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.

Brighouse Arts Festival

Yesterday I popped over the hills to Brighouse for the Arts Festival currently going on there until 31.08.12. Sadly, it was disappointing.

I went on the Festival website prior to departing as I assumed I would be able to print off a town centre map from there, highlighting where the participating venues/ businesses were located. I was wrong. I cobbled something together using Google maps and the venue addresses that are on the Festival website, but this was less than ideal (more on that later). There was also no advice about where to park, so again, I turned to Google.

Luckily, Brighouse town centre has plenty of small, side- street car parks so parking up wasn't an issue, and as an added bonus it was free on a Sunday- woo. This is certainly something that could have been promoted on the website to encourage visitors.

I started my afternoon at Milry's, where I enjoyed a lovely lunch, but was disappointed with the lack of art on display. The venue was meant to be hosting the Hipperholme and Lightcliffe Art Society, but there was literally so little art on display I felt confused- was Milry's actually participating in the Festival? It didn't appear so.

I then walked up to the Rydings Park and Brighouse Library and Smith Art Gallery. The Smith Art Gallery was small but pleasant and I enjoyed looking at the two exhibits there.

There was also meant to be, within the library section of the building, an exhibit of the photographer Jasmin Chadwick's work- but I could not see any evidence of this within the library, nor were there signs directing you to this exhibit in another part/ room of the building. There were library staff present but they were all busy helping people who were using the library, so I didn't linger to ask regarding the whereabouts of the photography exhibit- I believe this should have been clearly advertised/ signposted within the building anyway.

In the park there wasn't much going on- a little steam train, a group of kids doing trapeze walking between a few trees, and there were a couple of gazebos set up for demos, but none were going on. In fact, the only one that was manned was the graffiti artist's gazebo and the graffiti artist was sat nearby, not demonstrating. I felt this was poor- it was around 2pm when I was there- peak time, and there were people milling around. Had the demos been going on I'm sure those of us that were there would have gathered to watch- I certainly would have. But it feels rude to approach an artist and ask them to 'perform' on the spot, so I left.

I then went in search of the Harrison Lord Gallery. My quick look on Google maps earlier had indicated to me that this venue was on Bradford Road, on the way out of Brighouse. I got as far as the old Ritz Ballroom and the rain became so bad, I found refuge in a bus stop and decided to check the whereabouts of the venue again on my phone, to save me wandering aimlessly in the rain. It transpired that this venue was actually back down in the town centre, so off I went in further pursuit. When I got there, the venue was shut!!! I found this appalling- it should have been open on every day of the Festival if it was participating in it, but especially on the weekend dates of the Festival when the most visitors were likely to come. I was more than a little annoyed! I had assumed that every participating venue would be open all day throughout the Festival, because the Festival website did not indicate otherwise, or direct potential visitors to check with individual businesses regarding their opening times and provide links to any websites etc. Again, disappointing.

I then headed off to the final place I intended to visit, Blakeley's Coffee Shop. This was, again, hard to find. I think I found the right Blakeley's, but if I did then I was unimpressed with the art exhibited- there was so little it couldn't possibly be an exhibition?

All in all very poor. I think the website needs to have much more information on it for visitors, none of the venues had posters displayed in the windows to indicate they were involved in the Festival (and so that you had found the right place!), there were no Festival posters around the town centre helpfully directing you to venues, the fact a Gallery wasn't even open during the Festival was very poor, and the exhibits themselves seemed half arsed! I could go on but I think I'll stop there!

If I haven't put you off then, as mentioned earlier, the Festival is going on till 31.08.12 and the website is at http://www.brighousefestival.co.uk, but I can't say I'd recommend it to anyone as worth visiting.

 View of the Brighouse library and Smith Art Gallery.

Inside the Smith Art Gallery- a beautiful building.

HOST taster and Salts Mill

I can not believe how long its been since my last post! My bad!

My friend and fellow (much better!) artist Kevin Threlfall tweeted me recently to recommend paying a visit to Huddersfield's newest gallery space- the train station.
I must admit, I passed through Hudds train station in July while doing the 'ale trail' for a friend's birthday and did think then that I had spotted art hanging in the station- and I was right! The art work currently  hanging in the station is a taster of the artists who will feature in HOST and I spotted some familiar works hanging there.

 Helaina Sharpley's 3D Wire painting in Hudds train station.

 A beautiful piece by Kevin Threlfall.

 Mick Kirby- Geddes.

There was lots more to see besides the pieces pictured here, well worth a look if you're in Huddersfield- a very unique gallery space, just as Kevin said.

Don't forget about HOST- on in the Kirklees area 08.09.12 and 09.09.12. For more info visit the website at
http://www.hoststudios.co.uk.

Then, this Sunday, I paid a flying visit to Salts Mill in Saltaire- one of my most favourite spaces (and places). I had a look around the wonderful display of Hockney's on the ground floor- always a delight- and paid a visit to the exhibition currently on the 3rd floor-

25 Trees and other Pictures by David Hockney

remaining here until January 2013

featuring three 27-foot-long pictures of Bessingby Road, Bridlington.Other Yorkshire landscapes and recent portraits of family and friends are also on show.

In the projection room you can see Hockney's recent works on the iPhone and iPad, which cannot be seen anywhere else in the UK.

The show which is on the third floor, is open Wednesday - Sunday, 10.30am - 4pm, admission free

I'm pleased to say that the Bessingby Road photos were great but the real highlight for me was the family portraits- they were fantastic! I love Hockney's work- I like its honest, childlike quality- its simplicity, accessibility, colorfulness- just how I like my art :)

 Hockey's on the ground floor.

 A long view of the ground floor.

 Family portraits on show on the 3rd floor.

I cannot recommend Salts Mill- and Saltaire- enough for a visit. Why not head there during the upcoming Saltaire Festival? On between 06.09.12 till 16.09.12. For more info on the festival visit the website at http://www.saltairefestival.co.uk and for more info on Salts Mill visit http://www.saltsmill.org.uk.

I'm very excited about both events, not to mention Brighouse Festival, on from 23.08.12 to 31.08.12- I'll be heading there this Sunday afternoon. For more info their website is http://www.brighousefestival.co.uk.

Digley View 2

This is my newest drawing, another in the Digley Views series (I decided to run with that idea!).

It's pastel on Cartridge paper. Size= 294x140mm approx. For sale- unmounted and unframed- at £15.

Email me at rebecca.greensides@hotmail.co.uk if you're interesting in buying this or any other piece.

Hope you like it, all feedback is welcome!

Follow me!

I'm now on Instagram under my usual name, 'BekhaG', follow me if you are on there x