Jo’s Monday walk : YSP revisited

Not sure that I’d want to meet this tribe on a dark night, but on a semi-sunny afternoon at Yorkshire Sculpture Park they seemed harmless enough.  I had hoped to find some Spring colour and a whole heap of rhododendrons, but it didn’t look too promising on my arrival.

The sheep were oblivious, despite the antics of a small boy.  I was happy to find that many of the sculptures had been replaced since my previous visit, so off we went, on a mission of discovery.  Over the bridge and upwards, a carpet of bluebells cheering us on.

The ‘rather cool’ tree sculptures, nourished by decaying leaves, had obviously been there for some time.  Up on the tops it was cool and breezy, but you could see for miles, rapeseed fields lighting the horizon.  And then it was down to the Longside Gallery, and a coffee stop.  No, I’m sure you don’t want to see a photo of my chocolate fudge brownie, but I’d earned it.

The small boy was worried at the appearance of a shaggy Highland Cattle beastie, directly in our path to the gazing head.  With scarcely a glance in our direction, it lumbered into the mud and better grazing.  The head, eyes closed, I found very beautiful.

The lake was huge, families strolling peacefully in pursuit of culture.  I could have wished for more information on the sculptures, but it wasn’t until our walk was over that my husband offered the leaflet he’d picked up.  What was that, lurking on the field?  Unarmed warriors, it appeared to me.

I was sure there was meaning.  Fortunately the YSP website explains all.  British-Trinidadian sculptor, Zak Ové, is responsible for Black and Blue : The Invisible Men and the Masque of Blackness.  He seeks to “reignite and reinterpret lost culture using new-world materials, whilst paying tribute to both spiritual and artistic African identity”. In this work, the sculptor uses graphite to explore what he describes as “future world black”.

Ai Weiwei’ s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads has been touring the world since May 2010.  The 12 bronze heads have a historical reference, but Weiwei intends them to be playful and accessible.  I ceased my perusing to head for the Camelia House.  Their beauty was easy to understand.

I kept looking for that telltale splurge of colour, but green predominated.  Returning to the entrance, I was sorry to see that the reflective silver sphere I loved last time was being replaced.  But there’s often light at the end of the tunnel, and so it proved to be.

A dazzling display of soft pink, rhododendron wonder.  Exactly what I was looking for.

Have you been following Cathy’s extraordinary new venture at Wander.essence?  More energy, enthusiasm, attention to detail and pure determination to get it right you will not find in the world of travel blogs.  I have Cathy’s permission to include my walk on her Photography Invitation.  I hope she likes it.  Do join her on one of her many adventures!

It’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK, so hopefully you’ll have time to read and share my walks this week.  Many thanks to all of you for taking part, and for your continued support.  Join me any time- the details are on my Jo’s Monday walk page.

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Janet is delighted to lead us into Spring this week.  It’s been a long wait in her part of the world :

Spring walk

I usually have to force my brain to come up with poetry.  Frank makes it seem effortless :

Round the lake (rtl)#1: sea above

Seems Jackie had a bit of a narrow escape the other week.  But, undaunted, she shopped, and ate :

Love food

Drake shares some captivating street art, this week.  A walk in the Black Forest :

Streets with inspiring content

While more of Warsaw’s fascinating history is revealed, in this post from Meg :

I don’t know everything

If you’ve never been there, be guided by Andrew’s wonderful descriptions.  Or even if you have!

Naples, Walking The Back Streets

Another place I’ve been to on my travels, Candy takes a whistle-stop look at Beja, in the Alentejo :

A walk through Beja in Portugal

And here, a sculpture walk very different to mine, from Cady Luck Leedy :

Last Day in Columbus, Georgia

Another poetry walk, and an ‘out of this world’ experience with Suzanne :

Walking in two worlds 

Memories of my son’s childhood recreated for me by Irene :

Railway Garden

Jude, you might enjoy this?  Your neck of the woods.  3rd of 3, with Ceri at Woman Walking :

To the Lighthouse, and other stories

And Emma, simply not letting PTSD affect her progress around the Gower coast :

Gower Coastal Walk: Tor Bay & Oxwich Bay

Another glorious morning here!  I would tap dance my way into the garden, but it doesn’t work with carpets.  Have a wonderful week, all!

163 comments

  2. Fabulous, Jo! You found your rhododendrons and plenty of green, and I love those sculptures, especially Black and Blue: The Invisible Men and the Masque of Blackness and those interesting heads. I love the highland cattle too. Thanks for linking up, Jo, and I apologize for my late reply. We are quite busy as you can imagine. Lots of hiking today! I’ll link you to my next photography post! 😊😊

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    1. No worries, Cathy! I know you’ve a full schedule, and there’s no hurry for me. Hope you had a fabulous day’s hiking- I’m sure you must! 🙂 🙂

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  3. What a fantastic place to visit! My favorite sculpture is the one of the head, eyes closed. Such elegance and simplicity at once. I’ve never seen cattle like that before. First, I thought it was art, but, since it didn’t fit in with the rest, and you mentioned it moved (:-)), I have to assume it was real. I see a lot of people post about the bluebells. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them either. It would be wonderful to have them here in the desert!

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    1. That head is my favourite too. The Highland cattle were right close by. They are popular in children’s petting farms here but I’ve never seen them wandering loose so we kept a cautious eye. They are quite big! 🙂 🙂 The bluebells would hate your desert. They crave woodland shade.

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  4. What an eerie juxtaposition of art and nature! Of course I gravitated towards the wondrous carpet of bluebells, the twisted tree trunks, the gossamer pink blossoms. I wouldn’t have minded a photo of that fudge brownie, either.

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    1. I was annoyed to miss an exhibition in the Chapel, Anabel. It was a family outing and I hadn’t checked the website. Then again, there’s always the element of surprise if you don’t. 🙂 🙂

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  9. Stand aside terracotta warriors, make way for Zak’s new order. Aren’t they fab? But I’d have liked a few to have red lippy 🙂 Looks like a nice place for a family walk and to let a lad let off some steam!

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  12. What a fantastic park! Thanks for sharing the pictures, Jo. You’re right, though: some of them might not want to encounter at night either. 😉 Nor during a Yorkshire fog.
    Have a wonderful week,
    Pit

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  16. Stunning pieces!
    Our magnolias and cherry blossoms popped this week. We will have to wait until June for the rhodos.

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  18. That’s a long walk to the Longside Gallery, I bet someone slept well that night (and no I don’t mean you…). Nice to see the YSP again.

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      1. Yes. The chapel is pretty, but I wasn’t able to go inside as they were doing work on it. I think there is a photo on my post. Eden was fab!!

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      2. The exhibition on the website looks really interesting. Look forward to your post. We’ve just come back from a local wander and collapsed in the garden. Lots of new houses encroaching on the countryside xx

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      3. Is this the chapel? Been up the hill hunting bluebells, but not many this year, fog heading back my way so I scampered back down again. Hey, ho, joys of living by the coast. Couldn’t even see the sea! Or ‘my’ lighthouse.

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      4. I don’t really recall seeing this, Jude. We were off chasing sheep across the field and I hadn’t consulted the website so didn’t know to look for it. 😦 We do get that sea fret sometimes but not noticeably this weekend. We were mostly inland, and bluebells are a bit thin on the ground. Heaps of dandelions, though! 🙂 🙂

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  19. Stuff the sculptures! I love the bridges and the rhododendrons. Although I might take back the sculpture comment. The heads are peaceful; the Henry Moore-like roughly circular one is calm; and the sheep are very life-like!

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    1. Yes I’ll go with the rhodies too. I was annoyed looking at the website that I’d missed the exhibition in the Chapel which looked fascinating. I didn’t even know there was a chapel! It was all a bit last minute and we had the little fella in tow xxx

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      3. Hmmmm, well after such a long time since I visited UK I am very hazy about directions and areas. Heck I’m hazy about places I visited just a short time ago over here…🙄

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