Kedleston Park was an easy three mile walk from the Nottingham Road factory where Derby Porcelain was based. When George Robertson arrived circa 1797 he sat down on this riverbank and sketched the Robert Adam designed bridge. He would have good cause to come here. It’s likely that the Curzon family who had Kedleston Hall built in 1760 (and still own it today) would have been patrons of Derby Porcelain. The house was a showcase for paintings and sculpture and a place of lavish entertainment.
Including the local stately homes would have been a smart marketing move on behalf of the company when the finished work was up for sale.
The bridge looks exactly the same today from where I’m standing. The young oak tree in the foreground of the picture may be around 30 years old. It’s a very mature tree now, with leaves touching the water.
I stand on the bridge watching the swans swim back and forth and wrestle with thoughts about my art and how it may be percieved by others if I include swans. I remind myself that what I’m doing is conceptual and I need to show each place as it is now. Come to think about it I’ve seen swans everywhere. They are part of the landscape. I decide to take a leaf out of the swans’ book and go with the flow.
So, swans are in the film. Then I start on the shadows under the trees. There’s endless enjoyment/entertainment in shadows for me. I put it down to spending a lot of time on my own as a child.
I’ve been here twice in the last few weeks. The first time it was late morning and the light was harsh and the photos looked washed out. I’ve still only got one out of the three landscape pictures I wanted but I can’t find the others in the 820 acres of parkland. It’s not even that something is blocking the view. I can’t find them at all. My feet are sore. I make do with what I’ve got for today.
