Showing posts with label Dylan Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dylan Thomas. Show all posts
Tuesday 25 June 2019
Thursday 13 June 2019
Friday 22 February 2019
Thursday 11 October 2018
Thursday 27 September 2018
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Saturday 19 May 2018
Thursday 5 May 2016
Captain Cat, Swansea Marina
Located in Abernethy Quay in Swansea Marina is this life-size bronze casting of Captain Cat, the blind sea captain who featured in Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood. Captain Cat is one of the play's most prominent characters and spends much of the play commenting on life on the village beyond his window and reminiscing on his lost lover and his long dead old shipmates.
Created by Robert J R Thomas, the brass rope with the bell attached to its end was shortened after the sculpture was vandalised shortly after being put on public display.
Commissioned by Swansea City Council, the sculpture was unveiled on St. David's Day (March 1st) 1990 by Councillor Tyssul Lewis. The piece is inscribed with the lines:
Created by Robert J R Thomas, the brass rope with the bell attached to its end was shortened after the sculpture was vandalised shortly after being put on public display.
Commissioned by Swansea City Council, the sculpture was unveiled on St. David's Day (March 1st) 1990 by Councillor Tyssul Lewis. The piece is inscribed with the lines:
"The sleepers are rung out of sleep
with his loud get-out-of-bed bell"
Dylan Thomas, Swansea Marina
Dylan Thomas is Swansea's favourite son and he is celebrated in numerous art and sculptures right across the city. One of the finest celebrations of the man is this Dylan Thomas sculpture, which features the poet sat chilling outside the Dylan Thomas Theatre in Dylan Thomas Square as he looks out over Swansea Marina.
The bronze statue was created by the English painter and figurative sculptor John Doubleday and was unveiled in the square on the 21st March 1984 by Lady Mary Wilson. The statue, financed by Swansea City Council (along with an anonymous benefactor), contains the following lines from Dylan's poem Fern Hill (1945):
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| Swansea Marina's Dylan Thomas sculpture - note his lap, polished from having so many people sat on his knee for pics |
The bronze statue was created by the English painter and figurative sculptor John Doubleday and was unveiled in the square on the 21st March 1984 by Lady Mary Wilson. The statue, financed by Swansea City Council (along with an anonymous benefactor), contains the following lines from Dylan's poem Fern Hill (1945):
"Though I sang in my chains like the sea"
Friday 18 March 2016
Salubrious Passage
Salubrious Passage's was, apparently named ironically. The word means luxurious, but the narrow alleyway has never brought such a feeling to mind to anyone who has trodden its ancient route.
Like so many other places in Swansea, Salubrious Passage will be forever known for its connection with Dylan Thomas. The walkway was mentioned in 'The Followers', his ghost story set in the nearby 'No Sign Wine Bar', where he referred to the street as 'Paradise Alley', One of Dylan's friends also ran a workshop here. It looked down upon the passage and Dylan used to play tricks by heating pennies and dropping them on the street below for pedestrians to burn their fingers on.
One of the more modern and interesting features on Salubrious Passage is Ron Conybeare's sculpture of a cherub with three marble books depicting the opening words from Dylan's 'Fern Hill'. The artwork was installed when the building housed Dylan's Bookstore. Interestingly, the marble books were originally intended for use as grave monuments.
Like so many other places in Swansea, Salubrious Passage will be forever known for its connection with Dylan Thomas. The walkway was mentioned in 'The Followers', his ghost story set in the nearby 'No Sign Wine Bar', where he referred to the street as 'Paradise Alley', One of Dylan's friends also ran a workshop here. It looked down upon the passage and Dylan used to play tricks by heating pennies and dropping them on the street below for pedestrians to burn their fingers on.
One of the more modern and interesting features on Salubrious Passage is Ron Conybeare's sculpture of a cherub with three marble books depicting the opening words from Dylan's 'Fern Hill'. The artwork was installed when the building housed Dylan's Bookstore. Interestingly, the marble books were originally intended for use as grave monuments.
Wednesday 10 February 2016
Dylan Thomas Leaf Sculpture, Castle Square
Sitting atop a cascading stepped waterfall and overlooking both Castle Square and the fountain which forms its centerpiece, Amber Hiscott and David Pearl’s half leaf / half boat sculpture is one of Swansea City’s most attractive public works of art. The piece takes as its inspiration the line ‘We Sail a boat upon the path, paddle with leaves down an ecstatic line of light’ from Dylan Thomas’ poem ‘Rain Cuts the Place we Tread’. The glass sculpture, unveiled on 27 November 1996, stands glistening and proud even after nearly 20 years of display - a remarkable feat considering its location at the entrance to the city's infamous Wind Street (a controversial area that is often castigated and which has been described by one of the city's own MP's as 'an area of drunkeness and debauchery').
Amidst a long, gloomy and very wet winter, the Leaf Boat, with its gold-tinted glass panels aglow from the rays of long-missed sunshine, was a real tonic to my eyes today. Swansea is often much maligned for its love of concrete, its poverty and disrepair. But this jewel of a scene reminded me there and then that Dylan Thomas' description of Swansea, as being both ugly and at the same time lovely, stands as true today as it did in his day.
Saturday 15 August 2015
Come and Sit on my Shiny Lap
Look how shiny the lap of the Dylan Thomas statue in Swansea Marina is, thanks to the number of people who sit to have their picture taken there.
Wednesday 12 August 2015
Tuesday 11 August 2015
Sunday 12 July 2015
Friday 22 May 2015
Monday 20 May 2013
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