Tuesday 21 December 2010

Update 2...

Following on from the initial statement we posted on Friday about the context and rationale for the Blackpool work (the post before this), we have unfortunately not heard anything back about the future of the piece. We have managed to pull together some images of the work. We are not at all happy with the quality of these images, as I mentioned previously the work was removed before we had time to document it properly. Unfortunately these are all we have and they are at least better then the 3 week old photograph that was taken before the piece was finished and is being used by Blackpool Council's communication department as evidence against the appropriateness of this work...
We haven't been given the opportunity to talk about the work to Helen France, the Director of Places for Blackpool Council, who ordered it to be removed, or show her the finished work. As such, we still haven't been given the facts as to why the work was removed. As mentioned in the previous statement we are committed artists, we both have BA(hons) in fine art, Sarah Jay also has an MA from the Royal College of Art. We have both independently received grants for the arts funding from Arts Council England in the past five years to develop our work. We have a good track record of successfully working with communities on arts projects and believe that art and cultural are central to successful regeneration. I think our professional experience demonstrates our commitment to a high level of artistic quality.
What little information that has been passed down to us suggests that somebody thought the picture of the unfinished work made the shop look like a brothel. Again the work has been judged one day in to a three week installation period. The thought never crossed either of our minds. We were creating a piece about the Blackpool we know, and brothels are not central to that perception. In our view of Blackpool we were drawing parallels to the Christmas display windows of Binns that we used to get so excited about as children and the drama of the stage sets at the Winter Gardens and the Grand Theatre.

We feel it is really unfortunate that Helen France has not taken the time to view the final piece or talk to anyone about the project, if she had have taken this time she would have understood the piece was promoting Blackpool using the beautiful archive and celebrating Blackpool's rich history.

The pictures below show some of the work. They do not document accurately the different levels and layers that the piece worked on. Please see previous statement for a full explanation of the work.






Friday 17 December 2010

Update...

Just a little post to update you on the Blackpool Culture Shops project. We'd like to thank everybody for their support and good wishes for this project. We would also like to warn people not to visit on the dates we have previously posted due to a council decision to remove the work before the opening, we would hate anybody to have a wasted journey.
First, a little more about the piece that we have been working hard to develop over the past month. Both the artist that I am collaborating with and myself grew up in the Blackpool area, and as such are very proud of Blackpool and its heritage, in fact through our artistic careers our background has shaped much of our work. We are fascinated with the stories from the area, how tourists perceive the area and the beauty and faded glamour we see in the town, having spent our first 18 years there. We wanted to develop a piece of work in the windows of the empty shop space that we were allocated to reflect on these themes and use the beautiful objects from the Blackpool archive to introduce naratives to the work.
The work itself took the form of what might appear to be a large stage set. We specifically wanted to create this from fabrics, curtains, bedcovers etc that we bought from local charity shops. We were interested in the history of the items, the stories they might have seen - for example they may have been the curtains from a B&B room where a family spent a happy summer holiday, or a rainy afternoon playing board games. We then went through a process of intricately cutting, pinning, sculpting and embroidering this fabric over a couple of weeks to create a back drop which had in it large and small peep holes, stages and areas of interest where we could create little moments of narrative. Using the characters that we found in the archive, the wonderful tiger, the beautiful fan, the clown, we set up small stages that played with the idea of scale and perception. Some of these moments where up against the glass whilst other were hidden three layers back so could only be visible by some.
Throughout this process we kept in mind that there is a local primary school around the corner and many people pass the shop on the way in to town - in fact we spoke to many people that were interested in the work as we were installing. We specifically designed secret little stages at the bottom of the window, visible mainly to the school children who pass everyday on the way to school.
The work was designed to be lit very carefully, timed to illuminate the window and the narratives entwined in the work as dark fell at around 3pm, creating a magical scene, not unlike a traditional Christmas window.
We had discussed covering the window as it was being created, but we decided that it would be nice for the school children who pass everyday to see it grow and develop.
Unfortunately somebody unrelated to the project and the process photographed the unfinished work three weeks ago which resulted in the decision being made, without seeing the work completed, to have it removed on the morning of the opening day. We are in discussions with the council to see if we can rectify this situation as we are very upset not to be able to present the work to the communities of Blackpool who it was designed for. We are equally upset that we had arranged for a photogrpher to document the work on the opening night and it was removed that morning so we have no good images of the work to represent the outcome of the project. At the moment it would take some time to fix the work as it was a bespoke site specific work that has been removed. We are hoping that by Monday this situation will have been resolved and we will be able to announce new dates when you can come and visit the work. We will keep you posted!
P.S if anyone would like one of the beautiful postcards we produced to promote the event (which we were unable to give out) with a design taken from the Blackpool archive materials - designed to be made into a Christmas decoration, please do contact us and we'll send you one (peaceandlove79 (at) hotmail.com)

Wednesday 15 December 2010

First book....

We have received and posted the first book in the atelier story exchange project..

Get in touch we'd love to hear from you and receive your books!


Thursday 9 December 2010

Atelier story exchange...

A quick word to say that I will also be posting over at atelier story exchange to document the Blackpool Culture Shops project.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Winter...

I've just been away for a couple of days, over the border to Yorkshire, how lovely is the snow...

Sunday 5 December 2010

Archive...

Some inspiration from the Blackpool archives...

See more about the other artists doing the Blackpool Culture Shops project here.

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Peek...

Another peek of the work we are developing for the Blackpool Culture Shop.

Friday 26 November 2010

Locket...

The textile design on this locket by artist Alyson Fox is beautiful. Found via here.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Treasures...

Looks like there should be lots of lovely things to buy at Islington Mill Christmas event tonight 5-9. How lovely are these via here.

Sunday 21 November 2010

A glimpse...

A little preview of what I have spent the weekend in the studio working on in preparation for the Blackpool Culture shops, lots still to do....

Tuesday 16 November 2010

Owls...


I made this family of owls at the weekend as a Christmas present for the daughter of a friend. I can't post too much of what I'm making for Christmas in case people see it and ruin the surprise! I've also just been awarded an opportunity to produce a new piece of work in an empty shop in Blackpool as part of the Culture Shops project. I'll be making new work in collaboration with good friend and artist Sarah Jay. The work has to be up before Christmas so we will be working flat out to get it ready. I've already been raiding Blackpool charity shops for old sheets, curtains and blankets to develop my idea, I'll keep you posted!

Friday 5 November 2010

Books...

Just to welcome in my books and inspirations that have been packed away for 3 years while we have been renovating our house...

Colours this morning...

How lovely are these colours that I saw walking down my street this morning...

Thursday 4 November 2010

Monday 1 November 2010

Creativity...


I often ponder on the purpose of creativity. What ever point I am at in my life I can't imagine not being creative in some way and always find myself trying to find a balance so I have it in my life. Some times this feels like a struggle, but I am always sure it is worth it.

Monday 25 October 2010

Blackpool...

I always feel that many people have a love hate relationship with the place they come from. Being brought up in Blackpool, I couldn't wait to get away from it, but it has always had a strange pull. There is something about its faded glamour, the stories and the wind swept beach in winter that I find stimulates my creativity. I went to see the Illuminations this weekend and found myself again thinking that it really is a fascinating and quite unique place...

Thursday 21 October 2010

Pumpkins...

Every year at this time, I see pumpkins in the shops and think, I really wish I knew what to make with one of those. Now I think about it I don't think I even know what pumpkin tastes of, but they just seem to represent autumn so well. Maybe this is the year I'll find something (other than carving a face) to do with one...

                                          from here

I wish...

I had a view like this from my house, I'm sure if you live surrounded by natural beauty like this, the day to day issues of life seem insignificant. I took this picture in Scotland in a place of amazing beauty.

Saturday 16 October 2010

Temple of a thousand bells...

I don't think I'm going to get anything creative done this weekend, we are having a carpet fitted in our house which we have been renovating for three years (very exciting!). I did however visit Liverpool Biennial yesterday so I will have to content myself with the inspiration I saw there. I particularly liked Laura Belem's piece.

A room...

This is a room in an English Heritage house we visited in the summer, I love its faded glamour. I took lots of pictures of the wallpaper and I'm hope to take inspiration from the patterns somehow...

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Autumn inspiration...

I often take inspiration from all types of pattern, stitch, wallpaper, textiles and patterns I see everyday in nature, squirreling them away for some future use. With the perfect autumn days we've been having I've been thinking about the colours of the leaves, the amazingly clear skys and the changing of the seasons, and how I might use this as an influence. These finds seem to some how reflect autumn for me...


Inspiration found from here, here, here, here, here and here

Sunday 10 October 2010

Stories and cushions...

Some glimpses of what I'm working on at the moment. Working with thread is such a time consuming process, but I like the way you get to absorb yourself in the process. I also enjoy the thought of who might have owned this cushion before and the stories it has seen before I started adding my layer...

Thursday 7 October 2010

I have to see...

I meant to go and see this exhibition of Su Blackwell's work at the Bronte Parsonage Museum a few weeks back, but couldn't go at the last minute. I will certainly go before it ends, friends have told me it is beautiful...

Monday 4 October 2010

Thread doodles...

This is a pattern I've been playing with...

Bright morning...

This morning I had to get up very early to take my mum to the train station. I got to see a time of day I'm not normally witness to, and the start of a beautiful autumn morning...

Wednesday 29 September 2010

On the radio this morning...

I heard this poem and was quite taken by it...

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Monday 27 September 2010

Blue bricks...

I saw this house at the weekend on the way to visit a friend in York. I love the blue bricks. I am always drawn to houses that have corrugated metal cladding on them which is painted and rusting, but this house with its bricks that seemed to match the sky made me smile.

Thursday 23 September 2010

Birds...

I would very much have liked to have made one of these pigeons at the V&A for the London Design Festival...

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Printing...

I'd quite like to use some printing blocks in my work somehow. I also brought an amazing old type writer the other week, but I need to get it working...

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Pictures...

Here are a few snippets of the things I like to make, from cushions to a close up of a canvas...




Monday 20 September 2010

Brilliant...

I love the work of artist Tamar Mogendorff , I think it has a quirky elegance...


(images from her blog)

Goodbye summer...

Call me an optimist but I have still been holding on to the hope that we may see some more warm weather. I think the down pour of rain this morning and for most of the weekend has convinced me that we closer to winter than summer. I can still look through pictures that I took during the sunny summer weekends to make me happy though. I love this ice cream van we came across in the Lake District...

Friday 17 September 2010

This...

textiles pattern is giving me lots of ideas for my work...

Thursday 16 September 2010

A few things that inspire me...



Hello...

I feel I should introduce myself and explain my purpose! After months of reading other peoples blogs and getting very inspired, I thought I'd quite like a space to post my own thoughts/ramblings and inspiration. I am an artist/maker/project manager and I need a place to bring all my ideas together and hopefully get some feedback. I will be back soon with some lovely pictures...once I have figured out the technicalities!