Art Talk: SCOTLAND!

Arnt and I went to Scotland and England this fall and here is my post about Scotland. We flew into Glasgow and stayed with some friends who we had met in New York City at a diner 7 years ago. Our stay there was so fun and informative due to the hospitality and knowledge of Trevor and Fiona. Thank you, thank you to both of you so much!

This post has lots of information for you history buffs.

GLASGOW

ARCHITECTURE, MUSEUMS AND SIGHTS

One of the first things we noticed was all the chimneys on the buildings.

There would have been a fireplace for each of those chimneys.

love this building with all its details

the Doulton fountain outside the people's palace even had Canada...moosehead
for him and she has an axe and maybe wheat sheaves

The University of Glasgow 1451
yep, almost 600 years old!!!

This is the Cloisters at the University of Glasgow which connects
the east and west quadrangles and leads to the Hunterian.
Such a beautiful space.

The Hunterian

Lovely old glass at the Hunterian Museum which is the oldest public
museum in Scotland. Main exhibits are medical, nature, Roman artifacts,
scientific, nautical and art. It was started by William Hunter a leading anatomist.

door in the Hunterian

The Zaha Hadid Riverside Museum of Transportation on the River Clyde

with the tall ship Glenlee on the quay. Inside is an impressive collection

of cars, locomotives, prams, bikes and street cars.

lifeboats and the carpenters shop aboard the Glenlee

Bridge detail all cast iron

gorgeous glass and railings in the Modern Museum

huge gate in an old building which houses an arty cafe


visited a lovely synagogue and they had guides answering all our questions

Arnt playing in the street

vintage little taxis ... storytellers drive them

old postbox

Police box

cutest underground (very tiny)

look how big that man looks!

main pedestrian centre

they have their buskers as well

one of the fancy malls

Life is Beautiful (quote on window)

This is an 1844 statue, outside the Museum of Modern Art, honoring Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the two-time Prime Minister who was also the field marshall who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. In the 1980's pranksters placed a traffic cone on his head and still to this day if it is removed by the city someone replaces it.

The big flea in Glasgow is called the Barrowland with new and old being sold.

we skipped the new and started at the .... well not sure the hoarders area?
everything was just piled up so not sure how you buy anything...that being
said there are lovely booths with amazing items as well

best hardware store

met a few characters for sure

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was an amazing furniture designer and architect

from Glasgow. The Lighthouse Design House has some of his pieces, models and films.

They also show a lot of his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh's work as they did

collaborate on buildings and she was an artist in her own right with drawing and stained glass.

view from the Lighthouse of Glasgow skyline

stairwell to roof of museum

CHURCHES AND GRAVEYARDS

spent quite a few days in graveyards as I love the history, the

atmosphere, the grounds and the artwork of the stone masons

Glasgow Cathedral

a lot of the churches have graves, windows, statues and artwork paying homage to war heroes

next to the church is Glasgow Necropolis high on a hill

After all that walking we needed lunch at the pub...here are a few of them.
Our favourites were the "old man" pubs as the characters in them were great.
There were a few churches now pubs.
They had pretty reasonable beers for Arnt and cider for me.

ART

we did go to a few galleries but our favourite was going to Fiona's studio. It is in a city owned building converted to artist's studios. There is an elevator, most have a window, bathrooms on each floor, communal room, mail service and they are very clean and well maintained.

Not sure of the cost of them but would be interesting to know to compare to Vancouver.

www.fionawilson.net
She paints portraits of pin-up girls, burlesque performers, retro vintage girls and everyday people. She captures the light and essence of cities in oils, particularly Venice, Italy.

You take the High Road and......

Trevor took us for a drive in the highlands and we stopped at Loch Lomond which is the Loch that song was named after. It has been recorded by jazz bands, The Real McKenzies and ACDC.

here are the roads.....the low road is only opened when there is a landslide on the high road

the Loch

a very quaint town which was built for the workers of the cotton mills and slate quarries

Luss Parish Church 1875 but graveyard for 1500 years

This is an 11th century viking stone called a hog back

Edinburgh

We took the 1 hour train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh and stayed at the

University...cheap, centrally located and came with a full breakfast.

Edinburgh train station and lovely views from the windows

our view and neighbourhood from our place

park outside our place where I am learning bols

presiding over the town is the Edinburgh Castle originally built in the 12 century but most of the buildings are now from the 16th century except for the 12th century St Margaret's Chapel.

There has been a castle on this site for 1100 years and there have been 26 sieges.

St Margaret's Chapel

Stone of Destiny (for centuries the kings were enthroned with this stone under the throne)

the Great Hall (armour and weapons all along the wall and room was restored

by Oliver Cromwell in 1650 and the most impressive wood ceiling in the British Isles)

This little cannon (50 pounds) was carried into battle by 2 soldiers.

Mons Meg with its 20" calibre cannon balls

lots and lots and lots of cannons

saw this little house below the castle in the park...gardener maybe

The Royal Palace (where Mary Queen of Scots, gave birth to

James VI in 1566 who united Scotland and England in 1603)

the Crown Jewels (known as The Honours of Scotland they are displayed in the Crown Room.
The sceptre was presented to James IV by Pope Alexander VI in 1494 while the crown

was first worn for the coronation of James V’s wife Mary of Guise in 1540) no pics allowed

ARCHITECTURE

most of the city is this colour

not many coloured buildings in Edinburgh

the cantilevered clock

modern and old

lots of these passage ways to mews (courtyards)

graveyard and church in the middle of town...love the blue door

Holyrood Palace 1671 the official royal residence in Scotland

more castle buildings around the city

if I had to have a house and studio here...just saying

had to...I am a Taurus

a church in Edinburgh that had amazing stain glass windows

Picasso??

lots of emblems in glass

there are statues and carvings to honour all sorts of soldiers

art piece with 5 large neon pieces under a bridge
...would look fantastic at night

we were so tired at night we did not go out much
but one night stumbled on this lovely quartet

The Royal Yacht Britannia is 412 feet, launched in 1953, in

service until 1997 and traveled more than a million nautical miles.

Arnt taking the yacht for a spin

everything had its own room...dishes, silver, glasses, linen, etc.

dining table with cultural gifts from all over the world adorning the walls

in case you are wondering how to set a table

The main living room for the family with game boards, card tables and a piano. The first designer was all rococo over the top and she let him go and went for a more homey look.

my favourite room looking out over the aft deck
and check out the sweet hidden bar and stereo

The laundry and a full on operating room

The Royal Barge for the family's trips to shore

that is one gleaming engine room...all copper and chrome

maybe we will sign on as crew....there were about 6 bars on the boat

The Bloodhound 1936 ocean racing yacht once owned by the Queen

This building is an artist's residency and was right beside the yacht.

The National Museum of Scotland is one of the best museums either of us have visited.
There are two buildings with one being modern and the other built in 1861 with a
cast iron grand hall. There is everything from the history of Scotland, international exhibits of science, fashion, nature, art, transportation, design, etc. The above artwork was in the entrance hall.