WILD PROJECTS #7 – HARD CORE – Test 1 - Wrapped and Buried

WILD PROJECTS #7 – HARD CORE – 18^TH OCTOBER 2015

Fermynwoods Contemporary Art invites expressions of interest from artists of all disciplines for the celebration of Apple Day in a uniquely beautiful, remote countryside location in East Northamptonshire, 2 miles from civilisation. 

Blessed with an abundance of apples since the wassailing of our trees last year, this is an opportunity to propose site responsive work, performances or any other form of work in any way you choose centred around the theme. Proposals for group activities particularly welcome.

Test 1 - Wrapped and Buried

Thinking about something hard wrapped inside something soft

The Horse Chestnut - Aesculus hippocastanum

Status - near threatened, population decreasing

The apple - soft flesh, hard pips

I gathered apple and horse chestnut twigs, made bundles of three - the horse chestnut casing splits into three. Three can be considered lucky. Three can be tricky to balance. I wrapped each bundle with a band of felt and a contrasting piece of wool. I gathered more conkers, apples, twigs, put an apple in the bottom of a glass, put all the twigs both wrapped and leafy in the glass then balanced a conker in it's case on top of another apple. I buried the glass in a mound of hard core and placed more conkers. Much was buried, much was too complicated. Start again.

Attending the Flaming Skirt Festival - Virtually

Derbyshire's Contemporary Arts Festival 

in Village Halls · 27th April 2014

Air hostess in red, artist Sophie Cullinan 

who offered me a virtual ticket to ride

I was a bit cheeky and asked if I could have an actual Personal Appreciation Pack which arrived before the tour. In return and for fun I said I'd tweet my own virtual tour with vintage Air Hostess fashion dolls. I would have loved to have gone on the actual tour and the links at the end of this post will take you to where all the real action happened. I think Sally Lemsford's idea to take art to out of the way spaces is wonderful!

Eagle flask ready to come fly with me - virtually

Mod Barbie, Hair Fair Barbie and Midge

in their flaming finery, take in some culture

whilst waiting for the virtual tour bus.

Medium sized Sindy Air Hostess

Francie and Palitoy Tressy wonder

 if they will need an umber ella ella

Virtual Tour Exhibit 1 - 

Flaming vintage glass firing up the view

Italian - 1960's - a little bit chipped here and there.

Miniature Air Hostess Sindy and 

two Diahann Carroll Nurse Julia Dolls 

take their ease and consider a cup of tea.

Virtual Tour Exhibit 2 - Tulips 

Virtual Tour Exhibit 3 -

Flaming Acer Leaves

hide artists' studio

Palitoy Mary Make-Up, Tressy Air Hostess 

& Tressy stop for lunch

This hostess was a present from my paternal Grandmother

and flew to Western Australia and back during the

Miles family grand adventure as £10 Poms.

Virtual Tour Exhibit 4 - flaming tipped acer leaves

and a bucket of mosaic tiles - evidence of mosaic

making somewhere in the garden

Pedigree Vicki, Air Hostess Sidepart Sindy and Mitzi

holding a torch for the Flaming Skirt Virtual Tour

Virtual Tour Exhibit 4 - Flaming Shedstallation

We're all fired up

Virtual Tour Exhibit 6 - evidence artist has been at work

Virtual Tour Exhibit 7 - flaming tulip

Virtual Tour Exhibit 8 - it's hot on the streets

Surely not another Diahann Carrol Nurse Julia

health and safety well covered on this virtual tour!

Virtual Tour Exhibit 9 - Flame coloured tulips 

consider making a break for it

and now our tour is virtually done, all Tweets delivered,

all Instgrams complete, all dolls back in their boxes.

Time to examine the very wonderful Flaming Skirt 

Personal Appreciation Pack 

as one final flaming petal falls.

(part of the Do One Thing Initiative)

The End

CREDITS

The Flaming Skirt Festival

The Real Idea

Sally Lemsford

The actual Flaming Skirt Festival tour route

The Flaming Skirt Festival on Tumblr

The Flaming Skirt Festival on Facebook

The fabulous Flaming Skirt Artists

The Flaming Skirt tour Hostess with the mostess - artist Sophie Cullinan on Success

A FINAL NOTE

Why do I collect vintage fashion dolls - terrible role models you say, but the only two I had as a child saw me to Australia and back, reminded me of home and spent most of the time with their very few outfits packed in a case! Later on when my life went momentarily pear-shaped the collection took my mind of things that broke my heart. When I was too large for fashion I got to dress up by proxy. Later still I organised an exhibition for Sindy's 40th Birthday from my collection at the Museum of Childhood at Sudbury Hall. In the lean years selling off part of my collection has helped keep me afloat. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure but if Grayson Perry can be Claire and elevate his teddy Alan Measles then a bit of dolly daydreaming can't be all that bad. I've had hours of fun, expressed my inner anorak and demonstrated the importance of play ie :- creative thinking, throughout life. 

Celebrating Winter Light

It had been a strange week of hard frosts and heavy rain but the day of our installation arrived with fair weather and blue skies. Having made about 100 torches, all that remained was to install them in the Kings Wood and wait for Friends of the Kings Wood, walkers and participants to find us! 

The Winterlight Team getting ready

Sophie Cullinan supervising the installation

Kate Dyer's epic pan of apple and parsnip soup

Lorraine Dziarkowska doing a spot of documentation

Torches tied to a tree

Light fading

replaced by a

mysterious blue glow.

We were joined by a lovely group of people, some whom had been involved in the making, others who had just stumbled upon us by chance 'Come and join us for hot soup and a marvellous slide show of fungi found in these very woods!" we cried, and they did!

It was a lovely way to explore the woods and feel connected to it's ancient roots and branches. At 5.00pm we took everything away, not one of us had thought to bring an actual torch to light our way out of the woods again, so we edged our cautious way through mud and puddles, laughing as we went. On the pavement by our cars, saying our farewells till next meeting a light drizzle of rain misted us, windscreens and tarmac.

Winterlight on Saturday

It's been a busy couple of days working with groups on the Torches for the Winterlight event in Kings Wood on Saturday, which should be a magical event. Come and celbrate with us in these ancient woodlands.

Sophie Cullinan modelling the variation winter torch

 Many hands making ...

Light work!

Come and get the winter glow!

Torchtastic!

Artists Kate Dyer, Sophie Cullinan, Jo Dacombe and I worked on various parts of the Corby project to animate the route of the Torch Relay, the project was dubbed 'Torchtastic' by Sophie, in honour of her fabulous Torch inspired rattles. I spent a day at The Old Village Primary School with Sophie creating rattles and flags for the children to shake and wave when the Torch Bearers make their way through the Old Village and towards Corby town centre on July 2nd.

Sophie wealding the glue gun

Painting

Drying

Springs and flames attached

I had preprinted torch pennants for the children to embellish

After an initial feeling of "Bah Humbug" about the Torch Relay, I found myself swept up in the crowd waiting for the relay to arrive in Kettering and strangely moved by the waving and cheering which brightened the greyish, rainy day. I then felt compelled to watch the Corby leg on the internet and the next day was in Asfordby making paper flags with the children as they waited for the relay to come through on it's way to Melton Mowbray. Once again there were smiles, laughter and unexpected patience, perhaps we all need a reason to stand together and cheer, especially when many aspects of life seem increasingly grim. 

Portrait of the artist with actual Torch Relay Torch which was carried by Nicola Kenton during the Wellingborough leg of the relay. Many thanks to her Mum, Yvonne for letting me touch a little piece of Olympic history!