Packwood Follies Hive – National Trust Packwood House

It was a privilege to be invited by the National Trust to attend the opening of Packwood Follies.
Packwood Follies are three commissions by artist Hilary Jack entitled InsideOutHouse, Embedded and Hive located around the grounds of National Trust Packwood House, Warwickshire.

– This is the third in a series of blogs from the opening event.

The previous weeks weather had been glorious sunshine, blue sky and fluffy white clouds, today however was different ….rain, not ideal you might think for walking around the grounds of a large country estate but it was a thoroughly enjoyable day sharing lots of laughter, catching up with friends, having fun and puddle splashing! So don’t be put off by the weather, get out and enjoy

Hilary Jack has designed and created beautiful structures from reclaimed objects, chairs, cupboards, draw fronts & windows and turned the “junk” into fantastic works of art. The pieces are staggeringly beautiful, most people would just throw away broken pieces of furniture but Hilary has revived what could be destined to a skip into something that I will certainly be visiting again and bringing my family to see it.

Ready to explore the next artwork, Hive. A community of small huts almost secretly hidden within the topiary Yew garden to honour the gardeners at Packwood who over the years seem to secretly maintain the flower beds & yew bushes dashing backwards and forwards to their tool sheds like bees to a hive.Jo Bell, poet smelling a rose “it was like Peaches on a stick” wonder if this will inspire a future poem?
Standing in the rain talking about our magical day, still not deterred by the weather but excited about the prospect of cake in the kitchen garden cafe.

You can read about the cafe opening here

– The Packwood Follies was funded by a Cadbury Play Grant, with technical assitance from JP Art Services & Architectural drawings by Melissa Hunt.

Packwood Follies Embedded – National Trust Packwood House

It was a privilege to be invited by the National Trust to attend the opening of Packwood Follies.
Packwood Follies are three commissions by artist Hilary Jack entitled InsideOutHouse, Embedded and Hive located around the grounds of National Trust Packwood House, Warwickshire.

– This is the second in a series of blogs from the opening event.

The previous weeks weather had been glorious sunshine, blue sky and fluffy white clouds, today however was different ….rain, not ideal you might think for walking around the grounds of a large country estate but it was a thoroughly enjoyable day sharing lots of laughter, catching up with friends, having fun and puddle splashing! So don’t be put off by the weather, get out and enjoy

Hilary Jack has designed and created beautiful structures from reclaimed objects, chairs, cupboards, draw fronts & windows and turned the “junk” into fantastic works of art. The pieces are staggeringly beautiful, most people would just throw away broken pieces of furniture but Hilary has revived what could be destined to a skip into something that I will certainly be visiting again and bringing my family to see it.

First glimpse of “Embedded”, a giant hand carved four poster Oak bed frame using felled Oak and covered with turf.  Inspired by a quote from the 1930s visitors book, describing Packwood as ‘a house to dream of, a garden to dream in’ it’s another fantastic piece of sculpture by Hilary Jack.
Hilary welcoming all of the invited guests to the launch and thanking everyone for their dedication to attending regardless of the rain & soggy conditions.

If the weather wasn’t quite so wet or I had worn more waterproof clothing I would have layed on the grass bed and looked up at the world. On the next visit that is exactly what I intend to do, the view will be magnificent, laying there looking at the blue sky, imagining clouds into animals & dreaming. Maybe I will feel like the Princess laying on the bed piled high with mattress’ in Hans Christian Anderson’s Princess and the Pea?

Gloomy skies were brightened up with a sea of multicoloured umbrellas!
An impromptu story from Gavin Young, one of the performers attending the day to tell stories, sing songs entertain the visitors & feel inspired by the surroundings.
After lunch the sun came out briefly and I couldn’t wait to walk back around the lake for some sunny shots
Look at the amazing view you get from across the lake and how the wood seems to shine and glow with the sunlight

– The Packwood Follies was funded by a Cadbury Play Grant, with technical assitance from JP Art Services & Architectural drawings by Melissa Hunt.

Packwood Follies InsideOutHouse – National Trust Packwood House

It was a privilege to be invited by the National Trust to attend the opening of Packwood Follies.
Packwood Follies are three commissions by artist Hilary Jack entitled InsideOutHouse, Embedded and Hive located around the grounds of National Trust Packwood House, Warwickshire.

– This is the first in a series of blogs from the opening event.

The previous weeks weather had been glorious sunshine, blue sky and fluffy white clouds, today however was different ….rain, not ideal you might think for walking around the grounds of a large country estate but it was a thoroughly enjoyable day sharing lots of laughter, catching up with friends, having fun and puddle splashing! So don’t be put off by the weather, get out and enjoy

Hilary Jack has designed and created beautiful structures from reclaimed objects, chairs, cupboards, draw fronts & windows and turned the “junk” into fantastic works of art. The pieces are staggeringly beautiful, most people would just throw away broken pieces of furniture but Hilary has revived what could be destined to a skip into something that I will certainly be visiting again and bringing my family to see it.

Introduction and welcome from Lucy Reid general manager at Packwood House with artist Hilary Jack. First glimpse of the InsideOutHouse in the woodland, a timber framed cottage created from recycled and salvaged materials. This sighting felt so magical like I could have been in a fairy tale…Hansel & Gretel, Narnia or even Alice in Wonderland
The interior of the inside out house was like a tardis ….. bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside!
It’s homely, rustic, spacious, cosy & dry with a chair in the corner, perfect for storytelling, I can imagine a family living here from long ago.

– The Packwood Follies was funded by a Cadbury Play Grant, with technical assitance from JP Art Services & Architectural drawings by Melissa Hunt.