Sunday, July 01, 2018

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Part One

As promised in a previous post a few more photos and details about the exhibitions we saw on our visit to the YSP.  We travelled up through Buxton and Glossop and as we drove by the reservoirs to join the main Sheffield to Manchester road we could see the smoke from the fire on Saddleworth Moor which had started the night before.  We drove over Holme Moss by the transmitting station and down into Holmfirth to join the road towards Wakefield.

The first exhibition we saw was the one we had specifically gone to see -
The Wish Post by Mister Finch 
The accompanying leaflet says 'Welcome to the eccentric and fantastical world of The Wish Post - an intricately hand-sewn and constructed menagerie'.

'More than seventy-five individual soft sculptures showcase Mister Finch's masterful combination  of up-cycled and new materials'

The story of the exhibition centres around the magical kingdom where woodland animals collect and sort the wishes of other creatures which are breathed into envelopes and posted into toadstool postboxes.

For one night each year the woodland animals have the chance to have their wishes and dreams to be whisked away on the breeze and for them to come true.  The creatures gather together to prepare the wishes for the wind ahead of The Wish Post Festival.

It's a fascinating exhibition.  The lady on the reception desk said 'It's out of this world' and she was right.  The animals are quite magical and wonderfully sculptured and created.  I was enchanted by them.

In the exhibition you can find badgers with coats full of badges,  bell ringing hedgehogs, thimble tailed rats, rabbits with toadstools, elegant swans and dapper moles.

When we visited on Monday the exhibition had been open for two days and every one of the sculptures had been sold. How wonderful for Mister Finch.

I loved the badgers and the moles.  Fox and ratty were there too.  I was reminded of one of my very favourite childhood books The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham.


We wandered around the exhibition for ages taking it all in and marvelling at each new little intricacy we found.  It was time for a quick lunch in the cafe before moving on to another two exhibits which I'll show you in part two.

36 comments:

  1. What a wonderful exhibition. The perfect antidote for this mad world of ours. I wish I was nearer. B x

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    1. It was magical and as you say a nice escape for a whort while:)

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  2. Not what you expect when you think of sculpture - but why not!

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    1. It was in the gallery area which has art exhibiions too - so very different from both:)

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  3. They're quite wonderful, not surprised they all sold.

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    1. Even if I could have afforded one we were too late, they must have all sold on preview night:)

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  4. It looked wonderful Rosie. I really like the look of the mole with its huge hands and what looks like gemstones strapped to his back! x

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    1. I loved the moles too, something wonderful about them:)

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  5. What a truly wonderful and magical exhibition. No wonder all those delightful sculptures are sold. Thanks so much for sharing your lovely photos Rosie and I look forward to seeing more pictures of the other exhibitions :)

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the photos, it was hard to take them with the light and the reflections - the actual animals are wondeful to see - so many intricacies about them. Will be along soon with the other exhibitions:)

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  6. Delightful!!!!

    And you went, even in the heat!!!

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    1. Yes, it was quite hot when we visited but it became even hotter later in the week so I was glad we went when we did:)

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  7. It looks magical. What a lovely idea! Thank you for sharing it with us. x

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    1. Thanks Mr T yes, it was quite magical:)

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  8. What a cute and magical exhibition. I love things like this. :)

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    1. Thank you, it is a wonderful exhibition:)

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  9. What a stunning exhibition. A real gem to see.

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    1. Thank you, I'm so glad that we visited the exhibition:)

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  10. Lovely pictures! !

    Cheers , Sandra

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  11. There's a lot of work in those sculptures, I can just imagine them all cut out and ready to be sewn, so many fiddly bits! The fire still progresses despite the hard work of the fire service. 😊

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    1. Even more fires now than the one we saw, another in the Bolton area just further north and two closer to us on the Staffordshire Moorlands. There was a small display case showing the different bits and bobs and stages of the creatures. All fascinating:)

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  12. I can see that it was well worth the journey you made to the YSP. I admire the detailed work involved in creating the sculptures. Each one has so much character. Love the hedgehog with the bell. The continuing fires on the moorland are a disaster - so difficult to contain and subdue.

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    1. Thank you Linda. The fires are awful aren't they? Hard to take in that one of them was deliberate:( The creatures are wonderful I liked the hedgehogs and the moles too:)

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  13. These sculptures are so detailed! I cannot imagine the amount of work it took to cut and sew these together. Very cool exhibition, looks like a great trip. Thanks for the share, keep up the posts.
    World of Animals

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    1. Thank you for your comment - they are wonderful sculptures aren't they? So much work in them I'm pleased the artist has sold them all:)

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  14. What an amazing exhibition. I can't believe all the detail & intricate workmanship. Your account of the drive to Wakefield brought many memories to mind of some of our trips around Yorkshire. Thank you & take care.

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    1. Thank you Susan. It is a lovely drive up into the peaks and then over the moors, we always enjoy drving that way. The exhibition was worth the effort in the heat to get there:)

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  15. Very cool! The rabbits are my favourite.

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  16. Must go and see this exhibition, looks fab x

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    1. It is Lyn, I hope you can get to see it:)

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  17. What a lovely exhibition, quite delightful!

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    1. Thank you Pam, it is lovely and quite special:)

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  18. Those animal are lovely - I especially like the mole, I though of Wind of the Willows too when I saw your photo.

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    1. I think the moles are wonderful, they were my favourites along with the badgers:)

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