Ceramic Art London
When is a plate not a plate? A teapot a thousand times more than a teapot? I have a dirty secret, you see. Ceramics: I love 'em. All those clean lines, those sharp edges, those ingenious reinterpretations of form and function. If you've ever whiled away even a speck of your life in Marshall Street's Contemporary Ceramics, then you know what I mean. Whether relentlessly modern, traditionally inspired, thoroughly avant-garde, international or inventive, when is a teapot not a teapot? When it's dining table art.

Philip Akkerman
Like a modern day Dorian Gray or Narcissus, any artist who dedicates over 25 years of his life to painting nothing but himself, in various guises, locations, moods, poses, situations, and styles, is either going to be a breathing egotistic nightmare or, assuming he pushes through to the other side, a creature of tortured charm. Whilst the jury is still at least fractionally out on the Dutch artist Philip Akkerman and his 2,400 self-portraits, there is an undeniable quality to his work; a stirring honesty and power that is nothing if not intriguing.

Tosca
Puccini's famed rendition of the Napoleonic tale of Tosca is certainly one of his darker and most memorable operas. And, with its treasured characterisation - who can forget the lovers, Tosca and Cavaradossi, the basso buffo, the Sacristan, or the villainous chief of police, Scarpia - and incredible score played by the Royal Philharmonic and sung in Amanda Holden's English translation, David Freeman's production is a stunner. Throw in a fantastic cast and David Roger's luscious set and costume designs, and this production is an absolute winner for operatic fans and first-timers alike.