Wreathed Smiles

Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful jollity,

John William Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs, Mosley Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester M2

Quips and cranks and wanton wiles,
Nods and becks and wreathed smiles.

From John Milton’s L’Allegro (1631)

Fall Off the Planet

I got stuck on explaining why we don’t fall off the planet.

Antony Gormley’s Filter, Manchester Art Gallery, Moseley Street, Manchester, M2

Gravity is just a word. It doesn’t explain anything.

Kurt Vonnegut interview in Playboy (1973)

An Organ Grinder

I believe every human creature is an island.

LS Lowry’s An Organ Grinder, Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester, M2

Had I not been lonely, none of my work would have happened.

LS Lowry