Now there is a word that gets the artist’s juices flowing! The trouble is, it covers a very large range of institutions, from the National Gallery to some place on a sea-side front selling souvenir trinkets. Yesterday I decided that it was about time that I tried to extend the range of outlets for my work. I resolved to research what might be available in the neighbouring town of Halifax. Although it is just over the hill I go there rarely. I did identify a place that looked promising, digging around on the internet, and this morning I caught the bus to see what I could find.
As it happened, the prospects are promising. They actually sell original watercolours and limited edition prints. What is more, they have a stated interest in material with a Yorkshire theme. I’m not sure whether my output is too solemn for their tastes, but the woman behind the desk was courteous and interested. She was not the proprietor, but promised to pass on the details of my web-site. I live in hope.
I arrived at the Piece Hall (where the gallery is located) shortly before opening time, so decided that I had time for a quick coffee. Once again, what is promised as a macchiato turned out to be a small cappuccino! Oh dear!
The apparently strange name of “Piece Hall” has a rational explanation. It is a beautiful eighteenth century construction, surrounding an open square. Originally it housed the offices of textile merchants, to whom the hand-loom weavers from the surrounding countryside would bring in the “pieces” of their woven cloth to sell. The architecture of Halifax is well worth seeing. Unlike Bradford, where gothic models dominated throughout the nineteenth century, in Halifax the fashion was for the classical style. Bradford suffered from a panic attack of the “City Fathers” during the 1960s, in which they determined that the place needed “modernising”, and destroyed a large proportion of our historical architectural heritage. The resulting tat is now being demolished in its turn, but the wonderful buildings that were still there when I arrived in the late ‘sixties can’t be brought back.