Friday, September 13, 2024

Art Walk Part 1

    Hi everyone. It's the end of the week already, and Friday the 13th too. I just realized that as I wrote this. Be sure you don't walk under any ladders or let a black cat cross your path. (Grin)  😜

   This past Tuesday morning I went on a sculpture walk with 3 friends. The walk was at a place called Alnoba in Kensington, New Hampshire which is in the southeastern part of  my state not far from the Massachusetts border. Alnoba is on private property, and it is also a private business where you can book retreats and weddings, etc. However, they do offer art walks because they have quite a sculpture park on the property too. We had signed up for an artist lead art walk.  It started at 9 AM, and since I had almost a 90 minute drive (with morning traffic) to get there, I had to leave the house pretty early.

    The art walk was for 3 hours and actually ran a little bit longer. We didn't even get to see everything because the park is about 400 acres of land. However, I really enjoyed it, and I'd like to go back sometime on a different artist lead walk.

     Here's some of the art we saw. I have some faces so I'm linking up to Nicole's Friday Face Off.  I'm also linking up to Gillena's  Friday Lunch Break also. 


Let me start with this statue, which was one of my favorites.  It's called Colossal Fragment by Lionel Smit.


Not only was  the front view cool, but so was the back. It doesn't even look like the same sculpture, does it?


And if I stepped to the side and took photos, they were even different. And fascinating.




The artist who took us for a walk was Joseph Gray. His medium was stone. On the property he had several eagle benches.


He sees eagles in  certain flat stones, and if you look carefully you can see the head and tall feathers.




Joseph Gray  also did this large statue which I also really liked.


Can you see the Japanese tea house on the hill in the background?



I enjoyed hearing the artists' stories about how he created his art. This statue was originally one piece, but to get it into  its present location it had to be cut into 3 pieces. 

And here's a couple of pieces that don't have faces created by other sculptors.


Indeterminate Line by Bernar Venet


This blue piece in the woods  was harder to reach so we never walked any closer. Can you see it among the trees? 
Blue Gilead by Murray Dewart

Let me end this post with this HUGE fire pit that they burn during the retreats. It gets such a large fire and gets so hot you can see the granite stones on the side have even cracked and split off chunks.


I think it in itself is a work of art.


That's all for today's post. I'll have more next week. 
Have a great weekend and week ahead. 








20 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

An interesting and entertaining walk through the woods. As for Friday the 13th I met Miriam twenty-two years ago today on a Friday the 13th, and that didn’t turn out too badly. So it’s a good news day for me. All the best - David

Tom said...

...WOW Erika, thanks for taking me along on this great art walk. Sime day I'd love to do it in person.

Jamie Ghione said...

Good ones. I like the eagle and the face in the first photos.

Angie's Recipes said...

That first face statue by Lionel Smit is amazing!

R's Rue said...

So beautiful.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com

kathyinozarks said...

Oh Wow how awesome Erika, thank you for sharing hugs Kathy

sirkkis said...

Stunning sculptures, thanks for sharing your most interesting walk.
Have a wonderful weekend ahead 😘

Granny Annie said...

You definitely shared some wonderful things.

Valerie-Jael said...

What a wonderful place to walk and enjoy the glorious statues. The first face really nailed it for me. Happy weekend, hugs, Valerie

DVArtist said...

Wow!!! What a wonderful experience to take this art walk. The eagle benches are fabulous. However, those faces!!!!!! Just stunning. Thank you for sharing with FFO and have a fabulous weekend.

Carola Bartz said...

Too late! I already had a black cat cross my path - twice!
What an interesting art walk - the first sculpture is fascinating! An artist led tour certainly is very interesting, I think, but a three hour tour sounds a bit long to me - was there a break in between? I at least would have to use the restroom! The premises look beautiful, too ,with all the trees. Have a lovely weekend, Erika. Hugs - Carola

NatureFootstep said...

Lol. I would have loved walking at that place :)

Rostrose said...

Dear Erika,
that was a great art walk. I'm not surprised that the Colossal Fragment was one of your favorites - a beautiful face and really interesting to look at from different perspectives. The other works of art that you show are also interesting - and the park landscape too. I'm looking forward to the continuation.
Thanks for visiting my blog 😊 Because you wrote in your comment to San Francisco that it's always chilly in SF - when we were there in October (!) 2012, the weather was warm, summery, and when we biked the bridge back then, we found it very hot 😅... Angel Island sounds interesting - maybe we'll come back to SF sometime, who knows... (I love this city!)
I agree with everything you wrote about elections... and from here we're looking at the USA with great tension. (But as I said, things are simmering in Europe too...)
Oh, and it's funny what you wrote about our men and their clothing. Yes, I think there are similarities worldwide 😊.
All the best and have a nice weekend, Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2024/09/calle-libre-festival-2024-und.html

Jeanie said...

A wonderful post and what a terrific day. The park is fantastic and the art is beautiful. Looking forward to seeing more. I retired on Friday the 13th in 2013. A very good day for me!

CJ Kennedy said...

This looks like a very cool place. Maybe the next time Teague and I head North. Enjoy the gorgeous weather

carol l mckenna said...

Wow! What a place and such divine sculptures ~ great photography too ~ hugs,

Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
clm ~ A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

NGS said...

What a lovely way to spend a few hours. Beautiful art.

Mae Travels said...

Sculpture gardens appeal to me very much, and there is so much potential variation among them. I know some urban ones that have the art works very close together, and some that are more open with lots of space. Your post looks like there was lots of space between the works of art. I agree that the large head is a very interesting work. I have never been offered a guide to any of them.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Aimeslee Winans said...

Very cool outing and great photos, xoxo

Divers and Sundry said...

I love that face sculpture. That spot of blue is nice, and I'd've had trouble resisting it. I wanna be there when they have a bonfire!