Silent Sunday at Sculpture by the Lakes

Sculpture by the Lakes

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Antony Gormley at the RA

Antony Gormley is one of my creative heroes. In the video at the end of this RA  link about the exhibtion and he says that ‘the viewer is the subject of the show’. Worth listening to.

When I go to see an art exhibition I usually whizz round to get a sense of the whole, then I go back and spend time with the pieces I’m drawn to, then I go round again and take photos of the pieces,

then I go round again and notice how other people are interacting with the exhibits

This is one of my favourite things to do

 

Here is an excellent review by Studio International

I hope you enjoyed people watching with me.

At a few exhibitions recently I have started to take photos of people who go with the paintings they are viewing and then I came across this amazing post about Stefan Draschan’s work, take a look – fascinating.

An Arty Week

You might know that I am drawn to all things Japanese (here are some links to my posts about my trip to Japan in 2015) and have been most of my adult life. So when I saw a course at a highly respected art school entitled Abstract Painting and Wabi Sabi I just had to book a place.

You can Google ‘Wabi Sabi’ to find a definition and will get a few different results, I fear it might lose something in translation but in the context of abstract works of art this is my own best shot: the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, briefly/loosely translated as the celebration of materials and imperfection, leaving things unfinished for the viewer to complete it in their own experience of the piece. 

I learnt by doing, that it is also about immersing oneself in the materials, the properties of the materials and about how ones body and inner senses respond to the materials.

After booking this course, I heard about an exhibition in which a blogging friend, Alastair Duncan was exhibiting his interactive weaving, which I talked about in this post.

AND THEN!

ANTONY GORMLEY at the Royal Academy – I just had to go and see that!

To fit all this in I stayed in an Air BnB in Horsham in West Sussex, which had free parking and was just a 10 minute walk to the train station. In just over an hour I could be in Central London.

I drove the 3 hours to  Horsham last Saturday.

Visited the Espacio Gallery on Sunday – which I will tell you about in a future post.

There I met with 2 other members of the Stitchbook Collective – Oh SO lovely to make these creative connections!!

On Monday I travelled up to the Royal Academy for the Antony Gormley exhibition, which was absolutely amazing of course, but not quite so impactful as his exhibition in 2007 at the Hayward Gallery which I often think of and stays with me on some deep inner level.

And then on Tuesday I started my Wabi Sabi voyage of discovery with Helen Turner in Partridge Green, just a 20 minute drive each day from my cosy self-catering pad.

I loved every minute! I got home yesterday.

So much to tell you about. So many photos to sift through!

120, Fenchurch Street

Hellooo!

Here we are again, this time on top of 120, Fenchurch Street – wow that sun was bright!

(see previous post about the Sky Garden at 20, Fenchurch St)

That is ‘The Gherkin’ in the background.

To get up to the roof garden at 120, you just turn up and queue. As people come out, more are let in – we only had a couple of people in front of us and didn’t have to wait at all. You go through an airport-style security scanner before getting into the lift.

This garden is open to the sky with native planting and it is much quieter and calmer than in the tropical lushness of the other garden.

I loved the play of light and shadows on the floor, walls and plants.

There are no restaurants there, but it is a perfect place to take a packed lunch as most of these people seemed to have done.

They were perched on the edge of the rather awkward looking water feature, more comfortable seating would be a bonus.

From this terrace you can see ‘The Walkie-Talkie’ building and look at where we had been just a few minutes ago – in the garden on top of that building.

so much to enjoy, looking in, looking up, looking through, looking out, with a few surreal reflections where the glass wall was high

and looking down and DOWN!

On the way out you pass under a vast ceiling covered with a moving video art installation

it is called Botanic and is a picture of slowly swirling flowers as if they are floating in a dark pool. It is part of Sculpture in the City.

and as we walked back to the tube station we spotted some more, this one with a very long title that makes very little sense to me, and is something to do with lava and volcanoes

and this

Bridging Home

which could be very witty …….hmmm. Perhaps I need to find out a bit more about them to appreciate them more.

Edit: I looked for more images and information about this piece. I wanted to see the piece up closer and from the inside. I found this which says the Footbridge was closed so that the piece was not vandalised. Grrr! So eventually it will be removed. I seem to have a whole load of thoughts and emotions swirling around about that. It would have been good to have had a video to experience this replica of a displaced home. I get the reference to migrants and displacement and the fact that the ‘home’ looks as if it has been just dropped uncomfortably out of context, I just wish it’s message could have been presented in a more accessible way.

Searching for all of the 21 sculptures and getting up close to them could be a nice focus for another visit to London.

I will end with a photo my son took just before we left The City.

Look up!

and went back to his house to spend a delightful weekend with him and his three girls, whilst their Mum was on a girly birthday celebration holiday.

Dalby Forest 2: The Nissen Hut

Ever since seeing Cathy’s post about Rachel Whiteread’s, I was looking forward to seeing it. Cathy’s post sparked off a lively and forthright debate about what her readers thought of it and whether it is indeed ‘Art’, if you follow the link you can go to the comments and see what we all had to say about it.

I am a fan of Rachel Whiteread and her work, you can see other posts I’ve written about it, here, here , here and here.

It’s not easy to sum up why I relate to her work, but I think it is about the way she gives the small, seemingly trivial aspects of human activity, construction and development a monumental quality. She uses real objects that show the marks of time and use and sets them in a monotone, permanent structure that gives us a chance to explore the details in a new way, and think about the hands that created the original structure and all that it connects to.

To me this is a war memorial that does not speak of the military, hierarchy or grand gestures, this commemorates Peter Nissen, the man who designed a pracitcal solution to a required need, during the First World War. The sculpture remembers the men who constructed it and lived in it and it connects us to those who constructed other Nissen huts over decades and all the different uses they have been put to. This one also commemorates the men who worked for the forestry and planted the forest it sits within. It commemorates time passing with the flaws and evidence of decay. It is the only permanent public piece in Britain of this, our most successful living female sculptor, it relates to all her other works throughout the world.

Making art is not only about making something that looks nice. If it causes one to think about things in a different way it has done its job. Without knowing the story of this sculpture it would be difficult to appreciate what on earth it is doing in the forest.

That is the same for most art – if we don’t want to discover more about it, we can just walk on by, but taking time to discover the story is, for me, an enriching, thought provoking and sometimes emotional experience.

Here is a link to a short video about this sculpture

an article about the sculptor’s family connection,  her grandfather was a conscientious objector.

Not everyone will see it in the same way and all views are valid. Some of the locals were very much against it. I’d love to know what you think.

So that is the ‘deep and meaningful’ bit – now for a bit of silliness

In Cathy’s original post she wondered if the Nissen Hut would attract graffitti,  and Tialys’s comment prompted this quickly scrawled temporary bit of graffitti.

We was

and you can see a few more pics on this post of Cathy’s.

As we left it was getting dark and the sculpture took on a quiet ghostly glow through the trees

 

Somerset House 2

In one corner of the courtyard there was Turkey’s contribution to the London Design Biennial exhibition, a cube made of white rods embedded with lights. You can read a description/explanation here. It is called ‘Home’, but I did not find any resonance with the title or the explanation. I did enjoy it though, it must have looked wonderful at night. The best bit was watching how others interacted with the space. There were some gorgeous romantic photographs being taken of girlfriends, couples and family groups, who all seemed to glow within this white space.

It got me thinking how wonderful it would be to have an exhibition of spaces/settings that would be perfect for photographic portraits. For instance, Rachel Whiteread’s sculptures would be perfect.

Click on any photo to see it larger

There was an exhibit ‘Kiss in Budapest’. The idea was that a person would enter from either end and kiss in the middle – outside the booth their picture would be displayed againt the backdrop of live webcam photos of places in Budapest. Fun idea.

Inside Somerset House room after room was filled with interactive exhibits.

This one from Qatar

I could only get a faint floral whiff from a couple of the domes, maybe I needed to be taller, but I did like the shape of the carpet.

On to Germany’s exhibit of recycled household items

I loved this standard lamp made of bottle tops, maybe I’ll try a table lamp one day.

Made from Beach Clean too – win-win!

Here are a couple of  links if you would like to read more about the Exhibition

Kiss in Budapest FB page.

‘Culture Trip’

Somerset House FB Page

Somerset House on Instagram

 

Monthly Meet Up: Sculpture

Hellooo!

Here we are again for our Monthly Photographic Meet-Up, happening each first Tuesday of the Month.

This month’s prompt is SCULPTURE.

Archive and/or current posts are all very welcome, just leave a link in the Comments to join in.

First up a Pink Goat – I think this also qualifies for Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge don’t you, especially when teamed up with his friend Blue Hare

As seen during Dorset Arts Weeks at the Studio of

Jane Shaw in Cattistock. Do click on her name to go to her website and see more of her wonderful work.

During Arts Weeks we had the priviledge of seeing inside her studio

arranged for the two weeks as a gallery. What a charming space.

I’m looking forward to seeing your sculpture photos

More Sculpture can be seen in This Post, and the bizarre Doreen’s Garden post.

Now must dash

as I’m off to do some gardening before the temperatures crank up – this afternoon I’m off to Sports Day at the school of 3 of my grandchildren – sunhats and of course camera at the ready.

The prompt for next month (August) is FLAKE

Silly Saturday

I met this guy on Branscombe Beach last weekend, any ideas what his name could be?

He looks like he might be emerging from his underground home to see who’s about.

I think he might be related to this chap who lives in the Lost Gardens of Heligan

I don’t know his name either.

Joining in with Cee’s Oddball Challenge

Up, Up and Away

I had to nip away for an overnight stay in central London this week. I Googled ‘quirky, arty, hotels’ and up came the Pavillion Hotel on the Time Out site.

Just click on the link to see all the amazingly themed rooms, and crazy decor. Someone must have had such fun putting it all together. I would love to know the history of the person and the place, but couldn’t find anything. My bedroom was called ‘Up, Up and Away’.

Sadly I can’t recommend the ‘Hotel’, it has definitely seen better days. It is in a slightly dodgy area, there is a surly, bored person manning the desk, no resturant and this was my so called continental breakfast left outside my room in the morning.

 

 

 

Weetabix on the Go – euuuurrrrgghhhhhh! Who knew that even existed! Yuck!

 

But I did enjoy the decor and the quirky bits and peices

The Hotel was quite close to Hyde Park, so before it got dark I had a brisk walk to Marble Arch where there is a strangely wild sculpture,

Danse Gwenedour

by British Sculptor Bushra Fakhoury

which was unveiled in March 2017.

There is always something arty to see in London, no matter how fleeting the visit. After a quick whizz round a bit of Hyde Park, which was looking rather bleak on a cold drizzly January afternoon, I found an oasis of a health food shop to pick up something for supper. Then back to my hotel as I did not want to be wandering those particualr streets after dark.

A nice cosy evening of knitting, reading and a bit of TV followed – always particularly relaxing away from home.

Tate Couple

A wonderful BBC programme, Imagine,  was on TV on Saturday, giving insights about Rachel Whiteread’s 30 year career and the current Exhibition at Tate Britain.

I became fascinated by this couple

Their shapes, their colours, their interaction.

People watching is one of my favourite things to do – you too?

Joining in with Norm’s Thursday Doors.

 

Rachel Whiteread at Tate Britain

Rounding off my weekend in London I went to Tate Britain to see the Rachel Whiteread exhibition. I have been interested in her work ever since ‘House’ in 1993.

Such an extraordinary thing to do.

Art that encourages us to see things differently is always exciting.

The atmosphere that was created by the exhibiton at the Tate was one of supreme calm and serenity. Something to do with the combination of neutral colours, scale and space. I would happily have spent the whole day there.

Making the domestic monumental.

I loved the way every shape interacted with the space and other objects in the space.

 

 

Collections of used household objects cast as solid objects

looks simple doesn’t it but watch this film on ‘How to Cast like Rachel Whiteread’

and see just how many processes go into creating one object – mindblowing!

Book shelves reminding me of the first little library I used to visit with my Grandfather in the 1950s/60s

There is something intriguing about exploring negative space.

Clever to keep the colours calm so that the mind can peacefully think about positive and negative without the noise of colour.

And to get to know the artist better –  a film of Rachel Whitread talking about the way she works.

Arch

My entry for our One-a-Week Photo Challenge

Golden Rock, Nevis, Caribbean

We were told that this was the best place to eat on Nevis – what a place.

Gorgeous gardens

fabulous cocktails

Lunch:

sumptuous burger with obligatory Rum Punch for my friend L

and a Conch Chowder for me, (with pink and orange napkins) Yumsk!

Then masses of arty stuff, which was right up my street

side tables made of plastic rubbish set in a solid foam  – now … could I do this with some of my beach finds I wonder???? Hmmmm … must find out more.

I want that green chair!

I want to make that lampshadeHad to go for a sit down – I was getting over excited!

An Antillean Bullfinch came to see if we had any crumbs to spare.

So romantic …….

Thursday

Anyone who has been following this blog for a while will know how I like to make everything as multi-functional as possible – it is a Permaculture thing and Permaculture is the closest thing to a religion I have.

Imagine my delight when I realised I could combine Thursday Doors, Three Things Thursday, Cee’s Which Way Challenge and Odd Ball Challenge AND recommend some simply splendid people and places – my cup overfloweth with golden delights.

Three Things Thursday:

Emily shares “three things that make me smile: an exercise in gratitude – feel free to steal this idea with wild abandon and fill your blog with the happy”

So here goes:

1.Yesterday I took Miss E to one of Sewchet‘s wonderfully empowering sewing workshops. Seeing her glee at having made something she can actually wear was a joy. She learnt so much.

2. Meeting Sheila of Sewchet. Meeting fellow bloggers is a fun, enriching experience. I have met Mrs Snail, Judy of Edwinas Episodes, and now Sheila. What a wonderful community it is. …. and there are plans to meet more bloggers brewing.

3. Meeting an old friend after a very long time and having such a brilliant time at Durlslade Farm, art gallery, cafe and sculpture garden. Go if you can!

This is my favourite photo of the day which I think has a touch of the Edward Hopper about it. ‘Hopper’ turned positive and optimistic perhaps.

The Garden and Gallery are absolutely amazing and inspiring, and the food in the café is delicious.

The next photo from this garden is for Cee’s Which Way Challenge

and there were plenty of contenders for the Odd Ball Challenge at this fabulous gallery

How about a giant steel bucket full of shiny pots and pans

or a steel tree

with pots and pans for leaves. I love that it is set against this ancient farmhouse and looks a lot like old mulberry trees in gardens of houses this sort of age.

Here you can see the two sculptures against the old buildings and the gloriously blue sky – what a day!

And another door to the farmhouse for Norm’s Thursday Doors. You can stay there! Pricey but just take a look at the website to see how wonderful the interior is.

I did have such a magical day – and have loved sharing it with you.

 

WWAL: Doreen’s Garden and a Pub Lunch

For this week’s Wednesday Walk-Along: A return to Branscombe for a walk with a friend and time to fully appreciate Doreen’s garden. Branscombe is an extremely long village, sprawling along the sunny valley. From the Village Hall we walked up to the hill to the west towards the church. I was delighted to see this village still has a primary school.

The one in our village closed about 7 years ago – I miss the sound of the children at playtime.

Next you come to the church, of course I had to see the inside ….

 

 

 

…… and the needlepoint.

All the kings and queens of England are commemorated here. I just love the way each church has a design theme carried out by willing crafters. And this church still has the old box pews where the gentry used to sit to keep them safely separated from the hoi polloi. And an extraordinary structure for the pulpit, raising the speaker on high.

Then just a little further up the hill you are greeted by the delight that is Doreen’s Garden!with all sorts of quirky items to entice you in the garden is possibly nearly 2 acres filled with a bonkers mix of different styles and statues

A complete delight..

I didn’t get to meet Doreen, but I could sense her humour and her love for all living creatures, with poignant markers in the garden at random spots …the sculptures have obviously been in situ for some years….. I am always fascinated by the colour and texture of lichen – here an added twist!

I hope to come back again in late Spring to see how this garden is transformed by colour.

 

The garden is open every day, all that Doreen asks is that you make a donation to the Devon Air Ambulance Service, which of course we did – it would be interesting to know how much she has raised for them altogether.

We had a day of bright sunshine, cold breezes and snow flurries (back at the beginning of March) and headed on up through the village to the pub, as the sky darkened,

passing ancient cottages along the way and arriving at The Fountain Head just in time to watch the snow flakes fall whilst sitting by a warming fire.And continuing with Big Bros’s cushion cover, whilst waiting for our soup to arrive.

At this stage, it looks like a scarf, and the length is actually perfect for a scarf –  this is the Cosy Cal pattern that keeps on giving!

A walk discovering new places with a close friend, a quirky garden, sunshine, a pub lunch and time to sit and chat and crochet – all the ingredients for a heavenly day!

 

Here are a couple of other lovely UK walks to walk along with:

Walk along from Thornton Dale to Ellerburn with NanaCathy,

and near Southampton with RainbowJunkie

Flowers inside

My granny used to grow streptocarpus and I have tried before failing miserably, but now…

I seem to have got the hang of it ….

Maybe it helps to be a Granny.

 

And here are some flowers I picked from my garden to put in the bedroom for my friend who is coming to stay ….

Weigela, black cornflowers, marigolds, red campion, and sweet cicely for a bit of froth..We are going to a Quick Draw event at Sculpture by the Lakes tomorrow – lovely!

 

Clay play

After the slow business and concentration of learning the new skill of stone carving, Miss E thoroughly enjoyed working with clay and made this delightful leaping dolphin

Exploring a familiar medium in  a different way

The dolphin was left to dry and the conversation turned to how the clay was used and stored etc, so Sarah showed Miss E how to recycle clay by smashing it with a hammer,

mixing it with water…………. and swidging it about

and then ..

which when held up to the light

gained magical halos where the paper had absorbed the water.

It was wonderful to watch this process unfold as E was supported by Sarah to explore things as they emerged, E always taking a next creative step with what she was doing.

Even the board on which the model had stood provided a shape that to Miss E looked like a lion’s head

can you see it?

and so a print was made.

For want of a printing press Granny’s great weight was used and because even that was not quite enough to make a decent print, I picked Elfie up and we jumped up and down on the board and … ta dah!

She now had a picture of a .. oh , it turned into a tiger prowling towards the viewer. E was down on her hands and knees demonstrating just how the tiger was moving …

it’s no wonder Miss E recently won a prize at school for story writing – very proud Granny!!!

The three of us were entirely absorbed for those two and a half hours of wonderful exploration – a very special time  – and so lovely to be able to share it with you all.

Sarah runs workshops for all ages and family groups – tis a fabulous experience and makes a great present. Take a look at this website to find out more.

Saturday Link Love

I have been wondering if our different mediums represented at Stonechat could be combined in some way: stone, wood, metal textiles, hard and soft, malleable and fixed. In this post from Quinn Creative (always such interesting meaty posts) a sculptor who combines paper and metal

QuinnCreative

Andrew Hayes has two great loves–pulp books (or at least their pages) and smooth, cool metal. He chose to combine them into sculptures that contrast hard and soft, permanent and easily destroyed.

The ease and almost weightless grace make these very pleasing to look at. I’ve love to touch them.

The sculptures are sensual and curved and quite beautiful. It combines altering books with metal sculpture.

Stencils and spray paint are the medium of the artist Above, who creates street art. Above works with shadows and electrical lines and integrates artwork into the surroundings.

The image above shows a long line of people, defeated and waiting. It’s outside an unemployment office in Spain, a country that has a high rate of unemployment.

Here, Above painted white paint over a wall defaced with graffiti, then added the figures to make it an unhappy school day.

The artist Mossi is interested…

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