Self Portrait

Today I went to the recently reopened Scottish National Portrait Gallery for the first time. In some ways it wasn't quite what I was expecting, of course there were many representations of various people, but many of the exhibitions were a portrait of Scotland and Scottish culture in the broader sense.

If I'm honest a lot of the pictures were not really my cup of tea (lots of paintings of grand people in wigs, etc) which, whilst I can appreciate them on a technical level, do not really evoke an emotional response in me. However, there was a lovely section of photographs of Glasgow from the late 1800's by Thomas Annan which I liked a lot. And the building itself is magnificent.

This afternoon I went to the cinema to see The Iron Lady - a 'portrait' of Margaret Thatcher. Although Meryl Streep did a good job in the central role I couldn't help thinking that a more interesting film about Thatcher could have been made. This film focused on how the 'iron lady' ultimately ends up vulnerable in old age just like the rest of us but didn't really go into any of the politics which may have been a more interesting take on the subject.

Anyway this day of portraits has inspired me to attempt my first self portrait ...