Mysterious Royston cave art

Royston Cave.  St George or St Michael. 

.I visited the weird and somewhat grisly underground cave in Royston (40 minutes drive or so from Cambridge) with my friend Ellie.

It's a dank and mysterious place.

Tunnel down into Royston cave.

It's not a natural cave.  It was made by people sometime in the past.  Yes, it's that vague.  Locals rediscovered the cave by accident in the 18th century.  By that stage, nobody knew when it had been made or by whom or what it was for.

 Mysterious artists carved crude Christian figures into the stone.

Royston cave.  St George or St Michael, holding sword.

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Royston cave.  St Catharine.

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Royston cave.  Saint Christopher.

Royston cave.  Crucifixion.

Royston cave.  Sheela na gig and horse.

Here's another Sheela na gig I saw years ago in Wales (isn't she just faboulous?):

Sheela na gig, Kilpeck church, Herefordshire.
Source:  Wikimedia.

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Royston cave.  Sheela na gig.

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Read all about the Royston cave here.

I think this is one of the weirdest places to visit in the Cambridge area.  If you like a mystery, if you like subterranean caverns, if you'd like something adventurous to do with children, or if you've run out of sights to see in Royston:  this is the destination for you.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day.

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Surprise! A mosaic in a hospital.

There's a mosaic in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.  

Yes, in a hospital.  You can find art in a hospital.  In fact, there is lots of art Addenbrooke's, and I think it's such a lovely idea to enhance the environment for patients, visitors and workers.

Also, it's a really nice mosaic.

It's all about people reading.  And disporting themselves in nature.

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I do like the way shadows look in a mosaic.

How the tiles follow the shape of the objects:  a 'knit' shape for the socks; a 'stripey' shape for the towel; a 'columnar' shape for neck and arms.  And higgledy-piggledy colour riot for the meadow.

 I love the way the black-and-white geometry of the newspaper contrasts with the floral blue-and-white tiles of the other reader's frock.

 

Hello, watering can, with the not-grey shadow effects.

A sweet touch, this black-and-white "poster" in a 1950s skinny-line curlicue style.

The artist is Jim Anderson.  He's made a number of museums and has helpfully included his website on his signature tile.  I warn you, though: the site's really out-of-date.

Let that be a warning to all artists who think it might be a good idea to include online info within their work...

Read more about art at Addenbrooke's (it's a charitable trust).

Cambridge Open Studios, July 2014

It's that time of year again.  Soon, we will again have the privilege of glimpsing into the studios, homes and gardens of our local artists in Cambridge and surroundings.   I've started to plan my weekends  -- and save my money... NOT. Last year, I overspent my budget.  But I love, love, love the art on my wall.  There is nothing like it.

Before I go on:

The local art world is weirdly different from the art world at large -- which, in Britain, is defined by London.  Although I suspect that in London, too, there are sub-sets of local art worlds.  Main thing that springs to my eye:  the many women artists.

Here's a statistic:

This year's Cambridge Open Studios has:

•  102 women 

•   73 men

(and some where I couldn't tell from their names)

Compare that to these sad London statistics:
•  Of artists represented by 134 commercial galleries, 31% are women.
•  The 2012 Art Frieze Fair had 27.5 % women artists.
•  Of Tate Modern's collection of artists 1900-1965, 19% are women.

But in 2011-12, almost 62% of English art college graduates were women  - a figure more representative of what 's going on in Cambridge.

My pick of 16 artists to see over 4 weekends:

Weekend 1  (5-6 July):

Melanie Max (brochure page 9)
I love her icy colours.  I visit her every year.  Murray Edwards College (New Hall).

Melanie Max, Winter Light

Helen Martino (brochure page 9)
A fun studio on Huntingdon Rd, across the road from Murray Edwards.  Tons of small objets.

© Helen Martino, Cuddling

Sarah Carter (p.15)
Haven't seen this artist before but looking forward to doing so this year.  Fen Road, Chesterton.  A bike ride along the river!

© Sarah Carter, Metropolitan

Jane Evans (p.31)
I've visited this studio for several years now. Lovely welcoming atmosphere (and sometimes you get a juice or a little snack).  Chinese-type paintings, some of local subject matter - which is fun.

© Jane Evans, Ely in Autumn

Kye Sook Park (p.35)
I discovered this Korean artist last year.  Displayed in the parish hall of OLEM (Catholic Church) on Lensfield Rd.  Some scenes are of Grantchester and other local places.  She's only there in Week 1.

© Kye Sook Park, Always Love You

Weekend 2  (12-13 July):

Alison Litherland (p.11)
The ever-popular cows.  Green's Rd, off Victoria Rd (there are other studios there, too).

© Alison Litherland, He Looks Tasty

Esther Melamed (p.12)
I am so proud of Esther, my former student.  She sculpted the diving bather in the lobby of Parkside Pool and makes magisterial stone sculptures.  Same address as Litherland's cows.

© Esther Melamed, Perseverance

Emma Will (p.15)
In Chesterton.  I keep meaning to visit these quirky driftwood things.

 © Emma Will

Weekend 3  (19-20 July):

Jeremy Mulvey (p.22)
I love this artist's work.  Don't miss out!  Really worth a visit.  Mysterious scenes, lush colours, also some gorgeous flowers (as far as I recall from last year).  Maid's Causeway, weeks 2 and 3.

© Jeremy Mulvey, Museum Staircase

Jim Butler (p.26)
A great artists and illustrator who teaches at the Cambridge School of Art.  Collages scenes of Cambridge and elsewhere, with glued-on bus tickets and othe debris.

© Jim Butler, Cambridge xliv

Richard Swan (p.26)
I don't know this artist but this graphic work looks lovely.  I like the clean lines and Japanese mood.  Coldhams Lane, at the end of Vinery Rd (off lower Mill Rd).

© Richard Swan, Bridge

Chun-Chao Chiu (p.34)
Another artist who paints Cambridge (and other scenes) in a Chinese style.  Rayleigh Close (off Bentley Rd, which is off Trumpington Rd, between Brooklands Ave and Long Rd).  A bit of a hike (unless you live there) but there's another studio next door, and it's a nice interesting road. Not sure you can get there from the back via Hobson's Brook bike lane...?

© Chun-Chao Chiu, King's College, Cambridge

Weekend 4  (26-27 July):

On Weekend 4, we head out of Cambridge.

Cheryl Warren (p.44)
I visited this artist last year and liked her range of paintings: from huge wall-filling works to tiny, affordable, intimate pictures.  Bright colours.  She used to be off Mill Road; now she's out at Burwash Manor (always a nice visit).

Paintings © Cheryl Warren
Felted bags © Freya Zinovieff
Source of pic: higgledygarden (2010)

John McGill (p.44)
Out in Toft (Comberton Rd).  A big barn of a studio with weird and wild metal concoctions.  Very 'fantasy' and a bit steam punk, too.

© John McGill, Ladon

Derek Moss (p.44)
Shares the open studio with John McGill (above).  Amazing sculptures in the dream-like magic garden, like things that grow there.  Quite political, too.

© Derek Moss, Drift

Sue Rapley (p.50)
In Whittlesford, south of Cambridge (between Shelford and Duxford). The trip is worth it as there are other studios there as well.  And who can resist these sheep?

© Sue Rapley, Spring Fields

Have a fabulous time planning your Open Studios!

A Visit to Haddenham Gallery

Haddenham Gallery

Outside

On a blustery day in February, I drove to the hamlet of Haddenham, about 40 minutes' drive north of Cambridge, on the way to Ely.  Blown about by breezes and sunshine, I made my way to the Haddenham Galleries and Craft Centre.



 A cow greeted me with baleful (and possibly mascara'ed) eyes.



A metal bird stood stern.

Metal flowers against a hard blue sky.



Nearby, an artist's studio invites us to linger.



I wandered down into the sun-drenched Sculpture Garden.




Mother and child under tree.  With moss on top. A slightly 1950s aesthetic.

A boat turned into a flower bed.  With a Toraja stele in the background.



Geometry.  Abstraction preceded figurative art.  That was Wilhelm Worringer's argument, back in 1907.  It was immensely popular among Expressionist and abstract painters of the early decades of the last century.  Abstraction = spiritual.  Figuration = confidence in the material world.



Some Indonesian gamelan gongs, suspended between spindly birch trunks.

Squinting into the winter sun.  Stained glass embedded in rock.

Inside

I was surprised by what I found inside.  Room after room of treasures from across the seas, many from Indonesia.  Masks, wayang kulit shadow puppets, stone Buddhas, clay Buddhas, bronze Buddha heads, little glass octagonal boxes, bead-encrusted containers, buckets, miniature gamelan instruments, wind chimes, large polished metal bowls, paper lanterns...



...beaten metal tea pots, small wooden chests, ornamental knives, phials, vials, woven rugs...



...trinkets, bits'n'bobs, bric-à-brac, gewgaws, knick-knacks, baubles, glittery elephants, spangly bangles, painted wooden ear rings...


... and also some paintings.  And some ceramics.

All for sale.




And, of course, what no gallery should be without:




A little café!


On the way home:  wintry fens.







Visit the Haddenham Galleries website.


Have you been to Haddenham?  Or another off-the-beaten-track little gallery in your own neck of the world's woods?

Tell me in comments!