Derbyshire Open Arts Weekend

Starting to look a bit tidier now down at Shed 2 Studios, in readiness for opening our doors this weekend.... Last but of hoovering and polishing to do, and then everything can go out on display...

Tidy Studio!

Experimentals...

I've been playing a little lately (in between making templates, working out frames, preparing clay and delivering sessions and so on for the Olympic Legacy project.  Actually, its been fun "playing" with clay again, and I might have to do some more...) meanwhile, here's a sneak peak at what I have been doing with glass - snaps on my phone, not top quality mind!

Legacy Wall Update

A while ago, I posted about this project : Olympic Legacy Wall that I am doing with Kirk Hallam Community Technology and Science College.

Last time I posted, I was about to go into school and work with the Year 10 GCSE art students to make the clay tiles which we were then taking plaster casts off which will become stamps.  Like a silly person, I didn't take any photographs that day (I was generally up to my eyeballs in clay or plaster, so I didn't want to get my iPhone all dirty - well any more so than usual!).

Thankfully, hopefully there will be some images later on to show you. Just before I started the project, I met a local photographer, Deborah Selwood of Gecko Studios Photography -  anot only lovely, but also talented lady! Deborah was interested my work, and how I often use scientific imagery, but when she heard about the Legacy Wall decided she'd like to document it.  So when we were making the tiles, we were under the watchful eye of the digital camera lens... I've not seen the results yet!

More recently, I've been working on the templates for the ceramic pieces that will form the art work itself.  Not only is this piece going to be large, it will be heavy, sited outdoors and in a public space - there are a lot of things to consider not only the design but the overall construction, which I will be getting fabricated at a local firm in Ilkeston.

So, where is this art work going?  Here's the wall, taking from the view of the all weather pitch. For those of you who know the area, its the Derby Road end of the new Sports Hall, the original school buildings are there in the background ( for you former 'Comp' students like myself, you can just see the original gym!)

Rear View of KHCTSC Sports Hall

 It can be quite difficult to 'explain' how the piece is going to look, especially when its not something that I have made before. And especially when it's this scale... and this is going to be BIG!  It will probably the biggest work that I have made so far.  Well, I am not so much making it - the Year 10's are doing most of that!  Anyway, I did a mock up for the college to make sure they were happy with the idea.  This isn't the exact shape, and although the background is the right sort of colour, its not the finished design - but it gives an indication of what it will look like I hope.

Mock Up of the Olympic Legacy Wall

To get an idea of scale, those bulkhead lamps are sited at around 8 feet up the wall.....

More to come soon!

Oh So Pretty!

What a delightful treasury!

Another Heavenly Treasury....

Yummy!!

Everybody seems to be going Treasury mad on Etsy at the moment, I've been featured in so many lately, but I had to share this gorgeous one, good enough to eat!

You can find treasury here:  CLICK THIS LINK