Saturday, 27 April 2019
Own work: The Rustiche of Sebastiano Serlio XXVII
Been a bit tardy in posting this, still 'better late than never'. The usual rules apply.
Saturday, 20 April 2019
over the hills and far away.... II
From one atmospheric church to another: the numinous St Michael, Myddfai. Myddfai is a very small but immensely attractive village, a meeting of three roads - think of the letter 'Y' or, better still, a cocktail glass with the church as the olive in the martini. The feel is, oddly, just a little urban.
The church is a delight, hardly any clutter and filled with light. There are old floors and limewashed walls. As at Llanddeusant the church consists of two naves separated by an arcade and roofed with wooden barrel vaults, all however on a larger, more spacious scale. Hard to believe that the church has been restored three times since 1870. Some good fittings too in the way of memorials and the like: in the porch is an early eighteenth century slab commemorating two of the 'Physicians of Myddfai', David Jones and his son also called David; and in the N chancel some ledger stones including one to Henry Owen, that also commemorating also his uncle the Laudian cleric Morgan Owen - Laud's chaplain, commissioner the s porch of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford from Nicholas Stone (1637) and from 1639 Bishop of Llandaff. The Civil War prevented him from taking up his position and he died in 1644, being buried here in his childhood village. There used to be a proper monument but it was broken up in the 19th century. A pity. The liturgical fittings aren't up to much but that is of small report when the church itself is so beautiful and atmospheric.
The church is a delight, hardly any clutter and filled with light. There are old floors and limewashed walls. As at Llanddeusant the church consists of two naves separated by an arcade and roofed with wooden barrel vaults, all however on a larger, more spacious scale. Hard to believe that the church has been restored three times since 1870. Some good fittings too in the way of memorials and the like: in the porch is an early eighteenth century slab commemorating two of the 'Physicians of Myddfai', David Jones and his son also called David; and in the N chancel some ledger stones including one to Henry Owen, that also commemorating also his uncle the Laudian cleric Morgan Owen - Laud's chaplain, commissioner the s porch of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford from Nicholas Stone (1637) and from 1639 Bishop of Llandaff. The Civil War prevented him from taking up his position and he died in 1644, being buried here in his childhood village. There used to be a proper monument but it was broken up in the 19th century. A pity. The liturgical fittings aren't up to much but that is of small report when the church itself is so beautiful and atmospheric.
Thursday, 11 April 2019
over the hills and far away... I
Over the Black Mountain on Saturday to the beautiful, remote hill-country (where it is the lambing season) between the Twyi valley and the mountain, a continuation, if you will, of the landscape around Carreg Cennen Castle, which I have written about before. A lyrical landscape. Timeless.
Off the mountain we drove through narrow winding roads in search of Llanddeusant and its Late Medieval church dedicated to Ss Simon and Jude. The name means 'church of the two saints' and could equally refer to a meeting of St Teilo and St David which is believed to have occurred here.
The village is tiny - just a handful of dwellings - perched on the ridge above the deep valley of the Sawdde. Noticeably colder than Swansea up there too! And there the church stands, humble after the truncation of its west tower. The inside is a surprise, and wonderfully atmospheric - packing, for such a small building, a great emotional punch. Colder, if at all possible, than outside. There are two spacious naves divided by an arcade of almost primitive strength. No furnishings of note (Oh, lets be honest here, some of them are downright wrong!) except the two late medieval wooden tunnel vaults, the ribs all silvery with age, yet somehow what a church should be.
Off the mountain we drove through narrow winding roads in search of Llanddeusant and its Late Medieval church dedicated to Ss Simon and Jude. The name means 'church of the two saints' and could equally refer to a meeting of St Teilo and St David which is believed to have occurred here.
The village is tiny - just a handful of dwellings - perched on the ridge above the deep valley of the Sawdde. Noticeably colder than Swansea up there too! And there the church stands, humble after the truncation of its west tower. The inside is a surprise, and wonderfully atmospheric - packing, for such a small building, a great emotional punch. Colder, if at all possible, than outside. There are two spacious naves divided by an arcade of almost primitive strength. No furnishings of note (Oh, lets be honest here, some of them are downright wrong!) except the two late medieval wooden tunnel vaults, the ribs all silvery with age, yet somehow what a church should be.
Sunday, 7 April 2019
Own work: Latest Collage
Finally completed my latest collage, and a new direction for me - my first use of perspective. otherwise everything essentially remains the same: mixed media collage (including handmade marbled paper) on watercolour board.
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