Nice walk around #Manchester

With Saturday being unusually sunny and warm for this time of year we decided to visit the Print fair at Central Library and have a walk around. The fair was rather crowded, which was a shame. It had some impressive work but items were a little pricey.

As we left the Library we passed the #Portico Library as someone was leaving the side door. I had an exhibition there a few years ago so we decided to see what was on show now. 

This is the present exhibition
Carolyn Curtis-Magri's complex and painstaking drawing process reflects the work of crime fiction and forensic science that are her inspiration. She has developed a practice that incorporates elements of criminal investigation with the minutiae of life 'inside'. Her paintings, sculptures and installations draw on Portico Library visitor Thomas De Quincey's 1827 'On Murder Considered as one of the Fine Arts' and her own observations of imagery including x-rays, polymer chains, scars and fragments of evidence.
Several interesting starting points and nice prints and paintings but not always easy to relate to the statement above. Still a fantastic building and well worth a visit.

Next a walk through Piccadilly gardens, or the building site that it is at the moment, to a new art shop that has opened on Oldham street called Cass Art. This proved to have an impressive selection of art materials and is a great addition to the area.

As we left there we were looking for somewhere to eat and came across  Manchester Craft and Design Centre. This brought back lots of memories as we hadn't been there for many years. It seemed a lot brighter now although smaller than we remembered. Anyway there was a nice cafe there for a snack before we had a look around the studios. It seemed a shame that it was quite quiet for a Saturday. Some nice jewellery shops and a couple selling paintings.

We continued our walk and were impressed with the Northern Quarter showing  that Manchester, on a sunny day, can compete with the cafe culture with any city in the world.  It was buzzing with activity.

Finally as we made our way back to the car park we decided to add even more culture and went into the John Rylands Library. The exhibition here was called The life of Objects and featured a collection of objects from significant people who made their mark on the world. An interesting and thought provoking display. #jrlobjects
On leaving it was interesting to see the difference in architecture styles between the old parts of the building and the new.

On a personal note I broke my steps record on my watch so a worthwhile day in several respects.