40 Thousand Pairs of Eyes

 In Tate Britain I shared with Sitges John my most profound experience with modern art.  The moment came quite by accident as in the 1990s I took myself off to an Antony Gormely exhibition in Sheffield's Weston Park
The exhibition was his award winning terracotta figures 
40 thousand Faces looking forward at you.
The piece had a strength and an emotion which has never been beaten and I remember standing for hour and hour just feeling the power of those tiny faces

 With global warming, the fires in Australia, the uncertain nature of our so very fragile modern world , Gormley's piece has taken on a new significance with me
The figures do plead " what are we doing?" 
" what shall we do?"

There is a simple honesty in those blank little faces .
Power that, I remember kept me standing and watching for a couple of hours on a blustery Yorkshire afternoon

Facebook thoughtfully sent me this final photo this morning. It was taken years ago when I was cloudwatching on the top of Gop Hill. The Scottish terrier isn't George , it was Maddie . 

Maddie was a delightfully opinionated lady who mistrusted and disliked most of the living world around her. She was grumpy and stoic and in her own way quite magnificent and this selfi showed a rare burst of affection from a lady who preferred her own company.

Like the Gormley figures, Maddie was nothing but honest

I miss her straightforwardness

Thank you John and Nigel for yesterday x