As it was our anniversary on Monday we decided to visit Jupiter Artland, a Sculpture Park and Art venue near Wilkieston in West Lothian.

At present it is hosting an exhibition of paintings/drawings by Tracey Emin under the collective title “I Lay Here For You.” These smaller works were split between the Ballroom and an exhibition space in the Park’s Steadings. I must say I’m not taken with Emin’s painting/drawing skills. The best bit about the Ballroom was the building’s ceiling.

The garden outside the Ballroom was pleasantly planted:-

There’s what looks like a paddling pool in the grounds. It’s not really. There are signs asking you to stay on the black area for a start. The estate’s “Big House” is in the background here:-

We also partook of lunch in the café. The menu was abit pretentious but the food was good.

On the way in you drive past some Charles Jencks landforms called Cells of Life. Below is a stitch from four photos:-

Closer view of Charles Jencks landforms at Jupiter Artland with a red bridge in middle distance:-

In our later stroll through the grounds we came closer to that bridge. It’s named Only Connect and is by Ian Hamilton Findlay:-

The Quarry by Phyllida Barlow. The colours on the columns are a bit faded but reminded me of totem poles:-

The Rose Walk is by Pablo Bronstein:-

One of the installations is Weeping Girls, created by Laura Ford. I didn’t photgraph that one as I found the figures rather creepy.

Signpost to Jupiter. I note the distance is given in USian. (Since a meter is a measuring device not a length the better spelling is kilometres):-

There is a Tracey Emin sculpture titled I Lay Here for You in the grounds.

To give some idea of the location here is a phptgraph of three bridges across the River Forth as seen from Jupiter Artland. The Forth Bridge (right,) The Forth Road Bridge (centre,) The Queensferry Crossing (left.)

Earlier this month we took in the Barbara Hepworth Exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Modern Two, Edinburgh.

The Exhibition is entitled Barbara Hepworth, Art and Life and is open till 2/10/2022.

As well as sculpture, for which Hepworth is most famous, there are some of her paintings on display. In the first room this one reminded me of Mondrian:-

Photograph of Contrapuntal Forms, a Hepworth sculpture displayed at the Festival of Britain’s South Bank site in London. Part of the Skylon can be seen in the background:-

Room 2 had more early paintings. Apologies for the picture quality. I didn’t use flash as I assumed it wouldn’t be allowed:-

These watercolours are very good:-

Also in room 2, some typical Hepworth sculptures:-

The leftmost one above, Dyad, caught the good lady’s eye:-

During World War 2 Hepworth’s access to sculptural materials was limited. This is one of the sketches she made as preparation for a sculpture:-

She even designed textiles:-

An ovoid sculpture with her characteristic smooth curves and voids:-

A more traditional sculpture but still with her distinctive curves:-

Orpheus. An example of her use of strings. (See also background of Dyad, above):-

Thsi one seems to be very similar to one I photographed outside the Pier Art Centre, Stromness, a few weeks before:-

In Stromness:-

Photograph of Winged Figure, John Lewis, London:-

Photograph of Hepworth beside one of her sculptures:-

This monument with a series of sculptures round its base I thiought represented all the trades associated with Bergen but it seems to be called the Sailor’s Monument or Maritime Memorial:-

This statue of the poet Nordahl Greig is to the side of the National Theatre:-

King Hakon VII, 1872 – 1957:-

This one seems to list former Norwegian monarchs:-

When I was up north for the Peterhead game in August last year we took the chance to visit Pitmedden Garden as it’s always been somewhere the good lady wanted to see.

In the formal garden there’s some odd topiary:-

A fountain:-

A pond:-

Some geometric planting:-

An upper terrace with a semi-circular sculpture at the far end:-

The terrace gives a good view of the formal garden:-

Statue of William Wallace in Aberdeen. This stands near Union Terrace Gardens. It is inscribed, “Willam Wallace, Guardian of Scotland” and in addition, I tell you a truth, liberty is the best of all things, my son, never live under any slavish bond, and was paid for with funds left for the purpose by John Steill of 38 Grange Road in Edinburgh, the son of James Steill sometime of Easter Baldowrie in Angus:-

Aberdeen’s Old Market Cross dates from 1686:-

On a plinth at Seaham’s harbour there is a memorial, titled The Coxswain, to the Lifeboat crews of Seaham:-

Head-on view:-

Reverse view:-

Memorial Plaque:-

Verse, “The Coxswain’s Cry.” Like Tommy, the memorial was sculpted by Roy Lonsdale:-

Seaham, County Durham, used to be a coal-mining town. There were three pits in the area, Seaham, Dawdon and Vane Tempest.

The Miner’s Memorial is on the main road through the town:-

Reverse view:-

Information Plaque:-

Seaham is a town on the North Sea coast in County Durham.

The statue of Tommy is on the seafront in an area known as Terrace Green by Seaham’s War Memorial. It was erected in 2014 to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Great War.

Detail:-

Side view:-

Reverse:-

Its sculptor was Roy Lonsdale:-

Dedication plaques. The sculpture’s proper name is 1101, to reflect the minute of peace at the Armistice which ended the war:-

Other side view:-

There are more pictures of Tommy here.

Taking an underpass below the railway we found a nice park in Aalborg: the Kildeparken.

There were two small thatched buildings there. One seemed to be a public convenience, the other may have been a caretaker’s hut. Pity about the grafitti:-

There was also a walkway with statues along its sides. This one is of the Three Graces:-

The park is also home to the Singing Trees. Each performer at Aalborg’s Concert Hall is asked to plant a tree alongside which is a device containing a recording of a sample of their music.

Sadly during our visit none the playbacks we tried were working. Here’s a clip from You Tube where they were:-

It was a longish walk out from Helsinki city centre to this. Unfortunately we arrived just after three tour buses had disgorged loads of Chinese tourists, each of whom wanted a selfie in front of it. It took ages before I could get a people-free shot.

I must say that face reminded me of weel kent Scottish literary figure Hugh MacDiarmid.

From reverse:-

Some of the other tourists:-

So here’s a bit of Sibelius for you. Finlandia, Op 26:-