Niederrhein - lockdown life

For eight weeks in a row, from 7 March to 3 May, I lived in the house in Germany where I grew up, close to the river Rhein, not so far from the Dutch border. It felt like a very unique experience, with lots of unexpected discoveries. Back in England nearly 3 months now, I'm beginning to look back, reliving moments, and remembering lots of fleeting impressions.

Up North

 End of August 2019, we travelled all the way from Oxford to Orkney, to visit our friend Bi. Our first stop on the way was The Hepworth Wakefield, which we wanted to see for quite a while. I was very happy to find that we would go past it anyway (well, almost)! We spent a whole afternoon there, and without any doubt more time would have been even better.

I have a friend who writes wonderful blogs about her way of seeing life(and the universe), all with a splendid focus on everyday events and related insights. She has (in my humble view) what I call the 'power of words'. She is great with photos, too. On her blog, she has 'Pictures', 'Words', and 'Posts' in different sections. Her words are powerful, and the 'posts' do not tend to include photos. In 'Pictures', the photos tell the story. Stories, pictures, words - she never fails to surprise me with something new, refreshing.

For me, as an almost 'compulsive' photographer, it's the photos which have to tell my story, and there are only a few words that I would want to add.

The building itself is impressive (Chipperfield - if you like him ...)

What I like as much as the building itself is how it finds its place in the surrounding.

Arriving feels a bit like approaching a ship.

It seems to be an inspiration for 'artistic recycling'.

Old industrial buildings are still residing opposite.

There's no stopping people from pursuing their own business.

Seeing the stunning and well curated exhibits by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and other equally famous artists was good. And discovering things I hadn't expected was just brilliant.

Seeing this Howard Hodgkin rug when entering the gallery made me change my mind about rugs. How much I would love to have this one!

I loved the atmosphere and light in Wolfgang Laib's installation, consisting of lots of small rice mounts.

This sculpture on the floor, created by Tau Lewis, was touching. It felt like meeting someone. Perhaps like encountering the sadness caused by slavery.

I seem to remember that somewhere in the exhibition I read about Barbara that she felt like realising what she had dreamt of in her teenage years when she started to create drawings like this one. (Always prone to put my own interpretation into memories, admittedly!) It floats, yet has my favourite kind of focus in the two circles, red and grey.

Good bye, Hepworth Wakefield ...

From Wakefield, we moved on to Brora on the Scottish East Coast (after a good night's sleep in Dewsbury, a thoroughly disappointing town. Yet, we found a good place to stay for the night ...)

And NO. We didn't sleep in this house. Beautiful, isn't it?

We stayed in this shepherd's hut, put up by the owner of the beautiful house. This is 'glamping'. Not too bad, really!

Behind the beautiful house, we found a very old graveyard,

overseen by a little watch tower. In the 'olden days', after a death, someone would sit in this watch tower for three days for the wake.

The following morning, we went back to this graveyard, to chase light, and the memories of people we never met.

We had to say goodbye, in the morning light, to catch our ferry in Scrabster, which would take us to Stromness.

Arrival in Scrabster Harbour, and a bit of boat spotting after a good old-fashioned full breakfast at around noon. Recommended.

The ferry arrives. Vikings, here we come!

Goodbye, Scrabster.

Glorious sunshine. Neither too hot, nor too cold, and perfect lighting conditions. Oh, that feeling when you know you've got all you want. Just a fleeting moment. Never to return, so very precious.

Horizon with windmills (westwards)

More horizon (eastwards, towards John O'Groates)

The Old Man of Hoy - in passing

Looking back to the Old Man

Stromness harbour in sight

A quick wander through Stromness, beautifully lit

A welcome feast prepared for us in Glower ...

--- by our most wonderful host, Biljana

First morning view - countryside

Second morning view - seaside (Brough of Birsay)

Our direct neighbours ...

... and Glower in full sunshine glory!

Next to the whale bone ...

picture these ...

--- marvellous waves,

and turn round ... (photo courtesy Bi Scott!)

From different angles ...

Another beautiful morning ... perfect start for a new exploration!

... if we ever manage to get going, that is!

Pier Arts Centre

Saturday morning - sunshine

Sean Scully, John Hoyland, Patrick Heron - I woke up thinking about abstract painters, because last night we watched a Sean Scully documentary on BBC iPlayer. It's quite intriguing to see Sean Scully painting - a bit like a 'bull in a china shop', but he's definitely one who knows what he's doing. Or - even better - he doesn't need to think about it, he can just do it. My 'waking-up' thoughts though were about John Hoyland's pictures. We went to see an exhibition in Newport Street Gallery (29 March 2016)

My mind kept wandering, and ended up with imagining images of Patrick Heron. Of the three of them, he's still my personal favourite ...

Agnes

Some of us have second names. My second name is Agnes. I never really liked it. Now, for the first time in my life, I'm very happy about it. This is how Agnes Varda's last interview (September 2018) began:

"What are the strongest memories of your childhood?

My parents named me Arlette. and I changed it to Agnès when I was young. I didn’t like it because I don’t like names with “ette” – you know, it looks like a little girl’s name. Jumping, charming and jumping. I didn’t feel like being like this. So I chose Agnès."

My perspective on the name Agnes has changed, because Agnes Varda is a person I admire hugely. I haven't seen all her films. In fact, only a few. Everything about her is simply authentic. The most recent film I watched was Faces – Places (2017). Not sure if I'm allowed to post this (copyright holders, please forgive me – credit: Agnès Varda © Cine Tamaris):

Now I'm planning to catch up with her (her films ...)

A first short list (shortlist) is:

Cléo from 5 to 7

Jacquot de Nantes

Jane B. par Agnes V.

Filling the gap

Just found that I haven't used this blog for years ... and obviously I won't be able to make up for all the missing posts. But here are a few images: 20 September 2014: Jasper performing in 'TAKE FOUR' at SJE:

And here are Jasper and Martha modelling during a photo shoot for a painting:

More to follow - some day soon :)

Not sure

Here I am, sitting in my attic again. Something I haven't done in while, even though it's such a good place. Summer is almost gone, and rather than making the most of the September sunshine I sit long hours in the office most day, so that it's already getting dark when I finally jump on my bike to cycle home. Feels a bit like I lost balance. Recently, after a jazz gig in the Burton Taylor Studio (OxJaMS concert featuring Robin Jones and Eric Young with George Haslam, Richard Leigh Harris, and Steve Kershaw) I took a picture of a young woman, arranging a great 'selfie' with the musicians:

Driving to crystal fighters music

... and feeling like so many years ago, when there was nothing more invigorating than driving around in my tiny car and having the sound on full blast! Not that full blast in those days was anywhere near the sound we're getting from car sound systems these days, but I dare say it didn't stop us from having just the same exuberant fun (and possibly annoying anyone nearby)! Hard to find the means to explain ...why do I like 'You and I'?