Inside with Jaume Plensa

Way back in the middle of last month, I met up with Bev in Yorkshire for a small cultural top up at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. As is usual, we walked too far and got sore feet, but it started of gently with a wonderful exhibition from Jaume Plensa. All quite close together and both inside and out. This blog is my three favorite parts of the inside exhibition - I'm sure the outside stuff will get mentioned later.

This part of the gallery is set out as a number of rooms leading off this corridor. Mr Plensa had made a long curtain of steel letters to run along the corridor. He calls it 29 Palms as the letters spell out 29 passages from his favorite poets. Bev spotted that it began and ended with Macbeth.

Eleven giant alabaster heads fill one of the rooms - slightly elongated and standing about 6 feet tall. The room was very quiet when we arrived here, peaceful and mesmerising things they were. Though there is nobody in my pictures of them, we were allowed to walk amongst them.

Out in the corridor again. There was a sign at the beginning ot the exhibition which said, "do not touch, only caress."

The last room was "Jerusalem", a number of gongs hanging  from the ceiling and each engraved with part of the song of Soloman (thank you - you don't think I spotted that one myself). We were encouraged to strike the gongs gently, listen to the sound grow and fade. Each gong had a distinctly different character.

Back in the corridor at the other end of the curtain just in time to see a herd of school children arriving from the opposite direction. They were delighted by the gongs and were paying little attention to the gentle part of proceedings. Within minutes the attendant in that room had emerged and was calling for help from his collegue - poor lad, he was absolutely out of his depth. I think we probably saw this part just at the right time.

Dumfries Folk 'n' Ale festival

At the very beginning of my time off a few weeks ago, there was a folk music and ale festival in Dumfries entitled Folk 'n' Ale (does pretty much what it says on the tin). I don't take very good pictures in pubs I'm afraid, so my apologies poor light and in many cases, down right out of focus. I have Ronnie Galloway to thank for some of these photos - the decent ones and certainly those with me in them.

The first night was in the Tam O' Shanter for a session led by John and Rhona Carson

Gus Hendrix plays the mandolin behind his head.

See! I don't drink beer and take pictures all the time. Caught having a tune.

What sort of an ale festival wouldn't have any ale.

One of Ronnie's pictures of the session in the back room of The Ship - I popped in  here for an hour or so after the session in the Tam O'Shanter.

Festival accommodation - very wet on the outside but thankfully dry on the inside. Camping didn't prove very popular here - this is it. A third tent turned up for the second night.

On Saturday afternoon there was music on the High Street. Nicola Black was up first for a few tunes (helped out by base player Blackie (is that right?)). You can listen to a few tunes by Nicola here

The gentlemen of Galloway Folk (minus one) await their turn 

The gentleman of Galloway Folk having their turn. You can find them here .

After Galloway folk had had their tunes, I wandered off to Tam O'Shanter for an afternoon session. On the way I passed Alec, my campsite neighbour, who was trying his hand at the busking competition.

We must have been doing something right in the Tam O'Shanter as they brought us a free beer.

I had a pint of this later on - quite frankly, not good - watery even. Is first pint out of the barrel a reason - I don't know. Two of the other beers in this blog were Broughton ales from the same pub and they were lovely so I'll give the bar the benefit of the doubt.

I popped into this session in the Globe - Robert Burn's favorite haunt when he lived in Dumfries. I was just listening - I know my limits. It's just a wee wood lined room and filled to the gunnels with players - quite a sound, I can say.

Well done to the Globe for selling me cups of tea - it was really just what I needed (I'm just a lightweight on the beer front and don't really go in for drinking all day)

Last session of the weekend in the Caven Arms

My father and Gus do battle on the fiddle.

An honourable draw, as you might expect.

Kirkcudbright Arts and Crafts Trail - Part 3

This is the last of the blogs on the Arts and Crafts trail this year. I think I've been to every venue that was open and marked in the booklet (they go up to 75). There was an unmarked venue just a couple of doors along from me that I only heard about after it was all over, so I'm not going to quibble over that one.

What's going on at the castle?

It's just that Repunzel letting her hair down again.

For the last two days the Maverick Angels ( find them here ) toured the town giving impromptu tunes on street corners and in pubs. Here they are planted outside Greengate stirring up an few jigs in the High Street. On Monday evening the gave a Ceilidh in the Royal Hotel which was a fine way to round of the whole weekend.

Inside Greengate, Pauline Saul paints these distinctive fish as well as cat, and other things. Hand made cards, finger puppets, allsorts.

This year she's made a giant fish - instantly recognisable as one of her's.

Round by the museum, Peter Dowden had been sculpting all week for the symposium. For the week end he had a few of his pieces out on display.

And the piece he is currently working on.

Also for the symposium, Andy Breen has managed to get his sculpture from the front of the gallery to Greengate gardens, where it's nice and quiet and has numerous biting insects taking an interest in him.

The scallop shell sitting on top of it is a bit of a give away.

I have at last managed to see his finished piece from last year - it's Billy Marshall. Somebody's put a crown on his head - fitting perhaps as he was know as a gypsy king.

The furthest point on the trail would have to be the Ellenbank nurseries, where they have this delightful walled garden (I didn't know it was there).

Ruthie Redden and Jean Redden had found a home for the weekend in the basement of Rhubarb (purveyors of nice things). She'd brought along a whole crowd of her Moon Gazey Hares.

As well as these tiny birds. She's branched out into foxes, owls and witches too.

There were of course plenty of her paintings and cards.

Near the edge of town is the studio of Jane Gibson who is a particularly fine miniature painter.

Here she is working on a squirrel.

She also does a large number of normal sized paintings.

Jane's kitchen had been taken over by the ladies of the Lockerbie sugar craft guild. After much debate, they decided that this rose was probably made by Addie Clarkson.

  They were all involved in making this piece

A special mention must go to my niece Hazel Laurie and her piano teacher Mary Mann who kept the Broughton House piano going for four or five hours every day with solo and duet playing.