Glasgow Gallivanting: May 2026

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Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art: looking at Modern 2 from the gates of Modern 1

I’m very late with my May gallivanting post, not for any exciting reason nor because I had so much to write about. Various bits of life admin just kept getting in the way!

Until last week I thought that May was going to be a month spent entirely in Glasgow, but at the last minute we decided to gallivant across to Edinburgh for a day out.

The main reason was to see the Joan Eardley exhibition in Modern 2, as advertised above, before it closes this month, after which we popped across to Modern 1 for a quick view of work by Helen Chadwick and Louise Bourgeois.

We had seen the former’s Piss Flowers before – outdoors at Jupiter Artland – but not the photographs of their creation which were, shall we say, interesting: the “flowers” are created by making casts of the interior spaces left in the snow by warm urine.

Louise Bourgeois I associate with big spiders so it was interesting to see some of her other work as well.

Spider (1994)
10 am is when you come to me (2006)

Explanations for anyone interested:

After the Modern Art Gallery we headed across town to the City Art Centre to see Jean F. Watson: an artistic legacy. From the gallery’s website:

Jean Fletcher Watson (1877-1974) was an Edinburgh resident who had a significant impact on the city’s cultural heritage. During the 1960s and 1970s she presented a series of financial donations to the City of Edinburgh to develop a collection of Scottish art. Since then, the Jean F. Watson Bequest Fund has enabled the acquisition of more than 1,000 artworks. This exhibition celebrates Watson’s vision and generosity, showcasing a selection of historic and contemporary artworks from the collection.

Here are a few of my favourite images and a bronze bust of Watson herself, her only known official portrait.

Remembered Places, Places Remembered: Arches by Leena Nammari (2013)
Hawthorn (Mayflower) by Margot Sandeman (1988)
Lost Valley II by Reinhard Behrens (1984)
Irises by Elizabeth Blackadder (1982)
Jean F Watson by Eric Schilsky (1961/2)

Despite not travelling far May has been very busy, though most of it consisted of a lot of socialising and various theatre performances and concerts which have not left much in the way of photographic evidence. The latter category ranged from the sublime (the RSNO and Nicola Benedetti playing Elgar’s Violin Concerto) to the ridiculous: The High Life: The Musical (trailer in link). Camp as a row of tents, this was a revival of a 90s Scottish TV series set on a fictional airline, Air Scotia, and starring, amongst others, Alan Cumming, whom I could quite happily watch reading aloud from the back of a cereal packet. Oh dearie me.

What did I photograph? On May the fourth the Partickhill post box got a new, Star Wars themed, topper.

May the Fourth be with you

While helping to lead a Women’s Library history walk I came across a yarn bombed bench in the Gorbals dedicated to someone’s Wee Granny.

Bench for a Gorbals Granny

I spotted various pieces of street art – I had to look up Clara Zetkin (1857-1933), a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women’s rights.

Shutter art, Pollokshields
Clara Zetkin on a lamppost
Dram on Woodlands Road
Mary Queen of Scots, Battlefield
Elephant in the Room

Finally from me, the bed in the Botanic Gardens where the ashes of comedian Stanley Baxter were recently scattered and a beautiful sunset seen in a West End lane on our way home from one of our concerts.

Stanley Baxter’s ashes scattered here
Stanley Baxter plaque
West End sunset

Of course, there is more from the cyclist who certainly didn’t confine himself to Glasgow. A few highlights from him: one road ride and one gravel ride.

Culross Palace
Forth Bridge
Hopetoun House
Road ride into Fife
Gravel ride in the Pentlands

And that’s it for May – linking, better late than never, to Natalie’s Monthly Wrap-Up. She travelled much further than I did last month, visiting both Italy and Denmark.

Happy June!

Scotland, UK , , ,

53 Comments »

  2. The knitters put a tremendous amount of work and detail into those post box covers. Real works of art. Sadly my Mum was not a great knitter but enthusiastic and worryingly prolific and I lived in fear of her knitted products. She was very proud of them. But wearing them to school, hat, gloves, etc would not have been in my own best interests for personal survival. Bob. BSS.

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  4. The Piss Flowers make me smile. I do so love the endless creativity of artistic people. I was a big fan of Joan Eardley’s paintings of children when I was in my early teens much to the dismay of my mother who found them creepy and disturbing. I feel out of puff just thinking about pushing that bike up the hill but the views are definitely gorgeous.

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  5. That first photo…is tht a sculpture in the ASHPHALT? oops caps went on and I have no idea why…lol. These pics are great and I really like the Irises and the 2nd picture of that lady artist. I’m not a lover of those spiders…creepy…ick…hahahaaa. That Marxist lady died in 1933…at the hand of the Nazis? Your hubby went on a great cycling trip.

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  6. My own great grandmother was always known in the family as “little old granny” so I was drawn to your photo of “wee granny” from the Gorbals. Being interested in other people’s lives (or just a nosey parker) I was delighted to find “Granny Diaries” on Facebook.
    I love your West End sunset photo and the Pentland Hills gravel road looks very hard going, or is it just a question of having the right sort of bicycle.

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  7. A lovely busy month for you! I was intrigued by the story behind the Piss Flowers and their creation, loved several of the works in the Jean Fletcher Watson legacy (especially the Lost Valley) and smiled at the Star Wars post box topper 🙂

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  8. The creators of those post box toppers are so clever. Our post boxes are not a suitable shape for toppers, which is a bit sad. I’m catching up on lots of posts as we’ve been away without good internet connection. It’s fun reading what everyone has been doing.

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  9. I’ve not managed a medley this month and I think I’m going to skip it because it’s…well… just gone and I have more exciting things to share. Depends on your point of view, though. A bit like art… a matter of taste. Happy June, Anabel xx

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  12. Heading over to Edinburgh definitely was worth the effort. Yarnbombing is such a fun activity and I’m sure it makes even the grumpiest of people smile a wee bit. Good for community spirit as is art exhibitions.

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  13. Another interesting month, Anabel. I love Hawthorn (May flower), Lost Valley II, the postbox topper and the stunning sunset. Thank you for lining up with #MonthlyWrapUp.

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  15. Another interesting month for you, Anabel. And you’re not that late for a May wrap-up! Mine will be a week or two late, haha. If I ever get to it.

    I love that sunset. Can you walk home from the concerts and city activities?

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  16. Gah! It’s all so lovely but I have to say my favorite is seeing the amazing additions to the post box and the bench 🙂 They just make this crocheters heart very happy!
    Hope your June is off to a wonderful start!

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  18. No wonder your post is a tiny bit later than normal…you’ve been so busy! The post is really full of interest and I’ve greatly enjoyed reading through it and clicking the links! One day I hope to visit Edinburgh and Glasgow but I wouldn’t know where to start exploring! Loved the Joan Eardley info…new to me and lovely to see Elizabeth Blackadder’s Iris, I’ve always liked her work. Glad your cyclist is enjoying his cycles…even up that hill?! Thank you.

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  21. An interesting mixture this month, I like the concept of the spider and the hands. Some great street art and I love the postbox topper, especially the little Ewok figure. The West End sunset photo is stunning, it looks like a watercolour on canvas and is worthy of being in an exhibtion.

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I'd love to hear what you think!