Croome Court

We went to see Chris and Jean today and after a cuppa we all headed for Croome Court.  It was a lovely sunny day and the place was heaving. We had lunch then walked down to the house where there is an exhibition of tapestries and etchings by Grayson Perry.

The works are excellent, deserving of closer examination, there being so much detail within them.  The main picture is of the Battle of Britain tapestry, the following being an explanation from Grayson Perry.

'I started this work with the innocuous desire to make a large landscape tapestry. I have always enjoyed the in-between places or 'edgelands' as they have become fashionably known. The imaginary place I have depicted is not unlike the landscape of Essex where I lived as a young child. The layered quality of the image harks back to some of my earliest sketchbook paintings made whilst at art college. I was about half way through making this work when I realized I was unconsciously drawing a transcription of one of my favourite paintings, Battle of Britain by Paul Nash. Having yet again acknowledged the power of the unconscious I continued with the work, playing up the associations and weaving in references to the current conflicts within our society.'

Also on show are a series of landscapes by Antony Bridge, artist in residence at Croome Court and an installation by Amy Jayne Hughs, 'Garniture' based on Croome's porcelain collection, see extras.