The Sellotape Queen strikes again

durham_rambler has just heased out to his appointment, with a package to post: a birthday present for K. whom we visited in Ludlow. Even with first-class postage, it will probably arrive late. There is no justification for this: I bought it in good time. In fact, both gidt and card were purchased at the Piece Hall in Halifax, on our way home from that visit. Why am I so bad at wrapping and sendong gifts? Oh, I'm no genius at finding them, either, but on occasions like this one, when I had found something which was the perfect combination of appropriate and silly, why do I delay over getting it into the post? It was, admittedly, breakable (but not actually fragile), and I would have liked to find a box of the perfect size in my stash of might-be-useful-one-day boxes... And then I couldn't find the Sellotape...

Well, it's done. A box has been confected from cardboard and lined with bubble wrap, and the whole has been smothered in sticky tape. My stepmother used to complain that my father and I shared a packing technique which relied on lashings of sellotape, which was effective but inelegant, and a challenge to open. I just hope it will succeed, and that K. will like her present.

The card was this one, by Kate Lycett, whose work I saw in one of the little galleries in the Piece Hall, and would like to see more of. In contrast. here's Hebden Bridge A to Z in wood engravings.

A day at the Auckland Project

We spent a day at Auckland Castle; it was ten days ago, but it's never too late to post, is it? We accompanied J. to visit the Walled Garden,the most recently opened component of the Auckland Project:

Unlike any other walled garden I can think of, it slopes steeply down from the castle towards the river, so I didn't have that sense of being in an enclosed space, even though the walls did block any view of the outside world. Well, almost: you might just see the top of the Faith Museum peering over the wall. I enjoyed pottering about in the sunshine, admiring the way flowers and vegetables had been planted side by side, here some orange trumpets contrasting with some purple cabbages, there some gleaming black tomatoes, and an abundant garlic harvest laid out to dry under the concertina roof of the glasshouse.

We lunched in the castle's café, which was fine - and very convenient - but not special: another time I'd go out into the town. But I wanted to spend the afternoon touring the castle, which I haven't done since - oh, well, since before the current renovation, anyway. J., who lives more locally, has, and wasn't tempted to do so again, so we parted company at this point.

Until 2012, Auckland Castle was the home of the Bishop of Durham (initially, one of his homes, but in 1832 Durham Castle was given to Durham's then new university): the Auckland Castle Trust renovation takes you thhrough a sequence of rooms, each presenting the period and activities of one of the bishops, from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first. (You could stretch that, I supose, and argue that the chapel with its elaborate carved wooden screen is a nod to the restoration Bishop Cosin.) This is Quite Interesting - Hensley Henson appears to have been a force to be reckoned with; and it's a curious sensation to see events you remember presented in such a historical context (hhello, David Jenkins!).

There's a sequence of rooms which contain an actual art gallery, hosting temporary exxhibitions, currently 'Rare European Masterpieces'. I was surprised how much I did not like these. The still life with lizard which heads the linked article (sorry, I don't remember the name of the artist) was the only one I liked at all; the star exhibits, a pair of portraits allegedly by Rembrandt, were disappointing. I note in my defence that the label in the gallery described them as being from the workshop of Rembrandt - but possibly they were touched by the hand of the master, and it's just me.

These two themes come together in the Long Dining Room, set up as if for a dinner party in the time of Bishop Trevor, displaying the thirteen paintings which he bought in 1756, Zurbarán's immense Jacob and his Twelve Sons. I have seen these before, but for some reason was very much more impressed with them this time round: were they cleaned while they were visiting the States while their home was being renovated? Or is the lighting much improved? I don't know, but they have great presence. Here's some background:

Watch on YouTube

And here is a Flickr album with nice big images of each one.

So now I'm confused. Am I immune to Old Master paintings, or not? Clearly we need to visit Bishop Auckland's Spanish Gallery and find out: and before mid-November, when our season ticket runs out.