Scholars' Trips
Maiden Castle & Thomas Hardy's Cottage 18.05.23
On Thursday, we were off again and this time to Dorchester. First, we climbed Maiden Castle, one of the largest Iron Age hillforts in Europe - the size of 50 football pitches. The steep and complex ramparts would certainly have been a challenging place to attack. We then went to Thomas Hardy's Cottage, where this world-famous novelist and poet was born. It was a truly atmospheric place and you could see where he got much of the inspiration for his novels from. It was wonderful to see the desk and window from where he wrote 'Far from the Madding Crowd'.
An Inspector Calls - Theatre Royal in Bath 17.05.23
On Wednesday, the 6 of us went to the National Theatre's touring production of 'An Inspector Calls' at the Theatre Royal in Bath. We have studied the play, and this production has received rave reviews and it did not disappoint. The doll's house set emphasised the relationships with the different social classes, and the Scottish Inspector brilliantly represented morality and social conscience. Thought-provoking and a memorable performance.
Oliver Akers-Douglas & Messums 11.05.23
The academic and art scholars went on a trip this Thursday. At first we drove to see Oliver Akers-Douglas, one of the most collectable living artists working today. Oliver's paintings are bold, distinctive and vividly convey the idea of place. We saw his studio, where he creates his masterpieces of the Wiltshire landscape. He showed us how he paints outside in the wind and rain, as well as his depictions of the Swiss Alps and Scottish beaches. After that we went to Messums in Tisbury where there was an Aboriginal theme. We were lucky enough to experience an immersive and sensual installation, which transported us to the Australian bush using didgeridoo music and amazing videos of undergrowth, light, movement and water. After that we saw the work of Laurence Edwards, whose sculptures are deeply influenced by traditional Australian culture, and an exhibition called ‘Inner Landscape’, which showcased selected works by artists from or inspired by Australia or New Zealand. We finished with a walk through the beautiful Wiltshire landscape on the downs, which is a source of inspiration for so many of our local artists, and hopefully will be for many more to come.
Kimmeridge 04.05.23
The following Thursday, four of us went to the Jurassic Coast at Kimmeridge on the Isle of Purbeck to do some fossil hunting and climb up to Clavell Tower, a Victorian folly. After that, we went to the Etches Museum to see the larger fossils and aquatic skeletons that Mr. Etches had collected in Kimmeridge Bay. Finally, we visited the Field Honey Farms to learn more about the production and farming of bees and honey.
Stourhead 27.04.23
The four of us that had finished our academic scholarships went to Stourhead Gardens. The objective was to experiment with light and composition by taking close-ups of flowers, zoomed-out landscape shots, pictures of the different architecture and silhouettes. We then edited these photos to improve them and change the exposure. We used a Canon EOS 5, a Sony digital camera and two different iPhones to improve the variation of all our pictures.
