Big Blue Sky

The other day I was walking past the art gallery in Leeds. I was enjoying the sun and the blue sky. I like blue sky. I looked up at the angel in the sun. My friend Lou modelled for the sculptor who was commissoned to make it. Every time I look at it I can see her face. I realised that she had told me the story of how this came about a longtime ago. Lou and I have been friends for a very long time. I had forgotten the story so I asked her about it…

This is what she said…

“Ian Judd got the commission for the Angel because the last Angel fell off with metal fatigue. It happened that I posed for the Sculptor Ian Judd because I was filling in with life modelling work in between Skinning the Cat work. Ian rang the Art School in Bradford looking for someone to pose and I ended up doing it.

I would sometimes cycle over from Bradford via Queensbury to Ian’s studio at Dean Clough, We drank coffee in the mornings, except for some reason (later I found out why) I went off the coffee, and from what I remember I used to pose in the morning- can remember every inch & muscle of how I had to stand and we then inevitably ended up in the pub in the afternoons (I don’t remember going off the beer).
As time went on (and I don’t remember how long I posed for but it wasn’t a huge amount of time) I noticed that Ian began to put more and more clay on my (the sculptures) breasts and hips which I did find a little disconcerting- maybe, I thought, it was all that cycling -was developing my muscles- on my tits??
After I finished I went off on tour with Skinning the Cat, whilst in Delft, in Holland I found out I was pregnant. My son, Henri Pascal is now 19 and from a very young age I would point out to him, the war memorial and show him the pregnant Angel, and tell him that he was inside her! (That sounds a bit odd doesn’t it?)
Ian reckoned he was the godfather since he created the pregnant angel”.

I love that my good friend Lou Sumray is standing up there and will be looking down on Leeds for a long time to come….