Big Pier Day, North Pier Blackpool

Sandcastles in the Air...

all your lovely drawings are below.

What a great day!  Blackpool sunshine, a brilliant band, two very glamorous assistants and lots of happy participants.

Well done Aunty Social and thank you for inviting me.

Visit Blackpool

compressed pastel, an eraser and kitchen towel

A similar approach to last week but a different subject.

Very well done chaps!

Christine:  demo

Derrick

Stuart

3 Stangs: Towpath Project 2019

What a busy few weeks...

Our modest home has been full of Stang components in various stages of being made.  Lots of cutting, sticking, weaving, threading and thinking has taken place.

3 Stangs:  (7' x 3' x 3") upholstery fabric rescued from landfill, garden posts, fencing, brush handles, recycled cord & rope, found objects & fixings 

On Friday 5 July 3 "Stangs" were installed as part of Wyre Council's Towpath Project and the wider, Garstang Scarecrow Festival.  They are located along the Garstang section of the beautiful, Lancaster Canal which celebrates its bicentenary this year.

A stang, as in Garstang, is an ancient name for a boundary marker.  "3 Stangs" align with the many temporary scarecrows around town this weekend and the permanent finger posts on the towpath.  The stangs depict aspects of the canal's 200 year history and celebrate its capacity to change and be as relevant today as it was in 1819.

The Nature Stang acknowledges the wildlife on, in and around the canal.  The "lesser spotted checkered woolly nesting bird" has seen this as an opportunity to rest - in its nest. 

Nature Stang, part of "3 Stangs" by Christine Stringfellow

The Lanky, as the canal is known, shows aspects of the canal's heritage.  Coal and limestone were transported between Kendal and Preston giving it another name, The Black & White Canal.  Building the M6 motorway cut The Lanky just north of Lancaster.  The red buttons on the stang represent the towns of Preston, Garstang, Lancaster and Kendal with the blue ribbon stopping after the third button showing were the canal ends today.  

Horses were integral to the life of the canal, represented here by a bridle, kindly on loan from Pat - thank you again.

with many thanks to Pat for the loan of the bridle

"Rose" is a celebration of the colours and traditions of canals in general but with a direct connection to the Lancaster Canal.  Ribble Link and Glasson Dock are the south and north entrances to the Irish Sea.  The red rose of Lancashire adorns Rose's bag and a "shelf" of traditional rose & castle decorations, edged with lace include the adjacent bridge number.   

images by MJ & Christine

The Towpath Project:  5 - 7 July 2019
Wyre Council working with the Canal & Rivers Trust & Garstang Scarecrow Festival. 

compressed pastel, erasers & kitchen towel

Building on last week's session, we tried a different approach using the same media on half A3 cartridge paper.

This time, using a paper cup as the starting point...

• cover the paper with a light layer of compressed pastel
• smooth pastel around the paper with kitchen towel
• use an eraser as the main drawing tool
• add more compressed pastel to darker areas
• smooth, erase & darken as necessary to build a tonal / three dimensional image

The lovely drawings are below.  Well done everyone! 

 I should add, Monica finished early and so drew Derrick's jumper using the same process - lovely!

Monica

 

Dorothy

Monica:  Derrick's jumper

Derrick

Christine:  demo page

Towpath Project workshop...

Beautiful colours by our younger participants (& an infiltrator!) plus a bat.  An opportunity for some letters to be made and prepared too.

Lovely to meet everyone - thank you for coming along. 

I should say the bat was requested it wasn't a random thought!  Thank you Joseph and good luck with the DoE Award.