Countryfile.

We have been working flat out over the last month to meet a deadline on a very exciting international project that I'll tell you about in a future blog and to add to this excitement, the BBC's Countryfile came down to my workshop, they were filming close by on a small willow bed and wanted to shoot some footage as an end user, working with the material.
We are currently a team of 7 weavers and creatives running super long shifts to meet the tightest of deadlines! So... I kept the arrival of the lovely Ellie Harrison and the charming BBC crew quiet until that morning so as not to distract the rhythm.
On arrival Ellie presented me with some willows, freshly cut from 'Willow Withies', a small holding run by Annette Bridges, and we set about making some woven spheres, she picked up the techniques swiftly and we discussed the sculptures in some detail.
The Filming Crew were brilliant and made the whole filming process very calm and relaxed, as it should be!
It made for a great day and boosted morale for all my crew too. Thanks Ellie and crew!

The program is due to be aired on BBC 1 on the 25th of March.

Below are some 'behind the scenes' shots!

New walls, new burner and hot soup!

Today seemed quite a significant day to share recent activities with you, but to paint the full picture, you need to know about the last couple of months and beyond...

Since Christmas I have been mainly office bound, pencil to paper working on designs for proposed projects throughout 2012 and it's great to get this contrast from time to time. There's a completely different climate to start with! and then there's working and planning on a totally different scale. Building huge sculptures relies on a different group of muscles as well! Exercising the creative parts of your brain like this is so rewarding, plus it's great to be in the warm to do it!

Anyway before Christmas I scheduled some time to rebuild my workshop as running back to back with projects in the past few years has meant the space has suffered from neglect and has had to function on minor repairs - this is beginning to sound like an analogy of me!

To give you a brief history of the space, it is situated on an old train line, next to the Ashby canal. There is a horse chestnut tree immediately outside the front door and some silver birch for shade. 15 years ago I set up this creative space with some friends which has evolved from a portacabin to a temporary lean-to, from large bivvys to some sort of yurt?! and then into a tin roofed shack in 2002 with some more permanent uprights to stop it blowing away! Still challenged by time and budget the walls were wrapped in lorry curtains and the gaps woven with surplus willow, until November last year, then I finally built a floor! Extended a few metres, gaining enough space for a willow store and soaking area (luxury!), built some large opening doors and locked in all the walls with tin and installed a new wood burner. Of course this isn't quite finished, the insulation is yet to be fitted.
I cannot express the absolute joy, even at this unfinished stage, that I have found myself in a few days ago. My first official day weaving in 2012 wrapped up in my new revised building and then to make it even better, punctuated with a bowl of steaming borshch for lunch, home-made and (most importantly) shared by my Ukrainian mate Pete.

Here's to many more happy days creating and interesting lunches!!

Griffefields Sunflower Theatre

I've got some catching up to do on this dusty old blog, so its out with the besom to clear away them cobwebs...
I've had a brilliant summer! And before the children packed away their satchels for the school holidays , we started a new build at a school in derby at Griffefield primary.
The brief was to create an outdoor performance area, a theater of sorts for the children to bring out their inner thespian.
The design is based on a sunflower, the petals forming a boundary and giving a feel of enclosure. We installed hard-wearing oak benches throughout to seat a couple of classes.
A gateway of honey bees and foliage invites the children, performers and audience into the space.
The whole school (400+!) helped to weave the petals, each class created a 3D sunflower seed on a stick and a seed hat!
The children will keep them in their classrooms and carry the seeds to and from the space as its used, like a permanent cycle of seed dispersal, which I'm all for.

Thank you to Emma Smith of Griffefield for support/Tea and cakes, also Frazer Johnston, Andy Cowling and Pete Z.









All These cards are hand drawn Thank-yous. Beautiful illustrations and messages from some of the children that took part, attached to a willow Ball!

Victoria Special School, Birmingham.

Victoria Special School in Birmingham won the peoples millions and developed an outdoor space for their students to interact with each other.
It is a very well considered and finely polished design with a seamless network of wheelchair friendly pathways winding through their raise-bed area and solar-dome, which will become an outdoor/indoor learning space where the students can just get messy and plant and play in all weathers and feel some direct connection with the weather and seasonal changes... I love it! and could instantly see its effect on the children and staff alike.

My part in this was to create some seed form sculpture around the garden - namely poppy heads and physalis - and to create height and structure, the next phase of the project will see a living willow dome planted in the new year.

ITV came to the opening and filmed performances and the carnival atmosphere.

City Waterside bulrushes.

City Waterside was the location for the third installation for British Waterways, this time in Stoke-on-Trent and this time a series of woven bulrush appeared from the paved canal bank, in the shadows of a stunning bottle kiln.
The day the images were shot we had a celebration of the project and then the mayor arrived on a restored working boat! It was a lovely day even dressed in my jacket a just had to grab the line and moor the beast.

Etruria locks Dragonfly

One of the four commissions for the British Waterways was at Etruria where the bone and flint mill sits on the junction of the Caldon Canal, the Trent and Mersey, it's also home to Stoke-on-Trent's industrial museum!
I created the dragonfly here, 4.5 meters high, to give some drama above the roof tops of the lower sheds, dragonflies are a great indicator of good water quality and as the industry calms down and we reflect on it's history everything gets a chance to breathe.
The sculpture is overlooked by some sheltered housing... I hope they like it, either that or they are having nightmares about giant insects!

Ryton Gardens.

After meeting with head gardener Andy Strachan at Chelsea 2010 and sampling some kohl rabi on the build up of the show straight out of Garden Organics feature - sliced raw and dipped in salsa, mmm! - it was only a matter of time before we hooked up to to install some sculpture in this incredible garden near Coventry.

I've visited a few times over the years and it just so happened to be pumpkin season one time, we indulged in some exquisite soup and pie, grown and hand crafted on site.
The staff at the garden are second to none with 100% commitment to their natural uncomplicated art of growing and inspiring real stuff!

I took my dad on this installation, while we were their we took a quick look over their new allotment garden which is just beautiful and I found myself dribbling over the fence at all the veg and salad crops, don't worry, I didn't touch it, well, I didn't eat it..
Here we are below installing the exhibition piece .
You've just got to get down see for yourselves....

A heron for British Waterways.

Since February I have been working in Stoke-on Trent on a commission for British Waterways, a series of four installations spread over the city all with a direct link to the canal and communities that use them.
The Heron below is at Westport Lake the largest body of water in the city, well known for its waterbirds, it's a great spot for a walk and has an environmental centre cantilevered over it, its pretty smart!
My heron stands about 4 meters up on its pole and is very much a willow sketch against the skyline.
Whilst there I ran a workshop onsite and created bits and bats with the visitors to discuss the ideas and engage folk in the process.
Incidentally my friend has a sculpture on this site too, a series of huge stainless steel feathers designed by Martin Heron (appropriately) and fabricated by www.artfabs.co.uk see below
More Stoke-on-Trent sculptures to follow!

RHS Chelsea Florist of the year.

This year at Chelsea Flower Show, this year's theme was based on 'A day at the races'. The competition was set in two halves Senior and Junior, each competitor had a jockeys vest to design and build which was co-ordinated by the British Flower Association.
Some of the detail is simply jaw dropping !

My other contribution this year was to make this life-size 2D willow sketch of a racing horse to set the scene, here it is being hung from the grand pavilion on show build week and a few shots during press day.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011.

Here's a sneaky peak at our tree feature in the continuous learning area based on the physalis (Cape gooseberry) form (Japanese lantern) as it degrades and exposes its berry.

I've created a 4.5 meter tall piece with a handsome canopy made from a combination of willow, steel and tissue paper, subtly illuminated with LEDs.

The project pulled in assistance from the whole family, my three year old daughter presented me with a real physalis stem last autumn "hey daddy, this is for you" and I hung it in my office and drew inspiration, my father in law volunteered his skills more than once, my brother in law helped out, my nephew (Rory) who is an electrical whizz, the wife and finally my Dad. It's a touching realisation that this is 4 generations pulling together, to help me achieve my goals, if ever there was a reminder of the beauty of families...

So onsite last week, I tapped up my friend from Kew, a flower show wouldn't be complete without help planting from Steve, we have ferns, foxgloves, scabious, grasses and lavender all set naturally beneath the foot of the tree framed by a lovely oak bench.

The show is on until next saturday and will be covered by the BBC.

I wonder what my daughter will find this year ..........