I have purchased string, and spent an afternoon in the sunshine building a spider’s web in the garden. Those spiders are clever creatures you know. You don’t catch them tying knots and wrestling with a needle and thread.
Category Archives: Art 3D
Site specific project
I’m currently working on a proposal for a site specific artwork to be sited within a school nature trail. The nature trail came from a patch of school land that had been ignored for a number of years. The current school caretaker took a look around it, and realised that over those years a number of wild species had taken up residence. He proposed that the land could be turned into a community and education resource by turning it into a nature trail. The project also includes raised beds and composting areas where the children and community can learn about growing food.
My proposal is to build a huge spider’s web (complete with spider) to help visitors see the site from a bug’s perspective. The site is used for bug studies (amongst other things) and hopefully the piece may highlight the importance of these smaller creatures to the health of the soil. Here’s how it might look.
Another Place
This Tuesday, we visited Anthony Gormley’s Another Place sculptures on Crosby Beach. They have now been granted planning permission to stay permanently. There is something quite spiritual about these figures, as they stand patiently looking out to sea. They are also eroding beautifully, creating some fascinating surface textures.
Exhibition
I’ve spent much of last week on our end of year exhibition, which is being held in Todmorden Unitarian church. Whilst this is a rather unusual venue for an art exhibition, it has the advantage of being large enough to get everyone’s work into. It is a beautiful church, now no longer used for services. It is not the best venue to display paintings in, but it was a real celebration for everyone to have the opportunity to display their work. The private view on Friday evening had a real buzz, and the church was probably fuller than it has been in a long time.
Wrapped Shoes
Part of my ‘wrappings and bindings’ project. Modrock (plaster gauze), elastoplast and tights. Background rather ineptly doctored with Paintshop to remove distractions.
3D Project
Well – I’ve honestly no idea what I’m doing with design sheets, but I’ve made three anyway. I’ve not written anything on them as I don’t know what to write. I’ll take them to college on Wednesday and hopefully get some feedback to help me figure out what I should be doing with them. Here they are (click to enlarge), along with a photo of the piece I like best – a pod based on the chinese lantern.
Chinese Lantern
I found this a while ago at Ryton Organic Gardens. Something about it really appeals to me, and it has substantially influenced my 3D project (as you will see later). My art tutor was telling me how these pods hold fleshy seeds inside them, and when they fall the pod structure is strong enough to prevent the seeds from rotting on the ground. What a clever design.
Teasel and 3D progress
We are starting to put the finishing touches to our 3D project. For next week, we need to create three A2 size design sheets to show how our work has progressed. I have spent most of this afternoon taking and printing out photos to include. I’ve also photographed drawings from my sketchbook – why draw them again? I’ll post the design sheets here when they are finished; but meanwhile here’s some teasel.
More adventures with clay …
This term in art class, we’ve moved on to 3D. This is definitely not my forte, but it is fun to play. These are some pieces I made from clay, inspired by the idea of seeds and pods. I do love the way that clay objects show the marks of the artist who made them.
Clay Flower
This – believe it or not – is a clay pot.