California Crossroads in Wokingham is a very interesting traffic calming and public realm scheme which required a bit of art to add even more colour. So we were asked to create four art totems to this we really wanted to explore the local stories and historical significance of the area. These stories can read in the laser cut steel forms and stained glass window effects on the totems.
Read MoreHeritage Open Days - October update
During the course of a three day weekend we delivered a series of sketch walks for Heritage Open Days and the people who came along are starting to submit their work to us. And the illustrations and completed chapbooks are looking really lovely and offer a different and really individual expression of the heritage of Newcastle.
Read MoreFigures of Tyne - October Update
The FIGURES OF TYNE engagement has more or less been completed now. This involved working with artists, stakeholders and members of the public in various workshops and art events, culminating in an exhibition that went live during September for Heritage Open Days.
Read MoreHeritage Open Days Sketch Walks - Day 3
Day 3 of the Heritage Open Days Sketch Walks visited current and past theatres of Newcastle and the Literary and Philosophical Society as well as a view unexpected venues along the way.
Read MoreHeritage Open Days Sketch Walks - Day 2
Day 2 of the Sketch Walks were attended by a group of urban sketchers and artists who were on hand to help with advice, tips and tuition to the attendees of the Heritage Open Days.
Read MoreHeritage Open Days Sketch Walk - Day One
Love Newcastle - today was the first day of the Open Days Sketch Walks - and as far as we know the first of its kind. Who would have thought that historians, visitors, clinicians, geologists and people from all walks and backgrounds would turn up and create a body of walk celebrating the heritage of Newcastle.
Read MoreHeritage Open Days Sketch Walks Update
Heritage Open Days is nearly upon us and we have set up the room at the Creative Central Hub with some great artworks on display.
Read MoreHeritage Open Days - Newcastle
Heritage Open Days this year is running a series of sketch walks in Newcastle - we will be taking people - artists and non-artists - through a themed programme of walks and offering tips and tuition on how to create your own urban sketches. The format we are using is based on a traditional medium called chapbooks. A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 12, 16, or 24 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. Printers provided chapbooks on credit to chapmen, who sold them both from door to door and at markets and fairs, then paying for the stock they sold. The tradition of chapbooks emerged during the 16th century as printed books were becoming affordable, with the medium ultimately reaching its height of popularity during the 17th and 18th centuries. Various ephemera and popular or folk literature were published as chapbooks, such as almanacs, children's literature, folklore, ballads, nursery rhymes, pamphlets, poetry, and political and religious tracts. The term chapbook remains in use by publishers to refer to short, inexpensive booklets.
Read MoreFigures of Tyne - June update
June has seen more engagement and some very interesting meetings and visits. We have been exploring some of the stories of tyne with the Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives. This work is helping us to drill down into the detail of the story of our city.
Read MoreFigures of Tyne - March update
The Figures of Tyne Art Group meet regularly in Newcastle to create chapbooks and a body of sketches and artworks that will feed into the Public Art piece for the n ew building on John Dobson Street.
Read MoreFigures of Tyne Chapbooks
Figures of Tyne Chapbooks are one of the legacy outputs for the Public Art piece and are based on a really interesting historical tradition. This beautiful drawing was done by one of our Figures of Tyne Art Group members - Bethan. Her style is detailed, precise and stunning and an inspiration for us all.
Read MoreStrands Sculpture design development
Colwick Fish Pass Interpretive Art
This year saw the completion of the artworks for the Colwick Fish Pass on the Trent in Nottingham. This was the culmination of an 18 month project for us which included a range of artworks including corten sculptures, stainless steel artworks, concrete seating and information panels.
Read MoreFigures of Tyne - February update
Figures of Tyne
Figures of Tyne is a new public art piece designed for the side of the new building being commissioned for the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. The artwork will bring together the themes of “Figures of Tyne” and “Architectural Artistry” together into one engaging artwork that retells the history of Newcastle. The spirit of the people of Newcastle will be reflected in the quirky re-telling of history.
Read MoreLace and Grace Public Artwork
The artwork - Lace and Grace is currently rusting in the workshop in readiness for installing in the new year. Once the site at Olney is ready we will be taking this down and installing outside the new community centre being built by Vistry Homes and Taylor Wimpey.
Read MoreStarposts at National Trust, Gibside
How to look at the stars and what does it all mean anyway?
These simple wooden pillars introduce the notion of how the stars and constellations relate to us and where the names and patterns originated.
Read MoreBidwell Art Competition
We have recently been awarded the commission of delivering a new piece of public art for a housing development in West Bedfordshire. The piece is called Strands and is based on two large pieces of grass standing in a space as a gateway.
Read MoreSaltwell Park Wayfinding and Park Signs
We have designed a suite of signs for Saltwell Park. We have taken the basic model of a totem sign but added a laser cut top element to create a sense of place.
Read MoreWest Park Wayfinding
West Park in Darlington has been the focus of a suite of wayfinding and information panels and fingerposts. The designs have been to designed to fit into an existing art strategy and included in us researching the history and heritage of the area which is fascinating.
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