It was Ms Scarlet, in the Pear Tree with the coffee grinder!

Whilst the name Scarlet von Teazel may conjure up flamboyant or promiscuous persona's of the likes of Miss Scarlett from Cluedo, I can assure you murder was not on the agenda at the recent private view of the Somerset based artists solo show at the Pear tree art gallery, East Reach, Taunton. The opening of which happened Monday evening this week.
And of course, as ever, I was there to see if I could unravel the mystery...
The Cluedo analogy isn't completely far removed from Scarlet's work, as truth be told, there is in fact always a little mystery involved in which the work features carefully selected everyday objects transposed alongside abstract bleached, soaked and stained paintings. An odd single child's shoe, worn and wrapped in paper lies amongst a box of old photos, books and assorted curiosities; whilst in another corner coffee stained paper books are rustling as someone walks past; sewn and stitched cocoon-like sculptures sway from the ceiling taking on an other-worldly-ness and all around you the room is warm, and glowing from the rich sepia colours that conjure up ideas of nostalgia and associations with history and archaeology. There is something about the way all these different oddities, tactile surfaces and objects come together that lures you in and invites you to explore and try and unravel the mystery of how they came to be. Or in some ways, what I think it does is allow you to create your own narratives as to where the objects came from and who they might have belonged to.The artist herself says,

"When I work, I am following instincts and distant echoes, leading a dialogue with the unconscious to try to achieve a deeper understanding of our world. My art is an extension of my search for answers and through it I try to connect with other people who like me feel at times a bit lost..."

Exactly, and there is something really honest about bringing 'stuff' together, as an artist whatever your preferred media that is really about trying to find answers and I personally like the fact that such everyday banal things such as envelopes and old receipts (in Scarlet's work for example) can undergo an alchemical transformation and be turned into something 'other'. Whatever that 'other' is exactly still remains a mystery and I think I like it that way.

Scarlet von Teazel's exhibition, 'Exposed' can be seen at the Pear Tree Art Gallery from now until the 10th of June.

For gallery opening times and details please go to:http://www.peartreegallery.co.uk/home

For more of Scarlet's work please go to:

http://www.scarletvonteazel.com/

Taunton's willow cathedral is growing!

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, that is a massive (in fact 30metres by 16 metres -8 metres high!) willow made structure springing out from the ground in a field situated between a college, a supermarket, a river and a park in the middle of Taunton in Somerset. Further more, for those of you interested, yes, that is me looking at it in the top photo and proudly so, because anyone living in Taunton/Somerset or interested in sustainable buildings/art or fantastic spectacles of human and natural processes working together in harmony should be excited and should find themselves a spot down there to have a look at this for themselves. It really is the first willow cathedral to be built in the UK, the only other cathedral of its kind (I believe) is to be found in Germany. The cathedral is has been designed by local artist, Stephan Jennings who is also building it with fellow artist, Sophie Courtiour. Here's what Stephan has to say about the project:

Stefan comments, “Creating the cathedral is a serious test for us due to the dimensions involved and the nature of the materials used. The opportunity to create this type of structure is something we have both been working towards for a number of years and as far as we are aware nothing of this scale has been made before in the UK.
“It’s locality near the banks of the River Tone in a fresh new public space seems right for Taunton. Longrun Meadow is a really expansive green space close to the town centre, which is proving very popular with local people. I believe that the structure will fit perfectly into the landscape and will offer a connection with nature and the life of the river.”

-taken from Somerset College's Genesis webpage http://genesisproject.com/2011/03/tauntons-willow-cathedral

Those of you with excellent memories may recall me mentioning Stephan before as I first had the pleasure of meeting him on the 'Routes, river, rail' project in which I was the assistant artist on back in 2010. http://routesriverrail.typepad.com/blog/ We were talking to Stephan about the routes along the river, specifically in relation to the wildlife that lives there and ways in which people can interact with these environments sustainably. Back then, we hoped that the willow cathedral proposal was going to go ahead and obviously now the reality is that it was both successful and is under construction as we speak. It aims to be finished by the end of May when it will continue to grow eventually turning mush more green than in these photos. However, the purpose and potential opportunities for the cathedral have yet to be decided with some suggestions for public gatherings to performances and celebrations. Personally, I really like the fact that it is so open to debate as to what its function should be because the construction of it being built and that it will continue to grow and become a part of the floodplain landscape in which it lives in are as if not more interesting anyway.

I cannot begin to tell you how exciting it was to come across this structure whilst I was out walking, its impressive in its sheer size but worth a closer look too as you can see all the different colours of willow within it and how the whole building has been woven together, its quite beautiful. It reminds me of the seeing the Eden project just when it opened and was more like a massive man-made hillside or quarry in these two giant domes with very little growing in it to begin with and then a year later and, whoosh! Everything was huge and it no longer looked like a building site; as any person who spends time in a garden will tell you, about how rewarding it is to see something living grow and transform well its the same with this cathedral. I'd recommend seeing it now and then watching it change as it shoots and turns green.

Thank you Sophie Courtiour for permission to use your photos.
If you 'like' what you've read here and want to follow further willow cathedral updates please 'like' the Willow Cathedral page on facebook by clicking below:
http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Willow-Cathedral/201244869904355?v=info
We'll keep you updated about when its due to officially open to the public, however anyone can go visit anytime now whilst its being built so please go check it out!

20pph

20 pph = 20 pinwheels per hour: the rate I can make pinwheels

I have a good reason explaining how I came to find out that unusual statistic, you see after spending the afternoon on the 21st of April and again during the evenings this week making pinwheels you kind of pick up not only a certain amount of skill and speed in what you do, but you also become increasingly aware of how many you've made. Why? You ask. You'd need to look down the page at a previous post about this project to understand fully, but basically it has something to do with the 'England, my England' festival at the Brewhouse (ends May 1st). In particular their indoor beach in the gallery space met with an enthusiasm from my mis-spent youth to make pinwheels, lots of 'em! It was fun, and I promised to share some of the results with you so please see images below...

However, this is not all! Its been a busy few days at the Brew. I attended a workshop hosted by Slingshot (creators of IGFEST) from Bristol in which artists came together and created and played games all day! It sounds quite funny and to some extent it was, after all I haven't really played 'games' as in street based ones since I was 12, so to suddenly have to abandon any self-consciousness I felt about playing again wasn't entirely easy, but it certainly was funny. With in seconds of arriving for this workshop I found myself playing the role of a tree (great! I was always the tree!) in a game where a deer (who was blindfolded) was hunted by a wolf (who has bells on their ankles). The aim being that the wolf has to steal the horns off a belt worn by the blindfolded deer, except the wolf can be heard due to the bells so its not as easy as it sounds. Me, the tree, I was one of many who make up the circle in which the game is played in. Anyway, I hope you get the idea of what we were up to. The end result of which was to take some games we created and play them on St George's day with the public outside the Brew. By the time Saturday 23rd arrived the games had been played, tested and approved.

Lastly, but not least, Saturday 23rd also saw Megan Calver's interactive piece of public art in which members of the public could either wear a dragon or maiden badge handed out by Megan. Maiden's had to hiss at any passing dragons and show 'a little gallantry' by opening doors for people whereas dragons had to roar at any and every opportunity. Naturally, I chose the dragon! This was a really fun and simple way to encourage people to participate in a piece of what essentially could be seen as performance art. People seem less keen to dress up or feel more self-conscious about it anyway, so a badge along with a fun and simple instruction makes for a fun and easy result that encourages participation. It was also fun to interact with fellow dragons and maidens that came into the bookshop where I was working whilst wearing my dragon badge that day (well, I don't need much encouragement or an excuse to roar at people all day most of the time anyway!).

So, its been a busy Easter break and with more still to come soon. I didn't even get the chance to tell you about Simon Lee Dicker's projection tower outside at the Brewhouse that was built during the festival...well, I just did tell you, but expect to here and see pictures of it again very soon because its great and means all sorts can now be watched on the wall outside. Or, see it as a possible opportunity for any of you film makers out there?

The festival's still on till May 1st and there's lots more still going on so please check it out if you haven't already. More details at: http://englandmyengland.wordpress.com/

Until next time!

(above) The dragon badge as modelled here, so nicely.

(above) Megan Calver handing out her 'dragon' or 'maiden' badges outside the Brewhouse

(above) "Oh I do like to be beside the sea side"

Welcome to four tonnes of sand in the Brewhouse gallery, featuring: Kites made by local children in a workshop run by Richard Tomlinson, projected beach scene of Minehead and complete with real buckets and spades.

For more info about slingshot click here:
http://slingshoteffect.co.uk/

For more info about Megan Calver click here:
http://www.megancalver.com