Ceri Shields
@cerishields.bsky.social
Painting, drawing, printmaking. Also music, food, and long walks on wild moors.
Move slowly and make things.
Move slowly and make things.
Pinned
Ceri Shields
@cerishields.bsky.social
· Nov 1
QRT with your black & white art.
Oh OK, here are some animal skull sketches
Oh OK, here are some animal skull sketches
Reposted by Ceri Shields
2/2 Lifting the curtain on tomb of William the Silent in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, by Emanuel de Witte in 1653. That man with the red cloak gets around. We'll be seeing him again today, in another city.
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
2/2 Lifting the curtain on tomb of William the Silent in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, by Emanuel de Witte in 1653. That man with the red cloak gets around. We'll be seeing him again today, in another city.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Today's artist without a (known) birthday: Emanuel de Witte of Alkmaar. Painter of churches, markets, portraits. All-around great artist! Here, Nieuwe Kerk in Delft w/ tomb of William the Silent, 1656.
November 25, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Today's artist without a (known) birthday: Emanuel de Witte of Alkmaar. Painter of churches, markets, portraits. All-around great artist! Here, Nieuwe Kerk in Delft w/ tomb of William the Silent, 1656.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Tim Montgomerie defending Farage: calling people racist is so passé, and anyway didn't we all spend our teens saying 'Hitler was right' and 'gas 'em all'?
Er, no. We didn't. But Nigel Farage did.
Er, no. We didn't. But Nigel Farage did.
November 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Tim Montgomerie defending Farage: calling people racist is so passé, and anyway didn't we all spend our teens saying 'Hitler was right' and 'gas 'em all'?
Er, no. We didn't. But Nigel Farage did.
Er, no. We didn't. But Nigel Farage did.
⬆️⬇️ Thread from the threads guy
This reminds me of Cardinal John Henry Newman's book Definition of a Gentleman. I often cite Newman's book because it's so instructive. The term gentleman is so overwrought and frequently abused, but to the degree it means anything at all, I think Newman captures it here:
November 25, 2025 at 12:06 PM
⬆️⬇️ Thread from the threads guy
Just been for our once-a-decade hike around IKEA — Hikea. The aesthetic throughout is 'this is fine, you can perfectly well live with this'. Nothing, not one single item called out, 'I’m lovely. Buy me! You want to possess me!'
A vast retail experience entirely untouched by delight.
A vast retail experience entirely untouched by delight.
November 24, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Just been for our once-a-decade hike around IKEA — Hikea. The aesthetic throughout is 'this is fine, you can perfectly well live with this'. Nothing, not one single item called out, 'I’m lovely. Buy me! You want to possess me!'
A vast retail experience entirely untouched by delight.
A vast retail experience entirely untouched by delight.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Old photo: situated near the Welsh border in southern Herefordshire, Goodrich is considered one of England's finest mediaeval castles.
November 23, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Old photo: situated near the Welsh border in southern Herefordshire, Goodrich is considered one of England's finest mediaeval castles.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
This is a shocking article; it really upset me. I didn’t realise that such groups existed. Perhaps death rates in childbirth of both mothers and babies pre-20th century should be more highly publicised. And even ancient societies had skilled midwives who had learned thru an apprenticeship process.
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:02 PM
This is a shocking article; it really upset me. I didn’t realise that such groups existed. Perhaps death rates in childbirth of both mothers and babies pre-20th century should be more highly publicised. And even ancient societies had skilled midwives who had learned thru an apprenticeship process.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
As someone who nearly died in childbirth, despite excellent health and the medical care of a highly developed country (not the US), my anger at forced-birthers is matched only by that at "free birthers," who bully women into believing it's a status symbol to give birth without medical help.
At St James’ Church at Cooling in Kent are still to be seen the 13 children’s graves surrounding that of their parents that inspired Dickens to write the opening chapter of Great Expectations.
I guess even the folk memory of the huge mortality of childbirth and early life is now disappearing.
I guess even the folk memory of the huge mortality of childbirth and early life is now disappearing.
November 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
As someone who nearly died in childbirth, despite excellent health and the medical care of a highly developed country (not the US), my anger at forced-birthers is matched only by that at "free birthers," who bully women into believing it's a status symbol to give birth without medical help.
Nice theatre thread
🧵/9
One last one for today & having made up the distance back to Naples - in the otherwise unremarkable-seeming suburb of Pozzuoli is this absurdly impressive amphitheatre
#AncientTheatreThursday
🏺AncientBluesky
One last one for today & having made up the distance back to Naples - in the otherwise unremarkable-seeming suburb of Pozzuoli is this absurdly impressive amphitheatre
#AncientTheatreThursday
🏺AncientBluesky
November 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Nice theatre thread
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, we are two peoples separated by a lot more than just a common language.
(Ooo, listeria for Christmas. Yummy.)
(Ooo, listeria for Christmas. Yummy.)
A gentle reminder—turkeys out of the freezer and into the fridge today.
November 22, 2025 at 3:08 PM
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, we are two peoples separated by a lot more than just a common language.
(Ooo, listeria for Christmas. Yummy.)
(Ooo, listeria for Christmas. Yummy.)
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Fond memories of Ashes past.
November 21, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Fond memories of Ashes past.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
The combined splendors of gold and ultramarine: Lorenzo Monaco's extraordinary Coronation of the Virgin for the high altar of Santa Maria degli Angeli, 1414.
November 21, 2025 at 9:51 PM
The combined splendors of gold and ultramarine: Lorenzo Monaco's extraordinary Coronation of the Virgin for the high altar of Santa Maria degli Angeli, 1414.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
it's stitched into the jacket and velcro down the middle, isn't it?
November 21, 2025 at 11:23 PM
it's stitched into the jacket and velcro down the middle, isn't it?
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Madonna of humility, 1418. A+ for mother & child looking together at us, C- for mom’s mini-breast. Well, Lorenzo Monaco was a monk! It’s his day.
November 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Madonna of humility, 1418. A+ for mother & child looking together at us, C- for mom’s mini-breast. Well, Lorenzo Monaco was a monk! It’s his day.
‘Please, sir, I want some more.’
November 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
‘Please, sir, I want some more.’
‘Elegy’ apparently does not mean what I thought it meant.
November 21, 2025 at 2:24 PM
‘Elegy’ apparently does not mean what I thought it meant.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Honestly, there were so many BF offers I assumed it must be today. It seems it now just extends for the preceding weeks, like halloween.
November 21, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Honestly, there were so many BF offers I assumed it must be today. It seems it now just extends for the preceding weeks, like halloween.
Bob Hope bumping into Sophia Loren in the lobby of the Savoy: ‘Let’s pop down Bermondsey for some pukka whelks, innit?’
PHOTO OF THE DAY. Sophia Loren trying Whelks in a fish bar, near the River Thames (1960). 📷 Bob Hope and Alisdair MacDonald
November 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Bob Hope bumping into Sophia Loren in the lobby of the Savoy: ‘Let’s pop down Bermondsey for some pukka whelks, innit?’
Yes. I wonder if the easy casualness of the rudeness direct to someone’s face makes it feel like we’re seeing the spiteful core of the man more than when his contempt is directed at targets that aren’t actually in the room. Of course, it’s hardly the first time this has happened, but…
I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.
November 19, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Yes. I wonder if the easy casualness of the rudeness direct to someone’s face makes it feel like we’re seeing the spiteful core of the man more than when his contempt is directed at targets that aren’t actually in the room. Of course, it’s hardly the first time this has happened, but…
Reposted by Ceri Shields
I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.
November 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Boys messing with men's heads du jour: David w/ head of Goliath, 1648, complete w/ embedded stone. Seriously huge sword there, too. By Jacob van Oost of Bruges, whose day is today.
November 19, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Boys messing with men's heads du jour: David w/ head of Goliath, 1648, complete w/ embedded stone. Seriously huge sword there, too. By Jacob van Oost of Bruges, whose day is today.
Reposted by Ceri Shields
Eleven-year-old boy with a muff. Really striking & unusual 17th-century portrait, by Jacob van Oost of Bruges. It’s his day today.
November 19, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Eleven-year-old boy with a muff. Really striking & unusual 17th-century portrait, by Jacob van Oost of Bruges. It’s his day today.
OK, belatedly, top 5 film genres:
1. Beautiful photography of beautifully choreographed beautiful Chinese people fighting each other
2. Italian cowboy films (though most are very silly)
3. … nope, that’s it. Can’t think of any more genres. I guess I just like some fun films regardless of genre.
1. Beautiful photography of beautifully choreographed beautiful Chinese people fighting each other
2. Italian cowboy films (though most are very silly)
3. … nope, that’s it. Can’t think of any more genres. I guess I just like some fun films regardless of genre.
top 5 film genres:
let's look at heartbreakingly beautiful images for three hours
this building hates you and is a real dick about it
spaceship with plants growing in it
two guys (gender neutral) being just absolute freaks at each other
nicole kidman plays a shitty mother
let's look at heartbreakingly beautiful images for three hours
this building hates you and is a real dick about it
spaceship with plants growing in it
two guys (gender neutral) being just absolute freaks at each other
nicole kidman plays a shitty mother
Top five film genres:
-the most gorgeous melodrama / noir you've ever seen
-mean-spirited gore-soaked existential dread (italian)
-70's horror movie where nothing happens (positive)
-heist / crime drama where everybody is just so sweaty/scarred
-weird little guys
-the most gorgeous melodrama / noir you've ever seen
-mean-spirited gore-soaked existential dread (italian)
-70's horror movie where nothing happens (positive)
-heist / crime drama where everybody is just so sweaty/scarred
-weird little guys
November 18, 2025 at 4:09 PM
OK, belatedly, top 5 film genres:
1. Beautiful photography of beautifully choreographed beautiful Chinese people fighting each other
2. Italian cowboy films (though most are very silly)
3. … nope, that’s it. Can’t think of any more genres. I guess I just like some fun films regardless of genre.
1. Beautiful photography of beautifully choreographed beautiful Chinese people fighting each other
2. Italian cowboy films (though most are very silly)
3. … nope, that’s it. Can’t think of any more genres. I guess I just like some fun films regardless of genre.
I hurried to check and the floor tile does not feature in Jan van Eyck’s painting of Chancellor Rolin because the picture was made a decade earlier. Still, any excuse to post one of the all time best paintings.
November 18, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I hurried to check and the floor tile does not feature in Jan van Eyck’s painting of Chancellor Rolin because the picture was made a decade earlier. Still, any excuse to post one of the all time best paintings.