This is Blythburgh church, Suffolk, sited magnificently on a knoll overlooking the tidal River Blyth. I apologise for inadvertently cutting off the top of its tower. For the first time this year, the church hosted the annual ‘We love Becker’ exhibition of work inspired by Harry Becker, the early 20th century local artist of rural life (see previous years about the end of August for earlier Becker blogs). The show transferred from its previous home in the church at Wenhaston, 2 miles west, where Becker lived, a move that seemed to work. Natural light flooded the interior of Holy Trinity, making for a much more lustrous exhibition.

Mind you, strong light can expose as well as flatter and, though admiring the works of some well-known local artists, I found the exhibition overall somewhat less than distinguished.

Also disappointing, I thought, was the annual exhibition at Black Barns, Cley in west Norfolk. Again but even more so, there were some outstanding works, notably the artfully arranged assemblage by Hugh Pilkington of material collected from the sea-shore (minus plastics, so the author explained, though clearly some plastic is present):

 

Clearly, the fishing industry should be ashamed of its wasteful, deleterious ways. But then, art as we all know is in the eye of the beholder and personally I found this next  piece of childish scribble (by a grown-up), the very first work one saw on entering the barn, set the bar pretty low for the exhibition overall:

 

I accept that I may be missing the point.

As doubtless will others of my own submissions next. They make no claim to be art in their natural formation yet I thought these patterns and textures in the sand of Lindisfarne (Holy Island, Northumberland) were splendidly artistic in their tidal innocence:

 

 

 

I just wish I could paint with anything like their degree of delicacy.