Newcastle Art trail

Last week, in Northumberland, CBC and WKWTTG (Who knows where the Tim goes) cooked up a plot to go into Newcastle to see some art, possibly with the intention of some being bought by someone or other.  We headed off to Newcastle from Hexham.
First stop was the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle's cultural quarter.

When we arrived, we could see a lot of building work and regeneration going on here, which suggests it's going to get all hipster and expensive, if it isn't already!

Our first sign of art was this brilliant mural in the carpark near the gallery. We parked on the street where (I think) you could have two hours for free.

The Biscuit factory, an old Victorian biscuit factory (obviously!) is considered the UK's largest art, craft and design gallery (according to their website).  All of the art is for sale and they have at least 4 exhibitions a year.
We wandered round to have a look.

I saw several things I liked, which I took a few pictures of

In the front, they had this fun hut full of some more interior duplicate items rather than the one-off art work!

It all looked very Orla Kiely in there!

Upstairs, I made a bee-line for these fun ceramic animals

I love lobsters in art form!

This sculpted fox had such an adorable, benevolent face.

These mini-boxes were really fun.

A great collection of tin birds.

The Peacock was enormous!!

I was very keen to go and get some food, was very hungry, so we headed upstairs into the Factory Kitchen.  I ordered a sweet corn burger which sounded fabulous and it came with a choice of salad but as I went to sit down, the girl who had served me came over to apologise that it had been replaced on the menu with a MUSHROOM burger which she knew I didn't like (ha, I had an anti-mushroom conversation with her- as you do...). She said I could order anything from the menu as an alternative and so I ended up choosing the smashed avocado with poached egg and toasted seeds on sour dough.  I got to add my side salad of Mediterranean roasted veg (which didn't come with that option).
It was frankly, amazing!!!!! The avocado was super tasty and the eggs seemed to have everlasting yolk. The side salad was delicious too. I thoroughly recommend their food. Also, there is a restaurant called 'Artisan' there too which is apparently amazing.

After having a final look round (there was plenty of art works to see), we headed out.  Loved the push handles!

When we were inside, we noticed that there was another art gallery near by so we went to look for it.
On our way, we saw some amazing street art.
I loved Darth Vader holding a tray of drinks on the side of Ernest Cafe.

There was more round the corner too.  Mama's Vintage and the Tower Art gallery and cafe.

And a paint factory.

The stripy cat reminds me of Teto from Nausicaa- still haven't made my Teto brooch yet.

We went into the Tower Gallery cafe (which looked really fun and cheap but we'd just eaten...) and went all the way up the building where the art works were displayed.

It looked pretty fun in there with all the wall decorations too.

Here's a sneaky peak into the cafe.

Next we headed over to the Holy Biscuit which is an art collaboration community project between the Methodist church and the Biscuit Factory. It seemed really interesting. Here's a quote from their website as to what they are:

Housed in a specially refurbished Methodist Church, The Holy Biscuit is an arts organisation based in Shieldfield, Newcastle. Our mission is to facilitate the production and exhibition of the contemporary arts, to foster local regeneration through creative social engagement and to encourage the dialogue between art and faith.
Working with schools, community groups, artistic collectives and other partners we aim to enrich the cultural and social landscape of Shieldfield and Newcastle. We welcome collaborations with like-minded organisations or individuals.

I loved this clever and colourful use of lolly sticks in Identity Parade in which the participants were asked to define themselves and say how they'd been defined and the results were put together.

In Light at the end of the tunnel by K, the  artist said "There is a bird at the end of the tunnel representing breaking free from the darkness in our lives."

In this powerful piece, which was appropriate for Easter, entitled, It's a bloody Good Job- the artist said, "Artists get away with murder but so do Romans and Pharisees."

The space is good and can and is used for lots of different community events. There was an art workshop in the other hall when we went along. It sounds like there is a lot going on there!

Love this quote.

Next on our art trail, we headed into central Manchester, namely the Laing Gallery.  
As with all the other places we visited, it was free.  It showed paintings and pieces showing Newcastle and North East England heritage and art. I sadly didn't take many photos but I like the idea of 100 objects showing the history of the North East. It's owned by Newcastle City Council

There was also a Da Vinci exhibition but by that point, I had had enough of being inside and wanted some day light.

We headed last for the Baltic which is Newcastle's craziest modern art museum, housed in the old Baltic Flour Museum on the other side of the Tyne, next to The Sage, Gateshead's music venue.

We watched part of a video installation and I headed out onto the 4th floor terrace for some views.

The amount of poo this lot produced is impressively gross but they did look pretty sitting in a row.

And finally, as we headed towards the car, I spotted this great bike shop art!

Have you visited Newcastle? What else could you recommend?

xxx