A Door to Another World
I have loved Jan Van Eyck’s riddling Arnolfini Wedding Portrait — beautiful and disturbing in equal measure — since I first laid eyes on it…
Read MoreMirror, Mirror on the Wall
Where are you, Jan Van Eyck? In the mirror’s reflection, you can see beyond the bride and groom, into an open doorway…
Read MoreEllen Terry as Lady Macbeth
“More like a mermaid than a queen”: The last time I saw John Singer Sargent’s great painting of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth…
Read MoreRossetti’s Lady Lilith
“And round his heart one strangling golden hair”: Desire has always seemed a dangerous kind of magic…
Read MoreSerendipity: Adventures in Writing
“I don’t know.” Three simple words. One potent and seductive phrase that led to a remote loch in the Scottish Highlands as I researched Haunt Me Still…
Read MoreOphelia by Millais
Whenever I’m in London, I go to see Ophelia floating in her brilliant green brook…
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About My Blog
Occasional musings about stories, history, art, ideas, and the adventures of a writer's life...
