I have been very fortunate to work with Groundwork Cheshire on a commission at their Grozone project since October. The commission is an extended participatory project – working with volunteers and visitors to the Community Garden to create an arts trail using materials from the garden around the theme of Humans within our Landscape.
At the first session we worked together on a creative ‘writing’ exercise (I did the writing and the volunteers did the creative!). They produced a wonderful poem, which takes in all of the senses and the experience of being in the garden.
Working with each volunteer individually at different times, I helped them to incorporate their ideas of creativity into a coherent plan, using parts of the garden that were disused and also bringing horticulture and ecology into the plan.
What has developed is an evolving series of works including:
- A Willow Cloud suspended between two trees
- A Storytelling Circle with suspended wooden glocks (Almost finished!)
- An Entrance Wall with a poetry puzzle (still in progress!)
- A Silver Birch Spider fungus sculpture
- A stacked wooden staircase (Still in progress)
Volunteers have worked really hard to develop ideas and to help shape the garden and the arts trail, as you will see from the photographs.
As part of the arts trail commission for Groundwork we have been working with willow grown in the community garden at Grozone in Northwich.
Using nature’s own resources and working with the ethos of Groundwork, the garden and the volunteers we used willow cut freshly from the grounds and from the weeping willows along the nearby river along with stunning dogwood, to make a series of interlocking circles to create a large ‘cloud’ to be suspended as an archway through from one area of the garden to the other. Within the circles we used string to ‘write’ a part of the poem that the volunteers created during our first session together.
STOP PRESS: Santa is officially visiting this Saturday’s Craft Fair at Inspire – Saturday 3rd December 12-4 – so don’t miss out on your chance to meet him and have your photo taken to take home and remember your visit. He’ll be arriving to a super duper grotto at Inspire at around Midday, so come along and meet him and bring all your friends. You can even have a photo with you, your friends and Santa!!
Where: Inspire Levenshulme, 747 Stockport Rd, Levenshulme. M19 3AR
When: Saturday 3rd December 2011: 12-4pm
Also on… badge-making with the wonderful Laurie Pink, bracelet-making and much more fun for kids !!!
Come and join in!
This week sees the fourth Buy Art Fair, taking place at Spinningfields in Manchester. If you’re in the market for some high quality art at an affordable price then this is the place for you.
Galleries and individual artists from across the country are coming together to show you the very best in original and affordable art, from limited editiion prints, to acrylic paintings, conceptual artworks and sculpture. There is something for everyone.
Preview night: Thursday 27th October 5-9pm
Opening Times:
Friday 28th October: 11-7
Saturday 29th October: 11-6
Sunday 30th October: 11-5
Venue: Situated directly adjacent to the Opera House and on the free Metroshuttle bus route, the Fair couldn’t be easier to get to.
Address: Quay House, Quay Street, Manchester. M3 3AQ
Win Free Tickets
I have 5 pairs of free tickets to give away to the first people to email me: hello@emilypitts.com. Get in quick for your chance to see the best art of the UK for free!
Come and visit me at stand 18 with code ‘Cake is Heaven’ for a 5% discount on purchases of my work.
I look forward to seeing you at the Fair.
4 Week Class Starting September 5th
This class will run every Monday evening for 4 weeks, for beginners and those who have some experience of drawing and painting. The course will introduce you to the basics of acrylic painting, making use of sketching, investigations in colour and a range of techniques to develop your own methods of creative expression.
Class Size: 4 people maximum. The class will be small and offer one to one advice and support for you to develop your practice as an individual. Each week we will take a single object or subject and focus on using different ways to produce a creative response. Below are some images of the art class currently running at Inspire in Levenshulme every Friday.
Venue: The class will run at my home studio in Denton: 3, Balmoral Drive, M34 2JT.
Cost: £70, including materials (paint, paper, pencils and any other materials required. There will be an additional cost for canvas, if you choose to produce work on canvas during the course). Payment can be made by Bank transfer or cash by August 26th.
How to sign up: If you would like to join the class, please email me at hello@emilypitts.com. You will be sent a confirmation email with joining instructions and details of payment.
EVOKE//INVOKE//PROVOKE
For the duration of the Chorlton Arts Festival a selection of my work incorporating text will be on exhibition at the Nip and Tipple in Chorlton, Manchester.
The works span from 1999 to present, offering a precursor for other work being developed for the Buy Art Fair in October at Spinningfields in Manchester City Centre and for private commissions.
The work exemplifies my interest in language, communication and materials, exploring issues and themes that include identity, culture, relationships, gender and mental health. The use of text is minimal, bringing into question meaning and legibility, whilst the scope of the breadth of the works challenges the notion of the artist maintaining a single identifiable form throughout their work. One work includes cutting of the canvas, whilst another uses hair, an ephemeral and tactile material. These investigate both their individual themes and the wider theme of boundaries between a ‘painting’ and ‘sculpture’. At what point is the line between the two crossed and why do we feel a need to put art into such narrowly defined boxes?
If you’re interested in Art and text or just like the idea of perusing the work with a beer or coffee in hand, make your way to the Nip and Tipple, Upper Chorlton Rd from 19th to 30th May.
You may also be interested in the discussion on 23rd May entitled Wordy Women – 7.30pm at Chorlton Library.
Following a full day film shoot on Thursday 5th May with a talented and skilled crew and cast, I can confirm the Film Screening of ‘An Intervention in Chorlton’, a concept developed for Chorlton Arts Festival by the Internation Intervention Clash Mob, of which I am a part.
The project centres on the concept of bringing two everyday ‘worlds’, the home and the bus stop, together to re-engage the public in their spaces and explore familiar places afresh. Thanks to a skilled cast, the public responded wonderfully to our work on the day and have provided the basis of a fascinating and insightful film which documents the day’s events and explores the ideas of collaborative working, public art and performance outside of traditional spaces.
The film will be screened at Oddest, 414 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton. M21 0SD on Thursday 19th May at 7.30pm
The event is free and open to all, so please come along.
For more information, you can contact me by email, phone or the contact form below.
New Art Class Starting at Levenshulme Inspire – May
Following a series of successful classes before Easter I have commenced a new series of classes on Fridays 10-12 at the wonderful venue of Inspire in Levenshulme. Situated on the A6 only 5 minutes from Levenshulme station, the venue is in a converted church, with a cafe where you can grab a coffee to bring into the relaxed and stimulating classes, which run for 2 hours every Friday.
The class is a flexible and engaging class, where you are invited to bring ideas and develop your own interests. I encourage everyone to develop their skills in drawing, painting and sketching. At present we are looking at individual objects, with the aim of building up an arsenal of skills to create a whole composition and hopefully to exhibit some work in the cafe area of the Inspire centre in the future. We have beginners and people who have painted before, so whatever your level of experience and skill, you will receive a warm welcome and encouragement in my classes.
If you feel this class is for you, take a look at the photos below and either email me or turn up at 9.50am on Friday to join the class. You can join the class for 30 minutes for a free taster if you would like to see if it is for you – try us out!
The class costs £28 for 4 weeks. This includes all materials and equipment as well as one to one attention during the class, focussing on you and your particular interests.
For Chorlton Arts Festival I have been working with Bread Art Collective as part of their This Way:Up project. The project is an inspiring collaboration between Bread, Young people, Artists and Businesses in Chorlton, culminating in an exciting array of artworks and interventions in the area for the Festival 19th – 31st May 2011.
Here’s sneak preview of the work I have created for the project – see if you can find it around the Beech Rd area from 19th May!! If you’d like to find more about this artwork, come along to WORDY WOMEN: A discussion about artists and text on Monday 23rd May 7.30 at Chorlton Library and afterwards at Nip & Tipple on Upper Chorlton Rd.
You can find out more about the rest of the project by going to the Bread website.
For more information about the Chorlton Arts Festival you can go to the Festival Website.
Here’s a sneak preview of a new artwork for the All that Glitters Collection, in advance of a large scale version I’m going to be working on over the next month or so.
This artwork is inspired by the natural world and the spreading of nature discretely as we go around our daily chores and business. A constantly evolving environment responds to the changing seasons and the earth’s natural clock, the sun, in a variety of ways. Our busy lives can prevent us from seeing the glory of nature and the sparkle and value that it can add to our lives on top of the life-giving function that flora contributes to our planet. To see this artwork and many more you can visit my studio – email me at hello@emilypitts.com or call 07870 360213.
£95 excl.
