A cascading installation of ceramic Himalayan blue poppies has been installed at the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park near Ripon.

More than 1,300 of the clay poppies have been installed on a banking at the park to create an 80 square metre sculpture called ‘bursting from the slumber’.

Harrogate-based artist Anna Whitehouse was commissioned in 2019 but due to the pandemic has only been able to install the poppies in the past two weeks.

The poppies have been handmade with the help of local schools, colleges and public workshops. Each poppy has been personalised with messages about the pandemic or the names of family and friends they lost.

Ms Waterhouse said:

“This project was designed in 2019, when the idea of a global pandemic shutting down the world was still only found in the pages of a sci fi novel. As such, the sculpture has taken on a greater meaning than I could have ever imagined, a symbol of re-emergence and the power of community, with tactile clay workshops providing space for people to relax and socialise again.”

The blue poppy, known as Meconopsis, is very rare but due to the microclimate of the park it manages to grow there. The park also houses the North’s largest collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias.

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Will Roberts, owner of the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park said:

“We are more than excited to be seeing this project come to fruition after a two-year delay due to covid. Anna has done the most amazing job designing, creating and coordinating this large installation and we want to say a huge thank you to all those who contributed to deliver such an incredible piece of art.”

The park reopens next Tuesday, April 12, until October 30.

Some of the Harrogate district’s most famous scenes and landmarks have been captured by members of Knaresborough Camera Club.

The club, which meets weekly and welcomes new members, sent us a selection of photos to showcase to a wider audience.

They capture everything from an aerial view of Oakdale Golf Club in Harrogate to Ripon Canal to sculptures at the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park at Grewelthorpe.

We love showing great photos of the Harrogate district. If you would like us to consider yours for publication, please email details to contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

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Oakdale golf course in Harrogate by Mike Morley.

Ripon Canal by Mervin Straughan

Ripley Castle deer by Mervin Straughan

Himalayan Gardens, Grewelthorpe, by Mervin Straughan

Newby Hall, by Mervin Straughan

StrayArt is a monthly column written by Johnny Messum, Director and Founder of art gallery and centre, Messum’s Wiltshire, London and Harrogate.  Johnny’s passion is for contemporary art and sculpture.

Each month he will look at art, exhibitions and events across Yorkshire and sometimes further afield with the aim of guiding and inspiring us.

It is a challenge to feel clear about the immediate future. We have new structures to adhere to, I have visors supplied for my team in the car, along with the NHS track and trace QR code to go in the window.

What should have been alongside me instead, was the formidable British sculptor, Bridget McCrum, whose family, the Bains, hail from Leeds. Now in her late eighties she was planning to come to the opening of her show in James Street.

Along the way I had imagined us discussing sculpture in the landscape, something that is taking on added dimensions, not least because it is one of the few places where we can safely view art without PPE, but also because it is, in itself, interesting and complex.

Amongst the myriad attractions of Yorkshire, the landscape has to rank amongst the highest. It is a daunting partner to duet with as a sculptor. There is nowhere this subject is more comprehensively demonstrated than at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where I went to see the work of a friend, Sean Henry, and of an artist I am showing in London, Jorgen Haugen Sorensen.

Set into the landscape there, each work takes its cue from the ground around it. I sometimes think that of all the artists, perhaps only local boy, Henry Moore, had the swagger to meet the rolling landscape toe to toe, so to speak. His work stands resolutely chest open to the wind and wilds.

A stunning life-size sculpture ‘Seated Figure’ by Sean Henry at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Above picture and featured image credit: Jonty Wilde curtesy of YSP.

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The rule of thumb in placing sculpture in the landscape is one of scale and context. Seldom best placed in wide open spaces, they often prefer the same locations humans do, close to the house, in glades between shrubs or woodland corpses. This is seen well in the locations chosen in the Himalayan Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, which is open to the public until November 1, 2020.

Utopia: A stunning vista of the Himalayan Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grewelthorpe.

Sculptures placed outside really come into their own in the autumn. They become the key focus until the verdant spring surges forward once more. It is the perfect time to head into the open air as the greenery falls away and the landscape itself becomes more architectural.

Do be careful though with the choice of materials; the weather does not spare sculptures any more than other objects, so stones need to be wrapped if it gets cold and on a hot afternoon rub beeswax into the exposed bronzes. Perhaps the artist who most willingly accepted the ravages of time is Cheshire-born artist, Andy Goldsworthy, whose work picks up and changes with the rhythms of the seasons.

Next time I shall be bringing the boat to harbour so to speak and talking about living with art in the house – combining old and new objects and thinking about ways of displaying artworks to their best advantage.

Messum’s Yorkshire is open from Thursday to Saturday 10am-5pm. For more information, visit the website by clicking here.