Footnotes to a Conversation, July 31, 2023

I sat down at the computer yesterday morning and had absolutely nothing to write about. A few online newsletters and articles sent me off on various unexpected pathways – I hope you enjoy them.

Sculpture Trails

I spent 10 days in Bassingham, UK, a few years ago. It’s a small village with just two shops and a pub. I was delighted to discover a walkway connecting it to a neighbouring village that was lined with sculptures. It was so unexpected and a delightful addition to my walk. I especially appreciated the variety of styles and forms as well as the informal setting. It wasn’t great art, but it was creative and beautiful.

I found a couple of articles about sculpture parks and trails around the world that have left me eager to visit them. There’s a giant orange pumpkin at the end of a pier in Honshu, Japan, an underwater museum in Cancun, and scrap metal sculptures in Wisconsin. [Mandala Meadow] An art and architecture trail wends its ways through a vineyard in Provence, the Tarot Garden in Tuscany is full of voluptuous ceramic figures, while Parrikala Sculpture Park in Finland is a little scary with stick figures emerging from the ground in twisted poses. [Mandala Meadow]

Folk Art

Folk art is easy to enjoy. It’s bright and cheerful and easy to understand. It’s unique rather than mass-produced, often quirky and humourous, and may connect us to history (horse-drawn carriages, Welsh love spoons). [Effect Magazine]

There’s often an underlying message of hope and inspiration as artists such as Canada’s Maud Lewis and Ukraine’s Maria Prymachenko overcome humble origins and restrictive circumstances to become well-known artists.

This simplistic vision of folk art as colourful and decorative can be deceptive. Early works by Maria Prymachenko depict murderous monsters, hunger, and alienation. “Prymachenko became an artist in the decade when Stalin set out to destroy Ukraine’s peasants. Rural people starved to death in their millions in the famine he consciously inflicted on Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 … So it would take a very complacent eye not to see the disturbing side of Prymachenko’s early art. The bird in its parent’s mouth, the peacock feeding a brute … Yet she got away with it – and was even officially promoted right in the middle of Stalin’s Terror, when millions were being killed on the merest suspicion of independent thought. Perhaps this was because even paranoid Stalinists didn’t think a peasant woman posed a threat.” [The Guardian]

Human Contact

I confess. As an introvert, I much prefer ATMs and self-checkout machines to having to line up to talk to a teller or cashier. The crowds and endless line-ups at airports drive me mad. So maybe, based on an article in The Guardian, I’m a wannabee billionaire. (Apparently, billionaires prefer private jets as there are only 70 touch points as opposed to 700 with commercial flights.) On the other hand, customer service staff at train stations have saved the day for me more than once when I couldn’t find the right platform or my ticket wouldn’t work at the exit. [The Guardian]

Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.

If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.