Exhibition

Every now and then, I meet up with some friends from my high school days. Sometimes we just meet for lunch at someone’s place, at other times we visit exhibitions, or gardens or just have a picnic. It’s always a pleasure — and it amazes me how, even though until we started this after a school reunion one time and hadn’t seen each other for decades, we still have so much in common and really get on.

For our most recent get-together we met for breakfast at a local cafe, and then went to look at an exhibition in the Brunswick Town Hall. There were three different display sections — one was a display of children’s art. I always enjoy kids’ art — it’s often so exuberant —and this was no exception.

The next section was art by adults, and most of the pieces were making a good political point, with various degrees of subtlety. It was interesting to see the range of approaches.

But the display that I loved most was an installation, a whole room that had pieces of art work made of twigs and vines and leaves and wire and found objects hanging from the ceiling and lit by constantly changing colored lights.

The lights threw color and shadows on the wall, which added to the effect.  It was magical.  

I’ve always liked things made from natural materials, and have continued playing with them ever since I was a kid.  I used to make baskets out of willow and vines and all sorts, and also tiny ones made from pine-needles sewn together. And most years I  make some sort of Christmas decorations, even just a wreath from vines and twigs and fallen cones and seedpods, so this was right up my alley. But we all loved it. The effect really was magical.

I was particularly happy with the photo  below of my friend Jenny, who is a professional photographer, taking photos of the shadows and unconsciously adding to the display.