Started off really well and at a steady pace... then Wednesday we had to go to St Andrews Church in Wootton as this was the week for our exhibition and although the space had been seen before this was the first time our work would be placed in the area.
This task was a daunting and exhilarating both at the same time, I failed to realise how much planning and forethought an event actually needed. Work had to be moved in order to fit in with other artists and their work but all in all I was really pleased with the set up. my prints were made up from drawings and sketches I had made of the church pulpit area, these were collagraph prints and were placed on the back of the choir seats. I also added a few more older prints into the mix just to offset the emulated prints of the carvings.
The other set of prints that I created for the space were for the altar, these were to capture the essence of light that came through the stained glass windows and shone upon the altar area of the church. These are again collagraph prints and each one just a variation of the last with just the colour changing. the main one which was set upon the altar table was also made the same way but a centre piece for the other four.
The public were very interested in the pieces and I was really pleased I was able to place them on the altar. the beautiful flowers around the church also complimented the prints and of course the candles illuminated the prints perfectly. I also placed various natural yet contemporary prints within and around the church to work with the floral arrangements of the other artists.
One of my ceramic pieces was also exhibited, this was placed in an alcove in the church and was brought to life and framed brilliantly by a red candle behind the piece.
This pot was a experimental ceramic piece that I made whilst working on a theme of atmosphere, the chemical reaction of the different glazes and oxides worked really well in this piece and the alcove showcased it beautifully.
Last but not least in my part of the exhibition was a sound piece. The location of this piece was the Vicar's private room which he allowed us to make use of. this was a great setting for a dramatic piece. I used a selection of natural sounds that can be found in nature, the garden ,holiday and home, these sounds were manipulated and teased into a string of sounds that played continuously. These sounds were played from a cupboard in the room and this gave it a echo. The room was set up with the vicar's table, an old bible that I found in a chest, a few candle sticks, a collection tray and about 20 various tea-lights and candles. I also blocked off the room to the public with an iron fire guard, this also gave the room and sounds intrigue.
The children and visitors loved this space, everyone seemed to be really fascinated with the sound and the atmosphere of the room. The main ambience was caused when nightfall came and the candles set the scene to a chilling eerie room.
The sounds ranged from echoed drips of water, running water within a cave, footsteps, creaking doors, spring birds, waves and sea birds and manipulated voice audio. The reactions about the room really surprised me and the vicar loved what I had done to it too. This sort of scene installation may play a bigger part in my degree later on this year.
The local school children were also involved in making some art work for the outside. the kids drew their face on a disc of paper and these were later transferred onto a CD, these were hung on fishing line and hung in the tree branches in the church ground, these looked very contemporary and the light caught the underside of the CD's beautifully.
The actual aim of our exhibition was to get the community involved and raise some money for the church fund to get a toilet facility in the church. We as a group along with guest artists, the local pub "The Nag's Head", the school, the church and the local community donated various gifts, art and of course produce for the harvest festival. These items were raffled, sold and auctioned to raise the fund. Drinks, sweets, cake and novelty craft items were sold too.
All in all this was a brilliant 3 day event that taught us all a lot about exhibiting, advertising, art selection, the public e.t.c.
The church and ourselves are hoping this is going to be a regular event and that we can build it up and involve even more people. I personally would like to get the school children more involved perhaps on a larger scale outside as the grounds of the church have much more scope for projects to be done. The church folk and the vicar were brilliant in giving us a free reign of the church and next time we will aim higher. St Andrews is a beautiful and idyllic placing for this event and the contemporary work was not lost within the beauty of the church and vice versa, the comments that were left in the book were brilliant and very well received and we hope to please even more in the future.
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