Open Exhibition - What Makes a Home?

Memories of Home.
Travelling through the familiar landscape of North Wales in times past, remembering feelings of expectation, excitement, belonging. The colour, light, sounds, seasonal changes, transitory moments, effects of light, a splash of colour. Passing down the valley, following lines of hills, mountains, and mists. Then home, warm, safe, relaxed.

A vase of flowers in the window and cups for coffee to share with friends. What does home mean to me. It’s a place of welcome.

The ruin is a tiny part of the 725-acre Trentham estate. It has been the home through many generations of the Duke of Sutherland who made it a splendid hall and gardens. With the advent of the industrial revolution the success of the pottery industry and the expansion of Stoke on Trent, the river Trent which runs through the grounds had become a foul smelling, slimy sewer, so the family moved residence, it then fell into disrepair and has been demolished over the years.
A once splendid ancestral home, now alas a relic of the past, as the wisteria branches invade every nook and cranny.

For the purpose of this portrait these three teddies have come together. On the left our granddaughter’s teddy still looking bright eyed. Centre is our daughter’s faded pink teddy, a little worse for wear and threadbare in parts. Finally, our son’s much loved “Tinkle Ears” who’s compressed stuffing no longer allows him to sit up.
A home is full of the most amazing memories of our children and grandchildren growing up.