Sculpture at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden

The friend formerly known as 'Er-Over-The-Road and I braved the rain today and it stopped. Which was fortunate as we were visiting the Easter Sculpture Festival at the Unversity of Bristol Botanic Garden.

Not that there were sculptures of crucified Messiahs and angels rolling away the stone. (Though this piece by Lucianne Lasselle is called Kicking the Devil.)

Dreams of Wild Things (Lucianne Lasselle)

Garden metalwork by Willa Ashworth

Barn Owl wire sculpture by Hayley Jones

I loved this cobweb, using vintage glass, by Jude Goss

I also adored these richly coloured ceramics by Jitka Palmer, which had been partially filled with water (or rain).  

I loved the way small stones and a piece of bark in the bottom of the bowl added another dimension to the decoration.

And this one reminded me of Mr Hacker, the Gloucester Road greengrocer of my childhood, and the way he leant over the stacked boxes of produce to reach the wares picked out by his customers.

It was lovely to see the work set off by their surroundings as the garden begins to wake up after winter, but it's a risky strategy to exhibit there.

There's always the danger of being upstaged.