Imagine's episode following the fusion between Mark Wallinger, Chris Ofili, Conrad Shawcross and The Royal Ballet regenerating 'Titian's' Metamorphoses' is absolutely inspiring...watch the repeat on BBCiplayer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l8tgh/imagine..._Summer_2012_Dancing_with_Titian/

Much Anticipated Book Release by Gregor Collins, 'The Accidental Caregiver'...

Here begins his journey into the doors of a real heroine: Maria Altmann, a Holocaust refugee who fought to retrieve five family - owned paintings stolen by the Nazis in World War II from the Austrian government. Her Aunt Adele Bloch- Bauer, a patron of the arts posed as the model for some of Klimt's best-known paintings, including two of those eventually recovered by her niece. Below Gregor provides a teasing snippet, in his words, of their meeting:

On January 30th 2008 at around ten in the morning, I reluctantly entered a small red bungalow in Beverly Hills to meet this “amazing” woman named Maria my friend Tom had been pestering me about for weeks. A month earlier he answered an ad on Craigslist for a caregiver position, and the family quickly realized they needed another one. So yours truly was the lucky candidate. Despite agreeing to meet her I made it clear I wasn’t committing to anything. No way. For one, I was a busy Hollywood actor on his rise to the top. The last thing I needed was an old lady.

Five minutes after pulling up to the house, everything changed. I don’t know if you believe in love at first sentence—or if you’ve ever heard of it. I hadn’t. But after Maria opened her mouth for the first time I could say with beautiful certainty that it exists. I felt I had met a real-life princess. I accepted the position, and within the first week it became more than a job. It was destiny, and it felt as if we had known each other our entire lives. Suddenly I didn’t care about anything else in my life but keeping a 92-year-old woman alive and happy. And not for one moment did we feel 60 years apart—we were both in our twenties, and were on one long, thrilling rollercoaster date together. What would ensue would be the most exciting, enriching, and emotional three years of my adulthood. It culminated with my first real death. A death that changed my life.

On my first day I began instinctually taking notes. The notes would turn into journal entries, and the journal entries would eventually become a book called The Accidental Caregiver, charting how I evolved from a selfish artist to a selfless caregiver, how Maria opened up my heart more than any other woman was able to do in my life, and, as I look back on our three years together, it reminds me that love knows no age.

Extract from the back cover of the book:

The Accidental Caregiver charts Gregor’s evolution from a self-absorbed artist to a selfless caregiver for Maria Altmann, the world-renowned Holocaust refugee and Supreme Court Case victor. For three years Gregor cared for Maria, experiencing firsthand her rich history, heroism, and ultimately, her love.

Gregor offers us a personal and unprecedented look at Maria—her incredible escape from the Nazis, her fight and subsequent win in the landmark case against Austria to return original Gustav Klimt artwork that belonged to her family, and the extraordinary people she met along the way. But the real heart of the story goes beyond the mere facts.

Through a raw and honest portrayal of their unlikely and unbreakable bond, imbued with humorous, candid anecdotes about his often mercurial relationship with Hollywood, Gregor brings us on an incredible journey of how he opened up his heart to a 92-year-old woman in need—and in turn experienced the love he had been searching for his entire life.

Early praise for my new book, The Accidental Caregiver: "From the most unlikely of unlikely romances comes a deeply felt, touching, humorous exploration of what love and age mean in today's world. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.’

-Stan Evans, Emmy award-winning writer and author of Box of Mustaches

Gregor  Collins
Actor-Writer-Producer

Email: gregorcollins@gmail.com  Twitter: @gregorcollins

New online site for the busy transient featuring an array of up-to-date videos of artist interviews, exhibitions, fresh architectural builds, Shakespeare plays,literature, poetry, BFI footage. Watch Stephen Fry's recent interview with Tracy Emin in Margate.......The Space Arts

The Space Arts

For those who won't make the Damien Hirst : a video walk through by Hirst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWSb9QMlLoQ&feature=youtube_gdata

Quashing Banksy's wit... a fresh comedic yet intelligent new artist : Lee Critchley's, 'Quoteskine'

He takes favourite culture quotes from films, books, etc. and flips them on their head to produce new visual 'quoteskines'...xx   http://www.quoteskine.co.uk/

Don't usually post illustration but this work cannot be missed, Adam Oehlers quirky work is an intense kick to the imaginative tastebuds

http://livefastmag.com/2012/03/art-crush-adam-oehlers/

The biggest Fine Art & Antiques Fair takes place in Maastricht, Netherlands

Nele Azevedo's amazing minute ice figures take to the streets and leave their mark

Annie Sliwka on her 'Lacquer technique'