Anthony Gormley Another Time, Sculpture in Margate

Another Time  is one of Anthony Gormley's solid cast iron figures that has been sited outside the Turner Contemporary Gallery. It  is a part of series of one hundred, solid cast-iron figures produced by Antony Gormley, that have been sited all around the country.

The sculpture is sited on the beach and is submerged at high tide. As the tide goes out the figure is revealed, becoming fully visible a few hours before low tide.

These figures are cast from Anthony Gormleys own body and  Antony Gormley describes these isolated forms, cast from his own body as "an attempt to bear witness to what it is like to be alive and alone in space and time"

Despite the notice not to walk out to the sculpture, many people find it irresistible and want to touch the figure of stand next to it and take photos.

I must admit I did walk out there myself, the walk along some old parts of structure on the beach is slippy with seaweed and shells!

The sculpture is here till the 30th November.
On the Turner Contemporary website you can see  Sarah Martin, head of exhibitions discussing the sculpture and a link to a TED talk where Anthony Gormley talks about his work.

I also worked digitally to place Another Time in other places in Margate.

Beach Findings.

There are some beautiful colours in the seaweed washed up on the beaches, and I have been photographing a few of them. The vividness of the colours is amazing, the bright, bright greens and rose red seaweeds especially. Such a variety of forms, it would be good to paint some of them.

Sea foam also seems exotic and strange on the beach, like lace for a mermaids dress. It's transient nature had me photographing some at Joss bay especially gorgeous with rainbow colours in the sunshine.

The sea wash balls or egg cases from the Common Whelk are also one of those mysterious things that wash up from the sea

Other areas of beach are full of seagull footprints, making patterns on the beach. I liked the tyre tracks left by the tractors on the beach with seagull prints in between, looking like a strange carpet or floor.

Volley Ball England Beach Tour Finals on Margate Main Sands.

Volley Ball England held it's annual Beach Tour finals at Margate on the 16th and !7th of August. website here

I liked the main sands set up with practice volley ball nets among the visitors enjoying their day at the beach and swimming in the sea.

Men and woman were using the nets and the public was also encouraged to have a go.

On the main court children were also enjoying a coaching session that at one point had them hitting balls over the nets on to the bodies of their competitors lying on the sands.

The weather stayed fine which was good for everyone, though there were not as many spectators as I would have thought.

Beach Cross racing on Margate main sands.

There are two Beach Cross racing competitions held in Margate each year which draw crowds to watch the quad and motorbikes. The second competition was last weekend and you could hear the roar of the bikes from our house.

I enjoy watching the races, the bikes churning up the sand, (this time because of the wind, quite a lot of sand was blowing across to the spectators) and the jumps they make from the sandunes. As the bikes go round the course you get views of bikes at various stages of the race.

Bikes can get stuck in the sand and you can see how much work it must take to physically race on the beach.  It is an international event and riders do come from Europe to take part.
I couldn't find a programme at this event so can't identify the riders unfortunately.

At the pit stop bikes and bikers make a colourful scene and around the beach there are various stands and stalls.
 The website for the Beach Cross event is here

Margate in the Mist and Gwen Ramsay's Exhibition

Last Sunday after a scorching hot week Margate was filled with sea mist. I could taste the salt in the damp air in the garden and the light was diffused and pale.

I went down to the sea and the Harbour Arm appreciating the change in perception that the mist brought. It was like seeing through a very fine veil.

People were still on the beach and swimming in the sea, not as many as had been but still making the most of the day. I enjoyed looking out across the pale aqua sea to the horizon now wreathed in mist.

I had gone down to see the latest exhibition in the Harbour Arm gallery.  The artist Gwen Ramsay was showing a range of paintings there. Her website here

I was drawn to her still figures in water,one called Night Swimming showed a female figure with her arms crossed in front of her, looking as though she was gently rising through the water which was full of stars.

There was another female and male figure with their heads just above the sea which

also had this very still quality which reminded me of the stillness in meditation.

One wall was full of small paintings of magnolia flowers in various shades of colour. They conveyed a sense of botanical collections. And the studies botanists made on their plant hunting trips.

I really enjoyed seeing the work which was in the very lovely small gallery on the Harbour Arm, with views out onto the harbour and sea front.

RIBA Sandcastle competition Margate.



The Royal Institute of British Architects RIBA Sand Castle Challenge went ahead on Margate's main sands on Saturday. 
The beach is particularly good for sandcastles having a very large sandy beach, part of which remains out of the sea except for very high tides.

Team Yellow JRA architects

I liked the idea of architects and planners making sandcastles along with teams made up from the general public.

Team The Family Planners working on their fantasy castle.

  I've always loved the idea of sandsculptures but have yet to try any out on the beach.
I remember seeing some semi permanent sculptures of mermaids and sea creatures at some seaside resorts when I was a child, and I really loved them.

Ryan Richards

There's also something about the transient nature of sandcastles that is appealing, having the tide fill in the moat around your castle and finally the waves toppling the structure.

The weather turned out well, in fact very hot in the afternoon and sandcastles were being watered to stop them from completly drying out.

Dmitri Ivanoff and Petra Lui building their sandcastle.

There were some great sandcastles, from a turtle to octopus, castles to a race track and a Roman Colosseum . I think adults outnumbered children for this event and they seemed to be enjoying the day as much as the children.

Ryan Richards and Karen Richards hard at work.

Andy Blake works on his turtle.

Sketches of Margate harbour and beach, England

I have been back down to my local beach enjoying the bit of warmer weather we have been having lately.The colours in the sea were Mediterranean in places, gorgeous blues and greens.I took some photos and walked along the beach to the harbour.

I am always struck by how the colour of the sea changes constantly, it's one of my real pleasures and I can see why so many people love to be near the coast anywhere.

There are usually a few people around who are just looking at the sea like me, gazing at the waves and the ebb and flow of the water. We often just acknowledge to each other how much we enjoy our sea gazing, and sometimes I'm told about another beach. Apparently Broadstairs harbour is a great place for watching stormy seas and high waves.

I sat on the new steps by the harbour and focused on the patterns made by the sea and sand on the beach. I'd brought some water soluble coloured pencils and made some quick sketches of the beach.  I was just looking for the abstract qualities and the line of the forms left by the water and drying sand.

The paper cockled a bit with the water, but I was happy with the idea and will follow up with some more sketches and paintings.

A lone man came out with a shovel, I think he was digging for bait.