#leicester #leicestershire #eastmidlands #NewarkeHousesMuseumandGardens

Several months ago we heard about an initiative in Leicester where artists were invited to a Bring The Paint Festival that takes place every year. Here artists can create a mural around the city.

The Paint Festival alongside the opening of a dedicated street art centre have brought international attention to a city rich in heritage. Artists such as ARTISM, CAPER, MAIHEM and RACEE set a regional style for future generations whilst visiting international artists have both supported an existing legacy and inspired new generations of artists and fans alike.

Unfortunately, because of other commitments we couldn't attend the actual festival but decided to stop and see it on our way back from Ipswich. 
We spent the first day exploring the city and did manage to find a few sites and after a good night's sleep we set off again to explore. This time we had downloaded a map of where to see them. 
This time we were more successful!
Fortunately, for us, as it was a very hot day, they were all grouped in a small area. Although, to our surprise, it involved exploring an old car park snd garage to find them.

On our way back to the centre, we decided to visit the Newarke Houses Museum and Gardens, a nice place to get out of the heat. Here, as well as viewing a range of displays, there was an exhibition entitled Public and Private Gardens. This looked at how gardens had been so important during the pandemic, helping people with their health and well being. This was a small but interesting exhibition and it reminded me of how I had discovered that the interest in art to be one of the most popular ways people dealt with the isolation at this time.

Our final visit before moving on was to the King Richard the 3rd Visitor Centre as Sue, who gained an A level in history as well as majoring in the subject at teacher training college, is fascinated by these types of exhibitions. I, unfortunately, spent more time watching my brother playing football outside the history room and only managed an o level in it!  Another enjoyable day in this interesting city.

#ipswich #woodbridge #suffolk #riverdeben

When people visit it's often difficult to decide where to take them as you don't always know their interests.
The couple we were staying with suggested a trip to nearby Woodbridge for a walk around the town and along the river, which sounded a good idea.
After eventually finding parking, we walked through the pretty village with a nice range of shops and buildings. Before going down to the river we stopped to use the toilet facilities before continuing on our way. Arriving at the river, Sue thoughtfully decided to help David's fitness routine as she had left her phone in the toilet and he offered to run back to see if it was still there. Fortunately, it was. She tried this another day in Ipswich where she left it in the Museum toilet, he didn't fall for this trick again and we both went back for. Again, she was lucky. It had been handed in, although she had to pass strict security protocols to get it back.

Arriving at the river, the tide was out and many of the boats were resting in the mud, several seemed to not have moved for a long time. The building to our left is the Woodbridge Tide Mill which  is a rare example of a tide mill whose water wheel still turns and is capable of grinding a wholemeal flour. The mill is a Grade I listed building.
Like a lot of the small towns along the local rivers, the landscape is very pretty and we soon enjoyed a walk along its banks.

After a short walk , we headed back to the town to get something to eat. Unfortunately, a lot of places were busy and as my wife and I are fussy eaters, this proved difficult, so we headed back to our friend's house for a lunch.

A couple of days later, after an enjoyable catch up with the friends,  we were moving to a hotel from where we would be meeting up with relatives. As we were passing through Woodbridge again on the way, we decided to stop to eat some sandwiches on the riverside, carefully checking that Sue still had her phone!
After sitting in the hot sun for our lunch, we set off for the car, but as we passed the first building there seemed to be an art exhibition in it. Being curious we asked if we could view it. After a gentleman apologised, saying that it was an art club session and not an open gallery, he still said it would be alright to have a look around.
Entering there were a wide range of paintings and craftwork by the local artists on show and we spent an interesting time viewing these and talking to him. In the next room the artist met on different days for activities. On this occasion it was a Chinese style painting session,  using traditional inks and brushes.

This was a nice find and we are always interested to see the work of other art clubs. The Woodbridge group are very lucky that this superb building was donated for this purpose by a benefactor in the past, and although the 27 year lease was up they were now negotiating for it's continued use.

#christchurchmansion #ipswich #suffolk #johnconstable

After arranging to visit Ipswich to see friends and family, three years ago, we finally managed it last week.  My father's family are from there and we still have relatives around the area, so a visit was arranged. Also, on a holiday a few years ago, we made friends with a lovely couple who lived in the area.
The husband was Ipswich born but his wife was from Salford. This gave us a common ground to start a conversation, during the holiday and our friendship grew.

Whilst staying with these friends, one place we visited was Christchurch Mansion.
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Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house built in Ipswich, Suffolk by Edmund Withipoll around 1548–50. The Grade I listed building is located within Christchurch Park and sits by the southern gates close to the town centre of Ipswich.

We started by having a quick look at the Constable exhibition, which was an added bonus to the visit, before having an excellent short tour of the house.(The way I like them!) The guide was super and  he gave us a brief history of the house, before leaving us to explore the rooms on our own. Several traditional historical portraits were on show, although our personal favourite was one by an artist showing the bus passengers. The artist is sitting in the front row, his wife in the middle from when he first met her and his wife now sitting on the back row.

​Eventually, we returned to the Constable exhibition for a longer appraisal of the paintings on show.
The dark walls helped the paintings to stand out and it was interesting to read the stories behind them. His sketches helped us to understand his working method and there were several of the painting the landscape you associate with him. Many  were of the local area as he was born in Suffolk.

​​The one that surprised me most was the large figurative painting as I had never seen this aspect of his work before.

There were other paintings by his fellow artists in the area including Gainsborough, who I hadn't realised was born in Sudbury, Suffolk.

The final interesting set of paintings showed how art had changed over the years with three paintings from different eras, all of Willy Lott's House.
The top one is by John Constable dated 1816.
The middle one is by Thomas Churchyard dated 1860
The bottom one is by Simon Carter dated 2013,
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The top two are in oils the bottom one in acrylic, again showing different working methods.

It's interesting to see how styles changed slowly at first before the final one done in very broad brushwork. 
Which style you like is a personal choice!

This was an interesting concept and one I think galleries could investigate further to show how interpretations of local scenes have changed over the years.



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After a walk around the grounds, that were showing the effect of the local drought, which was a shame as all the plants were suffering, we then visited the nearby Museum where a superb timeline showing the development of the town was on show, before returning to our friends house, to recover from the heat.