miss marie's miscellany

Stained glass

I admired these beautiful windows which I saw at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. The predominant blue colour is so striking, and luckily, the sun was shining, so the colours are richly vivid. You can read more about the design here, a very complex musical and historic inspiration - explained far better than I could ever hope to(the history of piping is not my forte!), and I'm sure once read, it will illuminate this stained glass even more! 

Last days of summer

 Some good times from the end of the holiday, spent in Liverpool. A Sunday visit to another beach in Formby, just a couple of miles north of the statues from the last post. This beach is next to some gorgeous pinewoods, which normally we'd have had a stroll in; but we didn't want to miss the sunshine!  The day was just perfect for sitting on the beach feeling the sand between your toes

Watching a windsurfer

Looking at the clouds-very unusual stripy cloud formation

Flying a kite

Also, a Monday trip into Liverpool to the Albert dock and the Tate gallery to see the Colour Chart exhibition on just now, which was good to see; I feel more enlightened about the concepts which go into making pieces of art using media I wouldn't always expect to be used in an 'art' exhibition. This was a girls' outing so we had to include a trip to the posh cafe for a naughty but nice cream tea!

Whilst we girls were being culture vultures, the boys went off for something exciting. It was my nephew E's 11th birthday, so as a treat they went for a cruise on an amphibious vehicle called the Yellow Duckmarine,  Here it is approaching

And it's out of the water

It's safe to say they were very excited and enjoyed it immensely! 

Pizza and birthday cake afterwards!

 

Men on the beach

If my title has enticed you here in the hope of seeing bronzed adonises sunning themselves, then you will be a bit disappointed! The men on the beach I'm referring to are a group of sculptures by the artist Antony Gormley entitled 'Another Place' and which live on the stretch of beach near my dad's house. They are made in cast iron and are a copy of the artist's own body. They have been there for about 4 years now, and last year after much debate, it was decided that they will remain there permanently. 

The statues are submerged or revealed with the ebb and flow of the tides, and some seem to have sunk a little as this one has, as a result of those tides.

Being exposed to the elements and the salt water has eroded and rusted the cast iron

I love the way they all stare at the horizon, as if into infinity. 

The beach is fairly busy regularly, with walkers and dogs, runners, families out for the day, even the odd windsurfer and now visitors who come specifically to see the statues. There were quite a few folk there when I was, but somehow nearly all the pictures I took have only statues in them. That wasn't deliberate on my part, but it seems to emphasize the air of solitude and peace that the statues create. 

 

This is the view looking towards the docks and Liverpool.......still no people.......perhaps they all were camera-shy!?

I really like the way the beach has changed since these residents arrived; before that, it was a little unloved; now it seems invigourated and fresh, full of life. Whatever one's view of public art is, I think when the result is something as striking and beautiful as these silent sentinels, then it's something worth appreciating and applauding.

Colour photo

The Tate Liverpool has an interesting exhibition on just now, Colour Chart; Re-inventing Colour. As well as exhibiting works of artists from 1950 to the present, they are collaborating with Flickr to create an photo group of colour monochrome photos sent in by anyone who has a Flickr account. They will choose 36 of the entries to make a Colour Chart poster which will be displayed at Tate Liverpool. I'm sure there are lots of fellow bloggers who have taken great pics which fit the bill ; I'm quite tempted to have a go myself. Quite a difficult remit though; I take lots of photos daily and usually try to fit in lots of different colours, very rarely just one.

 

Would something like this do?!

There are a selection of photos already showing on the Tate website  (in fact all entries will be displayed online) and as ever, it's interesting to see how different people interpret the brief. 

I took this photo last summer standing outside Tate Liverpool. I will be in Liverpool again in a few weeks, and will be doing my utmost to get along to see this exhibition. Sounds like just the thing for a summer's day, bright and vibrant.