Chapter 32— Rye Art Gallery

It was free entry for all to enter the gallery, the Johnsons strolled into the reception of the building excitedly yet gracefully.

As soon as they walked in they knew that they had stepped into another world— a world of beauty. The air felt different and the environment was welcoming!

"Before we go in, we need to switch off our phones or put it on silent, so as not distract the others!" Amelia advised her family with a hushed tone.

"Oh yeah!" Viola replied, others nodded.

Immediately they brought out their phones and switched them off.

"Hello! Welcome to Rye Art Gallery. My name is Lila, I'll be your docent or your guide for today". A lady stood in front of them with a smile. "This way please!" She gestured them in.

It was a tall lady dressed in official clothes— she was a little chubby, her hair was all rolled up into a well rounded bun, she wore a white shortsleeved shirt on blue high waisted trousers, her legs were perfectly balanced inside a pair of black heels.

She wasn't all that pretty facially, but she looked really neat and almost perfect.

"Thank you!" Olivia replied the lady with a bright smile.

"Come on kids let's follow the lady!"

They followed the docent closely behind her and she led them to a large space. The walls were painted in screaming white, there were very few benches and chairs located at different corners of the room. Different kinds of people were in the room standing in front of each painting on the wall admiring it or commenting on the paintings.

There were also a few sculptures resting on top of cemented stands prepared for the sculptures.

"Would you like to see the paintings first or the sculptures?" She inquired of them.

"Uh– "

"Ok the paintings!" Grandpa spoke out.

"This way please!" She gestured with her hands directing them towards a staircase. The lady decided to take them up to a less crowded space.

They climbed the stairs which led them to another large room. It was as wide as the room below, it was also painted in white. The chairs in the room were even fewer than the ones downstairs.

"Wooow!" Everyone stared with their mouths hung open in amazement. It was truly a beautiful place.

"This room holds more paintings than the one below, that's why I brought you up here!"

They nodded in reply. "The restroom's over there, whenever you're in need of it!" The lady pointed over to a red door at the end of the room.

"So here is one of the many many colorful paintings of artist Louis Turpin", she called their attention to the beautiful 'Tulips at Dixter' painting on the wall.

The painting depicted a colourful display of different colours of Tulips in a garden.

"Louis was a British artist producing contemporary figurative paintings. His paintings includes landscape, gardens and portraiture, his works has been shown at The Royal Academy, The National Portrait Gallery and The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. He holds two solo shows per year, and his paintings appear in several group exhibitions", she continued as she moved them along showing them his other paintings on the wall.

The Johnsons nodded to her every word.

"See, that one has a sheep!" Karen joyfully exclaimed pointing to one of the paintings.

"Oh yes! That one is called 'Towards the sea'!" Lila replied. The child smiled. "Ok let's move forward shall we? Any questions?!"

"No!"

"No!"

"Nope!"

"Ok here, we have the Nick Archer paintings!"

The guide showed them every painting in the room. After that she took them downstairs to the first room. The people in the room had reduced because some had left.

"Let's check some sculptures now!"

"What's that black man on the table!" Susie asked pointing to a black sculpture with a bent head.

"Yeah that's the 'My wounded heart sculpture' by Bernard McGuigan!" Lila bent over to Susie's height and replied her with a smile.

She raised herself up to explain further, "Bernard McGuigan was born in Britain in 1956, and has been making sculptures since the age of 16! He was formerly an associate of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and has exhibited at the Royal Academy. His work has been shown in many exhibitions and features in a number of private and public collections both in the UK and around the world. Bernard uses the method of direct carving by hand into the stone– ", she paused. "That's a really difficult job, ain't it?"

"Sure it is!" Uncle Millie quickly replied. "I'm really enjoying this, it's informative!" He nodded with a smile.

"Oh really? I thought you didn't want to come!" Olivia teased him.

Everyone laughed.

The guide continued to show them around the room, they learnt about more paintings and sculptures.

"This is how we come to the end of our tour!"

"Thanks a lot, you've been really helpful!" Amelia replied.

"Yeah it's been fun!" Olivia added.

"Next stop, ice cream!" Uncle Junior exclaimed with a laugh.

"Yayyy Let's go Mum!" The kids chorused and began to run towards the door.

"Bye everyone!" Lila smiled and waved at them.

They walked out of the gallery and jumped into the bus again.