Gabriella recently conducted this walk about on a beautiful old Japanese fishing boat.

Thinking of you Japan and all you beautiful people: I will be worshipping and praying in Durham Cathedral later, thinking about, mourning and paying respect to all those affected by last year’s quakes. I am wearing a sakura and as a mark of respect I am putting the Japanese flag up today. Around the world we admire your continued strength and adversity through one of the world’s most tragic and hearbreaking catastrophes. May God bless Japan.
Thank you.
- Gabriella White,
Multilingual Books

British country is making a comeback. Try out the Glen Kirton Country band album: The Four Forty Nine, not to be missed, for these are absolutely fabulous tunes. The album is available for download on iTunes, Amazon and via the Digimix Records website. Track 2 on the album entitled I love my True Love is currently the most downloaded track, receiving a tonne of airplay in the UK; the song which bounces along merrily holds very original lyrics in the style of American genre but with a British twist, making it a rather unique release in its own right. Music aside, this track of choice holds a deeper meaning: it reflects the culture of British country life and the influence of American country combined. Readers from all over the world are sure to enjoy this dose of world music: though not an avid country fan myself, I was pleasantly surprised by the joyful mood it evoked in me as I danced around my kitchen – it teleports you to another place. The Four Forty Nine is the first of many to come from this up and coming country band and each track is downloadable for just £0.79 (GBP).

Catch The Four Forty Nine and explore a different kind of audio today.
http://www.digimixrecords.com/CountryReleases.html

“The long-awaited Black Sands Remixed by Britain’s electronic genius Bonobo is finally here. An impressive range of tracks, atmospheric to say the least and visual in how the delightful sounds transcend the listener to a whole new place, on a whole new level, it’s difficult not to get zapped into the pulsating rhythm of the tracks. Unpredictable in style, the tracks are melodically chaotic in a simply beautiful way. For every book that is un-put-downable, this album is just as addictively unstoppable, keeping you hanging onto every note, insatiably intrigued for the next.
Prelude alone (Lapalux’s Fnger on the Tape remix) makes for an impressive start to the album, drawing you into some kind of echo in a mystical place: have a listen and you’ll know what I’m talking about. The more upbeat ‘Ghost Ship’ track is another little beauty, peppered with keyboard trills, slightly bluesy in parts and positively energetic. And another thing: you know when you’re onto the work of a pure genius when man-made electronic sounds recreate a totally natural, unspoilt sound like drips of water rhythmically dancing to nature.
Though influenced by British styles in some ways, Bonobo has that unique knack of giving all of his music that international twist, that faraway feel, through the use of oriental sounds and instruments, always true music to my ears. But to label this all as just music, I fear, would be to not do it justice: it’s a journey. And in the very depths of this other world that Bonobo and his team of remixers so vividly create, an effervescent masterpiece lies. “
Gabriella White on grooving to Black Sands Remixed by Bonobo – the ultimate travel album for 2012.

Bangor-based artist Lee Boyd in County Down, Ireland is no ordinary artist. Energetic, entertaining, conscientious, analytical and with an unknown depth I am trying to get to the bottom of, he is an enigma. Despite his bohemian, relaxed aura, there is an edge of jumpiness about him. Full of life and a true chatterbox, Lee’s honest nature, coy grin, nervous laugh and vulnerability make him instantly likeable. He is a deep thinker; a philosopher and an accomplished artist of an unusual genre in today’s contemporary art world.

Lee is what is known as a therianthropic artist, a type of reverse anthropology, where humans are turned into animals through an art known as shape-shifting. Therianthropes have long existed in mythology, appearing in ancient cave drawings such as les Trois Frères, but more obvious examples include Egypt’s sphinxes. His work actually casts my mind back…

To read this article in full and see more of Lee’s art, click here:  http://79.170.44.82/theculturecave.com/?p=491

Be happy and free - dance around street lanterns barefooted if you want to!

Wallflower by Masters and Munn, UK

Sculptress CJ Munn explained her work after launching the wall-sculpture earlier today. You can view the artist’s statement here: http://bit.ly/p02SAm

Contact the artist: Tel: +44 1622 609386 (during standard UK office hours)  Mobile: + 44 781 0511952   Email: enquiries@mastersandmunn.co.uk

Contact the Editor: guru@theculturecave.com

Read the full feature about CJ Munn’s Wallflower in the Culture Corner later this week.

The internationally-renowned fine art photographer from Axbridge in Somerset was excited to be exhibiting two of his favourite art works at this year’s Festival for all to see over the course of this year’s Glastonbury. Cawston had recently told the Culture Corner that the two detailed panoramic works were the “most difficult pictures ever taken” in his entire photographic career.

Cawston had in fact renamed the piece after some careful thought prior to transporting it to the Festival with pride in his caravan to showcase to all fans present in the Dance Village. It was originally called “Sundown in the Park” but was recently renamed to “Vale of Avalon”.  Thousands of music and art fans flocked around to see the piece after it was put on display in Glastonbury’s Dance Field and it was therefore a great shock to Cawston and his fans that the popularity of the piece was taken a little too far when the mysterious art thief in question trophied it.

But who stole it? One thing is for sure: everyone’s talking about it.

On Wednesday night of this week, Cawston tweeted “My 20ft Glastonbury picture was pilfered from the Dance Village on Friday – if found please return to me in a very large envelope!” Cawston had in fact planned to donate the artwork to Oxfam shortly after the event. He later told me “I discovered it was missing at 3am on the Saturday morning though the other [Muse and the Moon] which was at a more viewable location was fine.”

“Muse and the Moon” is the sibling work of “Vale of Avalon” and is a night-time-scene, shot on a large format camera; it is a compilation piece, printed on five panels 4ft x 3ft, by Latent Light, sponsoring the exhibition. The newly named “Vale of Avalon” however went missing on Saturday of last week and is a dusk-light, brighter version of the two as it was shot on a light summer evening. A stunning panoramic, light, radiant and hopeful in spirit, Barry had shared with me some background about the making of it in the run-up to its launch at Glastonbury: “This one was taken [last year] at around nine o’clock on the Friday night at the top of Emily Eavis’s Park area as the sun was setting. Everyone was chilling before the big night ahead. It just shows how vast the whole event and experience is.”

Barry had also said “I hope people come down to see it. The aim of it is also to help people work out where they actually were last year!” What was quite apparent to me about both panoramic shots was their phenomenal detail, causing one to go back to them again and again and discover more each time: a lot of hard work and meticulous compositional thought has evidently gone into these fine art photographs and it is therefore imperative, not to mention moral for the artwork to be located and returned to its rightful owner.

Anyone who may have any clues as to the whereabouts of the 20ft art giant “Vale of Avalon”, pictured below, is encouraged to get in touch and return the piece to Mr Cawston at his studio in Axbridge, Somerset in order for it to be donated to the Oxfam charity as originally planned.

Barry Cawston’s full collection can be viewed on his website www.barrycawston.com where his contact details can also be found.

Vale of Avalon 20ft x 3ft went missing early last Saturday morning at Glastonbury Festival in the Dance Village

Contact the Artist: barry@barrycawston.com

Contact the Editor: guru@theculturecave.com

© 2011 Gabriella’s Culture Corner. All rights reserved