Yn ôl i'r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol unwaith eto

Waw, anodd credu mae 6 mlynedd ers i fi fod ar y Maes yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn ddiwetha! Difficult indeed to believe it's been six years since I was at the National Eisteddfod, when it was last in South Wales! To be honest it feels more like 10 years, what with Coronovirus and all the other political shananagins happening in between.

The event this year is taking place in Pontypridd's Ynysangharad Park, which was a great location because you enter the Maes via bridges over the River Taff. Of course, I headed pretty quickly to Y Lle Celf, the Eisteddfod's annual national art exhibition. It made me appreciate how lucky we were in Cardiff in 2018 to be able to use the fabulous Senedd building in Cardiff Bay. This year is was in a large, anonymous, hot and noisy temporary hangar building. You couldn't even see the sign saying "Y LLE CELF" if the front door was propped open. However, there was a good selection and variety of art and craft on display, at least. And I have to admit, it takes some gumption and skill to create a major art exhibition from the ground up, for one week only, in the middle of a damp Rhondda park.

The winner of the Medal Aur am Gelfyddyd Gain/Gold Medal for Fine Art, Angharad Pearce Jones, was really no surprise because her installations formed the entrance to the Lle Celf exhibition. A choice of two routes led you either one side or the other of her steel fence, dividing a room and slicing through a table, which amongst other things was a comment on Brexit. Bold and ambitious, no one could deny the prize was well deserved.

Unfortunately I forgot to vote in the People's Choice competition. My excuse is I was distracted by a very gripping and entertaining performance piece by Esyllt Lewis, which involved jelly and a large glass of water. I'm normally drawn towards the paintings - and there were several that were great fun - but I might have been tempted to vote for Susan Adams' Cynllun ar gyfer y Lloches/Plan for the Asylum, a basketwork sculpture which also involved various paintings and an animation.

I came back for a second day to take part in the Darlunio ar daith/Sketching Tour of the Maes. Only ten minutes at each of a variety of locations to choose a view/subject and complete a drawing on a fold-out sketchbook provided by Y Lle Celf. It was a great exercise and I was pleased with most (though not all) of my efforts. It was part of a project by Geraint Ross Evans, who'd made a giant drawing (on display in front of Y Lle Celf) of the Rhondda Valley through time - though I belive that one took him slightly more than 10 minutes! I'm still trying to find out what happens with the results of our 'taith'. Gawn ni weld!