Am exciting exhibition (and a dog)

Mum hasn't been anyway for days, so I decided to take her on a mystery tour. It was a beautiful day and the sky was blue with very few clouds. Just perfect for a car ride.

We drove north to find Highgreen at Tarset. I knew there was an exhibition of photography there. Finding the exhibition barn at Highgreen was a bit of a challenge because two of the signposts to it had been blown down. The postie's description was helpful but not perfect. (We never found the ford he said we had to cross.....)

Zoe Childerley has been artist in residence at VARC (Visual Arts in Rural Communities) for 6 months. She must have hit the ground running, because she has produced a wonderful piece of work in that time. She walked the border between Scotland and England, 100 miles in 10 days, exploring the landscapes and the people in the Debatable Lands. These are the lands where the Reivers roamed in the past and where the border has always been quite fluid.

Her photographs from the walk are fascinating. Like John Kippin (see last night) she used text on some. Hers spoke to me immediately. She had a political agenda and has made a timeline of her walk, including all the major world events that occurred during that time.

Mum is seen looking at the book Zoe has made. It consists of a long, single sheet of paper, in concertina form with photographs on one side and a map with text on the other. (Hard to explain, but we have ordered a copy.)

I loved her use of natural light in her portraits.

This exhibition is on next weekend from Friday to  Sunday and I hope that more people will go to see it. It's worth the journey.

We had lunch in the cafe at Falstone. This one welcomes dogs on leads. You will see the patient stance of the terrier while the owners ate. The woman had completed the Kielder 10km swim this morning. When he thought no one was looking, the man gave his plate to the dog, who licked it clean. I do hope they have a high temperature dishwasher in that kitchen!

We drove along the side of Kielder reservoir, failed to find ice cream and then came home.

It was a lovely day out.