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11 February 2019

Postcard from Milton Keynes: Woughton House

We travel up to Milton Keynes once or twice a year to visit family. We can’t stay with the family – no room – but we found this wonderful hotel, perfect for our needs.

Woughton House

MGallery Woughton House is a beautiful country house surrounded by green fields and parkland. It’s so beautiful, I’ve taken many photos and produced this watercolour sketch.

It was a clear day, early in January, with the house bathed in sunshine. How could I resist?

MGallery Woughton House

But the hotel also boasts a gallery and has a splendid display of hundreds of paintings and prints. This collection is at the foot of the stairs. The book on the chest, left casually there, is an ornament – a box fashioned to look like a book.

Walking up the stairs, the walls are packed with images. There’s no space for any more.

And this is the view from the top.

Even the corridors are decorated with a variety of plaques.

Where is Woughton House?

The hotel seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere but is only a few minutes or so from the A5 and the M1 – and very easy to find.

If you have reason to travel to Milton Keynes, eg to visit Bletchley Park, I can heartily recommend this hotel.

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard discussed the Magic of Manrique, and his house which Anne and I visited when MV Ventura stopped for one day in Lanzarote.

4 February 2019

Postcard from Lanzarote: The Magic of Manrique

Imagine: a fourteen-day cruise with stops at Lisbon, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Tenerife, and Madeira … each one with tours to take you ashore and show you the local sights and delights.

When the MV Ventura stopped for one day in Lanzarote, Anne and I took advantage of an excursion to discover the Magic of César Manrique, the Spanish artist, sculptor, architect and activist.

The visit included entrance to the César Manrique Foundation, situated in Manrique’s former home, Taro de Tahíche.

Outside the house, visible from far away, is this statue: Monumento al Campesino (a monument to the peasant). It’s constructed from scrap parts and stands tall above the coach park.

Monumento al Campesino

César Manrique was passionate about the landscape, keen to make use of it, to blend buildings in with it. He chose to site his house on the solidified lava rock created by an 18th-century volcanic eruption that transformed the Lanzarote terrain; he made use of the bubbles which naturally form when the volcano erupts.

The top of the first bubble is visible as you walk through the gates and into what we might call the front garden.

Looking down into it, you see the room below.

The sculpture you can glimpse from up here … is within a room below and is indicative of his style. His sculptures appear all over Lanzarote, especially on the islands in the middle of the many roundabouts.

The decor of the rooms, cut into the volcanic earth, is simple, with single colour schemes. White …

And yellow …

The emphasis is on clear cut lines. No fuss.

The paintings of César Manrique

There’s not enough space here to share all the paintings on show. His, and those of many famous artists of his generation, like Picasso, adorn the walls.

Anne liked this one the best – for its simplicity.

His geometric lines are to be seen in the garden too.

When you are inside the house, you are acutely aware of the outside – the view across the volcanic black earth to the sky through massive windows. Within the space, a pool is cut into the rock and the black volcanic rock painted white. Even the man-made structures are made to look natural.

If ever you are in Lanzarote, take time out to visit the César Manrique Foundation. Rather than taking a coach tour, which limits you on time, make your own way there and enjoy every part of the experience to the full.

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard focused on the sketching I did while aboard MV Ventura.

Next week’s blog shares the art we discovered when we returned to the UK.

28 January 2019

Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Whenever we go travelling, I pack my watercolour kit and various sketchbooks of various sizes and make time for sketching.

Our ritual, as soon as we arrive at a new place, somewhere we will be staying long enough for Anne to write and me to paint, is to set up the space to suit us both. Our cabin aboard MV Ventura was perfect for our needs. And what a view!

Our cabin | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Anne bagged the ‘dressing table’ as her office space, and I took over the ‘lounge’ area. Some shelving beneath the TV held all my equipment and I used the small coffee table for my palette and to rest my sketchbook.

We were aboard MV Ventura for fourteen days and seven of those were at sea. This gave me plenty of time for sketching.

Water, water, all around …

For the first two days, crossing from Southampton to Lisbon. all we saw from our balcony was the sea. And ships. And even more ships and drilling rigs whenever we went into port. With my marine insurance background, I found this fascinating and took many photos. So much resource material, so much inspiration for my sketching, but never enough hours to paint everything!

Drilling rig | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

However, I did sketch a few cruise ships and captured the landscape when we were in port.

Sketching Queen Victoria

One of Anne’s friends cruises regularly. We met her and her husband for lunch in Madeira a few years ago. We were staying in Funchal over Christmas and New Year; they were due to arrive on New Year’s Eve, in time to see the fireworks that night. This time, they were aboard Queen Victoria and – because our itineraries had us both in Madeira on 31 December, we planned to meet up at the same restaurant for a catch-up. Imagine our surprise to wake up the day before, to see their ship just across from ours.

Cunard moored | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

As it turned out, we should have made the effort to meet that day. Once we got to Madeira, they were moored off and the sea was too rough for them to be allowed ashore on the tenders.

This sketch is of Queen Victoria sailing off into the sunset.

Cunard sailing away | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Sketching in Tenerife

We’ve visited Tenerife before and we were not inclined to go ashore that day. The sky above the mountains was black, and we’d not been attracted by the various tours on offer. Instead, we enjoyed relative peace and quiet aboard ship. Anne did lots of writing and when I wasn’t taking photos, I was sketching . Bliss!

Tenerife | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

Sketching in Madeira

We’ve also visited Madeira many times but never aboard a cruise ship. The day we arrived (31 December), it was a full house.

Madeira | Postcard from MV Ventura: Sketching at sea

We walked ashore in the morning and returned to the ship in time to avoid a downpour. As you will have seen from a previous post, the rain abated, almost, and the New Year’s Eve fireworks were spectacular.

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. My previous postcard focused on edible art.

Next week’s blog shares more of the art we discovered ashore. If cruising appeals to you, visit the P&O website.