school trip

Yesterday I spent a lovely day with the students at Harewood House. Next week they're starting a portraiture project so we went on a tour of the house to look at and learn about their large collection of family portraits. It was great to see them all enthusiastic about the busts and paintings and symbolism, can't wait to see what they come up with when they make their own versions!


I've been reading this book, about architecture and how what we like says about who we are. It was interesting to think about that whilst looking around the house; Chippendale furniture, luxurious fabric covering the walls and 3 libraries! The house is set in beautiful grounds, rolling hills, lake and woods, and it amazed me to learn that as far as the eye can see the landscape is completely man made. Man made by a man called Capability Brown, and it's funny to think that a lot of the landscape that I think of as traditionally English is in fact designed by him!


And I need to visit again, because I didn't get chance to visit the bird garden (although I did see a massive emu feeding its emu chick which was bigger than me!) I missed the Victorian walled vegetable garden, the 'below stairs' section of the house where the servants would've lived (perhaps the most interesting part to me!), the exhibition of contemporary African art and the night sky show where you get to lay on your back in a giant geodesic dome and watch a light show of stars whilst listening to poems by Roger McGough! Yes, a definite re-visit is in order!