Well, I am fresh back from my third venture ‘out’ in four days – I am all the better for it. I attended the Women On Tap event, Art & Beer At The Mercer.
What was it? It was an idea I had never really considered before – these gifted individuals were pairing beer with Artwork. Artwork that had been submitted to the Mercer for the Harrogate Open. Did it work, though?
The idea was that, from the 150 artworks on display, four of the individual artworks submitted to the Open would be paired with a beer by a gifted-girl-gang who’s taste buds are far more developed than mine. However, this blog post is not a critique of the beer I drank. Nor is this blog post a critique of the (awesome!) artwork on display – this blog post is about what I got from the event.
To start of with, I was thrown out of my comfort zone – I am not accustomed to being challenged when it comes to beer; it is the key to the heart and I like WD40. I tried different beers that I would not neccessarily have chosen to sip had I been in a pub. Nicola B. lucidly guided you through what to expect from each beer and accepted feedback. I am very grateful for this – I do not know what to look for in tasting notes. All of the beers, bar one, were new to me and that was worth coming for alone.
My sum knowledge of beer is that it is wet and it makes your legs do funny things if you drink too much. Nicola stood there for a swallow’s flight, holding the attending crowd in the palm of her hand as she explained why she had chosen the beer in question for us to try. Women On Tap were pairing artwork with beer!
And here is the bite – by doing so, Nicola had become the artist people had paid money to see. The Mercer is holding the open until January and I thoroughly recommend that you head down there to see the exhibit – but, the gallery is open until January – we were there for an interpretaion of the art through beer.
There were some gifted artists who’s work was on display to explain the process behind the craft of their art and the inspiration behind the craft. This was not a dry accademic exercise but an inspirational “Have A Go!” speech. I loved it.
More of this, please!
