Wentworth Woodhouse Reflections

Well, it was great to be back at Wentworth Woodhouse, 29 years after I left there as a student, if only in the outside area of the stable block!

It proved to be an interesting and costly weekend – only five minutes into setting up our gazebo, and just as we were adding weights to the legs, a freak gust of wind picked it up and slammed it back down, at the cost of only one leg. As you might imagine one leg becomes quite important to the stability of a four cornered gazebo – and to my own stability as it turns out…my response was rather impolite and subsequently just a little emotional. Oh and of course I now owe my baby brother the cost of a new gazebo to replace the loan one!

Oh well, fortunately we were able to negotiate the use of some shared space elsewhere, provided we helped to erect what must have been a 25 ft gazebo, which my bro kindly did on my behalf while I cleared up the mess we had already created elsewhere.

Interesting fact: 25ft gazebos also fly really well and to a height of approximately 6ft from the ground when approached by large gusts of wind travelling in the right direction!

Plans for layout had to be adjusted on the hoof but we looked pretty smart when we set up for trading on day 1 if I do say so myself (some others said so too).

KLArt at Wentworth Spring Fair

Day 1 was slightly overcast but brought a few expected friends, including visitors from the other side of the Pennines (thanks for visiting Max), whilst Sunday saw the sunshine a very noticeable shift in spirits and more visits from friends old and new – fortunately this is the kind of weather that brings visitors to Wentworth Woodhouse for a Sunday afternoon walk.

It was great to spend a couple of days chatting to other stallholders, making new friends friends from complete strangers and of course picking up some sales and new business, not to mention a couple of very special leads. It was also great to receive some really positive feedback across the whole range of items on the stall (and some disappointment that a couple of the larger items were for demonstration purposes and not for sale).

I also received a good deal of feedback about the portrait of the Queen – on the stand only to illustrate my services for portraiture, but well timed to coincide with the furore surrounding the Dan Llywelyn Hall “Spitting Image” portrait revealed only a week earlier. This certainly generated plenty of conversation including shared stories with service men who had proudly met the Queen in years past, some who had turned out to wave flags during royal visits and others who despised all that monarchy stood for. By far the most amusing response by a lady who refused to stop at all:

Huh! Who’d want to buy that to hang on their wall!

– Who was it who said you can’t please all of the people all of the time?!

…that was a rhetorical question of course, the saying is generally attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but was adapted by him from a quote by the English poet and monk John Lydgate 

Would I do it again?

The exercise certainly kicked me into bringing forward some new ideas and paintings I’d been considering for a while, so I certainly increased my productivity in the run up to the event. That also means I now have a new body of work to take out to local outlets/galleries as planned, so the fair proved to be a good incentive for personal discipline!

On the down side it’s taken me over a week to clean the dust from my stock, where it clung for dear life to the static charged cellophane wrap on my prints and cards and I could swear my little family of wildlife animals are still in shock from their short flight whilst attached to the large gazebo – they haven’t said a word since we got home anyway!

All in all I met some lovely people and shared some really interesting stories – you wouldn’t believe how many people said they used to paint or draw but gave it up because they didn’t think they could do it very well, or because life simply got in the way. Some even left determined to go and drag their tools back out of the cupboard and give it another go, great news!

I’m not sure if I’ll do it again in this (dusty) environment at the moment, but I recognise the decision to be here was based on nostalgia and it was great to be back temporarily and seeing some progress at least in the attempts to revitalise this most wonderful estate.

From a business perspective I am at least considering a couple of indoor events and events on grass in the coming months and right now I am very excited about the myriad of other opportunities out there for me. I am equally excited to be on the verge of starting up some tuition with a young person right at the start of their creative journey and really look forward to seeing where that big adventure takes us!

Wentworth Woodhouse Spring Fayre

*****     EVENT CONFIRMED FOR 4TH & 5TH MAY 2013     *****

After the disappointment when snow stopped play over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend I’m delighted to confirm the dates for the next bank holiday weekend!

Karen Loughridge Fine Art – KLArt will be exhibiting an even wider selection of products over the two days, thanks to more recent deliveries:

  • Framed Originals, including the new KLArt Wildlife and Orchestral paintings
  • Fine Art Giclee Prints of a variety of favourite KLArt pictures
  • Fine Art Greetings cards (singles, series and variety packs)

I’m pleased to say we are expecting the hog roast to be there too, so once again lunch is catered for, along with a variety of other tastes and interests!

Fingers crossed for sunshine, the event should be great fun for the family while the public footpaths through the grounds of the estate provide for a great couple of hours walking before or after visiting the event!

The site now has it’s own website, so for further information or to book future tours, please check out: Wentworth Woodhouse Web site (opens in a new window)

For a bit more background, check out my previous (Easter Bank Holiday Market) post and the links in there to more stories of the Mysterious Wentworth Woodhouse.

I look forward to seeing as many friends old and new as can make it on the day(s)!

 

Wentworth Woodhouse Easter Bank Holiday Market

*****     EVENT POSTPONED UNITL 4th & 5th MAY 2013      *****

Karen Loughridge Fine Art – KLArt will be exhibiting at the Wentworth Woodhouse Easter Bank Holiday Market.

A wide selection of KLArt products will be available to buy on the day:

  • Framed Originals, including new KLArt Wildlife and Orchestral paintings
  • Fine art prints of a variety of KLArt works
  • Fine art Greetings cards (singles, series and variety packs)

I look forward to meeting up with my many customers old and new – hope you can make it!!

Wentworth Event Advert

 Why not make a day of it…

Wentworth Woodhouse was built in the 18th Century by the Fitzwilliam family and is one of the largest privately owned homes in Europe, with an interesting history to match.

It provides a most spectacular backdrop for this event and the opportunity to make a day of it, with a nice walk before or after visiting the market as the Mansion house sits in its own deer park.

The house only opened to the public for the first time in September 2012 – check out the news at the time of the Mysterious Wentworth Woodhouse.

It also happens to be my former home – this is where I did my four years teacher training (I had a bedroom on the Bedlam wing) and as you can imagine, I am very excited to be going back home for this event!

Want to spread the news? Please help yourself: Wentworth EasterEvent Flyer (PDF)