A 'GOOD' SUMMER

Ishbel and I continue to enjoy a very quiet week reading in the garden and then taking a wee trip out to somewhere interesting.  In the morning we paint and then in the afternoon we head off.

When at Waterstones earlier this week I bought Richard Coles recent book (his first novel but not his first book) called 'Murder Before Evensong'.  So far it reminds me of Alexander McCall-Smith but set in the Anglican Church community.

Quite by accident I opened a bottle of my favourite wine, Fitou.  After tasting it (exceedingly good and better than my usual purchases) I found it to be 2017.  I resolved to be more selective in my purchases i.e. spend a bit more and get a bottle that has been aged longer!)

Gerry, across the road, turned up at the door with a tub of his just-picked gooseberries.  That calls for gooseberry pie (maybe apple and gooseberry?) as I think I am, as usual, the only who will eat it.

For our afternoon jaunt Ish and I drove to Campsie Glen and walked up to the little waterfalls at the head of the glen.  On the way back we explored the very old, very large and very neglected churchyard.  This inscription caught my eye.  It refers to one McFarlane Esq whose life's purpose was to 'do good'.  It struck a chord as that is what McCall-Smith often writes about, and of course, so did Iris Murdoch:

And finally, the work of a long forgotten stone-mason caught my eye.

GLASGOW WESTERN INFIRMARY DEMOLITION (AND ENVIRONS)

The Western Infirmary has been pulled down.  Below are photos of the huge pile of rubble that is all that is evident in its old site adjacent to Glasgow University.

Many of us who live on the west side of the city have memories of being in the hospital at one time or another.  It is odd to see an empty space!

* * * * * * *  AND NEARBY * * * * * * 

Glasgow Universtiy above the River Kelvin from Partick Bridge

It is coming up to 100 years since the end of World War One.  The city is gearing up for Remembrance Day this coming Sunday.  This sculpture is adjacent to Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery.

DANIEL CIOBANU: GLASGOW IS RICHER FOR HIS INPUT

The musical events are starting up again for the winter season.  This chap, Daniel Ciobanu, has to be the crème de la crème.

He was playing a mid-day concert in the city centre in a very fine setting for a small concert - the Merchant House, George Square, Glasgow.

He is from Romania and came to Scotland on a scholarship for one year to study at Stewart's Melville College in Edinburgh.  Then in 2010 he started at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

That is why, over the last few years, we have seen him in concerts large or small, including competitions. His website

http://www.danielpetricaciobanu.com/

shows how he is booked 'way into the future to play in major concert halls (as well small venues) all over the world! (He also played in Pollock House Sunday night. He had to rush off to catch a plane to Dubai then on to ??? in eastern Asia to stand in at the last minute for a concert pianist.)

I notice he is Artistic Director of the Neamt International Music Fest 

www.neamtpianofestival.ro

which is where is from i.e. Piatra Neamt, Romania  (above)' 

His website shows that next week on October 18th he is scheduled to give a debut performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.

We are so lucky to be able to enjoy him in our part of the world!

* * * * * *   off-at-a-tangent    * * * * * *

On the subject of Glasgow being richer for its citizens' input ....

I always enjoy concerts in this particular building because every time I climb the stairs from the street outside to the second floor I pass this sculpture in the stairwell. 

Kirkman Finlay

 A marble statue by John Gibson (1790–1866) is in the vestibule of the Merchants' House on George Square.

Kirkman Finlay (1773 – 1842) [was a Glasgow Merchant] who made strenuous efforts to capture lucrative Asian markets, successfully challenging the supremacy of the British East India Company in trade with India and the Far East. Under his leadership the business expanded, moving into cotton manufacturing with the purchase of the Ballindalloch Works in 1798, the Catrine Mills in 1801 and the Deanston Mills in 1806.

They became the largest textile concern in Scotland and the first British merchant to trade directly with India (1816).  

[Wikipedia] 

His knowledge of banking was considerable. He was an extraordinary director of The Royal Bank of Scotland;  he agitated for the retention of the Scottish one pound note in 1826.   His  financial success shows … the central importance of cotton textiles in Glasgow's domestic economy …. [He was one of many] who helped to make Glasgow.

He and others like him made loadsa money in the heyday of the Industrial Revolution.  These merchants put money aside for the poor and other worthy causes and the room in which the concert is held has many gold painted dark wooden boards noting them and their contributions.  

Iheir website [www.merchantshouse.org] states "From the beginning, the Merchants House supported members and their families who had become 'decayed and distressed', both within their hospital and outside it. 

The Merchants House is now a major charitable institution and donations of more than £700,000 are awarded each year to deserving charities and individuals in Glasgow and beyond. 

For over four hundred years after its foundation, it is part of the fabric of Glasgow and the city is richer for it."

 

STIRLING MIS-ADVENTURE

Yesterday I stumbled on the curb outside the Albert Hall in Stirling and fell headlong in front of some passers-by with only my glasses suffering any real damage. The (foreign speaking) folk picked me up and with a few more folk, directed me to Henderson’s Bistro inside the hall. The lovely lady manager gave me tea and sympathy.  I hope today is a better day!

Meanwhile Robert Burns continues to occupy his prominent position near the Albert Hall.   We had just been talking about him at lunchtime.  It seems much of the material in the Mitchell Library, in the Burns Collection, is still uncatalogued.  I believe this is also the case in the British Museum, i.e. there are still crates in the basement (or wherever) that have never been opened.  Things are changing though... and this is entirely due to the internet, i.e. people asking.

And nearby is Rob Roy MacGregor whose height would seem to only be around 5 feet.  I presume the statue is life-size.

And lastly, in the same area under the castle, this statue, well, actually it was the inscription, caught my eye:  

CAMPBELL BANNERMAN 1836 - 1905 

AN EMPIRES TRIBUTE

 It seems the lack of apostrophe in public signs is nothing new!

 

VISIT TO THE FALKIRK WHEEL

I enjoyed my day out expedition to the Falkirk Wheel yesterday.  We went to see the 'ship lift' i.e. canal boat lift near Bonnybridge and then 5 miles further on to see Andy Scott's sculpture of The Kelpies (2 horses heads).

Feats of engineering are always a pull for us and no more so than this wonderful construction. The canal boats (Forth and Clyde Canal) arrive on the top of the photo and go into a capsule at the end which rotates 180 degrees in order to lower the vessel to the canal basin below... (and, of course, vice versa).  The central 'rod' in the middle is the pivoting point around which the Wheel rotates.

The sculptor, Andy Scott, designed and built these structures.  They are quite stunning and much bigger than I had realized.  When he was making them about 20 years ago I visited his workshop on Maryhill Road in Doors Open Days.  I recall the talk being about where they were, eventually, going to be sited.  There was a lot of indecision (read 'hassle') and to-ing and fro-ing I recall.  Also I think they were supposed to be on rafts in the canal basin that rocked at mid-point thereby having the heads move up and down.  If I have this right, it ended up that he got the site but there was not enough water to take the rafts.  Be that as it may, they are on dry land and evoke one single response when you see them ... "Wow"!

The whole place is a visitor's 'experinece' with walks, play areas etc.  Inside the Visitor's Centre is an Educational Room with two heads constructed out of Lego.  Here are Alastair and Ishie making a Lego carrot to stick into the left Kelpie's mouth (above Alastair's head).

THE FOUR BEARS

If you go down to the woods today ... no ... if you walk to school on a frosty morning ... you're in for a big surprise!

Two little people heading to school.  Crossing the Stockiemuir Playpark adjacent to Kilmardinny Loch and stopped off to look at the frost of the bears' fur. 

 And here are the Three Bears in the morning sunshine.

Wrong ... there are Four Bears as one has been carved on the bottom of the big tree stump.  His nose and tail end are just sticking out of the bench part of the work.  Clever!

Next day: some kind person had tied Ishie's dropped scarf to a bush.  Grandpa did his Boy Scout untying of knots routine.

Grandma needs to go back to school: there are FIVE bears!

OUT AND ABOUT IN VANCOUVER

Alastair and Iain drove back from the Okanagan to Vancouver with a load of wood on his Jeep. Nearing Vancouver they stopped to let Nessie, his lovely Australian blue heeler, stretch her legs.

Alastair and Jeep

Being in the movie business Dawn and Alastair got us all to turn out for a photo-shoot in Queen Elizabeth park. There is a viewpoint there with a stunning cityscape for a backdrop. However also there are some sculptures of Tourists. Here is one of them having a close encounter with Dawn.

THE MIGHTY CLYDESDALES

Doors Open Day allows the public to access many parts of the city of Glasgow that are not normally open. One such place is the studio workshop of sculptor Andy Scott. He is the man who has created some wonderful works of public art now dotted around the country.

It was the Garden Festival of 1988 that made people aware of how nice a place can look with a bit of colour, or works of art situated out in the areas people live, work and travel.

This man has done a lot to contribute to the Feel-Good Factor that such works instill. His website is here.

His big warehouse of a studio was full of work-in-progress. Outside were these 2 magnificent horse heads awaiting their journey to their final destination. Originally it was supposed to be on the Forth and Clyde Canal near the Falkirk Wheel where they were to be placed on platforms which rocked back and forth in water so that when you viewed them from afar they would look like water sprites moving in the canal.

However it seems there has been a change of plan due to the fact that the canal folk found they did not require so much water to be displaced as they had originally estimated ... the Kelpies, as they are known, are to go elsewhere.

Inside the shed were finished sculptures (in poor lighting for photos) which are heading for destinations out in the countryside or highway areas.

Meanwhile this huge Clydesdale Horse sculpture is also by Andy Scott. It is on the edge of the Glasgow to Edinburgh motorway at the Glasgow Business Park, Easterhouse and is mighty impressive. I like it because it means one has arrived in the west after driving from Edinburgh (which is about a 45 minute drive from city centre to city centre.)
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Bottom Photo: © Copyright Chris Upson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. (I found it on this website here; there are more photos - all in the public domain- here.)

JANUS AT THE PORTAL OF THE YEAR

Glasgow is green because the snow has melted! Thank goodness! After a lovely meal last night and a visit next door we were feeling in the need of a good walk to work off the feast of the previous night.

We headed off to the countryside adjacent to where we live and thoroughly enjoyed walking through the woods up to the top of Windy Hill Golf Course.

Here is Iain on the top looking out the city of Glasgow laid out below.

The temperature was a balmy 5 degrees above freezing but the wind was starting to come around from the north, as forecast: we are due another spell of freezing weather. The only thing missing was the primroses and green leaves of spring; very refreshing all the same!

Here is Janus, Roman god of gates and doorways, beginnings and endings, from where we get the month January. He also represents the transition between the countryside and the city. This Photoshoped image should have 2 heads (one facing back to the old year; one facing the new year) but this stone representation only shows the one at this aspect.

VITAL SPARK SCULPTURE IN KELVIN PARK

Today, Sunday, was another beautiful autumn day in Glasgow. And for once, I got out for a good few hours with the camera - at Mairi and John's invitation - while we (kids included) headed off to see the Glasgow Boys exhibition (paintings) in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery as the exhibition finishes on Tuesday.

More about this wonderful exhibition later .... Meanwhile one's time and effort is always taken up with keeping the wee ones amused. It is hard work but the idea is to think up ways to keep them from running away or tearing up the place for 5 whole minutes.

So here is The Grandma Strategy (I mean, ya gotta use the buzz words these days ....!) : go and visit the sculpture which are on the grounds outside the building.

So with Ishie sitting beside me on the grass we looked at this sculpture in metal called The Vital Spark by George Wiley. It is a boat and it even looks like a boat. It is the type that used to ply the coast of Scotland and was fueled by coal hence the puffs of black smoke that came from its funnel.

Now there is a word that proved interesting - funnel. First of all, I asked Ishie if she liked the thing we were looking at. Not riveting (sorry about the pun) but agreed that it was OK. She noticed that it had the shape of a house. Well that is true! And as we discussed ... the purpose of the chimney is the same as that thing shaped like a toilet roll.

Alastair was a different story. His comments: "There's no water"... "Can I stroke it?" So I am here to tell you he actually did go up to it and, for two whole seconds, stroked the side of the hull. Not being quick enough with the camera to show such aesthetic appreciation I am offering, however, this much more representative and very typical 'Alastair Moment of Bliss'! Please note the patriotic rubber boots (apparently much commented on by passers-by!)

BAA-AAACK O' THE GARDEN

Mairi dropped by at noon today with the children. Both children started playgroup today. Ishie has been going for one year but it was Alastair's first day. (He is 2 1/2 years.) They were all wound up when they arrived so I took them to the park at the back of our garden. There was an extra treat for Alastair in the form of a digger pulling up 3 large (previously cut down) fir tree roots in our back neighbour's garden.

The lad driving the digger was from a local farm just half a mile away. (Yes, we live in the suburbs but on the edge of the country.)

The 2 sheep are just passing through. They are normally to be found in the Museum für Kommunikation in Frankfurt, Germany. They are made out of telephone cord with telephone handsets for heads and feet! The sculptor is Jean-Luc Cornec.

The roof in the distance is ours. You can see the dormer window that has been put in.

CLERK MAXWELL SCULPTURE UNVEILING

On Tuesday Iain and I went to Edinburgh to the unveiling of the James Clerk Maxwell statue done by Sandy Stoddart, sculptor based in Paisely.

It was Professsor Barr who got this going several years ago. "Sandy', he said "we need a statue of Clerk Maxwell. You're just the man to do it!" Funds were secured and Tuesday was a historic day when the great and the good (and the rest of us) gathered at the Royal Society of Edinburgh so honour both the man and ... to my mind, at least, the sculptor.

Before the unveiling Sandy Stoddart gave a short description of the work (and what a lot of work!) of conceptualizing the sculpture and its 2 bas-reliefs for the plinth (one relating to Newton and one relating to Einstein).

Several years ago we had a tour around Sandy's studio and over lunch he and Iain and Professor Barr chewed over ideas about how to portray in a bas-relief such concepts as gravity and time!

To listen (both several years ago and at the Royal Society) to Sandy describe his thinking was a real privilege! One day, one hour spent in company of such people is worth more than any holiday to a Florentine art gallery or going on a cruise to see Greek ruins in the Agean!

What am I talking about? See here and here.

So to the unveiling.... As we walked from the Bus Station, across St Andrew's Square, there was the statue swathed in polythene (on the right below) situated at the junction of St Andrew's Square and George Street.

That big fluted column in the square is the Melville Monument. It is 41m high and sits centrally to St Andrew's Square, dominating it and views along George Street. I see that it "is the statue of Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville. Viscount Melville (or Lord Melville) was an aristocratic 18th century politician, but more importantly the King's Chancellor, and has been described as the most powerful Scot of his day." Never heard of him.... (On the other side of the square is the Royal Bank of Scotland HQ, built to house Sir Laurence Dundas.)

Anyhow, where was I? Here is the sculpture awaiting the arrival of the dignitaries. The Royal Society is just down the street from here. Everyone forgathered there first and then proceeded to this site just before 1 pm. It was very cold and everyone was warned to be well-wrapped up. Also we had been told that at the moment of unveiling everyone was to throw their hat in the air. So we both brought an old hat dug out from the loft and shoved into our coat pocket in readiness!

Da-da! The Moment of Unveiling (done by Alex Fergusson, MSP).

This is the best photo because the back of that head on the left is the sculptor, Sandy Stoddart, in the brown coat. He is looking up at his just-unveiled work. (See also one of the 2 bas-reliefs on the plinth.) I wonder what he was feeling; what must it be like to have created such a work of public art?

Oh .... and the hats? One man behind me did and then quickly retrieved it!

RIDING OUT THE WEATHER

High above my head rotating in the stiff sea breezes I spied this handsome copper weathervane!

It sits on the third floor off a building at the corner of Pacific Stret and Howe Street in Vancouver and is a sculpture by the Abbotsford born artist Rodney Graham. See here.

I thought the figure was taken from one of the the pilgrims from Chaucer's 'Cantebury Tales' and wondered if he was not a long way off his route!

The plaque on the front of the building explains that the work was a commission for the owners of the 30 floor condo tower.

According to Malcolm Parry of The Vancouver Sun of March 06, 2008 (here):

"The work depicts 15th-16th-century humanist and theologian Erasmus" (apparently, with the sculptor's face).

The owners of the building thought it would be good to have a piece of equestrian sculpture to enhance their building (presumably economically as well as aethetically).

Indeed, Parry goes on to point out:

"the Reformation scholar himself was no slouch in turning talk into economic gain. A horse was involved, too.

It began when Erasmus questioned the Christian belief in transubstantiation while debating British Lord Chancellor and fellow humanist Thomas More. "Only believe that you receive the body of Christ," More countered, "and you really have it."

More then loaned the Switzerland-bound Erasmus a horse to ride to the port of Dover, but was riled when told the nag had sailed to France, too.

"Only believe your horse is in the stable," Erasmus replied to More's reproachful letter, "and you will find him there." "