York Museums: Quilts,Ceramics and Hoards

 Recovering from a long  yet stimulating day in York visiting  various museums. The object of my  excursion was seeing the exhibitions at the Quilt museum before it closes  at the end of October. I spent some time looking round  'Quilt Art - Dialogues' - I was loaned a copy of the catalogue  so it was interesting to read more about the work and artists at the time ( and good advertising, I bought one  later).  I'd seen 'Small Talk' at FoQ  but with so many galleries there competing for your attention, it was good to have a longer look ( although the light was rather dim).
After tea and a chat  in the members room , I  headed over to York Art Gallery and after buying  a YMT card  had  delicious lunch ( with discount!) in the café there with the view above.  It's  run by the team at Café no 8 ( of rhubarb  and custard pavlova  fame!)

Suitably refreshed,  I headed up to the 1st floor to reacquaint myself with  some of my favourite paintings  including Paul Nash 'Winter Sea'.  The refurbishment of the gallery included comfy, quirky sofas, books and catalogues to look through, drawing materials  and  mini guides to looking at art incorporating a view finder.  I ordered the books on Paul Nash and Wilhelmina Barnes- Graham  this morning!  

I spent most time however in the fantastic  newly opened Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA). The first thing that caught my eye was this installation  by Sara Moorhouse, the interpretation of landscape reminding me of the piece 'Around Here' by Elizabeth Brimelow that I'd  been absorbed by in the morning.    

 Another installation   by Clare Twomey represents the 10,000 hours it is said to take to become a master craftsman ( each bowl takes an hour to make). In the same, light, space there were cabinets devoted to individual artists: Bernard Leach, Lucie Rie, Ewan Henderson etc

 

 The gallery next to it on one side had a whole wall of 4 shelves organised by colour ( following, appropriately enough , the 'Richard of York.... mnemonic spectrum) , I could have spent days looking at these wonderful objects! They have dedicated touch screen computers   in front of them so you can identify what you're looking at ( and computers to search for particular artists)

On the other side of the room the collection donated by Anthony Shaw was displayed in domestic style space with furniture and other artwork and artifacts, inviting the viewer to share the experience of living with a collection 

In the shop I added to my own  collection   with a small bowl by Barbara Wood, saggar- fired after burnishing, it's so tactile,  and sits very well alongside my sphere by Elspeth Owen and my recent  'Upwey' purchases. 

 

In the hour before I caught my train back,  I wandered around the Yorkshire Museum,  so many hoards of silver and gold , with other galleries devoted to Richard III and to the  Romans. There were plenty of  screens around with video clips of  experts  talking  with passion about the archaeology and the conservation behind some of these treasures.   

 

Being  still in 'pottery mode', it was the prehistoric vessels which as ever drew my attention- the hand of the maker is so evident, a connection through millennia

 

And a hoard just as precious in my eyes as the silver and gold - a  huge quantity of partially made flint knives and scrapers.  I have a few myself among the 'small treasures' I'm recording through drawing.  

 

York Minster

As we were walking back from dinner on Tuesday, bell ringing practice was in full swing at York Minster- if you looked up to the belfry you could just see the ropes in action. A magical sound - I've had problems trying to post the movie clip I made but you can get an idea from the videos on this site. We could still hear it when we got back to our hotel (athough the birds were doing their best to compete!)
I was thinking as we walked round the Minster how your perspective changes over the years. Having visited as a child, what struck me then was the scale , now it is the details that attract.
Restoration is currently taking place on the Great East Window and they had some examples on display to illustrate the conservation process, from showing how crude it had been in the past to the current painstaking process where they carefully match the colours, sign and date each piece and crosshatch them so in the future they can be distinguished from the original. I was particularly taken with the medieval depiction of lions (probably not having seen that many, their features are rather human)
Even the lion faced fire-breathing horses from Revelation seem rather benign.
The Apocalypse was certainly heavily featured. Both of us were rather taken by the 'Doomstone', a limestone sculpture in the Undercroft, especially the devils and demons stoking the cauldron of hell.

Brilliant Birthday in York

Just back from a few days in York for my birthday based around giving a gallery talk at the Quilt Museum . The train journey of only 2 hours passed quickly. I've discovered the perfect travel sewing - preparing shibori for dyeing with very large needle and stitches. Even better on the return journey thanks to Sue and present of Empress Mills 'Teddy Bear Thread' which was a bit thicker. I was consulting Anne Maile's 1963 Tie and Dye book - for all the plethora of books around, this oldie has great diagrams and instructions and is a handy travel size ( my second-hand copy also has dye stains in various places -truly a manual to consult rather than a coffee-table book)
Ian was also reading... a military history book(what a surprise)
On our arrival , the first thing we saw was the daffodils and cherry trees in full bloom around the city walls - spectacular.
I had a very warm welcome at the Quilt Museum, such a wonderful setting for both traditional and contemporary quilts. During our stay we spent most of our time looking around York Minster (more about that in another post) and exploring the 'snickelways' between some memorable meals at Rustique(twice!), Ate O clock, Meltons Too, and Cafe No 8 with Alistair and Maggie joining us for dinner- lovely to see them. The Rhubarb and custard pavlova with rhubarb and custard ice cream was to die for - having seen it on the menu , I knew I had to budget my appetite with no starter and it was worth it!


I also had to honour my part of the birthday bargain in visiting a military museum ( as Ian had gone to QuiltFest for his birthday) Wasn't too bad ( I made some quite intelligent comments apparently) and as a reward Ian bought me this millifiori necklace spotted through the window of 'Monkey Puzzle' on our evening perambulations. What a sweetie (and Ian's not bad either!)