Imperial War Museum Photos

Earlier this month, I was in London visiting my friend Chris.  I took the opportunity to do a bit of museuming.  The Imperial War Museum didn't have very much about codebreaking -- mostly their Secret War exhibit focuses on spies -- but I did enjoy the exhibition of WWII portraits, People's War.  There was a portrait of a desert rat that made me think of my granddad.  The new Family in Wartime exhibit is not as interesting as the old Children's War one, though, but I'm glad they've put several Evelyn Dunbar paintings in there, her work is wonderful.  Here are some photos and sketches from my day out:

opposite the British Museum: Randolph Caldecott's house is now a bookshop

Imperial War Museum

from a display with quotes and pictures related to the blackout -- I keep stumbling upon this cow photo!

so many mid-C20th illustrators also created arresting war art.  This is a harrowing drawing by cartoonist Ronald Searle (St Trinian's, Molesworth).  Ronald Searle drew fellow POWs in secret. Many of his pictures have a corner chewed off because he was so hungry and just wanted to eat anything.

postcard of a poster from WWI

this is from 'the Trench Experience' exhibit. I'm not sure if these pics of the models are bad taste or not. I had to do them in b&w because the lighting was so low, but it does make them look like I'm trying to fake real photos.

the models had creepily detailed faces and injuries

some quick doodles I did - sandbags

evacuees

blackout clock

Photos of Bletchley Park

I did a research trip to Bletchley Park on 11 July.  Here are some of the pictures I took:

Enigma machine

Enigma

keys

Lorenz

the Bombe

the back of the Bombe

Alan Turing statue

Alan again

Alan Turing's teddy bear, Porgy

panel text

Porgy

radio tower / ducks

Bletchley Park mansion

guardians

funding required

dilapidated bits

pipe pipes (to let out all the pipe and coke stove smoke so the Wrens could breathe!)

cracking

at the National Museum of Computing

equipment

switchboard

the Colossus

bulbs

wires

valves

tapes

lines and lines and lines

Fire Gardens

The IFMK arts festival has been taking place in Milton Keynes during July. Fire Gardens was an installation and event in Campbell Park staged by La Compagnie Carabosse. It was really impressive!

(27 photos under the cut)

Trip to Birmingham

I went to Birmingham to visit the German Christmas market, although first I looked round the city's art gallery.  I really enjoyed their large Pre-Raphaelite collection, and a small but rewarding collection of prints called A Life in Prints: The Tessa Sidey Bequest.  But I suppose like many people I was most charmed by the 1890 painting Dominicans in Feathers by Henry Stacey Marks:

Here are my photos from the day out.  (Edited using the Instagram iPhone app.)

Happy Christmas Birmingham

My new friend!  I bought this big felted Triceratops.  I love his wonky horns.