Yorkshire Sculpture Park

This Easter holiday has been a completely different one from last year's for various reasons, one of them being the weather. Today was meant be a nice day so I decided to take the monkeys to Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YPS). After a good start of the day with a lovely cappuccino in the presence of the wonderful Mr G. we set off in the sunshine, with coats and one umbrella, just in case (my Rob Ryan one to keep in style with YPS!). Not long after we passed Stockport it started pouring down and it didn't stop until lo and behold, 4 minutes away from YSP when blue sky and sunshine appeared magically.

Monkeys pleased and very excited when we got there. Although they had been looking forward to seeing the sculptures, still impressed from a visit to Chatsworth House some time ago they were slightly embarrassed by the 'rude' sculptures along the road to the car park. They are at an age (nearly 8 & 10) where, what they call 'the rude bits' should not be on display for the eldest and produces a wave of giggles for the youngest.

Anyway as soon as we got out of the car they were delighted to see 'Big Bertie' or The Horse is a Noble Animal as it is titled, commissioned by Marcia Farquhar and carved by Anthony Dew, a Master Rocking Horse maker near York. Originally made for a show in Tatton Park it now lives at YPS.

Regular readers of my musings will know that I like to take the monkeys out of town during the holidays and take them to places where they don't get to go on a weekly (or even monthly) basis, what with girl monkey's acting, singing and dancing there is not much time left at times apart from pretending to be a taxi driver.

We had a glorious day today and marveled at all the sculptures and trees. The monkeys had both taken drawing materials and sat down at various times to draw the Henry Moore works and write about what they saw. They were most impressed by Anthony Caro and Eduardo Paolozzi, remarking that at school they really only learn about Picasso.

We visited a couple of the galleries, in particular the Underground Gallery was fabulous as this is where the current Joan Miro exhibition is installed. The monkeys LOVED it. We stayed for quite some time, watching footage of the master at work, dissecting the work, examining the use of colour and how to apply it with your fingers. They were both greatly inspired and will go back to school next week with essays and sketches.

Walking around the lake we got to the sign of David Nash' Seventy One Steps and what better way to check how many there are than to walk. They both shouted there weren't 71 but either 46 or 48. Needless to say I had to see this for myself, sure enough there were 71 (what else?!?), counting skills were left in Manchester today!

At the end of our visit I was really pleased to see this work, which is part of The Bee Library by Alec Finlay. This project was launched to coincide with World Book Day 2012 and comprises 24 books about bees and bee keeping and once the artist has read a book it will be transformed into a bee nest. These works will be installed around the YSP from May I believe. We'll have to go back in the Summer to try and find them all. I had heard a bit about the artist from my lovely colleague so was excited to see the work 'in the flesh'.

Alec Finlay - The Bee Library

And just when we felt it was time to go home, heavens opened! Looking forward to a next visit. This is such a wonderful place to go and only 1 hour drive from Manchester. Anyone with kids will be able to keep them entertained here for a whole day, there is a parking charge of £5 and donations at your own discretion. Well worth a visit!