tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post8412104594026010950..comments2024-03-25T15:10:13.792+00:00Comments on English Buildings: Devizes, WiltshirePhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-26372239905637375432011-12-13T18:16:54.067+00:002011-12-13T18:16:54.067+00:00Jon: He sounds like a good teacher - the right kin...Jon: He sounds like a good teacher - the right kind of encouragement can work wonders, I think.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-7041073037993846142011-12-13T18:14:28.961+00:002011-12-13T18:14:28.961+00:00Anon: Well, the British High Street is going throu...Anon: Well, the British High Street is going through a bad time right now. Everywhere there are stories about unoccupied shops as stores move to out-of-town complexes, or just go out of business. But in some places we do still have some beautiful and thriving town centres - I hope we manage to hang on to them.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-27599924736747807562011-12-13T17:18:40.243+00:002011-12-13T17:18:40.243+00:00That's really inspiring Philip. I've alway...That's really inspiring Philip. I've always loved the work of John Piper. Our much loved art teacher used to try and link the style of those of us in his 6th form art group to rather better-known painters. Mine he likened to John Piper...a hugely undeserved compliment which was really meant to spur us on to greater things. It helped my art but never to the point where I could be less than light years away from John Piper. But what a super motivational idea.Jon Dudleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09717891707293701969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-76255913913194482832011-12-11T06:26:59.033+00:002011-12-11T06:26:59.033+00:00I am constantly amazed at your photos of high stre...I am constantly amazed at your photos of high streets et al We don't seem to have anything like this in the US, probably because we keep tearing down our own 'historic' downtowns, and getting rid of our very own local retail stores. I applaud you for keeping up with the locals in your clime. <br />Down with Walmart! <br />Down with Target! <br />down with BIGSTOREs, <br />all of them. <br /><br />To the tune of 'Men of Harlech)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-49433941961252655232011-12-09T08:00:23.405+00:002011-12-09T08:00:23.405+00:00Neil: Yes - and Piper's strength of feeling en...Neil: Yes - and Piper's strength of feeling encompassed both great buildings and small, both immaculate facades and decaying old walls.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-15926204208778276342011-12-08T22:51:55.261+00:002011-12-08T22:51:55.261+00:00Thanks for the compliment - and it's fascinati...Thanks for the compliment - and it's fascinating for me to see how Piper's lithographs relate to the present-day townscape. Of course when he was making his drawings, there would have been both fewer people and especially fewer cars, so the need to focus on a single building rather than a longer view is partly dictated by the facts on the ground. But ignoring those pesky facts, the buildings seem to look today pretty much as they did then. The love of one's own landscape and environment is an inbuilt thing, but Piper seems to have felt it exceptionally strongly, and for the whole of Britain, not just one small patch.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020242863144175965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-47743984760429176532011-12-08T14:14:18.972+00:002011-12-08T14:14:18.972+00:00Thanks yet again.Thanks yet again.Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14154846109609330503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-54832426526199633052011-12-08T12:04:19.313+00:002011-12-08T12:04:19.313+00:00James: Thank you. 'Zooming' is the word. E...James: Thank you. 'Zooming' is the word. Even Betjeman couldn't keep up with Piper when the pair went on 'church crawls'.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-50878192304014954152011-12-08T11:42:12.009+00:002011-12-08T11:42:12.009+00:00By the time Piper made these sketches he'd bee...By the time Piper made these sketches he'd been zooming around the country for years, sketching and painting like a man possessed: he could grasp both the general feel of a place AND identify the uniquely interesting details.<br /><br />Like you, I often take photos of places and it's always tricky to capture both of these aspects - wonderful in these sketches to see the shape of the street, and of course it's fascinating to see the modern photos alongside - thanks!James Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03199461104138671799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-7710402818677304632011-12-08T10:59:51.924+00:002011-12-08T10:59:51.924+00:00Bazza: My cup runneth over. And my head swelleth!Bazza: My cup runneth over. And my head swelleth!Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-46987243326978166692011-12-08T09:45:17.169+00:002011-12-08T09:45:17.169+00:00Philip, you are a John Piper for the 21st century!...Philip, you are a John Piper for the 21st century!<br /><a href="http://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Click here for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’</a>bazzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794010156639774028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-65630999748283275962011-12-08T09:22:43.911+00:002011-12-08T09:22:43.911+00:00Worm: Thank you! Piper's dark skies (and dark ...Worm: Thank you! Piper's dark skies (and dark interiors) are an acquired taste. But he did so much more, and some of his best work was in the applied arts – stained glass, ceramics, textiles, and so on. This work often gets overlooked because of Piper's reputation as a print-maker, but a lot of it reaches a very high level indeed.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-91937260118871286442011-12-08T08:57:44.841+00:002011-12-08T08:57:44.841+00:00a thoroughly excellent post! An I agree with both ...a thoroughly excellent post! An I agree with both you and Piper on the charms of Devizes, it certainly has a pleasant prosperous feel (with out being overly pleased with itself)Im not a huge fan of Piper's darkly oppresive style on paper but I certainly appreciate his stained glass windows at Coventry cathedral which are magnificentwormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-57416320735053152572011-12-08T08:28:22.076+00:002011-12-08T08:28:22.076+00:00Thanks, Peter. I like the chapel prints, too. Like...Thanks, Peter. I like the chapel prints, too. Like these Devizes images, they convey the essence of their subject without being overworked. It must have been one of the keys to Piper's success that early on he discovered how to make effective work at great speed.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-15928116723723908812011-12-08T08:24:08.938+00:002011-12-08T08:24:08.938+00:00Excellent post, thankyou. I've always loved th...Excellent post, thankyou. I've always loved these Piper illustrations, particularly the way he includes handwritten notes into them. It's like his drawings of chapels, as seen in Betjeman's <i>First & Last Loves</i>, one at least drawn on a music score.Peter Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00027878122724846472noreply@blogger.com