It was very wet today and we were both tired after a very busy week, so we decided a gentle day was what we needed.
After coffee and cake with friends, our first destination was Lindeth Howe Hotel for lunch. We love this hotel and the food is always delicious. It was also the home of Beatrix Potter's mother following the death of Rupert Potter, and where Beatrix Potter wrote many of her wonderful stories, including The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes and The Tale of Pigling Bland. We had hoped to have a stroll round the gardens, but it was raining so hard that this wasn't possible.
Instead, after lunch,we visited Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House on Windermere. We were keen to see the exhibition of Frances Priest's ceramic work. Frances Priest is an Edinburgh-based artist and the exhibition - Motif | Line | Colour - traces 25 years of her artistic work.
The exhibition follows Priest’s evolution from her early monochrome pieces to her more recent, intricate, and colourful designs. It showcases work from her latest collection, Unfixing, rarely seen pieces from her personal archive, and newly created works inspired by the architecture of Blackwell, designed by Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott. I particularly enjoyed these pieces.
Priest’s ceramics are known for their bold patterns, vibrant colours, and deep attention to decorative detail. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of cultures and historical periods, her work explores the power of ornament to tell stories, evoke a sense of place, and celebrate the joy of being human.
A key influence on Priest’s practice is The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, a 19th-century encyclopaedia of global design that played a major role in shaping the Arts & Crafts Movement.
Seeing Priest’s work in the setting of Blackwell, surrounded by Arts and Crafts craftsmanship, felt right. I love the way in which the curators juxtaposed pieces of her work with Blackwell’s existing furniture and fittings.
An excellent way to spend a wet Saturday.