidered life as a unicorn.

These autumnal throws are made by Catarina Riccabona in her south London studio.

The perfect Christmas pressie for the culinary at heart – Potter Silvia K  uses the simple beauty of agrarian vessels as her starting point.

The fair lasts one day only. See you there.

November, 2014

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The Pace exhibition is Merz’s first in a commercial gallery in London for over twenty years. Ignored by American collectors, the European sixties Arte Povera movement is making a comeback with seven different  shows slated in London this month.

Turner Prize winning Sir Anish Kapoor, who was commissioned to create a permanent sculpture for London’s Olympic Park, is a fan. Here he is at the opening party last week with Pace Executive Director Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst on his right.

Some other VIP’s at the party, including Dave the Wave color-coordinated (as usual) to Merz’s gorgeous mixed media on canvas.

Corm is looking pretty fetching at the opening. Read some of my other top tips in Indagare, from Walker Evans and Andreas Gursky at the Barbican to Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace, it’s all covered in my Indagare article.

And whatever you do, don’t miss the knock-your-socks-off Anselm Keifer show at the Royal Academy. Splurge on the headphones. The German artist hugely influenced by WWII gives a great tour.

October, 2014

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Born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and working with glass for nearly half a century, Chihuly has created a vast number of astonishing glass works that are a colorful, vibrant mix merging fine art with craft, ranging in size from a simple vessel to room-size installations.

Perhaps the most eye-catching and glorious of the lot is the one in Berkeley Square for sale for £1.25mm. The show ends April 21^st. For a stimulating read on Chihuly’s rise from modest means (he worked as a commercial fisherman to pay for graduate school)  to becoming an artist of world class stature, read “The Glass Menagerie” article in the Telegraph. This prolific artist is no stranger to London with major installations at Kew Gardens, the Victoria & Albert Museum and Claridges Hotel. This summer  (’14) he has two exhibitions opening in Dublin.

April, 2014

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