Pen, Paint and Pixels will let kids discover their creative side
Enjoy October adventure with the camera this half term and allow the kids to move between the past and the present, while enhancing their creativity and exploring the world around them in the stunning Lake District.
An exhibition at the Wordsworth Museum at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, ‘Pen, Paint and Pixels: Touring the English Lakes across 250 years’, can be taken outdoors in a unique way, by using either the exhibition book, or a free smartphone app. Both reveal 28 locations at which travel journal descriptions, followed by paintings and finally by digital photography, were created by Thomas Gray (1769), Joseph Farington (a few years later) and John Murray (21st century).
By guiding yourself to a location, using the OS map coordinates provided by the exhibition or the app’s GPS technology, your family can take their own pictures, sketch, or maybe even write about the same Lakes beauty spot.
You can all use the hints provided by the free, interactive app and have a great time challenging each other to see who can achieve the best version! Non-smartphone owners can find the same hints in John Murray’s book ‘A Tour of the English Lakes’. A free leaflet will give you Ordnance Survey coordinates for each location.
If you don’t feel Murray has got it right, you may be able to explore the locality and find a better place from which to take your photo. You can check your version against those printed in the book, or provided by the smartphone app.
Photos can then be sent to the Wordsworth Museum and the best will be put on to the Pen, Paint and Pixels Facebook page.
Using an app in this way is a world first for an exhibition. It allows you to interact with the landscape in a totally unique way, but also guides you to some of the Lake District’s most beautiful locations, which you might otherwise never find.
The best starting point for your journey is the Grasmere-based exhibition itself, where the kids will be able to enjoy free family activities in the Foyle Room at half term (October 22-26 and October 29-November 2), as well as being inspired by the full-size paintings. Admission is £7.50 for an adult, £4.50 for a child and £17.20 for a family. Murray’s book costs £14.99 as a softback and £25 hardback.
Entrance includes a tour of Wordsworth’s former home, Dove Cottage, as well as the exhibition. Opening hours are 9.30am to 5.30pm daily, with last admission at 5pm
More information can be found at wordsworth.org.uk The free app – A Tour of the English Lakes - can be downloaded at the Apple App Store or from play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phonegap.englishlakes for android. . ‘Pen, Paint and Pixels’ runs to January 6, 2013.
