Kettle’s Yard is a place where light is as much an artwork as the sculptures and paintings on display. Jim Ede, who created the house as a space to live with art, once described it as “An Appreciation of Light,” and this philosophy is evident in the way sunlight interacts with the architecture and surroundings. Light flows through every room, creating ever-changing patterns and shadows that draw visitors deeper into the space.
One of the most fascinating phenomena at Kettle’s Yard is the appearance of solar images – projections of the sun that appear throughout the house and garden. They are a visual reminder of the natural world, and they shift with the time of day, the seasons, and the movement of clouds. The delicate round patches of light that flicker on the ground under the chestnut trees near St. Peter’s Church, for example, are not just random spots of light – they are images of the sun itself, projected through the gaps in the leaves above. The effect is mesmerising: these bright circles shift and dance with every breeze, creating a fleeting, magical scene.
Inside the house, solar images appear in the semi-circular bay windows, where sunlight passes through the slats of the blinds and creates a series of circular spots across the floor and tables. These light beads follow the movement of the sun, and with each change in angle, their size and shape transform – from sharp circles to elongated ellipses. What might seem like a simple play of light is actually a sophisticated optical phenomenon: pinhole images of the sun.
This effect is rooted in the principles of pinhole imaging, which have fascinated scientists for centuries. Light passing through any small opening – whether a crack in a wall or a gap between leaves – projects a miniature image of the sun onto the surface below. The size and sharpness of the image depend on the size of the opening and the distance to the surface. The solar images at Kettle’s Yard are a beautiful example of this natural phenomenon, and they turn the house into a living, celestial clock.
The blinds in the bay windows also create a subtle sundial effect, as the solar images move across the tables throughout the day. Depending on the time, these images travel in different directions – slanting left to right at noon, and right to left in the afternoon. The interplay of light and shadow becomes not only a visual delight but also a way to mark the passage of time.
Jim and Helen Ede’s home is a place where art, nature, and light come together in a delicate balance. The solar images that appear throughout the house and garden are more than just optical effects – they are a living part of the space, adding another layer of beauty and wonder. To experience these images is to witness the cosmos in real time, as the sun’s movements are projected inside.
Read the full text by Maggie Ellis and Johannes Grebe-Ellis here
