Lacock Abbey

Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Lacock Abbey in Lacock, Wiltshire. It's set in the tiniest little village where there are almost no traffic signs or street lights as it is quite often used in filming, particularly for films and television programmes set in earlier centuries. As it turns out, parts of the Harry Potter series were filmed in both the abbey and the village, along with the BBC television series Pride & Prejudice.

Above: photographs from outside the abbey.

Below: from inside.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take many clear photographs inside the abbey due to the lack of natural light and rule against flash photography - which I assume was in place to preserve the paintings and old furniture on display in the rooms. However, I did succeed in capturing the corridors surrounding the courtyard, which some may recognise from the Harry Potter films. (It did feel a lot like Hogwarts on the inside!)

After exploring the abbey I had a wander around the gardens where - much to my amusement - I found these stunning electric blue thistles that were the size of my hand. (Pictured below.)

Lacock village itself has a lot of character: the cottages are old and sunken with wonky tiles and tiny little windows, draped in ivy and other green climbing plants. They all look as if they have been completely untouched since their build, which I believe is what makes them so attractive.

Starting Over

And so it would appear that I am a terrible blogger. So terrible in fact, it's almost an art form. But after a year long hiatus I'm prepared to start documenting my work again, though this time I plan on sharing more of my ideas, personal likes and photographs in order to keep an open mind when I do come around to creating artwork.

I've been to quite a few exhibitions, museums and galleries recently, where I took a lot of photographs and managed to squeeze a few sketches in. (Posts to follow.)

Though places such as these with great collections of artwork can be inspirational to my own ideas as a fine art student, I've recently become quite interested in finding inspiration in other avenues, including books, film, wildlife, architecture, ceramics and many more. In addition to this, I've been experimenting with different kinds of crafts, such as sewing, which I hope will help me keep an open mind when drawing inspirations from different places. In doing this, I'm beginning to discover what it is that captures my attention in different art forms, which I'm thinking is something I would like to explore in my upcoming art projects when I start university in September.