Leaping salmon sculpture

The sculpture shown in the photograph is a depiction of leaping salmon by the artist, Walenty Pytel. It was made in 1997, is constructed of steel with a granite base, and can be seen by the corner of the road next to "The Man of Ross" public house in Ross on Wye. It is one of three public sculptures by the artist in the town: the other two are by the River Wye and depict mallards and mute swans.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Car door sculpture

I'm no fan of cars - nothing would please me more than to see the back of them and then witness their replacement by a comprehensive system of public transport that complemented proper provision for walkers and cyclists. We would gain so much and lose only a little - such as witnessing the work that automobile manufacturers and designers put into making the inside of a car door look like the output of a sculptor. This is a shot I took with my iPhone when I noticed the forms and textures of my car's door.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Shire Hall bust, Brecon

There was a time when most counties had a Shire Hall. This was a focus of the administration of the county and often included courts of law. Examples near where we currently live can be found in Hereford, Monmouth, Gloucester and Worcester. Some of these buildings still house their original activities: others have been taken over by lesser services, and many incorporate museum-like features. The Shire Hall at Brecon presents its former courts as an attraction for visitors, and interestingly, displays busts by the local sculptor, John Evan Thomas. I don't know whether they formed part of the original courts - I doubt it - but they make a good addition to the building.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Art Deco celluloid lady

This nude figure entwined with celluloid film is one of two that have been mounted in a wall in a new retail development in Cheltenham. They are Art Deco style sculptures made of stone, the work of Newbury Abbot Trent (1885-1953) and were originally on the front elevation of the 1932 Odeon cinema. They were saved when the cinema was demolished in 2014 and placed in their current location in 2015. The ladies make a striking pair and re-using them in this way was the right thing to do. It's just a shame that they have to be covered with plastic sheets. Perhaps a higher location that didn't necessitate a covering would have been better.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Hands of the Knife Angel

In July 2021 I posted a couple of photographs of the "Knife Angel" sculpture, a touring exhibit of an angel made of knives. Its purpose was to highlight the dangers of knife crime and to act as a memorial to its victims. On a recent trip to Gloucester Cathedral we came upon the sculpture again. It seems to have had some lights added to the piece and this second viewing allowed me to take a photograph of the angel's hands - someting I regretted not having done on our first viewing.

 

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

The Last Supper

On a brief visit to Leominster Priory we were surprised to come upon this sculpture of "The Last Supper". It is the work of the English sculptor, Peter Barnes, was completed in 2019, and is currently touring cathedrals and larger churches. The piece is a mosaic with a difference being constructed of a clay-like base material inset with black and white computer keyboard keys.

These form the shape, features and clothing of the figures. They also combine to make traditional patterns and biblical quotations that are worked into the surface. The artist says he lost count of the number of keyboards he needed, but estimates that it has more than 50,000 keys.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Steel swans, Ross on Wye

This pair of steel swans ("Swans in Flight") by the river at Ross on Wye is the work of the Polish-born sculptor, Walenty Pytel. He came to the UK with his family in 1946 when he was five years old, settled here, and attended Hereford College of Arts. In 1965 he turned to metal sculpture and this has been his main focus ever since. Pytel is particularly known for bird sculptures and has executed many public commissions in his adoptive county including, as well as the above, geese and salmon sculptures at Ross on Wye, birds of prey at Great Malvern and swallows at Ledbury. His more widely known works include the Jubilee Fountain, Westminster and four eagles at Benfica's soccer stadium. I took my photograph on a recent foggy morning, and achieved a bit of flare in the bird silhouettes by including the sun in the shot.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Hollins memorial, St Paul in the Square, Birmingham

The Georgian church of St Paul in Birmingham is located in the city's last remaining eighteenth century square. It has a number of interesting features but on our visit to the building what caught my eye was a stained glass window flanked by a portrait bust on one side and carving in the splay of the other side. The dedications are to the architect-sculptor, William Hollins (d.1843), his wife Catherine (d.1831), and their children. These are decorated with beautifully carved vines and is the work of William Hollins' sculptor son, Peter. I don't recall ever having seen carved memorials in window splays before. The way the light caught the carving was very appealing.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

The Ruardean St George

The church at Ruardean, Gloucestershire, is dedicated to St John the Baptist. So it is quite unusual that the largest and oldest piece of sculpture portrays St George killing the dragon. This can be seen in the tympanum of the mid-C12 Norman doorway sheltered by the south porch. It is in the style of the Herefordshire school of sculpture and comparisons have been made with work at Brinsop, Herefordshire, and western France. The sculptor gave the piece an animated, vigorous feel with its billowing cloak, trampled dragon (very serpent-like) and powerful thrust of the spear.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Artemis the Huntress - again

Seven and a half years ago I photographed this garden sculpture at Hellens Manor, Herefordshire for the first time. I was attending a wedding in January and came upon it as I ventured outside. What appealed to me then - and did so again recently - was the way lichen had colonized the surface of the figure. It gave what must be quite an aged piece a sense of age that it would not possess had it been regularly cleaned. For more about the sculpture, a second image and a few reflections, have a look at that first photograph here.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

The Knife Angel

The Knife Angel is a sculpture by Clive Knowles made of over 100,000 blades confiscated by the police. Its purpose is to publicise the dangers of knife crime in the community, and to act as a memorial to those who have lost their life, or in other ways have been affected by, knife crime. The Knife Angel is being hosted in different locations across the country. We saw it near the west door in the cathedral close at Hereford.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Elgar in Hereford

The composer, Edward Elgar (1857-1934) is much celebrated in the west of England. He was born in the village of Lower Broadheath near Worcester and spent much of his early life near or in that city, and in London. He wrote for and had music performed by the Three Choirs Festival (Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford) as well as by Birmingham festivals. London saw many first performances of his major works. Between the years 1904 and 1911 he lived in Hereford in a house called Plas Gwyn. His connection with that city is celebrated by the 2005 bronze sculpture of the composer by Jemma Pearson near the cathedral. It shows him with his Sunbeam bicycle, for many years his preferred method of transport around the countryside he loved.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

An Abergavenny tomb

The Gwent/Monmouthshire edition of the Buildings of Wales describes the collection of medieval monuments in the church of St Mary, Abergavenny, also known as Abergavenny Priory, as "one of the outstanding series...in the British Isles". The photograph shows the memorial to Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas who died in 1510. This canopied monument has been mutilated and restored over the years but much of the original structure can still be seen. The main figure shows a bare-headed, armoured knight, his legs straight rather than crossed, and at his feet a lion. Under the arch behind him is an albaster Coronation of the Virgin. A headless Sir Richard and his wife kneel in adoration at her feet. To left and right of Mary are the couple's six standing sons and two kneeling daughters. Monuments from this period are not too uncommon though quite a few suffer from over-restoration. That is not the case here and the structure is all the better for it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Rudhall memorials, Ross on Wye

Part of the interior of the church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, is dedicated to the display of memorials to a local family, the Rudhalls (spelling varies). The earliest piece dates from c.1530, the latest from 1817, and the photograph shows two of the most prominent examples. In the background is Colonel William Rudhall (died 1651), a local commander of Royalist troops in the Civil War. He is dressed in ancient Roman armour but his hair and beard are contemporary to his day. In the foreground is a portrait bust of Thomas Westfaling (died 1814) who married into the Rudhall family. It too is classical in inspiration and is the work of William Theed Senior (died 1817). The absence of irises and pupils in the subject's eyes appears odd to us, but it is a feature of both ancient Greek and ancient Roman portrait sculpture, though in those cases the marble may well have been painted, as was the rest of the sculpture including clothing.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Newton at the British Library

The British Library is on Euston Road, London, between Euston railway station and St Pancras railway station. It opened in 1998 and is unusual for that time in that its exterior is predominantly orange brick. In the library's piazza is Eduardo Paolozzi's large bronze sculpture of Newton. It is based on William Blake's famous monotype illustration of the great British scientist. Passing the building recently I stopped to photograph the sculpture and got this shot incorporating the figure and some cut-out signage.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Garden statues

Leominster is known for the number of antique shops that have been established in the town. We recently spent a few hours looking around them, finding as much interest in the labyrinthine interiors of some of the Georgian houses in which they were based, as in the contents themselves. A couple of the shops had overflowed into garden outbuildings and even the garden itself. The two statues here were in one such garden, cast versions of ancient Greek models, designed for the shopper looking to give a focal point to their bit of greenery.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100