Jane Hoodless

Thames Water bidder says it is offering £1bn extra cash injection Castle Water says restructuring plans do not go far enough and extra funds will help resolve pollution crisis

Thames Water bidder offering £1bn extra cash injection.

30%+ of the customer bill covers interest payments.

Any private owner would want profit, dividends, sewage dumping will continue, customers will be fleeced.

Must end the profit motive. Nationalise water industry.

Neither of them is looking into the convex mirror (in which two human skulls can be seen), but rather directly at the viewer, for whom the warning of impending death is equally valid and which is expressed in the inscription ‘Erken dich selbs’ (Know thyself) on the mirror. The inscription at the top right: ‘Solche Gestalt vnser baider was, im Spiegel aber nix dan das’ (Such was the form of us both, but in the mirror nothing but that) suggests that the two are calmly facing death. Hans Burgkmair (1473-1531) was one of the leading Renaissance painters in Augsburg; Furtenagel may have been his apprentice. It is possible that the Viennese double portrait, long attributed to Burgkmair himself, is based on a lost original by this artist. An etching from 1766 at least proves the existence of a second version in the possession of Georg Christoph Kilian of Augsburg, while the Vienna painting can be traced back to Prague as early as 1685.

Lukas Furtenagel, 'The painter Hans Burgkmair and his wife Annanée, née Allerlay' (1529)

I’ve always wanted a tree house…

Yup, until they get out of hand!

I’ve become inordinately fascinated by the speed at which the tap roots on my acorns are growing. Having been wrapped up in the fridge for weeks, I’ll have five oak trees growing in the kitchen in no time… 🌳#BigOaksFromLittleAcornsGrow

A thing that looks like a shoe except over the heel there's an open mouth with some big teeth but then above that there's no opening to put a foot in and then if you go down to the tail (because it's a whale as well as a shoe) you can see that the tail unscrews and the whole thing is functionally a bottle. the Rijksmuseum thinks this was probably done as a show off piece by someone in the cobbler's Guild to show how good their leather working was

Whale/Shoe bottle — Netherlands, c. 1685
Leather

"Glaze… adds what’s effectively a secret cloak to images that prevents AI algorithms from picking up on and copying an artist’s style…

Nightshade [adds] an invisible layer of poison to images, which can break AI models…."

It's great that artists have some defenses against AI theft.

Looks more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing!

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

List of Critically Endangered Crafts

You know you're getting old when the dream job you wanted as a teenager is now on the list of Critically Endangered Crafts (matte painting, filmmaking)

ART SHOULD DISTURB THE COMFORTABLE & COMFORT THE DISTURBED

No, the whole thing is infuriatingly slow…

Have you been to @sothebys this week?

Display of Surrealist furniture

Painting of a white headless torso among other Surrealist objects

Close-up of Surrealist objects in a cage

Surrealist bronze coffin seated upright on a chaise longue

Negotiating both torrential rain and underground strikes, I finally made it to @Sothebys to see the London Collection of Pauline Karpidas. Wow! Stunningly arranged in room-like set ups, with striking bespoke furniture and furnishings alongside jaw-dropping Surrealist artworks.

A tree in a wood with an almost horizontal bough.

Found the tree we used to climb - over fifty years ago - when playing Robin Hood.

Costume and shoes from Downton Abbey

Close up of Victorian bell system

Labels of costumes and tableware in auction room setting

Over @Bonhams, the Crawleys are selling off the family silver. #DowntonAbbey

No, it wasn’t yet open. But the extremely well informed doorman told me a fair bit about the collection, so I really want to go back next week.

Huge pair of Surrealist gold eyes outside a shop.

I almost lost my footing as I crossed the road to see this amazing facade @sothebys

It melted.

I saw footage of three… The brass neck to do it knowing you have the eyes of the world on you! ⛳️

Three times in the same game!

Aw, many thanks!

Figurative sculptures by Jane Hoodless - nine puppet-like figures wearing colourful outfits, standing in a row against a black background.

THE COLLECTORS - the nine figures in all their finery, L to R:
THE CHARLATANS, THE SORCERERS, THE OOLOGISTS

The forms are made from papier maché and clay slip. The arms - perversely with hindsight - are attached to the clothes rather than the torsos, which in theory makes them all interchangeable.

My carpet beetle (STITCH IN TIME) in situ, heading for camouflage amid the rugs at @burghhouse1704.bsky.social Thank you Polly @pangolin.london & the RSS for staging this beautiful show - it was lovely to catch up with so many familiar faces at the PV.
On until 21 Sept, check venue for times.

The clown looks like Henry Fonda.

Indeed - what a world! Thanks, looking forward to the PV…

Pests - though I’m still uncertain whether the potential threat is perceived as coming from my work or the venue… I know my work is currently untainted because of how it’s packed/stored and also that I spray it before display. End of the day it’s their choice which I respect.

Close up of black, cream and burnt orange embroidered stitchery

Textile carpet beetle on its back showing its embroidered underside

So I've had to make a substitution due to my original piece submitted for the @royal_sculptors Summer Show being made of hair.

STITCH IN TIME will be at
Burgh House, New End Square, London NW3 1LT
Wed–Thu–Fri–Sun & Bank Holidays: 10am-4pm
5 mins walk from Hampstead tube
from 7 July to 21 Sept 2025

Close up of Victorian carpet beater with human hair felted into the curves and gaps of the structure

Close up of Victorian carpet beater with human hair felted into the curves and gaps of the structure

I'm thrilled to be showing VENN DIAGRAMS FOR THE HOME in @royal_sculptors Summer Show, curated by Polly Bielecka of Pangolin London Sculpture Gallery.

The exhibition: SCULPTURE IN THE HOME is on from
17 July to 21 September
at Burgh House, New End Sq, Hampstead, NW3 1LT
Wed–Thu–Fri–Sun: 10am-4pm