Killing Time or Finding it?

For reason beyond my control, I found myself with an hour and nothing to do in Saltaire, West Yorkshire. I had been booked in for a school visit and the time they were expecting me was an hour later than the time that was in my diary. I felt incredibly frustrated and angry that my time was being wasted and that I was being tightly unappreciated that someone could do this to me. Surely my time was worth more than this..

With nothing better to do, I thought I should wander the streets and see what I could find.

Saltaire is a beautiful village, a world heritage site, noch, and home to Salts Mill which has an amazing history and most recently is a shrine and space for David Hockney exhibits and an artists’ haven generally.

Entering the gallery, there is soothing classical music creating a warm and serene space to enjoy the art on the walls and feel the sense of creativity and beauty all around. It is incredibly restorative to be surrounded by pieces of beauty.

I know I normally write about nature, And here I am on a beautiful sunny day inside a former industrial building, feeding that same sense of calm and gratitude for all of the world’s creations through a totally human made medium.

I am in awe at the creativity and emotion that is expressed on the canvas and is able to communicate deeply inside me, the shared human experiences of loss, of love, of just living.

When I started walking away from the school, I was frustrated and annoyed. Now I can’t help feeling as if I was gifted this short period of time to remind myself of the deep deep wonder of simply being a human.

the red sculpture is actually a postbox that was designed by David Hockney in 1992 , made locally and used as a post box for a month (!)