Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Bow, East London.

Watch something different this Christmas

An excellent guide to films about trade unions - by the CWU. Go down to your local video store and watch something different this Christmas!

"Fed up with the usual Christmas films? How about watching a modern classic, comedy or blockbuster film with a trade union-angle? Over the years, trade unions have featured on the big screen and the latest is Made In Dagenham. CWU Head of Communications Kevin Slocombe reviews a group of films looking at how trade unions have been portrayed over the years and how it can affect the work place, including Made In Dagenham, Billy Elliot, Hoffa, On the Waterfront, Brassed Off, Wall Street, and even a Carry On film".

Merry Communist Christmas!

This Youtube video is now a Christmas tradition on this blog!  Hat-tip Stoppyblog

Liar, Liar - Captain SKA: Make it Crimbo Number 1

I first posted this here in October (Hat tip UNISON East Mids). I politely titled it "Anthem against the Cuts".    The record was launched today (aptly).  You can buy it online here and here.  Make it Number One this Christmas.

Filler for Red Stockings

  "Looking for the perfect gift for the ideologue in your life? Fed up with counting off how many shopping days there are to Christmas while the Con-Dems slash and burn all that you once held dear?

Convinced that the season of peace and goodwill is a tool to instil false consciousness but at the same have a spot under the tree to fill or you're toast?

Don't worry  Philosophy Football have the solution with the kind of present unlikely to be found in most gift guides. Never mind those trendy 'head gardener' or ' yummy mummy' mugs, this one wears its politics on its sleeve, well bone china actually. For those of us who believe no team can ever be too leftsided.

Available from http://www.philosophyfootball.com/

Madonna and Child

More from the Christmas tree, this is bordering on the abstract. I enjoy experimenting like this too, it's part of the whole experience of painting.

"Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense. A hill or tree cannot make a good painting just because it is a hill or tree. It is lines and colors put together so that they may say something." (Georgia O'Keeffe)

watercolor on 140lb. Arches paper

Christmas Colors

A little watercolor using the Christmas tree as my inspiration. The colors of the season are happy and joyous in celebration of the birth of Jesus.
The Roman emperor, Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas day in 800 AD. He is considered the father of France and Germany and generally of Europe.
Around the 12th century, the remnants of the former Saturnalian traditions of the Romans were transferred to the Twelve Days of Christmas (26 December – 6 January).
Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival, incorporating ivy, holly, and other evergreens, as well as gift-giving