Chelsea, Bridges, Shakespeare, Tate Modern & St. Paul's...

Firstly, Chelsea vs Liverpool (Champions League 2009) on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's home ground)... What an amazing match it was. I was fairly tense for the duration of the game, especially the second half! However, all that stress drifted away as soon as the Ref blew the final whistle... Chelsea are now through to the semi finals, WOO-HOO! and shall be up against Barcelona. Louis watched the match with me & thought this battle between the two teams was the best he has seen so far this year. Coming from an Arsenal supporter, that is quite something, though I doubt there will be any conversion to Chelsea for Louis now or in the foreseeable future!!

Yesterday was a lovely day out for the three of us. We had planned two weeks ago to take a trip to the Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/ while Louis is on his Easter break from college. Louis has been before whilst at secondary school as he took up art as one of his GCSE subjects. I have wanted to take Lillie for a while now as she is very into arty things, so I have wanted her to have the opportunity to see other artists' styles as well as me fulfilling a wish to see some great works of art. We took the train to London Bridge, then walked the rest of the way taking in the view en route.

Stopping for a pic, with Southwark Bridge & St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

A slow walk continued passing by the Globe Theatre http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/ I so would like to visit some day!

Finally arrived at the Tate Modern, a map for each of us... Lillie noticed the escalators & panicked! She had an accident on one a few weeks back while with her Dad at the Cinema. So her confidence has dropped to almost phobic state. Thankfully there are lifts at the gallery & she felt better. However, with some gentle encouragement from me later on in the day, I did manage to get her on an escalator twice! I had to carry her, but its a step in the right direction for her. And I know she felt a sense of achievement after. I think she was extremely brave...

This was my favourite part, especially Room 7 - I think it is fair to say it was Lillie's too. Up until this point Lillie wasnt showing many signs of interest! Louis thought she was completely bored! I did say to him to allow Lillie time, as I was positive that at least one piece would appeal to her! Claude Monet 1840-1926
Water-Lilies
after 1916

Mark Rothko 1903-1970
Untitled
circa 1950-2 I have to admit, once I saw this piece I cried! Ive only ever seen Rothko's pieces displayed on TV or in a book that I treasure. To actually see one that Im standing in front of was totally awesome. Louis was relieved that I had a baseball cap on & suggested that I lower my head so I wouldnt get noticed...

Jackson Pollock 1912-1956
Summertime: Number 9A
1948 - this is the piece of art that Lillie was immediately attracted to. She even sat on the wooden seat for about 5 minutes admiring & discussing what she liked about it.

A great interactive area for the little people...

Lillie took a liking to this young man who she chatted with.

The Millennium Bridge http://www.arup.com/MillenniumBridge/ with the Tate Modern directly behind us & St. Paul's straight ahead!

Lillie taking a chill out moment in the grounds of St. Paul's Cathedral.

St. Paul's... http://www.stpauls.co.uk/

A little memento for me, Lillie brought home a pencil and two picture cards - the Jackson Pollack painting she had been admiring & the Claude Monet one I had been admiring. Unfortunately the Mark Rothko one had sold out!!

Barnett Newman 1905-1970
Eve
1950 (Level 3, Material Gestures, Room 2)

Barnett Newman 1905-1970
Adam
1951-2 - these two pieces must have stuck in Lillie's mind because while looking through my book on Mark Rothko's work...

... she came across this piece, 'Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue I', 1966 by Barnett Newman on page 28. (Excuse the blurry image) Lillie stated that she saw this at the gallery. Though this is not so, as this piece is part of a private collection in New York, what struck me though was that she obviously had recognised Newman's style. How cool is that? So although at times Lillie may have appeared to not be as interested as Louis & I had thought initially, she was certainly taking it in, in her own way. And she did state several times once we had returned home that she had, had a lovely day & thanked me for taking her everytime she mentioned it.