Places to go, things to see

A studio tip, work in progress and some outings I have enjoyed recently that you might like too

Hello

I’ve been escaping the studio and in this newsletter I’m sharing some of what I’ve found.

The Bowes Museum

The Bowes Museum, Newgate, Barnard Castle, DL12 8NP
Open daily 10am-5pm
thebowesmuseum.org.uk

I was dragged round visited The Bowes Museum in the 1970s on a caravanning holiday with my parents, but this was my first visit as a grown-up, so was the first time I actually paid attention to the history of the place. I had always assumed it was one of the many stately homes in the UK which has gradually become more museum than house, but it was only on this visit I learned the extraordinary story of John and Joséphine Bowes who set out in the 19th century with the deliberate intention of building and filling a museum. The result is a beautiful building rammed to the rafters with art and historical curiosities from around the world. Think of the sort of collections you find in the V&A, but on a scale you can easily cover in a day.

By serendipity we arrived the day after a new exhibition had opened based around ‘The Magic of the Silver Swan’. The Silver Swan automaton is probably the most famous item in the museum and I remember watching it in action on my first visit forty plus years ago. Sadly it is now a bit stiff and creaky (as you would be if you were 250 years old) and needs restoration before it can be seen moving again. Fundraising is on-going.

The Silver Swan, currently motionless in its glass case, but still beautiful.

Meanwhile the exhibition includes a number of automata which are working, and some mechanisms which aren’t, including Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 1, on loan from the Science Museum. Excuse the wobbly phone and glass cabinet reflections in the film below of The Great Fishtank in the Sky by Keith Newstead. The label tells us it was designed as a present for a grieving pet owner and features a cat gone to heaven, granted eternal peace and an endless supply of fish.

As well as the beauties in the museum, there are some pleasant grounds to wander around and the café is very good indeed. We enjoyed some delicious coffee and cake on arrival (it was an hour and a half’s drive up the A1 so we deserved it) and then, as we were lucky enough to be there on a Sunday, had the roast dinner at lunchtime, with all the trimmings including a huge Yorkshire pudding.

A visit is thoroughly recommended and while we wait for the Silver Swan to be restored and working again, please enjoy this YouTube video which gives a flavour of what a wonder it is when moving.

Beningbrough Hall

Beningbrough Hall, Beningbrough, York, YO30 1DD
Opening times vary through the year - check website
nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/beningbrough-hall-gallery-and-gardens

Beningbrough is not a new discovery for me as it is only a few miles from my home, and has been one of our favourite places for a long time. In fact as our National Trust membership means entry is free we often just drop in for a short stroll around the gardens and a scone in the tea room.

What is new, however, is being able to get into the house which, after a combination of lockdown and then extensive refurbishment, has been closed to visitors for much of the last three years. At the moment just the ground floor is open and it is looking a bit bare with a lot of pieces still safely in storage while work carries on - there is very much an atmosphere of work in progress and you almost expect to hear decorators whistling in the next room. The upstairs is due to re-open in September and the upper floors will, for now at least, be exclusively an art gallery, with exhibitions changing twice a year. Art has always been a priority at Beningbrough Hall which until recently had a partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, displaying some of the collection which wouldn’t fit in the London gallery. Sad though it is that this partnership has ended, a guide explained to me that it is hoped that the refurbishment and new gallery-standard lighting will attract other prestige collaborations for future exhibitions.

The conservatory on the ground floor of the Hall

Whatever is going on in the Hall, the gardens are always beautiful - small but perfectly formed - and are a pleasure to walk around even on an overcast and puddly day. More developments are going on outside too; work on a new contemporary Mediterranean area is now finally underway after being put on hold during lockdown.

The walled garden at Beningbrough Hall

And no visit to a National Trust property is complete without a scone. In fact I’m not sure it’s even legal to skip that bit.

Today’s scone was cheese which is of course savoury, making it legitimate to have a cake too.

Studio tip

I shared this simple tip on Instagram a long time ago, before I’d started on Substack, so I thought it could do with another outing.

As I’m sure you know, there is no going back with a reduction linoprint, so it’s really important to make sure you’ve printed all the prints in an edition before you move on to the next layer. If you miss one then at best you will have to mix up some ink from scratch just for one print (and hope you match the first batch). At worst you might already have carved away the next layer and it is simply too late to print the missed print. The former has happened to me, but fortunately not the latter (yet).

So after the incident of the missed print and re-mixed ink, I came up with a very simple way of making sure it doesn’t happen again. As I replace each print in the drying rack, I pull out the next one so it is sticking out before I go away to ink up the block again. Then when I return to the rack I can easily see which is the next one to print. Seems obvious doesn’t it? But the best ideas often are.

Having said that, I still count through the prints before clearing up the ink….just in case.

Work in progress

In my next newsletter the print on the drying rack in that film will hopefully have progressed far enough to be worth showing you. Meanwhile here’s a small section of it after three layers. I’m expecting there to be seven layers in total.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Jane