Cheers,
I’ve been going through my photos of Ipswich that have short stories. I still have some “long stories” to work on, but need more info or more photos. Not much time left either!
I made a return longer visit to The John Russell Gallery. Colleen and I had made a pact to try to recreate what was a photo of sheep dyed in pastel colors. I liked my drawing but was pretty discouraged by the results so needed some color lessons. Going to the Gallery is like having an art lesson as I can look at the work of good artists. I also had another very interesting conversation with Mr. Coe, the owner. www.thejohnrussellgallery..co.uk He is so willing to share his love of and knowledge of art. I told him that it was the first time I realized that the distance one stood from a painting really made a difference. Duh!!!! (Other than looking at David Hockney’s Grand Canyon paintings at the Boston Art Museum.) Get too close to an oil landscape and you don’t see it properly; at least I don’t. But back up and amazing things happen. Other works also struck me that way. So I’m thinking that before buying art it’s a good idea to know where it will hang. One I loved was called ‘50 Shades of Grey’ Medium: Oil on Canvas Size: 80 cm x 80 cm. I actually thought it had said shades of green…especially not having read the book
This is a tiny thumbnail from the Gallery’s link to Gil Mutch’s pages. I was pleased to learn Gil is a woman. The Gallery has lots of works by women artists which is really nice to see. http://thejohnrussellgallery.co.uk/exhibition-archive/archive-2013/gil-mutch/ is the link to the painting, the top left corner. I thought it would be great in a bedroom with white walls and it could be the star of the show. I loved the vibrant colors and how the paint was clopped on in places to make the bedspread look even more textured. http://mutchart.co.uk/works_on_paper/home.html is the artist’s site and her pen and wash which I also really like.
Lots and lots of art in Ipswich!
Ru
Ipswich miscellaneous …..
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Invasion of the Dutch Tall Ships. “The annual event sees hundreds of youngsters from universities across the Netherlands take to an armada of ships measuring up to 50m long and set out from Rotterdam for a week on the water. The ships set sail on Monday and arrived in Ipswich yesterday afternoon. The visit to England was unplanned – the scheduled stop in the Hague was abandoned after the wind changed – but the stop-off in Ipswich went down well with most of the students who had been hoping for the chance to make the coast-to-coast trip. ….this year there are 500 students on 22 ships – the most the race has seen since it began 26 years ago – and the ships have crews of between 10 and 40 students, all guided by a captain and professional team of sailors. The tall ships remained in Ipswich overnight before heading back to Holland by Sunday. http://www.angliaafloat.co.uk/ (Apparently the British Ports Officials weren’t as pleased by the unscheduled invasion and the students were warned against making “too much noise.” They did invade the marina loo and shower facilities, though that wasn’t any problem. And the noise seemed to end early enough. One of the ships attempting to turn around in the small marina basin came so close it nearly took off our dinghy but staff returned to check if there had been damage, which there thankfully wasn’t.) |
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Sunrise Sunset |
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The seagulls are constantly littering the docks with mussel shells. (Which is better than the pigeon poop that is all over our dinghy. Yuck!) Seagulls can laugh/cry so loud all of Ipswich can hear; or so softly when conversing with each other. When you walk up behind them, they give you a “look” that a disgusted teen would envy. Then rather than fly away, they sort of speed up making themselves look very silly. |
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I’ve read many places that bread, cookies, crackers…. are bad for water birds. For many of the same reasons it’s bad for us. But the greens I tried to feed this swan just didn’t appeal. Before really investigating the “bread” problem I’d fed this swan and its friend some bread. They come right up to the dock , look directly at you as if too speak, and if I’d been brave enough, they’d probably have taken it from my hand. They wag their tail feathers too afterwards. But no more bread for them or the ducks. Actually, with the increased boating activity, most of the ducks and swans seem to have moved someplace down river more quiet. |
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Flowers in a barrel planter at the marina. |
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Not the “London Shard,” but “The Mill” is also a useful landmark when you take new paths. It’s the tallest building at the waterfront and maybe in Ipswich. I’d gone for a walk and wasn’t so sure exactly where I was, but seeing the Mill I at least knew the direction of the marina. |
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The tall building on the left is The Mill. We are on the next bridge from town looking back down the river towards the marina. This part of the river isn’t navigable unless maybe by rowboat or something that could get under the bridges that cross the river and also have a very shallow draft. But in the right light it’s very scenic. I really do like rivers. |
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I just like all of these old brick buildings. The only info I found about Chequers was an article of arson in 2011 when someone tried to burn it down.
Someone’s home with a lovely front garden. |
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Street art I’ve walked past this unfinished/semi-derelict waterfront building many times but only today noticed this face painted there. |
