Art & Design Foundation Stage 3

I had used willow withies in stage 2 to create a torso, so I had some experience of sculpting with them and it seemed the obvious choice of material to use to make the viola seed pods. They were straightforward to make, with the exception of the cat deciding that willow withies were the best toy ever invented and trying to destroy them... I made sure they were the right size to fit in my allocated corner of the gallery space as they couldn't spill over onto the wooden floor area for access/health and safety reasons. Whilst I had made withy sculptures before, I hadn't covered them with tissue before, so I asked Sian for a quick demonstration. She told me I needed to cover them in cling film first to give an even surface to stick the tissue paper to. That was much more of a palaver than I had expected!  Cling film is not the most co-operative material at the best of times when trying to cover a sandwich, let alone a 4 ft stick sculpture! And then there's the ser

So I had been busy making my giant seeds and seed pods and the contents of my artists book without giving too much thought to the actual artists book itself. I had initially thought to have a central podium with an over-sized book on it, but didn't like the connotation that I was giving a lecture.  I then thought I would use an easel instead.  When it came time to start actually making my over-sized book - I got as far as covering 2 sheets of A1 card and a spine with beige linen fabric and was arranging dried seed heads in a decorative manner on the front, but it just wasn't working. I went home and had a think on it for an evening, when in the early hours I had a Eureka!  moment - the artist's book needed to be one of the seeds!!! This brought about a whole new range of logistical puzzles to solve such as how to make an origami seed open like a book, how it would be displayed and how the viewer would open it - it couldn't be on a flat surface, how could I bin

On 4th May we visited the Riverfront Gallery to see the space in which we would be exhibiting, to allocate areas for each of us and then take any photographs, measurements and sketches we needed for our installation. I was generously allocated this lovely corner at the entrance that Casey is pointing to: I sketched the area, took measurements and photographed any details that might be useful (sketches and measurements are in sketch book): Up until this point, I had been planning to hang some seeds from the ceiling, but the gallery manager informed us that this would not be possible. A couple of alternatives sprung to mind - either use some sort of wire from the pod to attach the seed to, which would have the added benefit of looking like the seed trajectory as it exploded from the pod, or I spotted these hooks at the top of the wall, which I could string up and then hang the seeds from the string. The following week we made maquette

I was thinking about the Viola and how it's a weed, but most people accept it in their gardens. That got me thinking about the 'Not in my back yard' mentality many people have regarding refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in general. Many people feel pity for refugess and people less fortunate than themselves seeking a better life, and in theory are happy for them to come to the UK...just not in their town. These 2 thoughts combined and I started thinking wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get people to take some viola seeds home and plant them in their back garden as a metaphor for accepting immigrants - a kind of 'welcome to my back yard' rather than 'not in my back yard'. I thought I could make my own seed impregnated paper that people could just place in a pot and cover with a little soil, or put straight in the garden - as long as they water them and keep them moist they will grow as the paper pulp provides a seed growing medium. It's p

Humans As previously stated, I am using seed encapsulation, dispersal and putting down roots as a metaphor for human migration. It is a hot topic right now, and has been for several years as many British people are concerned about the influx of Eastern Europeans coming in search of work and Syrian refugees seeking asylum and a peaceful life away from the war zone at home.  Many British people are concerned about the effect of the increase in population of the UK - specifically employment opportunities, salaries, strain on the NHS and benefits systems. The opinions and arguments go back and forth: Eastern Europeans take all our jobs versus Eastern Europeans take all the manual labour jobs that British people aren't prepared to do such as fruit picking and chambermaid work. Syrians come over here and scrounge off our benefit system or are terrorists themselves versus Syrians who are coming over here are often doctors, university lecturers, lawyers etc...just looking to star