eco sculpture course

Spring News by Fiona

Flags of the Forest, Seed Pop Up, Angel Place, Bridgwater. Photos 1-5 (above & below) by Kate Pearce

Flags of the Forest was re-created as a site-responsive installation in an empty shop space in Angel Place, Bridgwater last month, commissioned by Seed Sedgemoor. I so enjoyed spending time with the installations, welcoming and speaking to visitors, hearing their perspectives and watching their interactions. I had many stimulating conversations about art, trees, animals, recycling and ‘rubbish’ we can creatively transform. Thanks to those who visited.

I’d created a few additional elements and adaptations since its first placement in ‘23 was outdoors at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. Being in the space all week gave me more time to consider the work and receive thoughtful feedback. I’m galvanised to add more to this installation in the future.

The commission was focussed on actively engaging people in the creative arts. I was present daily and ran a drop-in workshop. I’m hugely grateful to Seed for the commission, and for their support. It was a fantastic opportunity to recreate my 2 installations (the other in February) in the space and see them hang in a different setting/light. Each install felt a bit like a residency.

Considering Art Podcast

It was a real pleasure talking to Bob Chaundy recently about my work for his Podcast series Considering Art. We had a conversation about my background and inspiration, and how environmental issues are at the heart of my work, materials and processes. I’m grateful to Bob for inviting me. You can listen here:

Check out other artist interviews here

The Arts Society Wessex Area

Delighted to have been granted some funds by The Arts Society Wessex Area towards delivering a workshop (date TBC) for One Island - Many Visions, plus towards costs for the exhibition catalogue & symposium. I’m currently developing work for this show in Portland (6 Sept - 31 Oct). The exhibition is a collaboration with Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust and fellow members of the Royal Society of Sculptors. I’m also working behind the scenes in the Steering Group.

My piece Riot is inspired by Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria Parietina) growing on the rocks at Tout Quarry, their colour, folds, and radial growth. Ancient life forms of fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria in symbiosis. Created from recycled materials including beach waste, Riot is a reflection on ‘troubled beauty’, Arts Precario. Labour-intensive processes of weaving, wrapping and hand stitching refer to line as energy, tentacularity, thread as the universal component of the cosmos. A site-responsive intervention at Tout Quarry, Riot is also wearable sculpture, There will be a performance in which the human body activates the work during the exhibition.

Riot, being trialled at Tout Quarry. Photo by Russell Sach

I’m now working on the second part to it.

Spring Clean

Feeling cleansed after a big studio clear up (see below: last 2 images of the mess before..)! For a while I’ve been working anywhere but my studio, which had become a dumping ground for stuff as projects mounted up. Although I have a studio outbuilding - historically the laundry building for my village - I prefer working out in the garden especially when it’s sunny. I use a separate shed for metal/woodwork, and grateful to a neighbour Roger Spear who lets me use his large workshop for occasional jobs. Roger passed on to me an old catering tray/trolley, which I transformed into a storage shelving unit with plywood offcuts, and used some repurposed marquee poles and wood blocks to make a folder rack.

FAB

An image of ‘Sack’ has been selected for Insert There, curated by Roger Clarke, part of Fringe Arts Bath Festival ‘25. It will be displayed on a wall in 'The Street' at Bath Spa University's Locksbrook Campus, BA1 3EL. FAB runs 23 May to 7 June.

Sack 2024. Placed via AI in the industrial wasteland of Barreiro, Portugal, where the work was once destined to be sited during my PADA residency last year. AI by Ellie Forman-Peck

Workshops and Courses

I worked with approximately 90 children from St Joseph and St Teresa's Catholic Primary School creating small creatures and plant forms for a permanent artwork at their school. Looking forward to seeing it in situ soon - here are a few pics of work in progress.

My next Eco Sculpture Course with Frome Community Education starts on Wednesday 4 June, 2-4pm and runs for 5 weeks at Makers’ Yard, 37 Lower Keyford, Frome BA11 4AR. £60 + £5 materials. Book here

If you’re further afield and want to do a self-directed course along similar lines, I have an Online Sculpture Course you might like to book.

Both great value!

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Enjoy the best of Spring!

Christmas Wishes by Fiona

Winding down into winter, I’ve been enjoying some quiet solitary making. Working slowly towards an exhibition One Island - Many Visions for next year, with fellow Royal Society of Sculptors members, in collaboration with Portland Sculpture Quarry Trust. I’m interested in Lichen (Xanthoria Parietina) found on rocks at Tout Quarry, their colour, form, and radial growth. Among the oldest living and slowest growing organisms on Earth, the first to colonise new land, Lichen absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide. It seems fitting that my making is a slow, meditative process. I’ve been gathering materials, dyeing recycled fabric with turmeric, onion skins and avocado pits, wrapping and hand-stitching. Looking forward to another trip to Portland this weekend to collect beach litter for the work. Thanks to those who have donated remnants. If you have any spare orange or yellow waste textiles please get in touch!

Drawing on Dorset

Two of my charcoal drawings are currently on exhibition at The Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3JG, part of Dorset Visual Arts Drawing on Dorset, which has toured venues in the South West. The show is in the Drawing Room and runs daily from 23 November - 23 March.

Sprouting Potato, charcoal on Arches paper

Dandelion Roots, charcoal on Somerset paper

If you’d like to purchase a drawing, please get in touch!

I have 3 pieces on show created from discarded piano parts in The Piano Shop Bath, 1&2 Canton Place BA1 6AA, created for Played and Remade. Available for sale and online.

A few images of my work from Elemental, an exhibition at Sou Sou West Gallery, Bridport, Dorset last month. I showed with Jan Alison Edwards and Ally Matthews.

Maquette I, Above and Below; recycled and found materials

Foreground: work by Jan Alison Edwards; Background: my Stilt Structure II

Nymph; found, discarded, recycled materials: fabric dyed with botanical inks, jute, teabags, paper, oil, rhubarb leaves, wood, wire, wood & other natural debris, hair, shoe inner sole, copper, wax, thread, sisal

Nymph (collage); recycled materials: paper, plant debris, fabric, teabags, cardboard

Foreground: Maquette I, Above and Below; on wall: work by Ally Matthews; Background: Stilt Structure II

My work on show at Elemental, Sou Sou West Gallery

Alongside the exhibition, I ran a weekend Eco Sculpture Workshop with Jan Alison Edwards. Below are pics of some of the wonderful experimentation by participants.

Stilt Structure I (detail); found & recycled materials

Seed Commission

Thrilled to have been commissioned by Seed Sedgemoor to create installations for a popup in Angel Place Shopping Centre, Bridgwater TA6 3QT from February ’25. Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand & Life in the Undergrowth will be showing 18-23 Feb. Flags of the Forest will open 8–13 April.  I’ll be at the Seed Creative Popup, Angel Place 18-22 Feb, and running Eco Sculpture Workshops daily, 11am-2pm. Free, fun, and open to everyone aged 6+ (children with an adult). Do drop in!

Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand (detail), Together We Rise, Chichester Cathedral. Photo by Anne Purkiss

Flags of the Forest, Wander_Land, Tremenhere Sculpture Gardens

Seed’s primary aim is to enable more people in Sedgemoor to actively engage in the creative arts. This activity is supported by Arts Council England via the Creative People and Places programme.

New Courses

To kick off the New Year I’ll be running a series of 5 week Sketchbooking and Eco Sculpture Courses from January onwards via Frome Community Education, day and eves.  Please visit this link to see them all, for further info, and to book.

Also: Mon eve 7-9pm, 24/2, 10/3, 17/3, 24/3, 31/3

Also: Mon morning 10am-12noon, 13/1, 20/1, 27/1, 3/2, 10/2

I’ll also be running my Online Sculpture Course from 13 January - 9 February ’25. Visit this link for further details or email me fionacampbell-art@sky.com. Alternatively, I have an ongoing self-directed Online Sculpture Course available at half the price.

See my shop for hand-made gifts and artworks. And do follow my instagram for regular updates.

If you missed As Old as the Hills, please visit my previous blog.

Looking forward to some time off over the festive break. Wishing you the same, and a very Happy Christmas! X