Travel theme: grey

/ Su Leslie
Memorial to the Women of World War II. Sculpted by John W. Mills. Whitehall, London. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

Memorial to the Women of World War II. Sculpted by John W. Mills. Whitehall, London. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

As a colour, grey gets pretty bad press; associated with bad weather and gloomy days. But it is also the colour of many sculptures — like the bronze above which commemorates the enormous contribution made by women during war — and Rebecca Rose’s “Inflight Entertainment” below, which is made of stainless steel.

Rebecca Rose, "Inflight Entertainment", 2014. Exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore, 2014. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

Rebecca Rose, “Inflight Entertainment”, 2014. Exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore, 2014. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

The works below, by Trish Clarke and Merle Bishop are also in steel and bronze respectively, although the grey that predominates in the image is that of a stormy evening sky.

Trish Clarke's "Round Up aka Triffid Garden", and Merle Bishop's "Spot the Blind Dog", exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore, 2014. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014.

Trish Clarke’s “Round Up aka Triffid Garden”, and Merle Bishop’s “Spot the Blind Dog”, exhibited at NZ Sculpture OnShore, 2014. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014.

London skyline on a stormy day. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

London skyline on a stormy day. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015

In the two shots above, leaden skies hang over already grey structures. In countries were rain is abundant (like the UK and New Zealand) grey clouds are often spoken of negatively — something I’ve noticed increasingly in our TV weather forecasts. For me, they speak of drama and change — things I view positively.

Grey is this week’s Travel Theme at Where’s My Backpack. You can see Ailsa’s wonderful shots here. And here are some other bloggers’ take on the theme that I liked:

Grey

https://drieskewrites.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/travel-theme-gray/

Travel Theme: Rouen’s Cathedral is a Study in Grey

Grey Days

https://sonyavdg.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/travel-theme-grey/

Travel Theme: Grey

https://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/travel-theme-grey-travels-around-new-zealand/

https://beautyalongtheroad.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/shades-of-gray/

 

 

22 thoughts on “Travel theme: grey”

    • Thanks Raewyn. I’d walked up Whitehall lots of times when I lived in the UK and so was really pleasantly surprised to see the monument near the cenotaph. As you say, it’s about time!

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  8. Wonderful photos, Su. I love that sculpture dedicated to the women of WW11. It’s really effective how they have shown just the clothing – symbolic of having shouldered those responsibilities during the war, but then put them aside when the men came home. Only woman didn’t ever shut the lid on that box again! Reblogging.

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    • Hi Christine; I agree it is a really powerful work. I read a bit about the evolution of the design and the finished sculpture is quite different to the original concept (and so much better I think). Thank you so much for reblogging đŸ™‚

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  9. Reblogged this on Christine R and commented:
    Some lovely sculptures here on Su Leslie’s blog … go have a look. I love the sculpture dedicated to the women of WW11. It’s really effective how they have shown just the clothing hanging – symbolic of having shouldered those responsibilities during the war, but then put them aside when the men came home.

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