There were three sofa’s on Mansfield Road left out in the snow today. The cream one has been there for weeks and has experienced most of the English weather system, the poor love.
Then there was a black armchair which looks like it’s wearing a floral under skirt.
And last but not least a red armchair pushed up against a wall.
I decided to do a google search for ‘Sofa in the snow’ and this time lapse video of someone building a snow sofa came up. How ace!
Today I got up early to spend a few hours in the snow. Years ago I used food colouring to created lines in the snow and decided, today was the day to get the snow colourful once again. I mixed watercolour paints with water, got wrapped up warm and got my wellies on. Al was my chief documenter and together we took huge amounts of photos.
I was aware after creating the initial splatter paintings that I didn’t want to stain the concrete below, so decided the only option was to make a huge colourful snowball. It was labour intensive and I soon warmed up. I enjoyed my only tools being a black glove (couldn’t find the other one) and a shovel. I used the shovel to cut it in half at the end to reveal the rainbow.
I think the final sculpture has turned out a treat! I had no idea what it would look like, but the mottled colour reminds me of rainbow sponge cake. It was great fun too, especially as a fun activity before having to go to work for a few hours through the slush filled streets.
This photo was taken by my Mum, Ali. I don’t think I’ve ever seen frost on a cobweb like this, looks like beautiful lace.
Yesterday I decided to go on my own frost finding adventure. I saw a sofa covered in frost which was glistening.
Today I got up early, threw on clothes and Al and I wandered to the Pirate park in search of more frosty sights. It wasn’t as cold but there were still some signs that Frost had visited. I love a frosty morning!
I might well have ended up on the amazing swing…
This is a flipping chair on a New Years day roof! Captured beautifully by my friend Phil. Thank you for such a cracking find!
This was spied on the way into Sherwood. I love the ones that I catch out of the corner of my eye! This is the first discarded chair of 2012. The first shop I entered this year was Wilkos. Rock and roll!
I have got lots of ideas which i’m looking forward to experimenting with this year. As well as making more art, I would like to go to more exhibitions and read more generally. I am also going to attempt to write a diary for the whole year (not just January!)
The image I would like to start the year sharing is George Shaw’s ‘while no-one was looking -2010’. I saw this a couple of days ago at The Herbert gallery and was so pleased to see it!
Happy New Year!!!
In Hall Green in Birmingham there are great walks by the river. The best remedy for over eating is stretching your legs and Christmas leads to me regularly eating too much. Everything is so familiar but there are always new things to discover. I always seek out the lock whenever I go that way.
We met a lovely woman who feeds the geese everyday. She called one of them lefty, one righty and one blindy; she says that they are regularly attacked by dogs.
Yesterday we went for a lovely walk and on the return home I spotted this leather delight. An early Christmas present of sorts.
Yesterday I filled a freezer bag with plaster and here are the results:
Unfortunately with this design of bag, the plastic has got stuck in the fold but apart from that I like the shape it has created. Shall experiment with different bags.
Recently I have been messing about with plaster to make brooches, collage and now sculptures. I had an idea way back when to make physical sculptures out of PVA glue, but quickly discovered it wouldn’t dry in large quantities in my lifetime! When making brooches, I fell in love with the instantaneous nature of plaster. I was experimenting with adding different materials to the plaster and then laying plaster on different materials. I poured a bit into a plastic bag to see what shape it created. It made a cast of the bottom of it, with the creases and seam details on show.
The idea of making a cast of time was born. I am currently waiting for a bag filled with plaster to dry and am very excited indeed. The next thing for me to work out is how I measure time using the material. I think the measuring of time will be done using the water, which will then be mixed with the plaster, but have some thinking to do!