I HAVE CLOSED DOWN THIS BLOG. Please click the photo above to be REDIRECTED TO MY NEW (continuation) BLOG.

Monday 13 September 2010

Hidden delights

For the past three years, the Saltaire Arts Trail has been part of the Saltaire Festival, showcasing a variety of different visual arts - paintings, ceramics, sculpture, photography and textiles - through exhibitions and workshops all over Saltaire. Not only are the main public buildings - Salts Mill, the Victoria Hall, the College and the church - used as venues but also, in what is possibly a unique innovation, residents' houses scattered throughout the village are turned into temporary art galleries. So you can browse (and buy) examples of the work of many local artists, whilst at the same time having a peek into some of the interesting village houses.

One of my favourite houses, in Myrtle Place, is set back from the road and has a longer than average front garden. (It's still tiny by most people's standards though - no more than twenty paces from the gate to the front door.) The planting and design are an unexpected delight. A winding path takes you through hedges and shrubs, past a little pond and seating area to the house's front door. Only a few yards from the busy road - but suddenly you can't really see or hear the busy urban scene, and are only aware of this tranquil little oasis of green. And this year the scene was beautifully enhanced by this lovely wire horse, created by the sculptor Chris Moss. What a joy!

11 comments:

  1. Gorgeous, beautifully made but hell to construct!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful horse statue Jenny.
    have a great week.
    Costas

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fascinated by the horse sculpture. You might be interested to see the Eden Horse, photographed at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Von said it. Hell to construct, but beautifully made. I suspect he invested heavily in a First Aid Kit before starting work ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is so good to have these oases in the city,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely setting and sculpture. So did you get it for your home?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the little front gardens I saw when traveling in England and Scotland -- so much can be done in a small space!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love to discover treasures like this....
    how wonderful for you to find this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A joy indeed. I'm fascinated by the wire horse. It looks like not only a lot of artistic talent but a lot of work too. Great job by the artist and you for capturing and sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's a great idea to make private gardens into public space for a while. I remember someone from a famous village complaining about tourists peering through windows and even just opening the door, not realising that real people lived there.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Who knew wire could be made to look so graceful! ~Lili

    ReplyDelete