A weekend away

I'm just back from a lovely weekend away at Pittenweem. The journey from the Borders to Fife was painful and there was a moment that I wondered if I'd ever get there. However, once arrived, as usual there was a complete mix of art from the 'interesting' to the downright fantastic. After going for the past few years N and I know the ones to avoid, but still get caught out a bit. It's always a little difficult to go into an exhibit and then almost immediately walk out, but hey... we managed.

On the opening night we started off at Georgie Young's and had a bit of fizz to get ourselves in the mood. And no sooner had we started than people started to throng. N and I both bought one of Georgie's paintings, and were very happy with our choices. Some who came early especially to buy were a bit envious that we'd had an early look in, but that's the way it goes. It was a beautiful, sunny, Fife evening and there were loads of folk there. N and I wandered about and then back to Georgie's to finish off the evening in the company of several friends that had turned up for a bit of a sing song and a whole lot more alcohol.

Yesterday morning the sun was still shining and we went off to hear Helen Denerley, one of the invited artists, speak. Her exhibition was wonderful and it was a joy to hear her talk about how she came to make her extraordinary animals all from discarded metal.

iguana

Life size Amur leopard

Life size croc

Daisy the cow

Life size camel

 Then we went to Kate Downie's talk about her inspiration for her drawings. It was absolutely fascinating and I even found out something new... Maggie Thatcher almost ruined the Forth Rail Bridge by suspending repairs for 9 years. The consequence of that is, even now, there is permanent scaffolding up. I'd always wondered why the scaffolding never disappears and now I know.

Apart from those two I wasn't so impressed by the other invited artists. But there were some really great exhibitions. I bought a piece of stained glass from Anne Ferguson, and another glass piece from the Coach House - a small shop that last year I bought a glass bird from which fell and broke a few months later. This year I bought a lovely sunflower glass piece which hopefully will be a whole lot more robust, but only time will tell.

My friend N's friend Robert Melville had some lovely photos, but it was his garden that caught people's imaginations. It was really funny to watch people's faces as they passed it. Pretty much everyone stopped and looked, many took photos and it was a true highlight.

Robert Melville's garden

N and I did dinner for Georgie and her partner, Fiona, last night. Much fizz was partaken and we had a very fun evening. This morning the rain had well and truly set in. I decided to head off for home and dog collection at lunchtime. The journey home was as painful as the journey there, but I'd had a great time. I will have to wait for my piece of stained glass and my painting, but the sunflower glass piece is already installed and looks great.

Home and tired and now having to think about the week ahead. It'll be only a week before my man arrives home and I'll be looking forward to his arrival as will the dog. She didn't seem to have such a good weekend as she was off her food, but seemed very happy to be home, and I was very happy to have her home too.

Now work beckons. I have a myriad of things to catch up with and a busy time ahead. Nice memories though of a fun time away.