Meeting an Online Chum & Misty Installations

I took a day off on Tuesday to take a trip down to London. I had a fun day out, meeting up with an online friend from New York, who is over here for a brief visit. And though I took my camera with me, I was so swept up in the day that I didn't pull it out once. As far as memory-keeping/blogging goes, I'm sooooo crap at the moment.

Thankfully, my friend took this photo and sent it to me, so I have something to show for the day.

So let me back up a bit. Here's who I met up with...

(I grabbed this photo from his blog)

You may or may not recognise him as the mixed media artist, Seth Apter.  And he is a kind, generous,  witty and charming companion to go around London with. Am I gushing? Then don't get me started on his talents as a teacher in mixed media art. He creates the most stunning, textural work and has shared some of his techniques in a couple of DVDs, both of which I own and were how I first came to know of him.

To say I'm a fanboy is an understatement. I own his stencils, his stamps, his books. He's lucky I didn't grab the shirt off his back when we met up lol.

Much as it may surprise you, he did not fly all the way from New York solely to spend a few hours with me (and joking aside, Seth, if you are reading this, I know I've said it to you already but I'll say it again, I'm incredibly honoured and grateful that you took time out from your busy schedule to meet up).  No, he's also on these shores to teach classes at Art From The Heart up in Harrogate.

So what's with the photo at the head of this post? Well, we went to the Wellcome Gallery, just round the corner from Euston Station to see Ann Veronica Janssens: yellowbluepink exhibit. You know I'm a sucker for these entertainment/art installations. You enter through closed double doors into a room, painted floor to ceiling in white. It is filled with a thick fog, lit by coloured lights from above. You can barely see what's in front of you. A couple of times, my nose nearly touched a wall before my eyes could focus. It's disorientating, for sure but then I have no head for directions already, before you put me in a fog filled closet.

So yes, I'm fully made up for the rest of this week, possibly month :) And last night, the arty fun continued when I attended a demonstration from an artist who painted a beach landscape, from start to finish, in acrylics, in an impressionistic style. Absolutely breathtaking to watch.

The only thing that seems to be missing is any art or craft within the walls of my own creative space. Hopefully soon. Hopefully soon :)

How I Avoided Halloween

As I mentioned in this previous post, I had arranged an outing which coincidentally allowed me to avoid Halloween. Yes, I was out the door before any small people could come a knocking and begging for sweets. But before you write me off as a total killjoy, I was still surrounded by kids and their parents.

Does this give you more of a clue?

No? How about this one?

Pat yourself on the back if you guessed I was at Chatsworth House. I know. I'm there so often, I may as well take up lodgings with the Duke & Duchess. I had successfully grabbed tickets for their firework event before they were sold out. And boy was it packed. Thankfully, their gardens are huuuuge and can accommodate the thousands who attended.

The event began at 6pm, we arrived at 7pm and the fireworks weren't until 8pm. To fill the gap, Chatsworth had erected a stage (it was almost like being at Glastonbury folks) with a band booked to play nineties house and acid music on trumpets. It sounded better in real life than it does on paper. And it was quite a sight to see middle aged parents, in wellies, dancing around, reliving their younger years before they sprogged. It's an image I can not erase from my mind. That was a true horror to witness.

And in front of the house was a fire garden display, instead of a bonfire.

Far classier, even if it came across as if we had wondered into Wicker Man territory.

Then, come a little after 8pm, the compere on the stage, took to the mike and lead the crowd into a countdown from ten. And when we all bellowed out "One", music erupted from the speakers and the display began.

Chatsworth, once again, did not disappoint. It was an incredible display with plenty of quality fireworks lighting up the sky in sync with the music.

And the finale, the pinnacle of the display, decorated the sky to an instrumental of Michael Jackson's Thriller. How perfect, to end the evening, watching the last firework explode and die in the clear sky above, with the sound of Vincent Price cackling away.

We may have had to drive home in the dark, through fog and under the light of the moon but when we finally parked in our drive, all trick or treaters were tucked up safely in bed. What better way to avoid the season hahahahaha.

A Trip to YSP to take Arty Photos

To treat ourselves at the end of the week, we took ourselves off once more to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It's a relaxing park to wonder around, usually quite quiet during the weekdays and we've never been in Autumn before.

It does have a larger than usual audience at the moment. On a wet, grey day, the car park, as we arrived was almost full. Now it could have been because it was lunchtime but to be honest it's these red ceramic poppies which are to blame.

For anyone who didn't manage to see them in London, there's a display entitled 'The Wave' which YSP are showing. And yes it's certainly an interesting display. The colour alone makes it stand out. The blood red poppies against the green scenery are a visual dream.

If it gave one advantage, it was that the rest of the park was mostly free from people. We had a walk around the lake largely to ourselves, which made the silence feel even more tranquil. Just us and nature.

I had my camera with me - of course - and I wanted to try out the AV setting and play around with shallow depths of field and Bokeh.

However I also managed to snap some arty shots too

And here I am sitting on (or is that within?) a piece of art

I think the poppy display is on until January. If it's your thing, I'd certainly recommend it. Just make sure you take a camera.

Boxing Before Culture

Hello there my lovelies

If you're a long time follower of my blog, you'll know that every couple of years, Chatsworth House has an exhibition of modern sculpture for Sothebys and that Nick & I will move mountains to go and see it.

This year was no exception and on Friday, we were blessed with blue skies and warm sunshine. Perfect for walking around the tranquil gardens. But the day didn't start so promising.

Before we headed off, we already had booked our monthly boxing lesson. There we were outdoors, with our trainer, thumping seven bells out of him, when the sky turned a dark, murky grey and the heavens opened. The three of us scurried quickly indoors to the gym to dry off and continue.

When our hour was up, we looked again at the weather forecast which maintained that it would be sunny over the hills, where we were heading. So we bit the bullet and decided to take the chance.

And lucky we did.

Here's why...

Isn't that such a gorgeous setting?

This piece was highly policed. Apparently there are nine types of Japanese stone used in this sculpture and the reason for keeping an eye on the visitors is that placed around, within and on top of these pieces were small figurines which could tempt the light of finger.

If you notice the area I circled in the previous photo, this is the close up. There were little houses, peacocks, monkeys and lions hidden amongst the stones. And for the eagle eyed, there were tiny human figures having, what I can only describe coyly, as adult fun. Yes I have photos but probably best I show you the giraffes and elephants instead.

Loved the colours of this one against the blue sky & green grass.

A large metal tablet shaped design.

A fragile spiral of white metal coiled into a stunning abstract shape.

This was entitled The Swarm. And round the corner from this piece was an old fashioned ice cream cart where we ordered two large cones, dripping with chocolate sauce and finished off with a flake. It felt just like we were on holiday, sitting on a bench, basking in the sun and indulging our sweet tooths.

An arty shot of a marble sculpture. Love the minimalist style.

Nick in the tunnel which runs underneath Chatsworth's beautiful water cascade. It was pitch black and this photo is down to the flash on my camera.

And finally, me taking a self portrait in a rotating mirrored sculpture which is permanently on display in their vegetable plot.

A perfect day.

We'll be returning to Chatsworth in a week's time as we have tickets to visit their Luminaire Event. We've never experienced it before, so it should be interesting to see the place in a completely different light.

Keeping fingers crossed that we'll be lucky again with the weather and that it won't rain.