During the week of the 13th February I will be working at Cley Marshes installing a series of reed sculptures outside the Visitor’s Centre and, with the help of you, hopefully, making a second reed installation in the Education Centre. More details here:
Friday 10th February – I installed my reed vanes outside the visitors’ centre at Cley Marshes – in a blizzard! They will be up for about 2 weeks, as long as the wind doesn’t blow them away…….
I had planned to show some pieces from the murmuration series at North Farm next weekend – murmurations of ash keys on perspex boards – but when I got them out two of them had mysteriously lost most of their ash keys. I’m not complaining, they were part of a series of ephemeral, changing work called Time Passes, but it was unexpected.
So what to hang instead? I decided to open up a piece that I hadn’t looked at since 2010, a series of delicate hand-made paper hangings that I thought had been badly damaged in the move to the farm – they emerged from their packaging almost perfect! They are called ‘Undercut’ and were made as part of a series of works inspired by the eroding coastline at Happisburgh. Next to them I will put a small sculpture called “Phare View”. It’s the name of a house that once stood on the cliffs in the village of Happisburgh, until the cliffs disappeared from under it. Called Phare View because of its views of Happisburgh Lighthouse. The bricks and tiles of many houses ended up on the beach and over the years have been worn into smooth pebbles. I have collected them and made them into a house again.
Making finishing touches to new work for North Farm Open Studios at the end of the month.
May 28 – 29th, 10 – 4
North Farm, Burgh-next-Aylsham NR11 6TW
Tel 01603 279770 e-mail david@northfarm.info
(Farm entrance on the right exactly 2.5 miles
from the turn off to Burgh on the A140)
Come and see my work at North Farm, just south of Burgh-next-Aylsham, on May 28th and 29th. There will also be pottery by David Harley and intricate textile works by Maryrose Watson. We are not part of the Norfolk Open Studio Scheme but there will be signs from the Aylsham Bypass and I will be posting times and directions here nearer the time. Watch this space!
The exhibition Inspired by Birds at the Castle Museum is up and running until August 31st. Here is a great review by Ian Collins:
“My favourite piece – and also one of the subtlest exhibits – is the murmuration by Liz McGowan of Spratts Green near Aylsham.
Working with natural found materials, Liz produces work which is always innovative and interesting. She made one of the most memorable images in my Salthouse show – swirling constellations of dried starfish – and she is now working on a Tide Lines theme with Jane Frost for Cley14.
For Inspired by Birds Liz has set a blizzard of young ash keys in plexiglass for a pattern which could be made by a thrown net or billowing smoke from a bonfire but is perfect for that folding and unfolding shape of flying starlings we are so lucky to see over East Anglia before dusk on a wintry afternoon.”
Here is the reed installation for the River Art Trail.
River Art Trail
I am now making a reed installation for a sculpture trail in the beautiful Waveney Valley at Earsham, just outside Bungay, which opens on August 16th for three weekends (including the bank holiday Monday). My reed installation will be reflected onto one of the lakes there.
River Waveney Study Centre, Old Harleston Road, Earsham, Bungay, NR35 2AF
I will also be running a WORKSHOP on environmental art on Saturday September 7th, 10am – 2pm, cost £20 including materials. Call Sarah Cannell on 07718 390108 or email sarahcannell@onetel.com.
