Lake District, April 2019, Day 6

A trip over to Coniston was the order of the day today so we up a bit earlier, breakfasted and away.  We were heading for Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin, partly because we had never been, but also because there was a small exhibition of JMW Turner's work: Incandescence:Turner in Venice.  This exhibition is the first ever at Brantwood featuring Turner's work.  The main piece is his Piazzetta with the Ceremony of the Doge Marrying the Sea.  There are also several of Turners watercolours made during his visit to Venice in 1840, the year in which the young Ruskin met Turner.  The water colours show the passage of light across the hours of a single day.  I found this fascinating for many reasons, one being that I had just watch a DVD of photographer, David Noton's Chasing the light in which he discusses the varying colour temperature of the light during the passage of a day.  I loved the beautiful abstraction in these works, especially as, in my landscape photography, I often experiment with being more abstract and less figurative.

Ruskin admired Turner and leapt to his defence in 1836 when Turner's work was criticised in Blackwood's Magazine.  This not only defended Turner, but established Ruskin's own reputation.

I love Ruskin's commitment to our natural World and his quiet detailed observations; the small scale as well as the wider views of nature such as the large drawing/painting of horse chestnut leaves on display in the house.  Whenever we are out walking, whether it be on the hills, in woods or on the coast beachcombing we collect objets trouvee and our house and Heather's studio are full of our finds.  I was delighted to find that Ruskin was of a like mind and enjoyed browsing his collections.  His study overlooking Coniston Water I found especially enticing.

Brant is Norse for steep and Brantwood's steep woods rise up behind the house to the fell side beyond.  These woods comprise half the 250 acre estate and are a paradise for walkers.  Our visit was only a short one but we shall certainly return to these inspirational grounds.  At the heart of the estate are eight beautiful gardens, all established by Ruskin and they are a delight.

While we watch a video introduction to the house and Ruskin himself this quote was used: "Give me a broken rock, a little moss and I would ask no more, for I would dream of greater things associatyed with these.  I would see a mighty river in my stream, and in my rock a mountain clothed in trees."  I found this moving and inspirational.  Like the "Shape of Light" exhibition at Tate Modern (Blog here) it 'gave me permission' to treat my close-up abstract photography of the microlandscape seriously; to make the invisible visible.