Bailing out

This is a blip from yesterday's family trip to Jupiter Artland, which is an outdoor exhibition of contemporary artwork in a country estate in West Lothian.

After you recover from the shock of the entrance fee, all sorts of pleasant surprises await as you walk through the woods. Maybe I shouldn't moan about the fee - I suppose it's not every day you get to see an Anish Kapoor just off the A71.

I must say it's a marked contrast from my memories of West Lothian woodlands: in those days they were bursting to the brim with glue-sniffing paraphernalia, soggy porno mags and old mattresses.

In this woodland exhibition, some of the works are genuinely thought-provoking and even disturbing, such as the faceless, ghostly little girls scattered among the trees. Some others are just, well, statues stuck in a wood. But overall, it was an interesting experience and we'll go back out again next summer if it's still open.

The photo, ironically, is of a scene outside of the exhibition looking over a recently-harvested field with its criss-cross pattern of barley stubs revealing an interesting texture for a B&W shot. The scene reaches out towards the Forth bridges and you can just make out one of the road bridge's towers glowing in a pocket of sunshine amidst the showers. I thought that was more worthy of blipping than the numerous artworks which would've been photographed a thousand times that day.

Needless to say, it wasn't long until our luck ran out and we got caught in one of the showers above - one of the most almighty downpours I've ever witnessed this side of the Thai rainforest in the summer rainy season. My stoic children carried on eating their cheese and ham wraps as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, but eventually they succumbed and it was time to go home.

A quick retreat to the car with the heater turned up to max cheered us all up no end!