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  The 12 bronze heads have a historical reference, but Weiwei intends them to be playful and accessible.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. We’ve talked about visiting this park but somehow never got round to it so good to see your perspective. Sounds a fascinating place and obviously they vary the exhibits so there is something different each time. The beautiful rhododendrons at the end would have been a real treat they are stunning! Hope you’ve had a good week (I realise it’s now Saturday!) and you have a lovely weekend too 🙂

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    1. Thanks, darlin. 🙂 🙂 The Bank Holiday was unbelievably warm and sunny by English standards and I spent a lot of time in the garden. It’s much cooler now and the lawn is covered in white apple blossom petals.

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  8. What an amazing place, Jo. I stumbled upon a similar sculpture park in upstate New York once. But for this week, I’d like to take you on a walk around a lesser-visited part of Venice (if such a thing truly exists): http://bit.ly/JJ-Cann

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  9. Pingback: The Calli, Campi and Canali of Cannaregio, Venice | Jaspa's Journal

  10. A post with many interesting thing to see. I loved especially Rhododendron photo. When we lived on countryside, we had many Rhododendrons with different colors in our small flower garden. Thank You for this post. I love it. Those men with masques brought to my mind my old post. If You do not care, I show it here:

    1000 Scarecrows

    To walk among them at night might be scary.

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  11. Yeah! So glad you found the rhododendrons and a beautiful flourish to finish your post! I’ve always meant to visit the YSP as we race past it on the A1 – thank you for giving us this in-depth view of the statues and parkland. The army looks quite frightening and I could imagine these in an episode of Dr, Who! As for the beastie … very scary, very shaggy! 😀 chocolate brownie photo?? … I thought you were kidding about not putting on one of your special food photos … or did it disappear before you had chance to take the camera out!? 😀😀

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    1. I admit it didn’t last long, Annika. It wasn’t the best looking brownie but there was nothing wrong with the taste. We’d already been helping out at James’ place so I was hungry xx

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  12. Loving the colour at the end…….my Mum would have been as worried as that little boy! I love cattle though and more friendly than the black and blue, still think there should be a smiling one in the middle!

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    1. We held hands and walked very cautiously because they outnumbered us, but they were far more interested in food and the brownie had gone by then. 🙂 🙂

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    1. It’s a good day out, Marion. There’s always a choice of exhibitions on. I managed to miss one because I didn’t check the website before we went, but I had a lovely afternoon with family. 🙂 🙂

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  17. Some more delightful sculptures from you on this walk. And I’m so glad you found some colour at the end of the day. Rhododendrons are so lovely at this time of year aren’t they, but mine died this winter unable to withstand the frost and biting cold winds we had. My azalea went berserk and put all her blossoms at once but they are now sadly turning brown and they will all falloff at the same time, leaving me with more green in the garden.

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    1. We have 6 or 7 cultivated rhodies and a couple of azaleas in our garden and all are thriving at the minute. They and the warm spell delighted me, and I’m really looking forward to a visit to Cragside later this month. 🙂 🙂

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  19. The statues are certainly unique, though a tad puzzling. But the park is lovely. So glad you found the rhododendrons blooming. Our cultivated ones are blooming madly here, but up in the woods and higher altitudes they have just barely started to form buds.

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    1. It’s the same here, Gunta. We have 6 or 7 small rhodies in our garden, in varying stages of flower, but the wild ones are a little slower. I love them all 🙂 🙂

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  20. My goodness, Jo! What can I even say about such a unique and special place. I love the shaggy cattle just strolling by when surrounded by such dramatic and unusual works of art! They are really something very unique. And you even found your rhododendrons! Fabulous!

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    1. The cattle were a bit of a surprise to all of us, Debbie! Unfenced, in a section of boggy woodland, there were half a dozen of them, golden, and black ones too. They look cuddly but they’re quite big and I wouldn’t want to upset one. Me and small boy were cautious, both 🙂 🙂

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