Creating designs for the cylinders' surface pattern.

 Here's a sneak peek at my final design proposal for the surface etchings on the metal cylinders using artwork created by myself, and students from two local schools; Leftwich Primary school, and Hartford High school.   More images of the fantastic work produced by students can be found on the image bank here...  https://www.flickr.com/photos/129716078@N08/albums

Making progress...

I've been working hard on creating prototypes of the metal cylinders which will be eventually hung in Barons Quay.  I've been working on how the cylinders achieve the layered compositon, with copper, brass and white brass etchings layered on top of one another.

The challenge is to keep the cylinders as light as possible, whilst being structurally sound and maintaining the high level of craftsmanship I always strive for.

 Contrasting metallic colours.

 I was excited to try etching textural salt deposit - like images on to the stainless steel cylinder.  It's really beautiful the way the shiny metal contrasts the etched matt grey image.

Designing, testing and planning

 Experimenting with paint colours for the wall behind the artwork.  The warm greys seem to work much better with the metal colours than the cool greys.  The warm metal colours make the cool greys appear more lilac, and this clashes with the metal itself.  A bright calico colour seems to work best (far left)

 I've been working on some calculations to do with bend allowances in metal.  If you're bending pieces of metal, as I will be doing in the cylinders, at the back joint, it's necessary to allow a little more metal width, to account for the bend.  Working with inches and thou. and converting to mm kept me concentrating for hours......

Here, I've made three life size models of three of the metal cylinders, in cardboard.  This is really useful to check proportions are right, and that the relative sizes work together visually.

Logisitics! Working out the exact sizes and placement of each cylinder....

For the past few weeks I've been working on the exact layout and sizes of the metal cylinders.  This involves creating an image, to scale, plotting the ideal layout, then working out how big each cylinder is, and then, how big each part of the cylinder will be.  From this, I can calculate the exact size of metal required, that will be etched and then rolled up in to a cylinder shape.

Here's a spreadsheet I'm putting together to record all the exact sizes.  From these sizes, I will be able to work out how much each cylinder will weigh.  I'll pass this information on to the Architects and Builders involved in the project so that they can build a bar on the interior wall for the cylinders to hang from.  The weights will make sure that the bar is strong and secure enough to hold the weights of the cylinders.

 

Here are some CAD (Computer Aided Design) visualisations drawn for me by Dave Weaver, who works in one of the other studios at Centrespace, where I'm based in Bristol.  I've been working with Dave to come up with a structure to hold the metal cylinders together.

Images courtesy of Dave Weaver 2014.

In the press!

Yesterday, I appeared in the Northwich Guardian, talking about my new Public Art project at the soon to be build Barons Quay development, which will sit on top of a disused and recently filled, historic salt mine.

 

Photo courtesy of Nick Jones at the Northwich Guardian

 Here's a link to the online version of the article: http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/11621349.Barons_Quay_art_plans_revealed/

Awarded large scale Public Art project at Barons Quay in Northwich

I'm delighted to announce that I've been selected by Chester and Cheshire West Council to create a public art piece for a 200 metre square space at the soon to be built, Barons Quay development in Northwich.

For the space, I'll be creating 50, up to a metre long etched metal cylinders, which will be suspended from the ceiling, and undulate across the wall in the profile of the local river Weaver.

The form of the piece is rooted in the site's industrial heritage, referencing rock salt mines which still exist, but have been recently filled, underneath the new development's site. The cylinders are evocative of 'core samples' pulled from the earth, revealing layers of rock which tell the geological story of a landscape.

I will be working with the local community to develop salt inspired artwork which will influence some of the imagery etched in to these metal cylinders, engaging them in the creative process of producing a public artwork.

The piece will be installed in 2017 after the development of Barons Quay is complete.