The Cotswolds | Oxfordshire Art Week | Travel Blog
Maytime Inn | Horse Art | Birthday Celebrations
It was my birthday yesterday and James and I left London and ventured deep into The Cotswolds for the weekend. We stayed at the most beautiful place called The Maytime Innin Asthall. An independently ran Inn, this was country chic at its finest, locally sourced food, flowering wisteria, views of the rolling Cotswolds hills and Country Living type hotel room complete with a bathroom full of Cowshed.
We were made to feel so at home and in the evening the whole place was buzzing, dinner was delicious and next morning I think that I possible ate one of the best breakfast I have ever had. I love it and I am coming back to stay.
Philth Blake
Oxfordshire Art week is on, and everywhere you seem to travel in the Cotswolds you see these little art signs outside welcoming you into open house type gallery.
While we were walking out in Asthall next to a beautiful Church and through a quaint English garden, I discovered Philth Blake.
Seductively smooth concept style woman, symbols and landscapes, you can see the graffiti artist inside him. His work has intricately fine detail with delicate shading and his woman have these intense looks which look stright through you.
I absolutely love his work, we had a long chat and I just love what he is about and doing.
Maureen Sparling
Sunday we were in Charlbury which is another quaint English village and this is where I discovered Maureen Sparling.
Maureen had opened up her beautiful cottage and turned it into an art gallery showcasing her work. She has a range of styles and uses different mediums. She has some beautiful botanical watercolour works which I was first drawn too. Overall her work seems gentle and so pretty.
She also works with acrylic and oil- using different mediums to paint on and even mixing gravel into the paint to create texture. Her living garden had been turned into an art gallery, with frog paintings next to the pond and birds hiding in the trees, it was like a mini art adventure. It is really intimate and beautiful being able to walk around an artist's home and discover her world.
