Jupiter Artland: Out Of This World

Monday, 08 August 2016

Jupiter Artland, squirrelled away in West Lothian, is aptly named as it is truly out of this world. From the moment you arrive, the attention to detail of every single element of the garden is quite breathtaking. We were lucky enough to be accompanied by our good friend and talented photographer, Julie Howden from Julie Howden Photography. Using the wonderful bartering system, she paid for her garden design by taking a few “snaps”. We definitely got the good end of that deal…

We all loved our trip to Jupiter Artland and exploring the woodland

There is a mixture of permanent and visiting exhibitions at Jupiter Artland. It was 2011 when we last visited and there had been a lot of changes since then, both in the gardens and for us. This time we had our girls with us, Lulu (4) and Tilda (1) so we saw the gardens through different eyes and it did not let us down. There was plenty to do whilst we were waiting on Julie to join us – we mooched around the courtyard, looking at the visiting exhibitions (we loved Hayley Tompkins colourful roof and we had our heartbeats recorded for the Christian Boltanski installation), drank coffee and ate cake and the kids had a lovely time doing some drawings in the art hut.

The girls had a wonderful time exploring the woods

You enter the sculpture garden into a beautiful woodland, which was dappled with sunlight, luckily for us. You are immediately met with amazing artwork such as “A Forest” by Jim Lambie and the unnerving “Suck” by Anish Kapoor.

We all loved Firmament by Antony Gormley, both for the sculpture as well as the wonderful views beyond.

Lulu loved getting up close to the sculptures

The weeping girls were popular with everyone. Whilst the adults felt there was a sadness to them, the girls decided that the sculptures were actually just playing hide and seek. Which then sparked a wonderful game of hide and seek, the perfect place to play it!

Tilda says “found you!”

Fabulous old trees, perfect for hiding behind!

Our next discovery were some artworks by Ian Hamilton Findlay. The girls had a dance in the Temple of Apollo:

Lulu & Tilda doing some dancing at the Temple!

Then Lulu got some inspiration from the XTH Muse:

Floral headbands were fashionable back then too!

In between all these wonderful works of art, there is the most beautiful of woodlands, great for foraging for raspberries and perfect for taking some photos:

Tilda loved the gardens

The long grasses were perfect for exploring

We have been admirers of Charles Jencks’ work for a long time so the “Cells of Life” landforms were a highlight for us as well as the girls. We spent a lot of time winding our way up and down them all, as well as just relaxing at the bottom.

Lulu loved the landforms

Fun times at Jupiter Artland

Landforms: the perfect place to practise your balancing!

On the wander back to the courtyard area there are animals to see, the amazing “Love Bomb” orchid to wow over as well as the new installation by Alec Finlay, “A Variety of Cultures”. We can’t wait to climb the ladders into the pruned canopies in a few years time!

Back at the courtyard it was time for some food (it was fabulous!) and a browse around the shop. It’s a shame picnics are not allowed in the grounds as it would make it a much more child-friendly and appeal to many more families.

We had a wonderful day out with Julie and her family. We highly recommend a day out to Jupiter Artland. We also thoroughly recommend the wonderful talents of Julie so please get in touch with her to discuss wedding photography, family portraits, corporate work and much much more.

Thanks for reading,

All at Vialii