Wakefield Art Walk and The Hepworth

On the Wednesday of this week I finished work early and headed over to the city of Wakefield for the Art Walk (26th).

Art Walks take place in Seattle and LA over in the States and- since 2008- our very own Wakefield! There were 15 venues open around the city between 5pm and 9pm. I got round 7 of them (had I not been totally exhausted I would have stayed longer and gone to more).

I started at off at The Hepworth Gallery. I first visited the Hepworth this time last year and found it to be a beautiful space, so it was great to go back and have another look around.

 Hanging by the walk way to The Hepworth- love all the details.

 Canal barges moored up alongside The Hepworth.

 Entrance to The Hepworth.

A bit of Barbie H goodness on the way in.

The Hepworth is free to visit and was created especially to house some of Barbara Hepworth's works and tools. It is the largest purpose built exhibition centre outside of London, proclaims the website. It's certainly a great place to visit- parking nearby, easy to get to and well signposted, big spacious shop and reception area, swish plentiful toilets and the gallery spaces are spacious, high and light- perfection. And all perched next to a river. There are also stunning views out on to the river from within The Hepworth.
On this visit I took a look at the permanent exhibits again (I looooove Barbara Hepworth's work) but also the Richard Long exhibit, two pieces of which are pictured below-

I think these pieces are beautiful, especially the top one. I'm certain I've seen Richard's work before- or someone who has copied this idea if it wasn't Richard Longs work!

My favourite Barbara Hepworth piece on display in The Hepworth- the model for the sculpture that flanks the John Lewis flagship store on Oxford Road.

After The Hepworth, I next visited The Orangery. A gorgeous little building with a graveyard in its grounds, where their Art Walk event linked in with the Wakefield Literary Festival. I availed myself of a free book and took a look at the 'word' focused art works on display (all very good and thought provoking), then swiftly moved on.

Graveyard in the grounds of The Orangery.

Eh up, whose that?

The beautiful Orangery building.

Next I popped in to the Art House and saw an artist painting with his mouth- and chatting to other visitors at the same time! How amazingly talented to paint such beautiful pictures with only his mouth, its certainly not something I think I could manage!

Then I stopped by the Theatre Royal Wakefield Cafe and viewed the photography work of a local school- some of which was excellent and very professional looking.

After that I visited the Westgate Studios and had a good nosey around the various artists studios in there. I thought the stuff on show in the Westgate Studios was particularly good.

 Work by the fabulous Faye Scott- Farrington.

 PeepArt

  PeepArt

 PeepArt

All the artists works featured in the PeepArt room were amazing! I loved it all and feel so inspired now. And I also swung by the studio space of my friend Helen Fields on the second floor (no photo I'm afraid- I was too shy to ask if I could take one- most unlike me!).

Helen was in her studio with her girlfriend Amy. Amy and I left Helen to it and visited the Neon Workshop, which was fantastic! We also popped in to Bevelo, which boasted having a signed Ashley Jackson and was displaying the art work of a proud Yorkshire man (sorry, I can't recall his name!).

Amy recommended the Neon Workshop and it didn't disappoint- I loved getting to see neon signs close up! The heat and brightness of the light coming off them was incredible. The Neon Workshop allows you to book and go on a Neon Taster day- certainly something I am now considering doing! Sounds like great fun!

All in all a most enjoyable evening, and an event I will certainly return to.

I know my blog posts are usually much better informed as to who I've seen and liked- I feel quite embarrassed that I can't tell you who most of the people I saw were, but sadly I forgot my notebook and don't have a notepad on my phone- doh! I'll do better next time!

Art Walk is on again on November 28th and will continue in 2013. I felt perfectly safe walking around Wakefield city centre on my own, the multi storey car parks are clearly sign- posted and simple to get, and the venue map for the Art Walk is really clear and easy to follow, plus all the venues advertise that they are part of the Art Walk with posters and balloons outside and they offered visitors refreshments- most excellently organised! If you want more info on some of the stuff featured in this blog post please visit-

http://artwalk.org.uk/
http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/
http://www.the-orangery.uk.net/
http://www.neonworkshops.com
http://www.the-arthouse.org.uk/
http://www.wakefieldlitfest.org.uk

Tatton Park Biennial 2012

Art and sculpture have been appearing in the grounds of Cheshire's wonderful Tatton Park in the autumn time for some years now, and this September was no exception. Chris and I went along on Sunday to see what was on offer this year.

This year's exhibit is called 'Flights of Fancy' and, if I'm honest, it was a tad naff! I can't understand why anyone would bother creating some of this tripe but- to make it worse- is the horrendous piece descriptions that accompany the tripe!!! Strong words I know, but its true! But of course, that is just my humble opinion.

Below are some of the pieces I did enjoy, because it certainly wasn't all bad, and some I didn't. Put it this way, I think Beyond Limits at Chatsworth can rest easy for some years yet!!!

Chris and I initially walked past this and Chris joked 'I bet that's part of the exhibit', I said 'nah' and checked the guide just in case and he was right?! Inside was a video on loop. It wasn't too bad but the blurb to go with it was of the nauseating variety I can't stand- 'An endless 'pre- enactment' of a future that mimics the spirit of air travel without the memory of why (or how) we once flew'. Seriously?! Get a grip!!! (Sorry Simon Faithful!)

This interesting specimen is called 'Dead Cat' by Charbel Ackerman and is 'an ode to inspired experimenters like Tatton's last Lord, Maurice Egerton, an early radio and flight enthusiast'. I quite liked this, suspended between the trees high off the ground. Did rather look like road kill so was aptly titled.

Another corking load of tripe about this piece, Mars Society by Tom Dale, goes 'a 1950s Thunderbird rocket carries a cultural payload, its flags suggesting an ambiguous ideology'. Please! Who writes this nonsense?! What made this interesting was the fact that its a real unexploded bomb that landed at Tatton during WW2 and the MOD gave it back to Lord Egerton as a souvenir! Cool eh?

Brass Art 'Trine Messenger'. Quite liked this inflatable, beautifully situated.

This was a quirky piece by the Ultimate Holding Company called 'The Cartland Institute for Romance Research'. It was a little van with a large model glider on top, as you can no doubt clearly see, with a window in to the body of the vehicle revealing a display of Barbara's books and model planes/ gliders, a sort of chintzy 'reading area', photos of (I presume?) Barbara- it was quite good actually. I learnt that Barbara was 'instrumental in the development of the troop carrying glider, the Conservative 'Back to Basics' policy and promoting the rights of children and travelers'. So there you go!

This brilliant piece is Hilary Jack's 'Empty Nest' and 'considers the superstition that crows leave their colonies when a childless heir to a fortune dies'. The last Lord Egerton died without an heir, hence Tatton passed in to the care of the National Trust. This piece was fab, and once up in the nest it was very life like. It must have taken days and days to construct- great attention to detail.

I'm not even going to go here.... (Dinu Li 'VEX')

Juneau Projects 'Gleaners of the Infocalypse' was a good piece to finish on, although again, the blurb about it was nauseating- 'presented as a stage set fantasy about what life could be like in the aftermath of a technology- driven disaster, with a pair of artists acting out their own Cargo Cult rituals in the Deer Park.' This BAe 146-200 is supposed to be their 'hide' as they 'live feral in the grounds'. Oh god.... Looked good though.

If I've inspired you to pay a visit and form your own opinions of these and the many other pieces not pictured here, both in the Garden and House, then you can catch the Biennial till this Sunday, September 30th. More details can be found at the Tatton Park website- http://www.tattonpark.org.uk- in the events section.

Saltaire Festival 2012

Another artistic event I attended this weekend just gone was Saltaire's 10th Festival, and the weather could not have been more perfect for it!

First, I caught a bit of Morris dancing around the Victoria Hall and Shipley College buildings at lunchtime. Below are Saltaire's own mixed Morris side in action and they were fab!

I had a browse around the wonderful Maker's Fair in the Victoria Hall and could easily have spent a small fortune in there! Then I went on to look around the indoor exhibits (rather empty as it was such a sunny day!). I saw two exhibits in the Exhibition Building (interior shots below)- Aire Valley Arts and Aire Valley Waterways, followed by a visit to the Saltaire Methodist Church for their exhibition by Saltaire Art Group.

The Aire Valley Waterways exhibit was a delight. It featured the photographic work of Tim Smith and captured 3 decades of life around the canal and river that pass through the lovely Saltaire, and captured what these two waterways mean to the town both past and present as sources of leisure, industry etc. Below are some of my favourite photos from the exhibit (held upstairs).

Then downstairs was the Aire Valleys Arts exhibit, which showcased various artist's interpretations of Saltaire. Below are the pieces I particularly enjoyed-

 Kath Bonson

 I love this small painting by Sue Strange- right up my street!

Stunning painting by David Starley. There were a few like this on display by this artist but this was my favourite, simply wonderful.

I then decided to make the most of the sun and did the fantastic 'Saltaire Open Garden Trail', which proved very popular. It was similar to the Arts Trail, only instead of looking at art inside people's living rooms and kitchens you got to nosey around their gardens instead! It was so much fun and the residents were so welcoming and chatty, I loved it! I thought it was brilliant how everyone had done something different and unique with their space, no matter the size or dimension restrictions. It gave me big- time property envy all over again (moving to Saltaire is top of my to- do list!!!).

After that I caught some more Morris dancing in the lovely Roberts Park, as well as so some live music and sunshine. All in all a gorgeous and pleasurable day- I'd certainly recommend the Festival as a day out. It's on till this Sunday and there's still plenty coming up and going on, so why not visit the Festival website for more info and plan your own trip there for this week or weekend? http://www.saltairefestival.co.uk.

HOST 08.09.12- 09.09.12

I had intended to make it to 4 or 5 venues on the HOST Trail this weekend in Kirkless, but sadly I wasn't feeling 100% and so only made it to 2- boo (the 'day job' has been taking it's toll).

First Chris and I strolled down the lovely section of canal between the National Trust Car Park in Marsden to Standedge Visitors Centre and had a look around 'The Loft Space'. The website blurb describes 'The Loft Space' thus-

The Loft Spaces is open to all, Wednesdays through to Sundays. Whether you just want to sit, knit, read, chat or sew in the company of others, come along to our creative café and enjoy the creative ambiance. Alternatively book yourself a workspace for a full or half day and give yourself some space to work and use our equipment.

It was a beautifully spacious, light and bright area with a warm, inviting atmosphere. I had a good look around and found it to be lovely. Various crafts were on display and the ladies working in the Loft were friendly and chatty. I can certainly see why artists would come here to work. The Visitors Centre itself is also a delight- there's a great exhibit about the Tunnel's history on the ground floor, a 'water taxi' from the Centre back to Marsden, or you can go on a canal barge into the Tunnel itself, and there's a lovely little pub just up the road.

 View from 'The Loft Space' down to the canal.

Entrance to Standedge Visitors Centre.

If you'd like more information about 'The Loft Space' or the Visitors Centre check out their websites at http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/standedge-tunnel/the-loft-space and http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/standedge-tunnel/visit-us.

After that, Chris and I walked back to Marsden along the Canal again and went to pay a visit to Kevin Threlfall in his studio, Blackmoss (12a Victoria Street, Marsden. http://threlfall.co.uk/blackmoss.html). Kevin's wife Natalie was keeping him company, so we had a good chinwag and look at the art on display. I was amazed by how tidy Kevin's area of the studio was actually (he shares it with 2 other artists)! I can remember, years and years ago, going to Kevin's Undergraduate exhibit at Huddersfield University- its wonderful to see how far Kevin has come since then and I'm especially loving his recent, colourful works.

All in all, a lovely afternoon. Its just a shame I didn't feel well enough to get round some more places- but then, there's always next year!

Upcoming Art Events

Hi everyone, this is a quick post to highlight a few art events that are just around the corner-

1) HOST is on this Sat and Sun (8th and 9th Sept) in Kirklees, a chance to see where the magic happens as a 'host' of artists open their studio doors to the public. For more info visit their website at http://www.hoststudios.co.uk. I'll hopefully see you there Sunday.

2) Saltaire Festival starts this Thursday (6th) and runs until Sunday the 16th. A full and varied programme awaits in this gorgeous Yorkshire town. For more info visit their website at http://www.saltairefestival.co.uk. I'll be around on the Saturday- hoping for a dry day so I can enjoy the Morris dancing and open garden trail without having my brolly permanently up!

3) Chatsworth House and Garden's annual Beyond Limits event is fast approaching, this year running from 07.09.12 till 28.10.12. It really does make for a special day out- the garden is beautiful (and massive!) and the sculptures just adds to the pleasure of walking around it for an afternoon. Worth every penny of the Garden entry ticket price, I cannot recommend it enough. Full details can be found on the Chatsworth House website at http://www.chatsworth.org/whats-on.

4) Wakefield Art Walk will be on again on Wednesday 26th September. This will be my first visit to the Art Walk- exciting stuff, I'm looking forward to it. If you want to know more check out the website at http://artwalk.org.uk.

5) Strictly this isn't an 'art' event, but its a brilliant event none the less! This year's Marsden Jazz Festival is on Oct 12th to 14th and features over 50 free events as well ticketed ones. Sadly Marsden Jazz Fest has become a victim of its own success, but is still worth checking out, particularly if you are a patient person or are willing to pay for the ticketed events. The event's website is http://www.marsdenjazzfestival.com.

6) There are also regular art exhibitions at Huddersfield's Lawrence Batley Theatre, if you'd like to find out more head to http://www.thelbt.org/whats_on.