I'll be honest with you I've only been here twice and both times it was shelter from the rain…read morewhilst I waited for my bus to turn up at nearby Colmore Row - both times it reminded me a bit of my time at Athena (I know this ages me somewhat but I loved working at Athena) - the artwork for sale here is all very nice and discrete and would probably look lovely in a show home but therein lies the problem - it's art designed to go with your sofa. A visit to their website confirms this - they offer an art consultation service which promises advice on what art work to acquire for your home or workplace, which given the photographs seems to depend on what shade of wallpaper you own. I'm sorry to sound sniffy but this really isn't my cup of tea - and this is from someone who rather likes L'enfant prints (we're back to my time at Athena again) and the odd Monet. Still, its a nice enough place to spend a few minutes and if you find yourself left stranded by the 22 bus and without an umbrella its definitely worth a look.

I left a recent trip to the an art gallery rather creative. After stumbling upon the Whitewall…read moreGallery I was extremely inspired but I didn't know what to do with it. The gallery is home to a variety of high end art pieces from all around the world They offer an art consultancy service which helps you find that special investment art piece for you or a gift for a loved one. They specialise in providing fine contemporary art which represents individuality and quality. If you're a true art love then this gallery is definitely worth checking out.

We are Mud has a fairly unique selling point, to go with its unusual name. Based on Bearwood high…read morestreet (next door to the Co-Op) it looks like a fairly ordinary cafe selling cakes, bagels and coffee. However, if you move towards the back you'll see that it also caters for children's parties and specialises in pottery painting. Customers (I presume it's open to adults too) can choose from a variety of differing pottery shapes - plant pots, animals, cups etc and go wild on them with a surprisingly varied palette of colours. If like me, you decide to use the loo at the very back of the shop you might want to take a sneaky peek at some of the items waiting for collection - Grayson Perry eat your heart out! The cafe itself is popular and the chap who owns it seemed a real sweetie. Portions are generous.

A group of us visited Mud today and we had a lovely time. The place has a relaxed atmosphere, we…read morespent 4 hours painting, eating and drinking coffees. We didn't feel any pressure to rush. Emma was great and explained the pottery painting to us and was very helpful. The cafe also has pretty good snacks and cakes available, with eclectic clientele. The latte I had was delicious! We were suprised by our experience and will definitely be returning. It's a great place to have a children's party. In my opinion, the only improvement which could be made is the addition of baby changing facilities.

A stall selling great art crafts located on the Upper floor of Birmingham's Bullring…read more I visited here and was surprised at the quality and quantity of art pieces available. You can buy these digitally mastered prints for that perfect gift. They are £5 each, or if you buy 4, you get 1 FREE! Digitally produced art of famous people, I loved this stall, and found myself spending a lot of time here, not annoying the staff though, as they are quite friendly.. You can buy different sizes and the artwork is appealing and eye catching. I'd recommend this little stall for that something different.

I'm always a little bit wary about the stalls that pop up in large shopping centres. You know the…read moreones, cheap jewellery, calendars, books, Christmas decorations! I walked past the Time Art Gallery a number of times before I actually stopped to have a flick through what was on offer. They sell a variety of printed canvases which tend to be copies of famous artwork or celebrity portraits but I also saw a number of landmark paintings which looked pretty cool too. I've recently moved house so I was subconsciously thinking about buying some new art work but I didn't want to spend hundreds. Although these are copies, they are great quality and really affordable. There's a good selection for you choose from so if you're looking for something different and a bit more creative than the typical Ikea prints, you should pop down to the ground floor of the Bullring to see what's on offer.

I got some good and bad news about Soho House Museum. The good one is: this is one of the most…read moreinteresting landmarks of Birmingham itself! The bad one is that it's are closed for redevelopment and will just reopen end of June. Well, it's not that bad, actually. I'm a bit suspicious to talk about this fabulous house that it's also my favourite heritage museum in Birmingham. Soho House Museum was residence of Matthew Bolton and don't get confused, it's not about Michael Bolton's house!!! He was a brummie entrepreneur, inventor and founder of The Lunar Society, a group of thinkers that usually met at his house to discuss arts, science, philosophy and other important issues in the 18th century. The whole history about Matthew Bolton, its fascinating life and the importance of The Lunar Society for the history of Industry Revolution in Midlands can be understood better visiting the Soho House. This lovely experience includes seeing this gorgeous Georgian house itself , the garden and a visitor centre. The average adult admission is £ 4 and the visitors centre and garden are for free. They have other options of tour guided during this year so it's better to check the website for more information. As it's difficult to find a favourite part of Soho House, but I would pick the dinning room, where the Lunar Society meeting were placed, and its quite spooky cellar as the highlights of the visiting. All rooms of Soho House are perfectly conserved and there is also a huge collection of coins and his works to be seen there. The shop is also wonderful and the staff is very friendly. I already visited Soho House loads of times and I can't get tired of it. As soon as it is reopen I will be there again, for sure. There is always something new to learn about Matthew Bolton and his house.

Hooray.. Soho House should be open again by the time you read this review!…read more It's been closed recently for redevelopment but fear not as they won't be changing the key characteristics that make this place so interesting. Personally I think there's something extraordinary at being able to walk back through time and experience peoples homes from many years before we existed. This particular house was owned by Matthew Boulton (whose fortune funded the college in the city centre) way back in 1766. It will be interesting to see what development work takes place as they will be keen not to change any of the key foundations. I particularly like the dining room as I can imagine big banquets and jugs of fine wine being enjoyed. Opening its doors this month of the 30th June, there is a community day which is free entry so definitely worth popping down to see what they've done with the place.

Ooops! is a new artisan gallery & Gift shop opened on Sandon Road by business woman Jacqui Chana…read more When you step through the front door, the cool, crisp white decor provides a contemporary look with splashes of colour. The walls are adorned with tattoo-inspired stained glass panels, the handcrafted cards are quirky alternatives to the more "acceptable" ones found on the High Street and the gifts range from small bespoke pieces to large upcycled items. It doesn't just stop there. Downstairs is the gift shop but upstairs is a small area which offers an excellent, intimate space for independent artists/photographers and the ilk to stage their own exhibitions. Beyond what is the "artist's gallery", there are two rooms which will have the capacity to provide workshops, a meeting space and hold small events. This is a great little gift shop, which is sure to inspire and attract not only the "creative types" but also the discerning customer and supporters of independent stores. Ooops! is a welcome addition to Bearwood.

The craft gallery is located inside Bilston library in Mount Pleasant…read more The Gallery can be accessed from the main entrance, and is located through the doors straight ahead when you enter. The Gallery has many different exhibits that change within a few months, giving the gallery a lot of variety all the time. The Gallery heralds a lot of the Black Country artists and showcases both professional and amateur artwork. There is a museum attached to the gallery as well which takes you through a history of the black country. School visits are very popular in the gallery, but there are lots of times to visit when it is quiet and you can enjoy the wide range of art.

Free museum in Birmingham city centre focusing on contemporary art. It's in a very grand building,…read moreso I thought the museum would be big too, but it wasn't. Well there is a lot of empty space, and not that much to see. Few different rotating exhibitions, I saw some on the rave scene in the 80s and also racial violence from the 60-90s. On the way out I accidentally insulted one of the artists, but he just brushed it off.

We visited this museum yesterday and we really liked it. Both the exterior and interior of the…read morebuilding are beautiful. The museum has a terrific selection of paintings from the 15th, 16th & 17th centuries and a particularly good selection of Pre-Raphaelites. There's a *gorgeous*/large Edwardian tea room and also a separate café (the latter is small and attractive). The gift shop isn't very large, but it had some nice items. Also, I had a wonderful conversation with one of the guards; she was very friendly and kind-hearted.

The Henley-in-Arden Heritage centre is right next to the famous Henley Ice Cream Parlour and I…read morewould recommend a visit to this place before even start checking somewhere else! This wonderful timber-tudor house open to the public since 1996 as a museum that preserves the history of this wonderful market city from Norman Conquest to the present days. The Joseph Hardy House is a construction dated from 1345, the oldest in the city, and in its ground floor is possible to understand since the medieval Henley period when it's explained the origin of the city, with replica of the Beaudesert castle, to the visit in the courtyard where you can understand how was life in Henley during the World War II period. Outside the house it's possible to experience how is life in the famous Anderson bomb shelter. On the first floor, it's a space to find out a bit more about Henley Ice Cream history and William James, the sponsor of locomotive engineer George Stephenson. as well as how was the trade and businesses in early years in this city! The admission to this wonderful Heritage Centre is free but i do recommend leaving them some donation for all fabulous work done in this place. It was just a pity I didn't take photo of the house's facade because there was having some work done outside.

While in Henley-in-Arden recently my daughter and I popped into the Heritage Centre located on the…read morebeautifully quaint High Street. It's a beautiful old black and white timbered building which looks wonderful from the outside, I knew it housed historic pieces telling the story of Henley-in-Arden from as long ago as the Norman conquest but to be honest it didn't look big enough. Actually once inside I was surprised at how large the rooms are, the Heritage Centre is spread over two floors with each floor having three main exhibition rooms. My favourite was the Home Life room on the first floor which contained clothing and toys from the long ago era of Henley-in-Arden. Having an interest in fashion I found this really interesting to see how clothes changed over the years, and also looking at how basic the toys were it made me realise just how times have changed. Mind you, I wouldn't fancy using their 'labour saving' kitchen gadgets as they all looked like hard work! My daughter liked the Medieval Henley room which contained items from this particular period in history such as warfare memorabilia, cooking items and other interesting objects of the time. I like the fact that all the exhibits are nicely marked with a short description of what each item was used for, the descriptions were just enough information for casual visitors like us but was enough to give us a starting point if something particularly interested us. In all honesty every room holds something of interest and the variety of the exhibitions meant we enjoyed our hour long stroll through the centre. It's free to get in which is a bonus, although donations are welcomed. Disabled access isn't ideal as wheelchair users cannot get to see the first floor because there is no lift of any type, however disabled visitors can watch a virtual tour on the ground floor. I'm not sure how this works but it's a nice idea so that no one misses out on anything they want to see.