no people please...

This may seem a strange thing to say but sometimes it's the absence of something that makes it so special.

That's the case with some of my favourite paintings. Even though they show towns and city scenes, they have no people in them. Just empty streets and empty buildings.

It's the absence of people that makes them more intriguing.

George Shaw is an English contemporary artist who is noted for his suburban subject matter. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2011.

Shaw first attracted attention for painting the estate where he grew up in the 1970s, in the Tile Hill suburb of Coventry. Shaw studied art at Sheffield Polytechnic and received a BA in 1989. In 1998, he completed an MA in painting from London's Royal College of Art.

He's noted for his highly detailed naturalistic approach and English suburban subject matter. His favoured medium is Humbrol enamel paints, which lend his work a unique appearance as they are more commonly used to paint Airfix models.

I could look at these for hours, just wondering what is going on behind those windows. Wondering what happened to those buildings...

It's in much the same way as I can look at Edward Hopper  I don’t like his works with people in them. They always look stilted and forced. I just want to look at the buildings and the emptiness.

I've had a framed print of 7am hanging on my walls for the last 20 years and I never tire of looking at it.

By contrast just look what happens to shot when you add people - ughhhh.

These are the campaign images for the FINE collection, which is the fashion offering from Amazon. Yes they are now trying to take over your wardrobe now too. 

They have been getting some decent write ups but this is all giving me a bad fashion flashbacks. It's not even good bad taste, it’s all just so pedestrian.

If you want cheap fast fashion, you would be better served in a supermarket. Asda, Sainsburys or even Tesco and at least that way you can buy biscuits while you’re there...

Queen Marie