Winter exhibition at the Stratford Gallery, 2019-2020 - 1

Winter exhibition, the Stratford Gallery, 2019-20 - 1

As usual, this current exhibition at the Stratford gallery is full of interesting ceramics.

Maki Imoto (handmade glass):

 Bottle

Bottle

Mitch Pilkington (handworked earthenware)

Large white vessel

Small blush vessel

Large blush vessel

Medium grey vessel



Tanya Gomez (porcelain)

Small tall saffron vessel

Large tall vermillion vessel

Saffron table vessel

Small tall tyrian vessel

Small tall cobalt vessel

Rhian Malin (porcelain with cobalt):

Jaejun Lee:

 Set of three blue nesting bowls

White and grey bowls

Cornelia Parker - One day this glass will break

One Day this Glass will Break, by Cornelia Parker

at Leamington Museum and Art Gallery.

This exhibition arose out of Parker's recent experiments at Thumbprint Editions, a printmaking studio in London, where she went 'on an adventure' with the master printmaker, investigating the possibilities of photogravure, a printmaking process developed in the 1850s that produces etchings with the tone and detail of a photograph through the exposure of a photographic positive film onto a copper plate.

During her experiments in printmaking Parker modified this technique by replacing photographic film with three-dimensional objects, in the manner of a 'photogenic drawing' - or photogram - developed by the 19th century photographic pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot. Through her combination of two early photographic techniques, Parker created a unique, hybrid form of printmaking.

Fox Talbot's Articles of Glass, 2017

Fox Talbot's Articles of Glass, 2017

Told You So, 2015

Premeditated Act of Violence, 2015

Pierced Basket, 2015

Winter landscape

Jephson Gardens.

The Lazaros Koundouriotis mansion in Hydra

We visited the Koundouriotis mansion on a day when it was too windy to go swimming.

Lazaros Koundouriotis was an eminent political figure of Hydra and one of the most imposing people during the War of Independence from the Turkish  occupation of Greece for 400 years. He consistently served the Greek nation, spending most of his money to finance the Greek fleet. His brother, George, served as president of the Provisional Government in the last years of the War of Independence.

Located near Hydra's port, the archontiko, or manor, provides a superb example of Hydra's 18th century mansions, whose architecture often reflects influences from abroad. Built in 1780, it was donated to the Historic-Ethnologic Institute of Greece by the family's descendants and today operates as a branch of the National Museum of History.





The steps that lead to the house took us to a large courtyard with steps leading up to the first floor.

The views from here are stunning -  the hills at the back

and of the harbour at the front.

We left the terrace and started exploring the house

the main hall

a figurehead

nice cosy corners below the majestic ceiling in the adjoining rooms

the study/office

a traditional Greek sitting room

plenty of icons

including some below the ceiling with an incense burner 

Dionysis Tsokos, Eleni Lazarou Kounrourioti

a sitting room

an informal dining room

another sitting room, or kathistiko, lots of guns on the wall

Unfortunately, I did not record the artists of the paintings above

Next stop, the kitchen

and then, the steps

that lead down to the basement

a loom

a second large kitchen here, where I presume the initial preparation/cooking took place before taking the dishes upstairs for the final stages, before serving

the rest of the rooms in the basement are now being used as a picture gallery

Landscape by Constantinos Byzantios, 1967

The Fall, by Constantinos Byzantios, 1990

Angel, by Constantinos Byzantios, 1985

Light, Periklis Byzantios, 1969

A Student's Room in the Fine Arts School in Hydra, 1954

Douskos' Coffee Shop, Periklis Byzantios, 1954

A small terrace at the back of the basement

We left the basement, and returned to the main terrace before going up the stairs to the first floor

the view from the first floor terrace

The first floor is being used as an ethnographic museum with traditional costumes

pottery

the view from the window

another loom

a crib

and another one

a good example of traditional embroidery - was this used as a towel?

a sitting area

some paintings by Panayiotis Tetsis.