"Look at it this way"

  I was sorry to hear this evening of the passing of Norman Ackroyd on Monday: one of our very greatest landscape artists. He was a remarkable printmaker and artist . He shared the laborious process of making his etchings in several documentaries. Listen to this programme with Robert MacFarlane. RIP the great artist Norman Ackroyd (1938-16.09.24): etcher-magician who conjured weather & light from metal & acid; his work constitutes one of the great visual records of this archipelago’s edges. We travelled together—& I made this programme with him: https://t.co/Y5licHxpcP pic.twitter.com/8bQDR95Fph — Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) September 18, 2024 Here's the first part of a documentary on his method featuring some of his art...

You could learn a lot (and still can) from Ladybird books... Other work by the Ladybird artists. ‘How Scenery Reveals the Nature of Soil’ (1949) Artist: SR Badmin pic.twitter.com/QOeAiowSbc — Helen Day (@LBFlyawayhome) June 19, 2023

I take a great deal of pleasure from the images shared by Henry Rothwell. This is a wonderful image by Jane Madgwick.  'Downland Storm', Jane Madgwick, mixed media, 2017. pic.twitter.com/xgz3k3l3PR — Henry Rothwell (@HenryRothwell) October 15, 2022

I look forward to catching up with this exhibition at Tate Liverpool, which runs from May to September 2022. From the Tate Liverpool website: Radical Landscapes, a major exhibition exploring our connections to the rural landscapes of Britain. Featuring works such as Ruth Ewan’s Back to the Fields 2015, an installation of live plants, and Jeremy Deller’s green neon Cerne Abbas sculpture , this show expands on the traditional, picturesque portrayals of the landscape, presenting art that reflects the diversity of Britain’s landscape and communities. Discover playful and political artworks which reveal untold histories from the last century and investigate themes such as trespass, land use and the climate emergency. Encounter over 150 works including key pieces such as Tacita Dean’s Majesty 2006, Oceans Apart 1989 by Ingrid Pollard and Anwar Jalal Shemza’s Apple Tree 1962. Radical Landscapes presents rural spaces as sites of artistic inspiration and action, and a heartland for ideas of fre...

I love the recent artworks which have been created by Anna Dillon. They are called Wessex Airscapes.  They are on display at Radley College through September. They were created in collaboration with aerial photographer Hedley Thorne. Go to Anna's website and for each painting you will see that there is a link to a short sound file which tells the landscape story of each painting, including something of the history and geology of the locations... a really nice additional element.

For the last few weeks, the Matterhorn has been illuminated each night with the flag of a different European country, or Swiss Canton, or occasionally messages of solidarity with other countries, or a reminder to #stayathome Last night it was the turn of the United Kingdom. Images can be used as long as you follow the terms which are outlined when you download one from the site. Photographer © Light Art by Gerry Hofstetter / Foto Gabriel Perren Must be a fairly powerful projector... Source:  https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Media-corner/Pressebilder-News/Illumination-of-the-Matterhorn

We had a good visit to Cromer earlier this week, for a trip to meet with friend, and we went to see the Samuel Thomas exhibition , which is on at the Red Lion in Cromer for the next week or so. Samuel is inspired by his home town of Cromer (and beyond) and was very helpful, chatting to my son who is about to start his GCSE Art studies. I liked how some of the pieces were very place specific and connected the art to the landscape on several levels which Samuel explained. Which other artists do you use in your teaching who have a connection with the landscape? Image copyright: Samuel Thomas

Out to the Norfolk coast today to visit Cley16 : an annual art exhibition which takes place in the church in Cley and other nearby locations. These included a piece by Brian Korteling which is shown below, and which I really liked. It represents the view as taken from 3 different perspectives, and breaks up the lines nicely... good to see art in the landscape.

Apparently when scanned it reveals the Northern Lights... cool...

Yesterday, I visited the Tower of London , after a meeting in London earlier in the day. I wanted to see  'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' , the installation of poppies which is slowly filling the dry 'moat' at the Tower of London... Each poppy represents a casualty of the First World War, and when it is finally finished, there will be 888,246 of them. I have already pre-ordered mine, as a momento of an amazing artwork... and to support the related charities and the work that they do. This is an example of a place that is being 're-made' with the addition of a (temporary) art work. I've also been to other places that have been (re)presented in this way, such as the beach at Crosby, where Anthony Gormley's 'Another Place ' was installed (originally for a short time, but now permanently...) Where else is art changing the landscape, or the way that people view a building ? There are some obvious places of course... Images: Al...

From the excellent  LANDSCAPISM blog  from 2011 comes a useful list of landscape-based music. There are some useful pieces of music and other soundscapes. The work of Chris Watson features heavily, which is not surprising. Chris Watson's music is available on Spotify, and there are a few albums of his on there - well worth listening to. I was interested to see a collaboration with Robert MacFarlane that he did recently. You can listen to this via the embedded player here: I have a few ideas of my own which I've come across during 2012. I'll add them to a future blogpost. Try the Landscape of Music too - interesting map concept... Image: Winter Sky, Alan Parkinson

A landscape feature in Wiltshire is going to be turned into a giant breast by an artwork. The aim is to raise awareness of breast cancer, as well as being an artwork in itself involving special illuminations.... Long Knoll will be transformed by the artwork. Read the story on the BBC NEWS website here. Another similar illuminated experience happens locally to where I live. It's called Electric Forest , and involves special lighting of Thetford Forest ... I'm about to book some tickets for the family to experience it in December...

Have blogged several times about the work of Richard Long and the connection with landscapes. The recent road race around Box Hill has a few other geographical connections, such as the Olympics geocaches that had been hidden by Sam Atkins and pupils at the Priory School, Portsmouth. Came across this video of the artwork being made: Road Graffiti, which is inspired by the graffiti written on the roads during the Tour de France. Also has connections with other artworks made by Long.