Art On The Move

Hope of a Tree, Frome Museum stairwell. Photo by Jack Robson

This past month has been full-on, eventful, punctuated with thrilling news, exciting outcomes and new possibilities.  At times, I’ve felt the strain of too many things on the go at once. It’s been a test of endurance, but I’m just about keeping sane, and my passion for all things nature and art spur me on. I’ve been grateful for my garden, where I find joy and peace just being with the birds, and my supportive son and friends.

Two ongoing projects are about art on the move:

All The Colours

A community art project, part of Art First with Seed Sedgemoor and Buses of Somerset

The art on buses is now out and about and the online gallery of all submissions is now live.

I popped into Bridgwater bus station hoping to see a bus with our Art First artwork on, and was lucky to see the exterior panels on 21 & 21a (Bridgwater to Taunton routes).  The buses were on the move, but I managed to get a quick video and depot manager Jason took a pic of me by one.

I was really pleased with the lenticular effect and think the t-section panel looks cohesive, considering the difficulties involved.  We will be having a proper photoshoot soon…

If you’re in the Sedgemoor Somerset area look out for buses with these panels on them, and interior cove cards on bus routes: 21, 21a, 14, 75, B1, & college contracts.  

Let us know if you spot one and please send a pic to: fionacampbell-art@sky.com

Inch by IN:CH

Last month we had a successful time at the Garages, Bath, next to the river and tow path. It brought many visitors who wouldn’t normally visit a gallery; we had lovely conversations with people and the work looked great in the transformed garage setting.

We have several more stops on our tour, now sited in Frome for the Festival. This week I installed my work beside the spectacular spiral staircase, Frome Museum - a space rarely open to the public. I’ll be there daily 10-4 during Frome festival.  I’m offering free daily drop-in taster workshops. On Friday 9 June I’ll be doing a performative window drawing at Jude’s of Frome with Shirley Sharp. Come and watch us - 8.15-9.15pm.

Hope of a Tree, Spiral Stairwell, Frome Museum. Photo 2 by Jack Robson

After Frome we’re heading to East Somerset Railway, Cranmore - on my doorstep! (21-31 July, open Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun) Events include Drawing from Cases: daily when open; Artists-in-Conversation: Sat 24 July, 11am - 1pm. With me and Philippa Edwards; Sculpture workshop with me: Sat 24 July, 2 - 4pm. Book via eventbrite. £5 for materials. (Suitable for 8 yrs-adult); Sculpture Workshop using recycled materials: Sun 25 July, 11am - 1pm.  With me & Angel Greenham.  Free, drop-in, all ages

I made a slideshow of our work:

11 artists have created artwork in cases. Integral to the exhibition, each case contributes to the work. Some are large, with work spilling beyond its frame; others are smaller, more self-contained.

Listen here for my radio chat with Jenna from Somerset Cool (first half).

International Biennial Exhibitions in Taiwan 

I’m thrilled that Pyre has been selected for an international biennale exhibition in Taiwan.  Transfiguration: From Nature to Art runs 12th November 2021 - 10th April 2022.

Further info can be found here: http://biennialartpaperfibre.com/blog/

Pyre is a response to the catastrophic Amazon and Australian wildfires last year. It is a collection of offerings, remembrances, wailings, grief bundles.  The piece was initially created for Incendiary 2020, curated by Patricia O’ Brien.

It’s a real honour to be part of this exhibition!

WAC

I’ve been short listed for Wells Art Contemporary installations.. more news on this soon.

New work 

I continue to feel deeply sad about wildlife wet markets that have picked up again, and the plight of pangolins (most trafficked mammal in the world). Millions are slaughtered each year for their protective scales, and their meat is a delicacy in Asia. I’ve started new work on this theme, weaving linear coiled bodily forms. ‘Nothing can hold on unless it puts out a line, and unless that line can tangle with others. Most if not all life-forms.. (are) combinations of blob and line’. Tim Ingold, Life of Lines

Solo/Residency 

Coming up in August is my 2 month solo residency at The Loft, above Heritage Courtyard, Wells. It’s light, spacious, rich in ambient abandoned decay.  I’ll be showing work made there as part of Somerset Open Studios (18 Sept - 3 Oct)

Windows on Nature Art Trail, Trowbridge Art Trail

Some of my earlier work is on show as a mini solo in an empty shop window at 51 Fore Street, Trowbridge BA14 8ES. The trail aims to raise awareness of endangered wildlife. My chosen charity for the event is Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Drawings continue at Sculptors Drawing Space, 1 hour online sessions with Royal Society of Sculptors members. A poem was written about the event.

Workshops

This week I spent 3 days in Bridgwater running workshops at Eastover Primary School via SPAEDA, creating elements for a giant Octopus being installed on a 5metre wall at the school.

On 14 August I’m running a free workshop at Five Trees Bowlish for Summer in Shepton. There are still spaces if you’d like to book.

Sculpture Course

This time last year I launched my first online sculpture course, which proved a success.  I ran it again earlier this year, and will be offering an updated version in the autumn.  If you’re interested in booking please get in touch.

Follow me on instagram to keep up with my latest news: https://www.instagram.com/fionacampbellartist/

Enjoy the summer!

Fruition

Summer is upon us!  Blasts of hot air and sunshine, after too many cold damp days in UK.  With lockdown restrictions gradually easing and hugs resuming, there also seems a to be a new energy (among humans anyway). Many of us have learnt important lessons about care.

In between projects, I’ve taken a few short courses and continue to connect with membership groups: RSS, SAW, BSA and IN:CH.  Care is an overwhelming mantra - not just caring for others, but also self-care. Through Mind the Gap with Fiona Winning (open honest sharing to find our inner resources), RSS meet-ups where we discuss fighting our inner demons while reaching for our North Star, it’s clear how necessary it is to have downtime.  I’m trying… :-)

All The Colours

The work I’ve been doing for All The Colours, part of Art First with Seed and Buses of Somerset, is soon to launch. The printed artworks are almost ready for the buses.

The design process has been complex, involving several stages, some completely new to me! Initially I created 3 chameleon paintings in different colour schemes, plus a background. After compiling all the community’s image submissions, I used software to import them into the chameleons as photo mosaics, ready for lenticular printing. Thanks to Neil Lumby (Seed designer) for his part in the process.

Lenticular prints are holographic, making images almost cinematic. As the bus moves, or viewers move past the image, the chameleon will change colour, and the eyes will rotate.

We will be launching the art on buses in early June, when you’ll be able to see the work featured in and on 30 buses across Sedgemoor, Somerset.

Thanks to all who contributed. I’m excited to see the final results! To find out more about the project visit Art First  and head to my All The Colours page.

Round Lemon Talk, Interview and Publication

Following Round Lemon’s selected ONE exhibition and winning first prize, an Interview about my work has been published on Round Lemon’s ZEST platform, and you can catch my online artist talk on their YouTube channel.  A Round Lemon ONE Exhibition publication is also available to buy.

Hope of a Tree, Inch by IN:CH

Inch by IN:CH

The tour begins! We launched Inch by IN:CH in Bath over the bank holiday weekend, and with it, a range of drawing sessions. It was a lovely way to engage visitors, while providing stimulus and more reason to linger and chat.  Drawing from Cases is an ongoing event, daily when we are open. Shirley Sharp and I also facilitated an experimental shadow drawing session, using ink, charcoal and graphite to draw shadows cast by the lit work. We’ll be running this session again at Backwell Playhouse on 7 August.

My truck conked out last week, so I am eternally grateful to Philippa Edwards for kindly coming to the rescue and transporting me and my work on installation day. With help from Jez Truelove and the amazing IN:CH team we cleared two garages and set up a coherent exhibition! My piece Hope of a Tree will be adapted for different venues. It’s a relief when work comes to fruition successfully.. 

This 1min film about the work was prompted by a short film-making course I did recently with Chris Kemp (Suited and Booted Studios) via Creativity Works.

If you haven’t yet, do try to visit our Bath venue before 13 June (The Garages, Bath Artist Studios, The Old Malthouse, Comfortable Place, Bath BA1 3AJ; open Fri, Sat, Sun, 11-5).  Take a look at our website and instagram @inchbyinch for details of all our venues, dates and events.  At our next venue (Frome Festival) I will be there each day (3-11 July), showing my work in the spiral staircase museum entrance, and running taster drop in workshops. Join me!

I’m looking forward to running a series of workshops - online and in-person.  I’ll be working with Eastover School, Bridgwater later this month via SPAEDA creating a giant octopus. And via SAW’s InspirED programme, I’m creating resources/materials for Primary School Teachers, with a focus on creative approaches to engage with Climate Change. There’s still time to book!.

I will be showing some of my earlier work: drawings, a nest and dung beetle sculptures in the Trowbridge Windows on Nature Trail, 51 Fore Street, BA14 8ES in time for World Environment Day (5 June). All work is for sale. If you’re an art/nature lover, pop along if you can!

For a list of current and forthcoming exhibitions please visit this link

Happy chilling!

Hope of a Tree

Hope of a Tree is the working title of my latest piece in progress for Inch by IN:CH, an artist-led travelling project around South West UK.  The phrase comes from The Overstory (Richard Powers), a book which has influenced my work, following on from The Hidden Life of Trees (Peter Wohlleben).  Both reveal emotive stories and facts about trees: their sentience, underground communication, and resilience.

Hope has been an ongoing theme this past year. I find hope and sustenance in my garden everyday.  Watching, talking to birds, and listening to their chattering across the trees has been joyful. Hope is ‘a belief that the world has so many strangenesses and possibilities’ (Katherine Rundell, The Book of Hopes). 

Slowly, I’ve been building up the work.  A metal trunk (case) is the base from which rigid linear vertical forms ascend into branching umbrella structures. These contrast with translucent yellow hand-stitched textiles, referencing ‘invisible hands’ all over the world, repair, hope and regeneration. The recycled and found materials are gathered from my locality or donated by friends and neighbours. The trunk was sourced from an auction, and has a military history linked to Dar es Salam.

Inch by IN:CH runs from 29 May - 3 October in multiple venues. There has been a huge amount of behind-the-scenes work, including fund-raising - still ongoing… We’re delighted by the generous support (listed on our website), which will help bring a free programme of events to audiences.  I’ll be providing free sculpture workshops for visitors to explore techniques using recycled materials.

I’m juggling several projects, and it’s been hard dedicating time to making when online work demands attention.  I’m trying to prioritise ‘making time’; when the sun’s out and I can work outside - my favourite workspace - it’s top of the list!

Design work for for my All The Colours project is in its final stages. The community art project, part of Art First, via Seed, is a collaboration with the public to co-create a holographic artwork for 30 buses. The final designs will be revealed in June, when the art is on buses!

My first foray back into the real world running in-person workshops at Victoria Park Community Centre, Bridgwater was fun.  I loved interacting with participants after so long in lockdown, making collages for the photo mosaic chameleon which will change colour depending on viewpoint. I’m really grateful to all those who’ve submitted images to the project.  There will be an online exhibition of all work, and a prize draw.

I’m delighted to have been selected and awarded first prize for Round Lemon’s anniversary online ONE exhibition. 9 artists have been selected to take part: Chantelle Boyle, Sam Heydt, Nikolay Vlahov, William Shoal, Irina Laaja, Artemis Herber, Rachel Lou, Sarah Strachan and me. 

As part of it, I’m giving a free talk about my practice on 6 May 7-8pm. Book via the link - hope you can join!

My short film Life in the Undergrowth and a sketchbook feature in In Pursuit of Spring, an exhibition of works by Somerset Art Works members responding to the book by Edward Thomas. The first part of this exhibition is open on the ground floor of Black Swan Arts, Frome, 10am- 3pm, Friday-Sunday. The next part opens later in May (covid restrictions permitting). There’s an online exhibition on SAW and Black Swan Arts’ websites, featuring the artworks, artists’ statements and quotes from the book, published by Little Toller Books in Dorset.  It’s a lovely show, curated by Paul Newman and Emma Tuck. (2 Bridge St, Frome BA11 1BB; 28 March - 27 June ‘21).

Life in the Undergrowth is a filmed diary, inspired by hidden worlds in my garden. It began in early spring. Appreciating, observing, and communing with small creatures seemed vital. I witnessed transformation, life and death, and strange incidents happened... The film reflects my love of nature, changing seasons, how alive the air with bird sounds when we are quiet.  I was invited to write an article about my Life in the Undergrowth project for Somerset Gardens Trust magazine's Spring issue. You can see the article on my Press page.

I’ve been doing dedicated weekly drawing sessions (see @sculptorsdrawingspace on instagram) with Royal Society of Sculptors members initiated by Mark Richards. We draw together on zoom in congenial silence except for the sounds of our various drawing tools. It’s a precious time in the week to focus on anything we fancy drawing in the hour. Some of my drawings have been quick experimental doodlings, others slow and intricate.  One of my drawings will form part of a hand bound book of artists’ work, compiled by Nina Gronw Lewis for Somerset Reacquainted - coming to Ace Arts, Somerton in June.

I’m taking part in a Window on Art trail, Trowbridge from 5th June - early September, and other projects are in the pipeline. See my instagram for regular updates:

Hope you can visit some of the events!

Take care,

Fiona

Instead of a Cross, an Albatross

I am relieved that the research-based module 4 of my MA is now over.   I read alot of books - 'Materiality: Documents of Contemporay Art' is a brilliant eye-opener to concepts on matter and process.  I now have a fairly clear run until September to work through ideas and create for my final MA show.  I have been working outside for the first time since last summer in the February sunshine. Though cold, it has been wonderful to spread out and get on with new work.

I have become fixated by the plight of sea creatures, dying in large numbers from trash heap gyres in our oceans. I am particularly disturbed by images of Albatross chicks taken by Chris Jordan, a photography initiative at Midway, USA. Their stomachs get bloated full of plastic objects - sharp shards, lighters and bottle tops, fed by their parents mistaking the floating objects for morsels of fish. Their insides reveal a microscopic view of our trash.  My new piece is a response to this terrible reality, to be shown in a residency at Walcot Chapel, Bath, later this month (12-18 Feb).  I am linking the myth of the albatross in Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner (‘instead of a cross, the albatross’) with ideas of the crucifixion, using found objects including old steel nails, rope and plastic.

I had to make a 2 minute video of an artist between 1900-49 to present as part of Dexter Dalwood seminars at Bath Spa Uni.  I decided to make one about Graham Sutherland's Green Tree Form: Interior of Woods.  For a first film, it turned out ok, thanks to my son Jack for his technical help putting it together.  Sutherland’s thorn series brought to mind the association of nails/thorns with the crucifixion for my new piece.

A couple of my pieces (below) will be shown at the Elemental Sculpture Park near Cirencester, Gloucestershire (The Paddocks, Somerford Keynes, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 6FE from 1st April to 30th September, 10:30 - 17:00, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, last admission 16:00).  Do visit if you are in the area.

I have started invigilating at Hauser & Wirth’s The Land we Live in – The Land We Left Behind.  The exhibition is a narrative about our relationship with the rural, featuring an incredible selection of artists including Archimboldo, Beatrix Potter (a lovely drawing of fungal spores which prompted me to investigate her innovative work on lichen and fungi), Samuel Palmer, Henry Moore, Mark Dion.  An intriguing show and so comprehensive, it is worth several visits.  As part of the exhibition there is an Honest Shop where local artisans can sell their work (£20 max).  I have some small copper items for sale – enameled lichen forms, keyrings, incense holder, balls and hearts!

Yesterday I visited Dorothy Cross’s Glance exhibition at The New Art Centre, Roche Court, near Salisbury. I was amazed by her carved marble Bed with its gently creased sheets and soft-looking pillow hollowed by an absent head. She manages to turn a traditional medium into something very contemporary.  Her body fragments - dangling feet and hand casts are also very beautiful.

Here's to more February sunshine!