Lumen, lack of light and a hidden lion

In the end I did not miss the life drawing class.  The teacher rescheduled, and I realised when I arrived at the class last week, that the person in the T-shirt was not a new member of the class who had forgotten his trousers, but was Clive, the life model.  After the initial gulp of the throat, realising that this was it, I then spent a really exciting 3 hours getting to grips with charcoal, short poses, long poses and discovering the skeleton underneath.  We have another life drawing session at the end of the term, so I hope my skills have extended a bit by then.

I followed that with a look round the "Inspired By" exhibition, at the Morley College Gallery.  This is a competitions for adult learners to make a piece inspired by an object in the V and A.  This is a really lovely exhibition and the interpretations of some of the objects is remarkable.  Several pieces of jewellery are very covetable, particularly  a leaf brooch by Nina Gargala, and this dramatic piece by Gudny Hexter.

 Anyone who follows the blog of Margaret Cooter, will be pleased to knew that her recent work, Museum Mazes won the printmaking prize.

After that, a visit to the Lumen Church, a wonderful space in Bloomsbury, with a fascinating history, from its beginnings as a Gaelic-speaking church to its present multi-faith usage.  The interior has a remarkable "sacred space " that is wonderful to sit in

and the window at the top casts a marvellous light that reminded me of being in James Turrell's  "Deer Shelter Skyspace" at the  Yorkshire Sculpture Park. 

I have been stitching and drawing, but the light is so poor, I have not been able to photograph the products of either activity. Lots of quilting, completing my piece for Dislocation,; returning to one of the scrap quilts to practise free machine quilting; making some postcards for an online challenge.

Arriving early for the annual Prism exhibition at the Mall Galleries, ( on until 31st May) I discovered  this little memorial in the crypt of St Martin in the fields church, a tribute to the first Pearly King.  

Prism is as ever full of wonderful pieces, go if you can.  Free entry, well-lit, easily accessible, good coffee and lots of inspiration.

Finally at Waterloo, a hidden lion - how have i passed this every day for a year and not noticed it?