Dickens is the most adapted novelist of all time and alongside the more familiar body of work such as the 1968 musical version of Oliver! or David Lean’s 1946 Great Expectations, there will be a showing of a rarely seen silent work from an early 20th century Scrooge, coming full circle to Roman Polanski’s brooding Oliver Twist in 2005.

The BFI will begin the celebrations in December with two exclusive BBC TV previews: The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Arena: Dickens on Film, a brand new exploration into Dickens’ contribution to film and TV history.

Charles Dickens never lived to see the advent of cinema but was constantly being adapted for the theatre. He was a natural showman who gave many public readings of his works to huge audiences, who were held spellbound by his delivery. Filmmakers have suggested that the brilliance of Dickens’ descriptive abilities and his innovations in narrative, in some sense at least, invented the language of cinema.

For further information please visit: www.dickens2012.org and www.bfi.org.uk

Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (Lady with the Ermine), about 1488

© Princes Czartoryski Foundation

Nine of the known 15 paintings by the artist have been gathered from Russia, America, Poland and France and almost all have never been seen before in the UK. Luke Syson spent five years persuading galleries to lend their treasures for this exhibition and the fact that he pulled it off, is nothing short of miraculous. Luckily the Mona Lisa (which has never been loaned) was not required as it was painted outside of the period featured here. 

Previous exhibitions have looked at Leonard da Vinci as an inventor, scientist or draughtsman, but Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan is the first exhibition to actually examine his ambitions as a painter. It concentrates on his career as a court painter, working for the city’s ruler Ludovico Maria Sforza, il Moro in the 1480s and 1490s. All the masterpieces are here: Portrait of a Musician; Saint Jerome; Belle Ferronniere and not one, but two versions of the Virgin of the Rocks plus the beautifully restored Salvador Mundi which had the Italians queuing for days to see it when it first went on display in the 15th century, ensuring Leonardo’s status as a living superstar.

More than 50 drawings related to the paintings are exhibited for the first time, including 33 sketches from the Royal Collection. There are wonderfully detailed studies of a pair of dogs paws along with a study of the human arm (the length of each arm divided by lettered lines with notes written backwards and all the necessary calculations written down in a meticulous hand).There’s even a study of the human nervous system.

Leonardo da Vinci, Studies of a Dog's Paw recto about 1490

© The National Gallery of Scotland Purchased by the Private Treaty Sale with the aid of The Art Fund 1991 (D5189) Photo Antonia  Reeve, Edinburgh.

Leonardo wanted to present everything we can see and not see; he wanted to represent the mirror of nature and he aimed to show the world as beautiful as it could possibly be. He was convinced that his talent was “god given.”

Portrait of a Musician, about 1490-95

© Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Pinacoteca – Milan (99).

But he was an erratic painter; sometimes painting from early morning to late at night without ever stopping for food. Then he would leave a painting for days and only return to add a brush stroke here and there, then leave it for several more days at a time. Frustratingly, many works went unfinished.

 Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan is joyfully overwhelming from start to finish. It’s difficult to describe; every adjective seems hackneyed. Just like Leonardo da Vinci, this exhibition is otherworldly. I doubt if we’ll ever see anything quite like it again.

At the time of writing, advance sales for the exhibition have been the largest ever seen for any temporary show and 500 tickets are available every day at the National Gallery box office. Tickets will have a fixed entry crime to prevent overcrowding.

For further information please visit: www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Ukraine installation by Oksana Mas. This magnificent altar piece was made from small decorative eggs:

How about a drawing chair:

The strange yet mesmeric entry from Korea, entitled Love is gone but the scar will heal by Lee Yongbaek, brought me back for a second visit:

I never thought I would see a girl running on a machine, in turn powering the tracks of a military tank, but here we have the American entry, Gloria, by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla:

The still and silent pigeons seem unimpressed:

The Biennale runs until 27 November 2011.

For further information please visit: www.labiennale.org

Using outdoor photography, it introduces you to new technologies, development projects and lifestyle approaches. This includes examples of British-led solutions at home and overseas to help combat the environmental challenges we face today. The impact of viewing the exhibition smack bang in the middle of nature, surrounded by ancient trees makes for a profound experience. Bob Dylan’s emotive lyrics (from the song, Hard Rain) swirl around the photographs – there couldn’t be a better accompaniment.

Kew Gardens is a place where rigorous plant science - aimed at tackling some of the toughest environmental challenges we are facing – joins forces with glorious nature. Throughout its history, Kew has made important contributions to increasing the understanding of plants and fungi with many benefits for mankind. With its collection of living and preserved plants, Kew works globally, utilising plant science solutions to help reduce the extent of climate change and to save species and habitats from destruction.

There really is no better place to consider this global call to action for conservation and sustainable practices.

For further information please visit: www.hardrainproject.com

For further information on Kew Gardens please visit: www.kew.org/

Oh what joy to see a wall plastered with 50 of the most memorable Private Eye front covers on a chilly Monday morning. In collaboration with the V&A, the magazine’s editor, Ian Hislop, chose the selection (one from each year) to represent the title’s first five decades and in doing so, celebrate a half-century of modern British history.

Founded in October 1961, Private Eye’s unmatched combination of hard-hitting journalism, satire and savage cartoonery, guarantees it has always hit (usually politicians and celebrities) were it really hurts. And that tradition shows no sign of abating:

The exhibition explores the wealth of artistic talent that the magazine has attracted, displaying the original artwork for more than 120 of Private Eye’s funniest cartoons. The magazine has promoted artists such as Gerald Scarfe, Ralph Steadman, Nick Newman and William Rushton. In fact since the demise of its rival Punch, Private Eye has been the most prominent outlet for cartoonists in the UK.

Below, a 1962 cartoon of Harold Macmillan as Christine Keeler, by Gerald Scarfe:

The magazine has always been known for its basic production methods with its cut-and-paste methods changing very little over the years. The jokes pages – produced in collaborative sessions in the editor’s office – are still written out in longhand, and the text pages compiled from pieces of paper shuffled around the team by hand. Although Letraset, cowgum and stencils have now been replaced by Apple Macs.

There’s a lovely recreation of the editor’s office: scattered with ephemera commemorating past campaigns and court cases together with the pink paper used for joke scribbling. I especially loved the chair (that once belonged to arch-enemy, Robert Maxwell) and the wonderful ‘Bore of the Year’ award.

Private Eye: The First 50 Years is at the V&A until 8 January 2012. The exhibition is free.

For further information please visit: http://www.vam.ac.uk/

John Milton’s epic poem based on the Fall of Man has inspired many artists (such as William Blake) but London-based Raqib Shaw, prefers to interpret his own imaginary paradise.

From a distance, one could be viewing the most delicate form of pretty Japanese encrusted inlay, but upon closer inspection, the true carnage becomes apparent. Swirling swallows attack tigers, who in turn attack monkeys. In fact, every beautiful painting is composed of rampant wildlife going about their bloody business on the forest floor.

Shaw stages his Paradise Lost paintings according to a specific time, climate and season. One one side of the gallery, three pictures depict a wintry mountainous nightscape, lit by a full moon, while on the opposite wall, spring is in full blossom.

These paintings are mirrored in format as two octagon-shaped paintings sit either side of an elliptical panorama, each depicting a lone character attempting an impossible feat: trapping moonbeams in an ornate chalice or attempting to catch the falling blossoms.

Viewed from a distance or examined close-up (and I think it’s equally important to do both), these paintings are exquisite. And they become even more special when you discover that Shaw achieves this effect by manipulating the enamel and metallic paint with a porcupine quill! 

Shaw was born in Calcutta and raised in Kashmir, leaving India in 1998 to study in London at Central Saint Martins School of Art.

Paradise Lost is at White Cube Mason’s Yard until 12 November 2011.

For further information please visit: www.whitecube.com

That’s why Richmond Therapy Massage has been such a brilliant find. Based in the Richmond area of Greater London, this is the perfect calming oasis, close to home, where I head to unwind and rejuvenate. I have been visiting Marina Shtefan, my therapist, once a month for more than a year now. She is an absolutely fantastic masseur who puts you at ease immediately. I usually arrive with boulder-like shoulders acquired from too much time spent hunched over a laptop, yet by the time I leave, my shoulders feel like two fluffy marshmallows. Marina offers Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue, Indian Head and Thai massage. She’s also a superb reflexologist and offers all the usual manicure pedicure and waxing services, too.

Richmond Therapy Massage offers very reasonable rates. A 60-minute massage of your choice is £50 with 50% off for a first visit.  There’s also free parking.

I simply cannot recommend highly enough!

For further information please visit: www.richmondtherapymassage.co.uk or call: 0208 891 2324

Learning Transcendental Meditation at the TM centre in Victoria, London with my fantastic teacher, Anna, has been one of the most useful things I have ever done. It helps the flow of creativity, promotes good health and helps with focus and relaxation. But one of the most important factors for me, is that it’s a really simple technique to learn and easy to incorporate into a busy life. You don’t have to wear an orange robe, drink blessed water from an ancient well or join a cult and thankfully, it has nothing to do with religion. A course consists of four sessions on four consecutive days with each session lasting about 2 hours plus an optional follow-up programme over the next six months. At the end of the four days, you come away with a truly valuable skill that will last a lifetime. I really look forward to my meditation times: 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. It really is that simple.

In 1957 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced Transcendental Meditation to the world. Pictures of him with The Beatles in Rishikesh ensured notoriety, but he was much more than a spiritual guru to the most famous band in the world. A student of physics, Mahesh travelled the world teaching TM as well as founding the Maharishi International University (now the Maharishi University of Management) which teaches “consciousness-based education”. He also wrote more than 20 books on the TM technique and Maharishi Vedic Science.

Questions I am regularly asked by friends and family are: so what actually happens when you meditate and how do you feel? During meditation the mind naturally transcends (goes beyond) thought to experience a state that is described as Pure Being. At the basis of all natural phenomena is the Unified Field of Natural Law and via TM together with a personal mantra which is a sound/thought/vibration, the mind reaches this field which is also described as an ocean of pure consciousness. Filmmaker David Lynch refers to this as “diving within”. Basically it’s connecting with the true you and it all feels very natural, restful and blissful. I like to meditate in a peaceful room but if that’s not always possible, I can quite easily meditate on a train or in a car.

David Lynch has not missed a meditation in 34 years. He likens his first meditation to “being in an elevator with the cable cut”. The David Lynch Foundation was established in 2005 to promote the benefits of TM to at-risk populations such as inner-city students; veterans with PTSD; American Indians suffering from diabetes; people suffering from cardiovascular disease and incarcerated juveniles and adults. The foundation has achieved great success in bringing TM into American schools, funding scholarships for students, thus lowering crime rates and improving academic results. The UK arm of the foundation launched at the end of last year. Their aim is to raise £5 million to teach 2,000 young people to learn TM in the UK.

For further information on Transcendental Meditation please visit: http://tmmeditationlondon.org.uk/

For further information on the David Lynch Foundation please visit: http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/

Further reading: Catching The Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity by David Lynch. Buy here.

Situated below the busy Bloww hair salon, just off Regent Street, the newly launched Africology Spa (the first of its kind in London) is the prefect retreat in which to de-stress. Warming dark woods, black tiled showers and an amber glow create a quiet, grounding ambience infused with the sweet, yet subtle scent of Rose Otto.

Africology (which has been centred in South Africa since its inception in 2000) harbours a passion for the potential of plant life; namely the South African landscape for its healing ingredients: choosing plants that will stimulate and assist healing of damaged skin tissue. Africology does not test on animals nor do they use harsh chemical preservatives (which most skin care producers do, for no other reason than to lengthen the shelf life of a product). And they store their creams and oils in glass bottles, not highly toxic aluminium containers.

I had come to sample the 90-minute African Goddess facial which began with a back scrub (which I’m told, in turn, relaxes the facial muscles) followed by a cleansing, exfoliation, masque, and a heavenly nourishing treatment. A combination of anti-oxidant ingredients had been carefully selected to stimulate new cell growth, keep skin healthy, and thus making it less prone to wrinkles. My facial was formulated with a cocktail of Marula Nut Oil, Hypoxis Root Extract, Rooibos Extract, Aloe Gel and the wonderful anti-oxidant Coenzyme Q10, scented with Frankincense, Geranium and Rose Otto. Afterwards I can testify that the elasticity and softness was restored to my skin - and with the risk of sounding hackneyed – my face positively glowed.

What’s not to love about a truly holistic skin care approach (minus the gimmicks) at an affordable price?

African Goddess Facial costs £130 for a 90-minute treatment.

Africology Spa at Bloww Salon, 4 Regent Place, London, W1B 5EA, Tel : 020 7292 0300

For further information, please visit: www.bloww.com

Julie was a guest of the Africology Spa at Bloww.

~ Elizabeth Taylor ~

Elizabeth Taylor’s jewellery collection, made up of diamonds and other jewels from the great loves of her life is set to go on auction. The Hollywood star, who passed away in March aged 79, amassed one of the world’s foremost jewellery collections. Nearly 300 pieces have been valued at $30 million (£18.8 million) and will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York in December.

My love affair with Liz’s jewels began when a dear friend presented me with the book ”My Love Affair with Jewellery” by Elizabeth Taylor, a couple of years ago. It is one of my favourite coffee table delights and I revisit its pages regularly. Up until that point, I had always imagined that the actress viewed her jewels simply as trophies; a spoilt magpie attracted to glittery objects, but upon reading further, I soon came to realise just how much the actress actually did know about the history and craftmanship of fine jewellery. She has always maintained that for her personally, the importance of jewellery is emotional and psychological, so I was very excited to be at Christie’s London to view this historic collection in person and perhaps, catch a glimpse of the thrills that these exquisite creations must have provided over the years.

“I’ve been astonishingly lucky with love - I’ve had two great loves in my life.”

The above ‘Mike Todd’ chandelier earrings were one of Liz’s favourite pieces from her collection. Mike Todd was Taylor’s second husband but was killed in an air crash not long after they were married. The earrings were purchased in Paris and were paste, not real diamonds. A couple of months later in New York, Liz searched for the earrings and when opening the box, gasped when she realised that Todd had replaced the paste with real diamonds!

The above ruby and diamond necklace by Cartier was another gift from Todd. Taylor had been swimming laps in a pool at their villa just outside Monte Carlo when he presented her with the read leather box containing the above ruby necklace, followed by matching earrings and a bracelet. Not having a mirror to hand, she remembers checking out her reflection in the pool: “The jewellery was so glorious, rippling red on blue like a painting.”

La Peregrina pearl necklace comes with a romantic history all of its own. It was discovered in the 16th century by a slave who traded it for his freedom; a place in the Spanish royal jewels followed until Prince Philip II of Spain gave it to Mary Tudor of England as an engagement present. Taylor’s fifth husband, Richard Burton, bought the Peregrina at auction - then displayed on a simple chain -but Elizabeth had seen a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots wearing a memorable necklace and afterwards she commissioned Cartier to design a similar necklace to befit the legendary pearl.

I always associate Elizabeth Taylor with the emerald and diamond necklace and earrings from Bulgari. For me, they’re the absolute showstopper of the collection. When Burton and Taylor were shooting ‘Cleopatra’ in Rome, the couple visited Bulgari and purchased the set; sometimes referred to, as the Grand Duchess Vladimir Suite. The actress was seen wearing the gems literally all over the world. The pendant could be detached to be worn as a brooch, which Liz did many times; she would also wear the brooch in her hair. Here’s a dazzling close-up:

Seen here wearing the emerald earrings and detachable pendant brooch:

It would be impossible to write this piece without mentioning the glorious Krupp diamond - all 33 carats of it – but perhaps it’s more appropriate to quote Liz, herself:

“This remarkable stone is called the Krupp diamond because it has been owned by Vera Krupp, of the famous munitions family which helped knock off millions of Jews. When it came up for auction in the late 1960s, I thought how perfect it would be if a nice Jewish girl like me were to own it. In truth, though, there’s nothing funny about the Krupp. When I look into it, the deep Asscher cuts – which are so complete and so ravishing – are like steps that lead into eternity and beyond. My ring gives me the strangest feeling for beauty. With its sparks of red and white and blue and purple, and on and on, really, it sort of hums with its own beatific life. To me, the Krupp says, ‘I want to share my chemistry – my magic – with you.’ “

Auction Dates at Christie’s

The Legendary Jewels, Evening Sale, December 13, New York

Jewellery (Sessions I & II), December 14, New York

The Icon & her Haute Couture, Evening Sale, December 14, New York

Fashion & Accessories (Sessions II, III & IV), December 15, New York

Fine and Decorative Arts & Film Memorabilia including Costumes, December 16, New York

Online Time-Based Auction, comprised of Jewellery, Fashion and Memorabilia, December 3-17, christies.com

Impressionist & Modern Art, February 2012, London, King Street

For further information please visit: www.christies.com/elizabethtaylor