Exciting News!
Sandlings Sculpture Garden opening 8 June 2023
Waveney and Blyth Arts has been curating sculpture trails for about ten years, and we have seen the idea spread around Suffolk and Norfolk. This year we are trying something different and simpler – and free for visitors – a sculpture garden. This is thanks to the generosity of Potton Hall, our sculpture trail partners over the past few years.
Potton Hall as a splendid venue for showcasing creative talent: its grounds provide an easily accessible yet remote space for showing and selling artistic and craft works designed for outdoor display. It’s open from 10am to 4pm, has good car parking, an African-themed Yurt Café, formal gardens and a glorious wildflower meadow, all within a rather hidden valley edged by forest and heathland – classic Sandlings scenery. And perfect for a sculpture garden.
We plan to open the Sandlings Sculpture Garden on 8 June. More details soon.
2023 Walks
Getting Sketching in Perspective with Liz Brandon-Jones
24 June 2023 11am – 4pm
Meet at The Quay, Fen Lane, Beccles NR34 9BH
Take a walk along the River Waveney, stopping to sketch along the river bank. Observational drawing is a great way to gain a greater understanding of the environment. We will concentrate on using techniques in perspective to draw the landscape with more fluency. This workshop is suitable for those aged 16 and over.
Liz Brandon-Jones is a Norwich based artist & printmaker. Liz also works as a botanical field surveyor specialising in rivers and wetlands, so she will be able to guide you through the lovely watery landscape and you will discover more about the specialist plants and habitats found in this location.
29 July Beachcombing
Covehithe’s elusive beach is the site, Simon Raven the beachcomber guide (and creative bodger). Thanks to coastal erosion, the cliff-top walk and return via the beach may bring fresh discoveries. Further details.
23 September Ghosts and poetry
Bungay ghost walk with Chris Reeve and ghost – inspired poetry workshop with Beth Soule.
Details & book here.
NEWSFLASH! Diss Corn Hall and Waveney & Blyth Arts present
PATRICK BARKHAM ON ROGER DEAKIN
Friday 16 June 7.30pm
Venue: The Corn Hall
Roger Deakin wrote the nature writing classics Waterlog and Wildwood. But before he painstakingly restored his ancient farmhouse on the edge of Mellis common in Suffolk, he was also a maverick ad-man and seller of stripped-pine furniture. Later he became an inspirational teacher, filmmaker, music promoter and eco-warrior. Today, he lives on as the patron saint of wild swimming.
Patrick Barkham brings alive this great romantic in an illustrated talk and tells stories of Roger and his generation – arguably the most distinctive that ever lived.
Click here for further details and to buy tickets
ROGER DEAKIN’S TV DOCUMENTARIES
Wednesday 14 June 10.30am & 7.30pm
A rare chance to see three of Roger Deakins’ delightful documentaries which he made for Anglia TV.
The Swimmer
And The Swimmer – a screening of the intriguing 1968 film of the short story that helped inspire Roger Deakin to write his wild swimming bible, Waterlog. A troubled Burt Lancaster swims home through his suburban neighbours’ pools. The Cut, Halesworth, 7.30, 5 July. More details here.
See what our creative members are up to…
MASTERPIECES – WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO SEE
On 16 December we held a successful little event at The Cut in Halesworth. Two distinguished art historians spoke about their latest books. They were wonderful speakers, and the audience joined in the subsequent discussion. The Halesworth bookshop (our collaborator in this event) had a stand.
Jean-Paul Stonard has written widely, including for the Guardian, and Times Literary Supplement; he curated the 2014 Tate exhibition, Kenneth Clark, Looking for Civilisation. His book, CREATION Art since the beginning (Bloomsbury) is a panoramic world history of art, from prehistory to the present day.
Christopher Lloyd has worked at the Villa I Tatti in Florence, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1988 to 2005 he curated the paintings and miniatures in the Royal Collection. He has published on Degas and Cezanne. His book, MASTERPIECES An Art lover’s Guide to Great Britain and Ireland (Thames & Hudson) is a beautiful gazetteer.
Christoper Lloyd’s top 20 masterpieces.
A highlight of Christopher Lloyd’s presentation was his top twenty masterpieces that can be seen in public galleries and museums in the UK (outside London). Here they are, and it’s an invitation to head north, where half of them live.
London too!
The event was chaired by Grace Adam, Suffolk-based artist, Chelsea College of Arts lecturer and host of the Art Channel. She has since chipped in with her London top three.