Three of us sat in an annex near the delivery suite anxiously awaiting news. After an hour, a smiling midwife slipped quietly into the room holding a notepad. She checked who we were and read out her message - “Your grandson was born at 19h16. He and his mother are doing well. You are…
The Queen, Two Republicans and a Retired Guard
The disappointments of the morning were reversed by three Royals. We were in central London in search of tradition but our trip had gone terribly wrong. Then, with the help of a complete stranger, all was made good as first Princess Anne, then Prince William and finally the Queen, drove slowly past and in touching…
Blackbirds with Influence
This is the story of four blackbirds who share our lives in Richmond. One was the source of conflict; two helped resolve the difference; the fourth was a present given to mark the resolution. The conflict, which although important to me may well appear to others as trivial, centred around a full-sized painting of a…
Short Changed
Readers in bygone days might have described me as a cad and a bounder. My misdemeanour - having fallen out of love, I have decided to reveal all. My infatuation was not with a person but with what I saw as an altruistic ideal. Discovering otherwise came as a horrible surprise and while we…
A Misunderstanding
There can be little more irresistible than the sight of a baby staring into ones eyes and smiling. At around three months most will look at people’s faces and it is clearly a view they find captivatung. Those early stares are not exclusively directed at their parents. Over the past few weeks I have been stared…
Alone with Thomas Tallis
There is something overwhelming about being a tiny and inconsequential part within a giant canvas. Just looking up at the Milky Way always does this for me (“Sartre had an answer”. joecollier.blog. 3 September 2017), and there have been other, very specific occasions, too. I could not have felt smaller and more in awe…
Every Rug Tells a Tale
Turn right as you leave our Paris studio and in two minutes you will be peering mesmerised into the Galerie du Luxembourg. With its brightly displayed rugs covering walls, floors and diverse pieces of furniture, walking straight past would be unthinkable. And if interest in the rugs palls, there is always some human diversion on…
Two Parties and Three Gems from Santa
Over coffee after a long walk a friend described my attitude towards Christmas as ‘bah humbug’. Such a comment would normally go unnoticed; this time it made me think. My mother was a romantic secular Jew who, throughout my childhood, made Christmas a magical event, and so it remains. The exchange of cards and…
The Pleasure is in the Detail
The disruption at our London home was at its worst a week after renovation started - seven workers traipsing through the house had become a nightmare. My wife, Rohan and I had known that it was an ambitious project but decided that getting all the work done at one sitting was worth any inconvenience.…
Creditworthy
I find walls endlessly fascinating and, knowing of my interest, my wife Rohan beckoned me over. She was standing on a tiny enclosed terrace and suggested I take a close look at one of its surrounding walls - there was something special that I should not miss. Staring at the massive, regular, cream-coloured…
