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Jan

An Idiom Abroad

by Joyce McGreevy on January 3, 2017

The statue of the Duke of Wellington in Glasgow shows that Scotland's fashions go beyond the wordplay of clothing idioms. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Trafficking in high fashion, Glasgow style.
The Duke of Wellington monument at the Gallery of Modern Art.
© Joyce McGreevy

A Wordplay Stitch in Time

Sew, a funny thing happened on the way to a textile exhibition. One morning in Glasgow, I stopped at a café to write. The assignment: draft a column about the wordplay of clothing idioms.

I’m no smarty pants, but I hoped to leave readers in stitches so I put on my thinking cap, booted up my laptop, and buckled down to work. As cellphone users aired their dirty linen in public, I felt hampered and wished they would put a sock in it.

Then the barista buttonholed me with a shirty question. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 4 Comments

Scotland/The World's Art & Design/Wordplay

Dec

Creative Thinking in Copenhagen

by Joyce McGreevy on December 5, 2016

A cyclist crosses a bridge between islands in Copenhagen, an example of the Danish design that makes this city a Capital of Creative Thinking. (Image © Copenhagen Media Center and Thomas Høyrup Christensen)

Cycle from one island to another in Denmark’s capital city.
© Copenhagen Media Center/ Thomas Høyrup Christensen

The Danish Design of Everyday Life

On a map, Denmark’s 400+ islands resemble a dropped plate. It’s a fitting symbol, considering how Danish design breaks the mold. To the east spanning several islands is Copenhagen—arguably, the Capital of Creative Thinking.

“Danish design” connotes minimalist beauty—Arne Jacobsen’s famous “Egg” chair, Poul Henningsen’s pendant lamps, and other streamlined functional objects.

It doesn’t take a tour of Designmuseum Danmark to recognize that Copenhageners appreciate sophisticated simplicity.

Examples of minimalist furniture and lighting, that reflects the creative thinking of Danish design. (Image © Copenhagen Media Center and Morten Bjarnhof)

Danish design is known the world over.
© Copenhagen Media Center/ Morten Bjarnhof Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 3 Comments

Clever Ideas/Crossing Cultures/Denmark

Oct

Photographing Amazing Places on Earth

by Meredith Mullins on October 18, 2016

Ocean wave over lighthouse in North Portugal, one of the amazing places in the world to photograph. (Image © John North/iStock.)

Lighthouses: A Magnet for the Collision of Nature’s Forces

Some of the most amazing places on earth are at its edges. Drama is inevitable at these gateways to the vast beyond.

Collisions of nature’s forces are expected—at the polar tips and rugged coastlines, at the intersection of earth, sea, and sky.

These are the same places that made the early explorers afraid of the treacherous, cavernous ledges—at the edge of the flat world—as the curves of the earth disappeared from their view.

And it is here—in these natural theaters—that productions are anything but ordinary. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Adventure Travel/The World's Photography/Wales

World Views: