(in nature, the post office, an airport and the toilets)
It was good to be able to visit my aunt this summer, but it would be more convenient for me if she lived in Richmond North Yorkshire rather than the one in British Columbia on the far side of Canada! However, as an added bonus to re-connecting with family, I also got to see this scuplture and it blew me away.
There were many different parts to it, all carved from wood and set into the side of a mountain park, looking over the bay. Each as tall as a house, the different elements drew my attention separately and together. I was captivated by the beauty and meaning (see right) of the work.
I think it was the setting as much as the artwork that made it so beautiful, leaving me wondering about whether the art helped me to see nature or nature made me see the art.
I was also much taken with this convenient arrangement (left), of a combined Post Office and Museum. Buy stamps, see art, send a parcel, enjoy the exhibition.
I know there's the Postal Museum in London, but I don't think I've seen a Post Office used as an exhibition space before.
Please let me know if you know of one such in the UK somewhere - I'd love to visit.
On the way home, I had loads of time to spare in the airport, and was happy to be kept entertained with a a wide range of artworks in display cases all along the corridor. (See right for some examples, there were many more!)
They brought colour, texture and interest into the place, although I didn't notice many people stopping to look. Airports are so big - and I'm not a fan of air travel - but it does make sense to me to use the space available to share beauty and ideas.
In adventures closer to home, I went to visit John Ruskin's old house, Brantwood near Coniston. What a place! I learned a lot of things, including that you can make a xylophone out of stone and it's called a lithophone.
There's nothing like learning a new thing to brighten my day.
I took very many photos there - of carpets and wallpaper as well as artworks and information. Too many to share, but at the end of our visit I went into the women's toilet and discovered these beautiful tiles.
So I snuck into the men's to check that they'd got some too...
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