Feeling the need to blow the country cobwebs out and feel the buzz of the city I headed for London for the day, two exhibitions beckoned along with a little light shopping. Firstly I headed for the V & A, it was such a glorious day. That there were many picnickers enjoying their lunches while enjoying the warmth of the day. I’d come to see Frida Kahlo’s exhibition which I had been promising myself to see for months! I only just made it!  To be honest I wish I hadn’t bothered. It made me feel so sad. I had no idea about all of her health problems, of which there were many, the constant pain she was in, how bedridden she became for long stretches of time,  the loss of a leg that effectively ended her life in great pain and many other trails and tribulations were explained. It was grim, really grim. I was glad to get out of there. There were some highlights and pieces of work that I enjoyed, her art of course and its always good to poke around another womans make up bag and see the exact shade of lipstick that was favoured and make up she preferred. But again, it was good to leave. So I did, and quickly trundled along to Piccadilly Circus and walked up to the Royal Academy of Arts to see Oceania.And just as an aside there was this ,A transitional piece called the Pyshco Barn, which was first commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its roof garden. Most amusing it was.

Oceania, what can I tell you. I remember going to see Ice Age Art, arrival of the modern mind,  at the British Museum in June 2013. It was the most awe inspiring exhibition that I have ever seen, pieces of that work stay with me in my minds eye and the emotional experience of when I saw them is still fresh. Well, this was like that. This is the best thing (in my humble opinion) that I have seen in five years. If you can go, go. (I say that quite a lot, I’m sorry) but do, honestly, you will not regret it. I’ll probably go again this week, I might pop along again after that.

Oceania brings together around 200 exceptional works from public collections world wide, it celebrates the civilisations that cover almost a third of the world’s surface from Tahiti in Polynesia to the scattered archipelagos and islands of Melanesia and Micronesia. I think these are my favourite pieces, they are navigation charts made of wood, cane and shell from the nineteenth century. I simply love them.

And as photography was allowed, I’ve included a few snap shots in this blog post for you to enjoy. I think the art is amazing.  After such a wonderful time gazing at this awe inspiring exhibition, I walked to Selfridges and did a little light shopping. Isn’t this florist, inside Selfridges just wonderful.

And then homeward bound was I, happy and content.