Ruthin Craft Centre

We took advantage of the Bank Holiday sunshine to go on a little trip to the Ruthin Craft Centre. It's one of my favourite places to visit and I always leave with my head full of ideas and inspiration! 

The exhibitions were mostly jewellery based, with some large sculpture too, gallery 1 and 2 were filled with a stunning Fritz Maierhoffer retrospective...

Fritz Maierhoffer from Ruthin Craft Centre website

Gallery 3 had work from Dail Behennah. I really loved the cabinets full of natural objects and how they shaped the jewellery design. 

Tate Liverpool...Part Two

I carried on my mooch around Tate Liverpool in the Leonora Carrington exhibition. It was my second visit, but this time I had a really good look around...

 Evening Conference, 1949.  © Estate of Leonora Carrington

"I, as the whole world, yearn for an individual identity. I would like to find it because on finding it, like the truth, it changes and shifts. We only need to sleep to convert ourselves into different personalities" Leonora Carrington 

And Then They Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur, 1954 

© Estate ofLeonora Carrington/Artists Rights Society (ARS)

I loved her work, mostly for the experimentation with materials and techniques, and the amazing colours. I picked up the novelisation of her life in the shop on my way out, it's called "Leonora" by Elena Poniatowska and I am excited to read it! 

Wandering through I found myself in the huge room of Cathy Wilkes installations. The change from bright colours and busy paintings full of immense detail to this stark collection of figures was quite startling! I must confess that I hadn't made the connection to the installation I had seen as part of the Turner Prize in 2008, this work is really very different, and I found this much more thought-provoking. 

Cathy Wilkes Untitled 2013 

Installation view ‘The Encyclopaedic Palace’, Venice Biennale, Venice, 2013

Courtesy of The Artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow (borrowed from the Tate website) 

Cathy Wilkes Untitled 2013

"The Encyclopaedic Palace", Venice Biennale, Venice, 2013 

(borrowed from Trend Tablet)

There was so much happening in this room, so much to see and take in, I was pleased to have a closer look. These figures had something nomadic about them, their clothes somewhat tatty and dishevelled, they were soulful and so human, with their collections of broken ceramics and bits of lace and embroidery. I really found them so endearing, they seemed lost but at the same time, content. I don't really know, it was appealing but also unsettling. It's a hard feeling to describe, and the things I've read seem non-specific on the meaning of the work, so all I have to go on is my reaction to what I saw, I picked up the exhibition guide so maybe I'll find out more there. There are photographs from the exhibition on The Modern Institute website, they are beautiful. 

So that was my Tate Liverpool adventure - and what a lovely adventure it was!

Tate Liverpool... Part One

Yesterday I woke up and had a realisation that I had no to-do list for the day and that the sun was shining - a rare combination of events indeed, and suddenly I caught the scent of adventure! 

I took myself off for a little day out to Liverpool, my main plan was to have a mooch around the Tate and re-visit the Leonora Carrington and Cathy Wilkes exhibitions, and I'm so very glad that I did. I must confess that I like to mooch around galleries on my own, I am an obsessive note-taker, and I am aware that it's a little bit of an anti-social habit. So armed with my notebook and a selection of pens - just in case one runs out, I've been caught-short before so now I go prepared - I set off on my adventure around the gallery. I thought I would share some of the lovely things that I saw...

I started on the Ground Floor, with the György Kepes exhibition of photographs 

Leaf with Leaves and Prism 1939

Lily and Egg, 1939 © estate of György Kepes

I moved on up to the DLA Piper Series: Constellation

Sophie Brzeska by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 1913 © Tate

And the Living Room exhibition, which is a really rather clever concept, it's full of the every-day bits and bobs that make up home.

Bathroom Mirror, by Patrick Caulfield 1968 © The estate of Patrick Caulfield

To Be Continued...Part Two Coming Soon!

My Week...

Last week was one filled to the brim with adventures and crafty making! I visited Liverpool for the Tate and shopping, went to the theatre for date night, bought a vintage embroidered cushion from a lovely trader in the market, had cake with a dear friend, and got very excited at the arrival of Harry Potter tour tickets. I've been working hard on my granny square blanket, and finished the second full row of my year-long blanket, and tried to make progress with the three (!) pairs of socks that are on the needles.