Fourth embellished patchwork star (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)
Mainly sunny though not very hot, today was ideal for visiting Barbara Hepworth’s Sculpture Garden, the finding of which she said was a “sort of magic”. And when we found it you could see exactly what she meant. I had imagined it to be far over on the other side of the bay from the town itself and in an isolated spot. Instead it sits slap bang in the middle of the town on rising land off an unassuming cobbled street. A right angle of high solid stone walls of the sort only usually seen around a castle conceal what is within completely and cause you to wonder as you go in through an ordinary little door where on earth the house and studios, let alone the garden can be. In, through, up stairs to an airy barn-like room, through that and there it is – a garden full of light, colour and texture and as near to the image seen in countless films and photographs as you could wish anywhere to be. From stone steps there is just a glimpse of the bay beyond and apart from the tower of the local church there is little sign of any other building. Self contained bliss and a creator’s paradise. The living part of the house – kitchen, bedrooms, etc. remain a mystery but at least the visitor can peer into her studios – for stone carving and plaster – and soak up the joys of a garden quite unlike any other.
Embellished patchwork star : detail (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)
