Paintings and poems

 I had a very interesting afternoon on Saturday visiting the Ceridwen and Gwion Bach exhibition at Y Gaer in Brecon. The artist Tim Rossiter is exhibiting a series of his paintings there, completed over fifteen years, based on the Welsh myth that tells of the impregnation of the enchantress Ceridwen by Gwion Bach. If you don't know the story, do look it up - it's one of the oldest and the best known of all Welsh stories. The child that results from the bizarre union (and who, rather like Moses, is set to sea in a leather bag) is reputed to become Taliesin, the renowned sixth century bard. 

The paintings themselves were fascinating but I was particularly interested to hear the poetry that had been written in response to some of Taliesin's work. Two poets - Graham Harthill and Ric Hool - read; a third, Frank Olding, who was to have read in Welsh was unfortunately unwell. I enjoyed the readings very much but couldn't help thinking how masculine the poets' takes on the story perhaps were - indeed, Graham Harthill himself acknowledged them as such. I'm sure many women would find very different meanings in the myth - but then, what resonates in each of us when looking at any story will depend on many factors, not simply gender of course. A lot to ponder on there!