Pre-Raphaelites Art and Poetry Exhibit

Hello friends, last week I went to see a truly excellent exhibit on the Pre-Raphaelites at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle. It focused on how the Pre-Raphaelite artists responded to poetry through the visual arts. One initial collaborative endeavour of the Brotherhood was a periodical called The Germ (later Art and Poetry: Being thoughts towards Nature), which combined poetry and visual art. Throughout their careers, these artists and those in their circle were engaged with contemporary poetry and were especially 'drawn to poems that retold old stories for modern audiences' as the exhibit explained. D. G. Rossetti made poems and visual art (drawings and paintings—I prefer his drawings) interpreting the same ideas: double works of art. He sometimes put text directly into his visual art. William Morris read poetry aloud in his workshop so that words accompanied the craft. He was a prolific poet and ran his own private press (the Kelmscott Press). Famously, he collaborated with Edward Burne-Jones to illustrate Chaucer. There were many books included in this exhibit! I was most excited to see the original manuscript of Christina Rossetti's Sing-Song with her provisional drawings (later illustrated by Arthur Hughes) and Walter Crane's original illustration for Spenser's Faerie Queene. I love the presentation of artwork through the form of a book (as illustrations) because it makes it so much more accessible for everyone to enjoy, not just those who are able to visit museums or can afford to purchase works of art. The exhibit also included photography by Julia Margaret Cameron—so good! 

Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle

The Germ, 1850

Walter Crane, At last when they were passed out of sight

Prospectus for Spenser's Faerie Queene

Kelmscott Chaucer

Love Leading the Pilgrim through the Briars,
designed by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones,
embroidered by Margaret Bell and Florence Johnson

La Margarete wallpaper design, Walter Crane

Illuminated version of Sonnets from the Portuguese,
Phoebe Anna Traquair

Christina Rossetti's Sing-Song, original manuscript

Sing-Song with illustrations by Arthur Hughes

Goblin Market and other poems

Isabella and the Pot of Basil, William Holman Hunt

"The Palace of Art" illustration by D.G. Rossetti,
from Poems by Alfred Tennyson
The original was destroyed in the printing process

Julia Margaret Cameron, Sappho
(image from V&A)

While in Newcastle, I also visited Whitley Bay on the coast. It was a not-too-chilly, cloudy day to view the waves and see the grey seals at St Mary's Island Nature Reserve. In the town, there's a great used bookshop as well as a yarn shop—and of course I raided the local charity shops for vintage knitting patterns!

Whitley Bay

Waves at Whitley Bay

St Mary's Island Nature Reserve

Pattern finds!

Thanks for reading!

October Events

Hello friends, there's a lot to catch up on from October! Most days, I find time for a walk at one of the parks nearby my house, but since I want to keep up with longer rambles too, I have been exploring areas for day trips from Liverpool. One of the places I visited was Heswall on the Wirral (I snooped on Paul McCartney's house while I was there too—Rembrandt, where he wrote "Golden Slumbers"). Also, I've discovered a historic church in Allerton called All Hallows. It's a listed building with fourteen windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. Very beautiful! I enjoy attending services there when I can. And I've been to two services by the Liverpool Bach Collective, an ensemble that performs Bach's cantatas at a different church in the city about once every month as part of an evening worship service.

The Central Library put on Sonnets in the Stacks: A Poetry Celebration in the Hornby Library, which was—though I hesitate to use the term heartwarming—very inspiring. I loved hearing poets (mainly local poets) read in person. There was such a mix of humour, wit, and rhyme in all their work. Similar to seeing a play performed live, with a lot of poetry, it is more meaningful to hear a poem performed. You can lose yourself in the world of the poem. During the open mic, almost everyone attending shared a poem or story. I talked with one of the poets afterwards about her writing process and translating, and also got some recommendations for places to walk.

The Liverpool Irish Festival took place in October and I went along to a trad session at Peter Kavanagh's pub as well as a céilí hosted by the Movema dance group with Saltcutters providing live music. A good time, too, to listen again to the podcast series Give the Beatles Back to the Irish! I recently met up with one of my cousins in London. We walked to Primrose Hill in Regents Park, did some shopping in Oxford Street, and visited the Science Museum. I was glad to be visiting the museum with him because he could explain the artefacts on display. He gave good analogies that I could actually understand! I got to visit a friend in Wales this month, and although the weather was extremely windy and wet because of a storm, we did get in a walk on the Lôn Las Menai path along the coast in Caernarfon. Stormy days are a good time to visit the bookshop (well, any day is really) and read Welsh poetry.

Finally, I've really been enjoying the weekly book group I'm attending at The Reader in Calderstones Park. We are reading through Wendell Berry's book of stories Stand By Me. If I'd have to read a book set in Kentucky, this is the book I would pick. And it's so funny to read it with British people!

The River Dee from Heswall

Heswall

Heswall Beach

Walking in Heswall

At Heswall Dales

Toadstool 

Ground life

Rembrandt, Paul McCartney's house in Heswall
(image from beatlesbooks.com)

All Hallows Church, Allerton

East Window, All Hallows
(image by Rex Harris from eb-j.org)

St Joseph's Church, Blundellsands

Crosby Beach

Liverpool Bach Collective

Hornby Library, Liverpool Central Library
(image from Things Helen Loves)

Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 
(image from The Science Museum)

Month-going longcase clock
by George Stratford
(image from The Science Museum)

Caernarfon, Wales

Calderstones Park, Liverpool

Calderstones Park, Liverpool

Thanks for reading!

Llandudno

Hello friends, I got to take a day trip to Llandudno in Wales, last week. The town was a popular holiday destination in Victorian times, notably visited by Alice Liddell's family (which is why there's an Alice theme). Highlights for me were visiting the beach and seeing Martin Llewellyn's artwork at the Ffin y Parc Gallery. I didn't get to the Great Orme nature reserve, though, so that will have to be a trip for another time!

Coast at Llandudno

Llandudno Beach

View from Happy Valley Botanical Gardens

Knitting with the goats

View over the town

Llandudno Bay

Alice-themed mosaic

Mad Hatter

Martin Llewellyn's Exhibition at Ffin y Parc

Hidden Cottage

Cottage, Llanberis

Llandudno's Library

'These are our forests.'

Maisie's Tea Company

Thanks for reading!