Every year we try and visit Keswick to enjoy Words by the Water at the Theatre by the Lake. This year we chose a talk by Suzanne Fagence Cooper on Ruskin and her newly published book "To See Clearly: Why Ruskin Matters".Suzanne Fagence Cooper is Research Curator at York Art Gallery for the exhibition "Ruskin, Turner and the Storm Cloud". The talk was chaired by our good friend, Penny Bradshaw.
I've written previously about my newly-found interest in Ruskin and admiration for his work and, in the bi-centenary of his birth, I am planning a great deal of Ruskin themed activities and reading.
The talk was excellent, a clear and enjoyable introduction to John Ruskin and his relevance for the 21st Century. We're looking forward to a year of all things Ruskin including a visit to Brantwood, with newly-opened eyes; to York to see the exhibition and to the Ruskin Collection at Sheffield Museum. Finally, we will explore the Ruskin Library at Lancaster University. With my new-found interest I am now ashamed to realise that I have never set foot inside the Library and am as keen as mustard to rectify this!