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Archive for the ‘Places’ Category

Mosaic elephant in Norwich Royal arcade

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Good to see a mosaic elephant as part of Norwich’s elephant statue festival (aka Go Elephants!). And what better place than in the Royal Arcade beneath the exotic Neatby tiles. The work is by Kate Munro.

Mosaic elephant statue

Carved rocks at Rotheneuf, France

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Known as “les rochers sculptés”, the carved rocks on the coast at Rothéneuf (near St Malo, Brittany, northern France) were the work of Abbé Adolphe Julien Fouré (1839-1910). He sculpted around 300 carvings in a small area of the rocky coastline. He carried out the work at the end of the 19th century, over the course of 25 years. Abbé Fouré was a reclusive priest who was deaf and mute as a result of a stroke. He found self expression in the heads, figures and mythical beasts that he carved from the solid granite overlooking the sea. This collection is considered a classic example of outsider art.

carved head with sea in background
carved scene with two figures and palm tree
carving of a cow

The Watts Mortuary Chapel

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

The Watts Mortuary Chapel at Compton, near Guildford, Surrey, is a remarkable building. It was built in memory of the painter George Frederic Watts by his widow, Mary, in 1895. The chapel is decorated with terracotta on the inside and out. The inside has elaborate murals on the walls. The design is Art Nouveau with themes borrowed from, for example, Celtic art. There is a labyrinth motif on the corbels outside, repeated on the gilded terracotta altar.

The Watts Gallery is nearby. G F Watts created the memorials in Postman’s Park, London.

the Watts Mortuary Chapel

terracotta angel with maze

Altar of the Watts Chapel