Fructus Temporum

There are a whole host of sites on the web that provide a forum for art. Inspiration can nowadays be found from the comfort of your own armchair, under the warm glow of a laptop, without venturing outdoors.
Whilst this in some way is quite sad - the significance of the loss of exploration and discovery in the fresh air of the great outdoors is something the youth of our modern society may never quite understand - there is quite a lazy mesmerising addiction to the power and draw of modern technology.

The best, in my humble opinion, is Fructus Temporum, a site which encourages the surreal, witty and wickedly clever art.


There are pieces on the site that deserve simply nothing but respect - being a fan of art that brings a smile, its the simplicity that truly demonstrates the skill of the featured artists.

....enjoy.

Unrequited

Cupids’ arrow is seen as the true symbol of love, but this piece reflects the other kind of love, the cruelest kind, the one that destroys its victims, the one where the love is desolate….solitary….unrequited. 
 
  
The wound created by the arrow is hidden from initial view, as is the pain and loneliness of the victim. However a closer look reveals the destruction caused as the arrow has struck, tearing out the back of the heart, unseen, un-noticed, much as the crippling agony and suffocating darkness becomes apparent when one comprehends the victim of cupids’ malice.
Unrequited love has a victim, where all the days of meaning, such as Christmas and Birthday and Valentines, are the blackest, and where every day is a rejection…love can indeed be cruel.



Lost wax cast in solid stainless, complete with reproduction medieval arrow, this sculpture will shortly be on my website once final photography work is complete.

Get Out and Touch the World

As spring starts to ponderously wander our way, the lighter days and better weather offer more opportunities to get out and see the sculptures all around us.

Museums and galleries provide the venue to study and consume carefully selected collections of pieces, but inevitably there is an air of somber silence enveloped by seriousness and restraint. Galleries have their place (indeed, I have been fortunate enough to have displayed in them) and they do offer an avenue into enjoying art, but for a fuller experience, I would suggest go outdoors.

Sculpture parks and trails are a wonderful opportunity to see diverse ranges of works in often dramatic situations whilst enjoying the best sculptor of them all – nature. There are examples in this blog of single pieces around the country, but possibly the best collection “under one roof” (well, some 500 acres of parkland) is the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.


What this and other parks offer is unique, the ability to not only study, learn, ponder and form opinion (on your own or with guides in written and oral form if requested), but that rare ability in the art world, and that is to touch. This can make all the difference in understanding a piece, the texture, surface temperature - these tangible sensations add immeasurably to the experience.

I have a habit of trying to find pieces if I know I'm going to a part of the country I've not been to before, simple internet searches continually yield useful results – without this habit, I would have missed the “Singing Tree” in Burnley Lancashire, or the “AnotherPlace” work (Antony Gormley) along with countless other single and multiple installations. Check out the PublicMonuments and Sculpture Association website for a whole host of parks and trails worth a visit throughout the forthcoming summer.

Finally, for those of us who still prefer a good old fashioned book, try the informative “Sculpture Parks and Trails of England” (Alison Stace) 


an excellent starting point when planning a day out.

......and if it's an excuse you need, collect that bargain you bought on ebay instead of having it delivered, you'll be surprised what lurks out there to amaze you....