On the 30th may I went with my family to St.Davids. St.Davids is the smallest city in Britain and is famous as the birth place of the Welsh patron saint; St.David. As part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, it is full of stunning coastlines and countryside. These landscapes have inspired many people to create such amazing art.
Whilst on my holiday in Pembrokeshire me and my family visited St.Davids. We have been here numerous times and always walked past the Oriel y Parc. So for once I decided that I would like to go in. The Oriel y Parc is the hub of this small city and is full of great art, food (although I haven't tried their food) and information-even a gift shop. Oriel y Parc is Welsh for the Park Gallery (I think its because it is part of the National park).
The outside of the centre has a rockery area in the middle, with large rocks where people can sit. There is also a cafe here and there is seating outside. As you walk through the main entrance of the building there is also another seating area. As soon as you enter on the right side is the gift shop. With a wide range of books and merchandise for all; and at a reasonable price. The staff that work at the till seem very friendly andhelpful. As soon as I walked in they greeted me and my dad with a smile (this is always really comforting for me to see from staff, and makes you feel very welcome). I think you can also book accommodation here at the till with the members of staff and there is an information stand (more like a very long shelf) that can be useful. The information is full of things about places to go, things to see, where you can eat, directions, things to do and events going on. I found it very useful as I discovered a few places for us to go whilst on my holiday. Finally we get to the gallery. There are a few paintings and pieces of artwork at the end of the room; which I didn't look at, so moving on. Down a couple of steps and here was the main gallery. The little entrance looked very formal and official-for such a small, yet ever growing gallery. The first thing I spotted and that stood out for me was the John Constable painting, 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' of 1831. This painting has been on a tour around the country and is here at this gallery for a six month stay. One of the greatest masterpieces of British landscape art, it was the painting by which Constable wished to be remembered and represents what he considered to be the 'culmination of his artistic achievement.' It is a beautiful piece and is very detailed. The gallery here must be having more and more people coming in to see this national treasure. This whole room was took up to display the works of John Constable and some of the artworks of his rival Joseph Mallord William Turner. I spotted a very inspiring quote from the Constable, "Painting is but another world for feeling". I truly agree with this quote. Moving on from the Constable, the next room was full of abstract paintings inspired by the Pembrokeshire coast. From the likes of Graham Sunderland all of them had me awing at them. Bright colours and abstract shapes filled the room. My favourite of all the paintings was 'Cathedral' by Graham Sunderland. I really liked it because it was full of reds and pinks and it it looked nothing like a Cathedral. And this was like landscape painting, (like John Constable) and it really shows how artwork has developed over the centuries-from exact replicas to abstracted artwork. That was really it for the gallery as it is still quite small. I would definitely come here again though to see how it has grown. Finally there is the discovery centre (it almost looks like a dovecote). Again, unfortunately I didn't have time to go in and look, but from what I know this is where they do lots of activities and events for kids. They do lots of things there such as; 100 years of Roald Dahl, guided city walks, colour with constable etc. If I would of had some more time I would loved to take pat in one of these activities.
Overall my time here at the Oriel y Parc was time well spent and is definitely a must see if you are travelling down to Pembrokeshire this year.
0 Comments