Beyond the horse's head
Oh my word. We’ve been home over a week and still our weekend at the Newt is on my mind. We need to get out more! I did, however, feel the need to share something about the hotel art, which is eclectic and provoked my curiosity enough to find out more. When I found out more about it, it seemed that here was as good a place as any to share it. After all, I know that in the future, when I look for some detail or other, this is likely to be the first place I look!
I already made reference to the horse’s head which hung in our stable room in a fairly inaccessible place when it comes to taking photographs and capturing details. I tried to see if it had been constructed from old pieces of needlepoint or if the stitching had been worked around the form. I remained undecided at this stage. A closer look did reveal all those stars, spheres and other embellishments though, and one more rather useful detail.
Hanging from one of the stars was a set of metal “charms” including what looked like the artist’s details. I zoomed in, took the photograph and once home, attempted to read it.
It wasn’t easy! But good old Photoshop allowed me to focus in on the main detail and with a little trial and error, I recorded what looked like a name - well, enough of a name to google.
Frederique Morrel proved a little elusive and after a couple of dead ends, I found the Instagram page and enough to follow through.
Because “ours” wasn’t the only horse in the stable. We found another one in the drawing room.
in the company of a couple of other curious creatures.
I will never look at a kitschy piece of needlepoint in quite the same way again - what potential for creativity!
Actually, it was the art in the bar that first caught my eye. I quite liked the way the traditional paintings had been cropped and felt that it worked well here. That was before I read of the background of one of the owners - outlined in this online article after which, it all fell into place.
It takes confidence to set two “bandaged chairs” in a traditional English drawing room, alongside velvet sofas and mahogany bookcases.
But such things bring personality and character , don’t they?
We spent an hour or so in the drawing room on Sunday morning. We were supposedly reading the papers or in my case, coming to the end of my book. But you know, I just couldn’t settle. There was far too much to look at, to notice and to distract me! After all, how could I sit in a room with this book in the corner, inviting me to turn a page and take a look. It’s huge - 50 x 70cm - and just had to be seen on its own stand. There were the animals on the wall…and the furniture, not to mention other small curiosities far more interesting than either my book or the day’s news.
Oh my word. Seldom has a place left such a lasting impression!
