Three go wild in Yorkshire

I thought I had already written this post but, while it had coursed around my head, it didn't reach the page.  You may remember that last year my two friends and I were let loose on the unsuspecting folk of  Cornwall.   This year a new opportunity arose for us to have a little adventure, but this time a bit closer to home.

My last post was about Saltaire and the work of David Hockney and the excuse for this adventure was the chance to visit Yorkshire and Saltaire together and share our inspirations.  But first, we took the chance to visit one or two other venues.  First port of call was Yorkshire Sculpture Park. 

Do you know these women?  If you see them let loose in your vicinity be afraid, be very afraid!  (Only kidding).

This walkway above is just a very small part of the list of people who contributed to thefunds needed to establish and develop the Park.

The main exhibition we saw was work by Ursula Von Rydingsvard, much of it made as site-specific to the Park.  Much of it was monumental forms made from 4" x 4" cedar beams.  If you click on the image above you may get a better idea of the scale of the piece.

This photo of the 'twins' wandering down the corridor does give you some idea of the scale.

I found some of the work a little disconcerting and maybe that was the aim.  The piece above, like several others, was made from the fourth stomach of cows. 
    

 The work above is 'Mama Build me a Fence' and incorporates cedar, graphite and chalk.  It is a huge piece, 14' tall x 30'7" long.  I particularly liked the gridwork of the chalk marks across the surface.  Close up it was interesting to see that all the parts were numbered.

If your interest has been piqued by this small snippet of the exhibition you can watch a video about the artist and the exhibition here and visit Ursula's website. 

Of course, we didn't really go to YSP for the exhibiton, we went to see the sculptures out in the open.

The park sits in beautiful rolling countryside and there is plenty of space for families to roam around.

 I was really happy to see work by Barbara Hepworth whose work I know well from St Ives.  It did seem a bit strange to be seeing it here instead of in her own garden in Cornwall.

Just a few hundred yards from the Hepworth pieces is a sculpture by Henry Moore who inspired Barbara Hepworth to develop her work in new directions.

I really liked the beautiful Buddha by Niki Saint Phalle which was part of her Nana series.

I don't know if this cutout at the back was designed as a seat but I would love to have settled there for a while.

I don't have the maker of this piece but I really liked it and would have liked to have spent some time considering the glimpses of images through the perforations.  The image is in fact of three figures.

I will definitely go back to YSP.  We barely touched the surface and there was much more to see.  

Next up after YSP was a trip to Saltaire but I don't have anything to add to my previous post.  The Great Northern Quilt Show was also on our agenda and I'll save that for another post, although it's probably a mere glimmer in people's memories now.  

We were just able to squeeze in a visit to Fabworks, a fabric shop extraordinaire in Dewsbury.

 
Oh, my, word!  Died and gone to heaven or what?  The photo only shows a fraction of the fabrics on sale.  None of it is quilt cotton but there was beautiful shirting by Paul Smith and wonderful woollens by Avoca, my favourite Irish designer.  £10 a metre for wool fabric is a really good price.  There were beautiful silks, upholstery and curtain fabrics and buttons and trims galore.  I did succumb and bought some lovely wool for a tunic top and some beautiful cotton poplin shirting for who knows what.  I'll come back and edit in a photo tomorrow - if I remember.  Hang on a minute, I'll fire up the iPad..........

Here you go:

The grey spotty is going to be the lining for the tunic and the feathery cotton poplin is 'just because'!

Happy Days!