A huge hare to grace the Bowland Fells

A huge hare to grace the Bowland Fells

I am currently working a proposal to create, tour and finally install permanently a 3.5 m. sculpture of a hare.

The sculpture celebrates the wild beauty of the Forest of Bowland and the Ribble Valley, through portraying the animal which has such an iconic presence in the Bowland Fells and in the folklore of Lancashire beyond.

We see a hare in a moment of alert stillness, glancing backwards and turning in doing so.

The image shows a small scale model of the piece in sheet metal, made with generous in-kind support from Steel Dynamics (Blackburn) who donated the cut metal shapes and Castle Foundry (Liverpool Workshop) where the piece was fabricated.

Construction of the full scale piece is about to be commenced in time for the launch in its first location on top of Nicky Nook- an outcrop in view of the M6 - at Wyresdale Park before moving on to Gisburn Forest next summer

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Giant Dormouse

First one of two giant little creatures commissioned by Eddie Powell in the studio ready for casting. I love working on this scale; like painting with a big brush!

Exhibition in glorious private garden in Cheshire

Last weekend I had the good fortune to return to this lovely location where I exhibited before, this time in the pigshed as well as the garden.  Here to crown the "4th plinth" is Wilhelmina XIII, a sculpture I made in memory of my dad and his beloved "red" cows.

Wilhelmina XIII, an obviously popular cow's name on our farm

Wilhelmina XIII, an obviously popular cow's name on our farm

Fearie

Jacqueline Harris (storyteller) and I were awarded a Reasearch and Development Grant by Arts Council England, which allowed us to explore further our collaborative working, together with Theatre Projectionist Adam York Gregory. We develop the multimedia storytelling performance, which we first put together last September for the Lancashire Encounters festival in Preson , exploring new ways to combine the visual and the aural, exploring new Lancashire stories and how to involve audiences.

I have traveled to new places such as Morecambe Bay (see below), and found new ways to tell a story, through drawing, painting and sculpture. My challenge has been not to illustrate the story, but to explore it in a way that immerses the viewer in the imagery in new and different ways.

There are greenies, brownies, and boggarts in Lancashire. All are small, male faeries, often mischievous, able to see what we can not,  or showing us what's in store for us.  I persuaded a good friend with perfect faerie features to sit for me to produce this head.

Male Faerie, Greenie, Brownie, or Boggart

responses to "In Skriker's Footsteps"

Below are just a few audience responses to our storytelling and exhibition event "In Skriker's Footsteps" in Preston last weekend:

•    I really enjoyed seeing different media that what used in the storytelling piece as part of the exhibition. Very inspiring.

•    Original, atmospheric and intriguing. Great to see different types of art used and brought together so one can hear the story, see pictures, try out shadow shows and appreciate the art. Thank you.

•    An original performance enhanced by the media. Catch you in April - thank you.

•    Stories about real places (places I know!) Fascinating. Thanks.

•    Brilliantly evocative. I loved the combination of storytelling and shifting backdrop animation! Thanks.

•    Awesome stories! I really enjoyed it, especially with the background projection! Thanks.

My own response:
Great to be part of a festival - as opposed to just an exhibition - with a varied audience willing to engage in something new, in a very central "pop-up" space.
The combination of the storytelling performance and the exhibition with interactive works worked well. People - having learned the stories - engaged more deeply and meaningfully with the work.

All this made possible thanks to the awesome Jacqueline and Adam!

In Skriker's Footsteps

Part of the Lancashire Encounter Festival in the heart of Preston on 26 and 27 September 2015.

A multimedia live storytelling performance and interactive exhibition.

Jacqueline Harris telling the story of the White Dobbie with a projected image of Hare in my Pocket

Jacqueline Harris telling the story of the White Dobbie with a projected image of Hare in my Pocket

In a development from The King of the Cats Touring Exhibition, Jackie and I collaborated with theatre projectionist Adam York Gregory, to break new grounds combining story, images, inter active sculpture, animation, drawing and sound.

Boy

I was asked by one of my two sons to make his head in clay. This is the result. Not a great likeness, but as I told him: no one has inspired this head but him. Seduced by the beautiful forms of mouth/lips and deepset eyes emerging under my fingers I find myself unwilling to take it further. The pan-like cheek radiating from this face are to me utterly typically of this boy (who is a man, really, only: forever boy in the eyes of his mother).