I live very near Roche Court Sculpture Park. It's free to get in, can you believe that? Not only is it free but sometimes in the autumn there are so many apples gathered in from their orchard that they leave a wheelbarrow of "help yourselves" by the entrance.
I love going there and walking. Thinking. Looking. Breathing. I love going there because it's something I do for me. I don't pretend to know a lot about art, but I appreciate that there are people who enrich our lives by making things for us to look at. There are times when the emotional impact of such works takes a while to filter through the noise caused by the everyday business of living, so I like to take my time and wander at a leisurely pace.
Sometimes I take my nephews there to run. I don't think there is any better way to get children to understand how important art is than to make it the backdrop against which their memories can play out. Art does not need to force it's way into our focus. It does not need a fanfare announcing it's worth, instead it can catch you unawares in a moment of wonderment. To me that is the essence of appreciation.
I like Barry Flannigan because of his sense of fun. His series of hare sculptures have all got that light sense of the joy there is in just being. I like that. I really like the works of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore too but sometimes I can't tell which is which because there seems to be a crossover somewhere along the line in their individual styles. Maybe I'm being dense though because side by side they do look very distinctive.
Antony Gormley does all the bronze men that from a distance look so real. It is their stillness that gives them away. As you approach you see how ridiculous it was to ever be fooled into thinking they're real. Sometimes I think the joke of that is so funny that I laugh out loud. As I said, I don't pretend to understand art I just enjoy it.
I just popped by to wish you all a Happy Easter and then I thought of the sculpture park and how I'd like to visit there again soon. Lucky I have tomorrow off work. I hope you are having a restful or happily busy weekend.
